Tab 2 of 8
INTENT
Decide what the story needs to accomplish.
Why am I telling this story to these learners now?
The question is not: “Is this a good story?”
The question is: “Is this the right story for what I need learners to do?”
Stories in learning are tools. Tools have jobs. Before shaping a story, determine the job.
Field tool: write the intent
Try again without using the words understand, know, or appreciate.
That statement is your intent. Keep it visible while you develop the story.
Intent is not the point
These ideas are related, but they are not the same.
Intent belongs to the facilitator. It answers: Why am I using this story?
Point belongs to the learner. It answers: What meaning am I constructing from what I experienced?
You can plan your intent. You can shape the conditions under which learners encounter the story. You can ask questions. You can challenge interpretations. But you cannot fully control what another person notices, remembers, or connects to their own life.
That is not a flaw in storytelling. It is one of its strengths.
Field tool: performance target
Training can influence knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Which is most important here?
Story job: make abstract information concrete, connect ideas, reveal cause and effect, or show where knowledge applies.
Story job: create a realistic context for action. Let them encounter what happens when a real person resists, misunderstands, changes direction, or introduces a complication.
Story job: use personal stories, cautionary experiences, or perspective shifts to let learners examine consequences and experience another point of view. Use the story to open a door.
Field tool: why this story? why now? why them?
If you cannot answer all three, reconsider the story or its placement.
Audience lens
The same story may work differently for:
- New employees
- Experienced employees
- Frontline supervisors
- Senior leaders
- Technical specialists
- People who volunteered for training
- People who were required to attend
- Learners who have already experienced the problem
- Learners who do not yet know the problem exists
INTENT: field check
Before moving on, can you state:
4 still unchecked.
Move to MAP