Field GuideFacilitating With Story

1FIND 2INTENT 3MAP 4SHAPE 5TEST 6FACILITATE 7PERFORM 8SAVE

Reference

FIELD PRACTICE MAKEOVER LAB QUICK TOOLKIT FAST DECISIONS BEFORE YOU TELL IT ONE PAGE

Pages

⌕Search the guide Start here How to use this site Worked example Stories Progress Reference Print workbook

Everything you write stays on this device. No account needed, works with no signal.

Working onNo story started yetStory library

Reference

MAKEOVER LAB

Five weak stories and how they get rescued.

What is wrong with this story, and what fixes it?

0 of 2 filled in

Makeover 1: the anecdote

Weak version: “Once I had an employee read through an entire class. It was incredibly rude.”

Diagnose: interesting incident? Yes. Complete learning story? Not yet.

Questions: What did the facilitator do? What happened before? What happened afterward? Did the facilitator change? Did the experience alter how future disruptions were handled? What performance question could learners examine?

Field lesson: do not confuse memorability with meaning.

Makeover 2: the rambler

Problem: the storyteller explains department structure, reporting relationships, internal acronyms, three software systems, and the history of the project. The conflict arrives four minutes later.

Rescue: state the intent. Identify what context learners truly need. Cut everything else.

Field lesson: context gets the learner into the story. Excess detail keeps the story from starting.

Makeover 3: the perfect hero

Weak version: “I saw the problem immediately, confronted it, solved it, and everyone thanked me.”

Rescue questions: What made the problem difficult? What did you initially misunderstand? What tradeoff did you face? What did someone else contribute? What did the experience change in you?

Field lesson: learners need agency. They do not need mythology.

Makeover 4: the moral

Weak ending: “And that's why you should always give feedback immediately.”

Facilitated ending: “What do you think my delay communicated to the employee?” Follow with: “What would have been different if I had addressed it earlier?” Then: “Where does this show up in your own work?”

Field lesson: do not close meaning too soon.

Makeover 5: the entertainer

Problem: everyone laughs. No one remembers why the story was told.

Rescue: return to intent. Keep the amusing elements that naturally support the experience. Cut jokes, side stories, or embellishments that turn attention away from the learning.

Field lesson: entertainment serves the story. The story serves performance.

Diagnose my own story

Which makeover does my story most resemble?

The anecdoteThe ramblerThe perfect heroThe moralThe entertainerNone of these

What I will change:

Duets Learning © 2026

Privacy Terms facilitatingwithstory.com