Interactive storytelling activities encourage the participants to create their own stories and share them with each other. These activities reward the participants to modify, expand, shrink, analyze, and debrief these stories.
The key elements of a story include theme, plot, characters, and setting. Here is an interactive storytelling activity that focuses on character. This version of the activity deals with the desirable characteristics of an effective trainer.
Synopsis
Participants individually create outline profiles of an effective trainer—and an ineffective one. Later, they identify the desirable qualities of an effective trainer through team discussion.
Purpose
To identify desirable characteristics and behaviors of an effective trainer.
Participants
Minimum: 2
Maximum: Any number
Best: 8 to 30
Time
15 to 45 minutes
Handouts
Two different sets of instructions:
Create a Profile of an Effective Trainer
Create a Profile of an Ineffective Trainer
Supplies
Paper
Pens or pencils
Equipment
Timer
Whistle
Preparation
Reproduce the handouts, one for creating an effective trainer and the other for creating an ineffective trainer. Reproduce an equal number of copies of the two handouts.
Flow
Brief the participants. Explain that this activity involves creating stereotypical characters for a soap opera. Reassure the participants that they need not write clear and complete descriptions of these characters. All they have to do is to jot down enough details about a desirable trainer—or an undesirable one.
Distribute the handouts. Explain that some participants would create profiles of desirable trainers and the others would create undesirable ones. Randomly pass out equal numbers of instruction sheets to the participants.
Give time for the participants to prepare the characters. Announce a 3-minute time limit to create a character who is the assigned type of trainer. Start a timer; stop the activity at the end of 3 minutes.
Organize the participants in teams of four to six members. Make sure that the team has equal numbers of desirable and undesirable trainers.
Work on the effective trainer. Ask someone in each team to suggest the characteristics of an effective trainer based on the profile that he or she outlined. Ask the others to add more details to the description of this effective character.
Work on the ineffective trainer. Encourage the creators of ineffective trainer profiles to jump in and suggest characteristics to be removed if the trainer is to be desirable.
Continue the discussion. Encourage different members of each team to suggest other desirable attributes to be added and undesirable ones to be removed. Invite everyone to participate in the description of the desirable trainer.
Conclude the discussion. Ask the participants to identify the top five desirable characteristics of the effective trainer and list them on a sheet of paper. Also ask them to be ready with examples of behaviors associated with these characteristics.
Share the conclusions. Ask each team to take turns to announce and explain one of the characteristics in their list. Continue with additional items until all teams have exhausted their lists.
Suggest personal follow up. Invite each participant to compare himself or herself with the list of effective trainer characteristics and select an item for personal implementation. Encourage the participants to come up with an action plan for their professional development.
Play Sample
In a recent session, Michelle was asked to create a desirable trainer. Here’s an edited version of the profile:
Karine. Focuses on the learners. Has a specific training objective. Emphasize the application of new principles and procedures. Facilitates learning activities. Does not lecture too much. Encourages the participants to generate their own content. Relates the training to business results and job performance. Asks a variety of open and closed questions. Explains how the training will contribute to the participants’ professional growth. Debriefs the participants during and after each training session. Ask the participants to suggest changes to the learning activities. Uses a variety of content resources. Incorporates suitable improvements to the training activities at the end of each session.
In the same session, Alex was to create a villainous manager. Here’s the profile he created:
Janet. Focuses on the subject matter. Ignores questions and inputs from the participants. Emphasizes the ability to recall the information presented during her presentations. Considers learning activities as a waste of time. Displays hundreds of cluttered Powerpoint slides with crowded text. Does not relate the training to job performance. Discourages the participants from referring to different content resources. Distributes a useless Smile Sheet at the end of session and ignores the feedback data.
Handouts
Create a Profile of an Effective Trainer
Imagine that you are writing a soap opera featuring a hero who is an effective trainer.
Create a profile of this trainer hero in an outline form. Use your imagination, experience, and knowledge to create this character. Make your trainer a likable and engaging person.
There is no standard formula for describing your hero. However, here is a set of random categories to prompt the creative exploration of this character: achievements, attitudes, biographical background, competencies, habitual behaviors, goals, hidden agenda, personality traits, and strengths.
Don’t worry about writing up this desirable character in correct and complete sentences. Just jot down a few key words for your own benefit. Then think about this wonderful trainer so he or she becomes real in your mind. Get ready to describe your character to the others.
Create a Profile of an Ineffective Trainer
Imagine that you are writing a soap opera with a deplorable villain who is an ineffective trainer.
Create a profile of this trainer in an outline form. Use your imagination, experience, and knowledge to create this character. Make your villain a incompetent and ineffective trainer.
There is no standard formula for describing your villain. However, here are a set of random categories to prompt the creative exploration of this character: ambitions, conquests, attitudes, biographical background, weaknesses, bad habits, hidden agenda, personality defects, manipulative behaviors, and cynical perceptions.
Don’t worry about writing up this undesirable character in correct and complete sentences. Just jot down a few key words for your own benefit. Then think about this undesirable trainer so he or she becomes real in your mind. Get ready to describe your character to the others.