The Human Touch

E-Learning is often considered to be "impersonal" because it lacks the one-on-one contact found in more traditional training approaches. This is especially the case for those involved with highly interpersonal topics like sales or customer service. As a result, these topics are commonly relegated to traditional "feature/function" delivery only, and preventing both the learner and the organization from the benefits offered by online training solutions.

However, learning online doesn't have to be an "either-or" proposition. Next time you're faced with teaching interpersonal skills online, try using Role Characters - such as a mentor, cynic, competitor or other engaging personalities. Putting a human face on the training topic allows the learner to hear the information through the "voice" of someone with whom they can identify.

For example, a recent sales training course MediaPro developed teams the learner - a new sales associate - with a fictional sales expert. This character acts as a mentor who leads the new sales associate through a typical sales process, pointing out pitfalls and recommending best practices. Along the way a cynic brings up questions or objectives that are commonly left to the classroom; and a competitor appears to challenge the learner to practice his or her newly acquired knowledge in "face-offs".

Using characters can help change attitudes, improve motivation, and increase retention. So next time you're faced with teaching interpersonal skills online, use fictional characters to give your training the human touch.

Submitted by Mike Bean, Instructional Designer for MediaPro