{"id":90,"date":"2026-07-14T21:43:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/narrativo.studio\/thinking\/?p=90"},"modified":"2026-07-26T01:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T01:03:43","slug":"people-dont-hate-training-they-hate-being-trained-at","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/narrativo.studio\/thinking\/people-dont-hate-training-they-hate-being-trained-at\/","title":{"rendered":"Storytelling: People Don’t Hate Training. They Hate Being Trained At."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A seasonal training program that used storytelling to make operational learning more engaging without compromising clarity or brand standards.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Challenge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every seasonal event starts long before the first guest walks through the gate. It starts in a training room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this project, the goal was to prepare hundreds of hourly team members for one of Universal Orlando Resort’s signature holiday events. The information itself wasn’t especially unusual: operational procedures, guest interactions, and event expectations. The audience was. Some employees had worked the event for years. Others were seasonal hires experiencing it for the first time. For a few, this was their very first job. That meant the training couldn’t assume everyone spoke the same language: the language of workplace experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The script, developed by the training team, already contained the right information. My role wasn’t to rewrite the procedures. It was to translate them into an experience that felt approachable, memorable, and worth paying attention to. Adding to the challenge, every creative decision also had to satisfy the presentation and storytelling expectations of a globally recognized licensed intellectual property while successfully completing a formal brand review process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Insight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The event itself was built around storytelling. The training should be too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of presenting procedures as a series of disconnected instructions, the content could invite employees into the world they were about to help create. Storytelling wasn’t there to make the training “cute.” It gave information context. It created curiosity. It made operational standards feel like part of something bigger than a checklist. Combined with plain language, thoughtful pacing, and smaller, easier-to-digest sections, the experience became less about consuming information and more about understanding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Approach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The project began with a simple question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you make mandatory training feel like the beginning of the experience instead of a prerequisite for it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than creating another slide deck, the presentation was structured like a storybook. Information was introduced gradually instead of all at once. Technical language was replaced with conversational language wherever possible. Large blocks of text became short moments that built naturally into the next idea. The audience wasn’t expected to adapt to the training. The training adapted to its audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every decision balanced four priorities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n