Improving Corporate Training Using Hollywood Experience

September 28, 2022
4 minutes
Jim Piechocki as our guest speaker to discuss how to improve corporate training.

What happens when experienced Hollywood professionals join the corporate training industry and begin to solve real world safety and training problems? I get very curious. That's what happens. And when I find out they're creating successful training using Hollywood storytelling skills instead of instructional design methods, then I invite them to be on IDIODC to talk about it.

Jim Piechocki is part of a growing group of entertainment professionals taking advantage of new technologies like VR/AR/MR to deploy training solutions with high quality storytelling, production value, and game elements. Jim has successfully completed projects for major corporations like Microsoft, Amazon, META, and more. Jim shared many interesting stories of his experiences working with corporate training departments to “fix” these existing training projects.

Watch this broad ranging, eye-opening, conversation and discussion that is sure to impact the direction of your career.  

Links Shared in the chat:

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X

Lightvalve Learning https://www.lightvalvelearning.com/

To see all the comments from the chat, check out the full session right here.  

And to ask more questions, or participate in extended conversations about this episode, please join us in the IDIODC LinkedIn Group.  

About Jim Piechocki

I am a member of a small but growing breed of ATD-licensed developers who start with acting talent, humor, broadcast-quality imagery and entertainment value. I worked as a gag-writer for comic Tim Allen in Detroit, who taught me how to pare down physical comedy and dialog for maximum impact. My writing teachers Harlan Ellison and Walter Hill (The Terminator, 48 Hours) drilled into me the importance of getting it right in the first draft. Working on staff for Filmation on the He-Man and The Masters of the Universe cartoon TV series, I learned the writer actually directs the animation. My business learning animation is both compelling and ready to go with very few rewrites, if any. Greek, Roman, Viking and Indian mythology, which were originally teaching tales, provide ongoing inspiration for gamified learning. 

By setting aside the boring stuff - stiff objectives, phony theories, and canned activities – I train the way the mind works: using broadcast-quality scenarios with continual surprises leading to moments of truth that stick. In the case of the project that is today’s podcast topic, I woke up dreadfully dull IT classification process training with a post-apocalyptic superhero story I had pitched years ago to Marvel. 

About IDIODC

Instructional Designers in Offices Drinking Coffee (Affectionately known as IDIODC) is a weekly live videocast and podcast that helps instructional designers with pain points and provides best practices and industry insight.  

Every Wednesday morning at 10am ET hosts Brent Schlenker and Chris Van Wingerden guide us through an upbeat and candid conversation with their guests from the eLearning and training world. The live cast session encourages peers to participate in the chat and share their own personal insight! After airing live, you can catch the learning podcast on all major streams such as Spotify, Apple, and Google Play podcasts, as well as on YouTube.

IDIODC is a Top 40 Hit!

We could have been #1 but chair dancing was not a judged element. But no matter, we are simply happy to be selected. Check out this amazingly short press release: “IDIODC was selected as one of the Top 40 Learning and Development Podcasts on the web.”

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