STORYSTYLE
The Power of Mental Visualization
™
The Neurological Power of Mental Visioning
The efficacy of mental visioning is rooted in neuroscience, which demonstrates that imagining an action or scenario activates many of the same neural circuits as the real experience,. This overlap is so profound that the brain often fails to differentiate between what is real and what is vividly imagined.
In professional sports, mental imagining - often called mental rehearsal or visualization - is used as a serious performance tool. Elite athletes mentally run through races, plays, or routines in vivid detail before they happen, imagining movements, timing, pressure, and even mistakes. This mental simulation activates many of the same brain areas used during real performance, helping the brain recognize situations faster and respond with less effort when they occur in real life.
THINK ABOUT THE APPLICATIONS of mental visioning in the corporate world - engineering, accounting, finance, medicine.
These roles require professional to imagine and anticipate future possibilities, scenarios and outcomes to respond and perform at their peak.
ProDio's imagination-based StoryStyle™ develops mental visioning skills, creativity, critical thinking and mental readiness for pro-active planning and action
We ignite imagination to spark meaningful change!
Our StoryStyle™ process uses nine forms of audio media
to engage learners' imagination and transform their perspectives and behaviors
Click on the play buttons to listen to sample audio
Download our StoryStyle™ info document
"Imagination is the most important of the cognitive capacities for learning" Maxine Greene
StoryStyle™ Audio Learning
STORYSTYLE™ describes our process of creating an immersive experience that engages imagination and continuously grabs the learner’s attention.
Find out more about the BENEFITS OF IMAGINATION IN LEARNING
Read more RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
CLICK to watch the Webinar hosted by the Institute for Performance and Learning (I4PL)
OUR SUPERPOWER: BRAIN INTERACTIVITY
With StoryStyle™ audio learning, every learner becomes CO-CREATOR, actively using their imagination to bring characters, environment and details to life. That's why we can guarantee a UNIQUE EXPERIENCE for each learner, and that's why learners love and remember our content.
This increases enjoyment, engagement, emotional connection and retention. Neuroscience evidence shows that this also increases the brain's capacity for creativity, innovation and critical thinking.
Courses meet strict accreditation standards and include handouts, quizzes, evaluations and completion certificates.
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ABOUT OUR SERVICES
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StoryStyle™ Sample Media
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Acted Scenarios:
Scenario-based learning keeps people engaged by making them think and feel more deeply. It does this by putting them in real-life situations where they have to make decisions and solve problems, which helps them remember and understand the material better, including how to apply the learning. Because it connects with their emotions and gets them actively involved, the learning sticks with them longer and is easier to use in real-life situations.
PLAY SAMPLE
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Acted and Sound-Designed Stories:
Stories help people stay engaged by grabbing their attention and creating an emotional connection, which makes learning more relatable and easier to remember. When learners get involved in a story, they are more likely to care about the characters, picture the situation, and learn the lesson. Stories also spark imagination and creativity, helping people remember and understand the material better. By using stories, learners are more interested and motivated to participate and apply what they’ve learned in real life.
Analogies:
Analogies make learning more engaging by breaking down complex ideas into simpler, easier-to-understand parts. By connecting new information to things learners already know, analogies help them understand and apply difficult concepts. This link between familiar and new ideas sparks curiosity and makes learning more meaningful. Analogies also create clear mental pictures that help learners remember and use what they've learned in different situations.
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Narration:
A great narrator can be the key to success in any course. Narrators take the role of the host, or instructor, or storyteller and we hire some of the best in the business. Sometimes, the narrator is the subject matter expert (SME) themselves, and sometimes we prefer to use a professional voice actor. We go to great lengths to avoid monotone or lecture-style narration.
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Street interviews:
What we call “street interviews” are simply interviews with the public to get a sense of what the general understanding of a topic may be. These creating interesting and engaging soundbites. For example, in “Leading through Influence” we interviewed students at Simon Fraser University and asked them “What is influence?”
