Real-Life Examples That Boost Training Sessions

The first manager training program I built failed miserably. I was fresh out of grad school and so excited to share all of the frameworks, theories, and concepts I'd learned. It mattered to me, so I assumed it would matter to others. Wow, was I wrong... Many training programs I see do they same. They falsely assume if it's personal to us, it will be personal to our audience and therefore successful. Yet we don't connect the dots between "cool" concepts and concrete actions, steps, and stories. Because of this, we fail in being truly helpful to our employees. We may leave them with an interesting anecdote...but without clear application. While concepts, theories, and frameworks can be helpful in moderation, their impact increases when introduced via or alongside critical incidents. Critical incidents are real-life examples, moments, case studies, or stories. Think of it as learning by example. Critical incidents make concepts feel more real and concrete and bring the material closer to use personally. This is one reason why the COVID pandemic started to feel more real and impactful once Tom Hanks was diagnosed, or the NBA season was canceled. More people started to pay attention because they now had proof, that the impact was closer to them. ✅ Instead of a checklist of items you’ll cover, start from a series of critical incidents, and impact how those will be different after the program or class is over.  ✅ Build your program from stories and real-life needs. ✅ Survey participants for their critical incidents and build case studies around them to use and practice during classes. This method helps employees apply concepts and frameworks and allows them to test their progress and skill-building against real-life examples that matter to them. Then, the material becomes personal (aka more effective and sticky) for all.

As a leader of learning and development teams and now in my consulting role, I've noticed a shift in how we present the impact of our work. We used to rely heavily on facts, charts, and pages of detailed statistics to showcase our reach. But I've found #storytelling to be a much more compelling way to demonstrate real human #impact. This was driven home for me in a recent Amazon commercial that features three women gazing at a snowy hill where people are sledding. Not a single word is spoken, yet we understand these friends are reminiscing about childhood memories made in a similar setting. The story of lasting connection and friendship shines through beautifully without overt explanation. I think this is a key lesson for those of us in L&D roles. We spend so much time tracking participation rates, completion metrics and quiz scores. But what really matters is how our work impacts real people and teams. Storytelling puts faces and #emotions to the numbers. By spotlighting individual learner journeys, we can showcase personal growth and #performance improvements. Instead of stating "95% of employees completed our new manager training last quarter," we can share, "Let me tell you about how Amy implemented what she learned about feedback conversations to dramatically improve her team's engagement scores." Storytelling aligns people to purpose by helping them see themselves and their colleagues reflected in the narratives. It builds connection as people realize we all experience similar pain points, growth opportunities, and wins. So as you look for ways to expand the reach and impact of L&D in your organization, I encourage you to tell more stories. Share how real humans have advanced in their careers thanks to new skills, built relationships using your training content or overcome challenges after adopting new tools. The facts and stats remain important, but the stories will truly capture hearts and minds. Have an example to share? Add it in the comments below and let's learn together!

Many years ago, at an all-team meeting, I watched as the business leader paused on one word: Culture. “This keeps me up at night,” he admitted. “With our rapid growth, how do we keep it alive?” That question stuck with me. Scaling business was one thing—but culture? That was different. That night, as I reflected on the challenge, my mind drifted to childhood memories. I thought about the stories I grew up with, the ones that shaped my values and beliefs. And then it hit me—we weren’t telling each other stories about how we worked together. A light bulb went off. Could we scale culture through storytelling? We soon launched a storytelling project, encouraging leaders to share real experiences—small wins, tough lessons, failures, moments that defined us. Soon, meetings weren’t just about numbers; they were about people. Employees felt more connected, new hires understood our values through lived stories, and culture became something we experienced, not just documented. A strong learning culture thrives on stories. Stories make lessons stick, inspire action, and connect people beyond policies and procedures. The more we shared, the more we learned. Peter Drucker once said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” But I realized something else—storytelling feeds culture. And in those shared stories, our organization found its soul. #Leadership #CompanyCulture #Storytelling #GrowthMindset #LearningCulture #HRLeadership #EmployeeEngagement #LeadWithStory #OrganizationalCulture