Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage, teach and help your audience remember your message. So, why not capitalize on this technique when presenting training results to business leaders and stakeholders?

Instead of leading with charts and data points, invite them on a journey — a step-by-step story that shows how a training program inspired learning, changed on-the-job behaviors and ultimately delivered real results to the business. And if they invested money in that training story, they would certainly be captivated until the very end.

This journey is what I like to call the “story of impact.” So, gather around the fire, and let me walk your through what to include in this powerful story and where you can start.

What Is the Story of Impact?

The story of impact is a simple, step-by-step narrative that demonstrates the effects of training, beginning with the training event itself and ending with its full impact on employees and the business. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, it paints a clear picture of how the training actually “worked.” And perhaps most valuable, how it can work better in the future.

The story unfolds by measuring key milestones along the way, creating that proverbial “bridge” between a training event and its ultimate return on investment (ROI). At every step, you can identify the factors that either support or hinder employees from reaching the next step toward their performance destination.

Here’s a quick overview of what to include in your story of impact, using the 6 Levels of Training Impact:

The 6 Levels of Training Impact

Level 1 – Reaction and Satisfaction

Did they like it? Level 1 measures how participants react to the training. Were they engaged? Did they feel it was worth their time?

Level 2 – Learning and Skill Acquisition

Did they learn anything? Level 2 measures the extent to which participants acquired new knowledge and skills. Are they leaving with capabilities that will help them do their jobs better?

Level 3 – Behavior Change and Application

Are they doing anything differently after training? Level 3 looks at whether participants are applying what they learned on the job. Are they working more effectively or efficiently?

Level 4 – Business Impact

Did it impact the business? Level 4 measures improvements in key business metrics driven by behavior change. Did productivity increase? Sales revenue? Customer satisfaction? What tangible benefits did the organization see?

Level 5 – ROI

Was it worth the investment? Level 5 compares the benefits of the training to its costs to determine whether the investment paid off.

Level 6 – ROI Maximizers

How can we maximize ROI? Level 6 examines the learning environment and identifies workplace factors that either support or sabotage training impact. These might include manager support, cultural norms or access to tools and resources.

Start With the End in Mind

Every great author has at least an idea about how they want their story to end before they start writing. They then build the journey around that ending. Of course, the audience will get the story in a logical, chronological sequence, but the author starts with the conclusion in mind.

The same principle applies to telling your story of training impact.

You need to begin with the business goals that matter most to your leaders and stakeholders. Think about what you want your ending to be and work your way backward. I call this part of the upfront planning process “scoping.”

Scoping starts by partnering with your key stakeholder to identify the crucial post-training business goals you need to achieve. From there, ask:

• What performance metrics must improve to achieve those goals?
• What employee behaviors need to change to move those metrics?
• What learning will create that behavior change?
• What type of training will embed that learning?

Outlining these connections and relationships early — and getting stakeholders agreement — makes all the difference later on. When it’s time to present your final post-training results, you want everyone in the room to already know what the training was supposed to impact. The only new information is the results data.

The best part about this scoping process is that you already have the framework. All you need to do is take your six levels of impact and flip the script.

How to Flip the Script and Begin With the End in Mind

To do this, start by asking your stakeholders these questions:

• What environmental factors on the job (such as manager support, cultural norms or sustainability tools) could support or hinder the impact and ROI of training? (Scoping Level 6)
• What ROI are you looking for? What level of return makes this investment worthwhile? (Scoping Level 5)
• What business benefits do you need to see? Which metrics must improve to deliver measurable value? (Scoping Level 4)
• What behaviors must change to drive those business outcomes? (Scoping Level 3)
• What learning must occur to enable those behaviors? (Scoping Level 2)
• How will you capture participants’ attention and drive that learning? (Scoping Level 1)

Once you get answers to all these questions, you simply flip the model back into its original order. You now have a complete Level 1-6 evaluation plan.

As data comes in, you’ll start at Level 1 and work your way up to Level 6. In other words, you walk down the stairs with your stakeholders to build alignment and buy-in, then walk back up the stairs with your evaluation strategy and results.

This becomes your story of impact. And it’s a story worth telling.

Happy stepping!