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Expert Interviews:
Expert interviews are a great way to include voices from around the world who are leaders or influencers in their fields. They bring credibility, weight and insight to the learning concepts. We try to avoid long-form interviews, like a podcast, and we edit down experts’ comments to support the learning outcomes. In our Change Management course, “Focus on Change” Dr. Hilary Curry interviewed 13 change management experts from around the world, and in “Leading through Influence” I was able to interview world-class authors Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Goulston, Roz Savage and Chris Widener.
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Pop Quizzes:
Pop quizzes are not formal testing of the user’s knowledge or understanding.
They involve more interesting trivia or fun facts. We use pop quizzes for various reasons:
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Most importantly, to reinforce learning outcomes
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To have the learner actively engage their thinking and interact with the instructor
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To recap information from the course and remind the learner of its importance
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To break up a long spell of listening
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Media Clips:
Media clips can be a great way to include supporting or entertaining content from other media sources, preferably public media. Short clips can typically be used under the “Fair Use” principle, if use of the content meets the six conditions, but when in doubt, ask permission from the content owner.
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Music and Sound Design:
Music has great power to engage - used carefully and in the right places, music can add a mood to the narrative, or increase it’s impact and reach the learner’s emotions. Music can increase the pace which increases the learner’s heartbeat, or it can create calm, thoughtful or inspiring moments. Be careful to not go for the cheesy elevator music though. This scenario is from our REALTOR® Safety training course for Greater Vancouver REALTORS®
Benefits of Imagination in Learning with StoryStyle™ audio
"Imagination is 'the gateway' to active learning and the opening of possibilities" (Dewey) *
"A robust imagination improves cognitive flexibility, creative thinking, and problem-solving; as well as, bettering our ability to connect and bond with others, manage stress, decrease anxiety, and process difficult emotions (Drapeau, 2018)."
Research shows that imagination enables deeper learning: Maxine Greene and other philosophers argue that imagination helps students go beyond just applying learned principles. It allows them to create or discover new principles - essential for innovation, cross-cultural understanding, and personal growth. **
Our trademarked StoryStyle™ approach emphasizes the use of imagination in learning. Our approach is fully supported by neuroscientific research, which has identified the following benefits:
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Enhanced overall learner experience - The combination of acted stories, scenarios, media clips and expert insights creates an immersive learning environment that enhances engagement and enjoyment. This results in higher completion rates and evaluation scores.
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Improves creativity and critical thinking – neuroscience evidence shows that using multiple regions of the brain to imagine improves cognitive flexibility, creativity and critical thinking skills.
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Improved intrinsic or cognitive engagement – listening to nine forms of audio media ignites imagination and engages multiple brain regions simultaneously. The learner’s brain becomes co-creator of the visual imagery and is therefore fully engaged.
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Improved understanding of how to apply the learning – through scenarios, stories and interviews, the learner gains a better understanding of how the learning applies to their day-to-day work.
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Emotional connection to learning content – when stories and scenarios reflect the learner’s experience and possible future situations, they emotionally connect with the content.
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Removes accessibility barriers for blind and visually impaired learners – StoryStyle™ audio allows blind and visually impaired learners to fully experience the learning without accessibility tools or accommodations. READ MORE
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Truly mobile – learning can take place anytime, anywhere in this age of distracted learning. Whether commuting, exercising, walking the dog or doing the dishes, truly mobile allows learners to maximize their productive time.
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Faster, easier and cheaper – audio learning is much easier and faster to produce and update. Voiceover work, interviews and production can be performed remotely without the need for expensive studios, travel or equipment. Audio updates are vastly easier than video to match with existing content.
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Handouts and quizzes to support learning – it’s important to realize that audio learning doesn’t stand alone. Handouts, templates, slides are available for download or printing, to support the learner’s ongoing understanding and retention of the learning once the course is completed. Quizzes that are directly related to learning outcomes help the learner to review and reinforce important points.[RC1]
Read more RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
* "Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change by Maxine Greene" Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
** Heath, G. (2008). Exploring the Imagination to Establish Frameworks for Learning. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27, 115-123.
