Level 2 - Lesson 7: ERD Create Conversation Outlines

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Level 2 - Lesson 6: ERD Define Conversations

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Level 2 - Lesson 8: ERD Design Character Personas

Lesson information:

As you watch the video, look out for these learning points:

Consider whether there are defined phases of the conversation
Consider the Key Learning Points and Skills which learners should be demonstrating - and where they arise in the timeline of the conversation
Consider what emotions the learner and character will feel throughout the conversation

To develop an interactive learning conversation outline:

→ Start with the optimal conversation path, or “BEST PATH” → which can then be used as a reference for creating other branches.

Consider the different phases of the conversation, such as:

introduction
getting to know the customer's needs
making a recommendation, and
closing the conversation

Identify the Skills learners need to demonstrate - and at which points in the conversation these skills will be evident.
Also, consider how Key Learning Points are demonstrated in the conversation, such as asking probing questions and employing consultative selling techniques.
Consider the emotions that both the learner and the character may experience during the conversation, which may change based on the customer's reactions.

In the provided example, there are nine decision points, including: introduction, inquiry, recommendation, and closing.

The conversation features a customer named Pete who is shopping for a wearable fitness tracker.
The learner demonstrates Skills such as: asking probing questions and actively listening to Pete's responses.
After understanding Pete's needs, the learner makes a personalized recommendation, and the conversation ends on a positive note with the learner attempting to close the sale.

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Video Transcript

How do we develop an interactive learning conversation outline? So here in the ERD, we have space to outline a full conversation for a best path.
We typically start with our best path because then it's easier to then write middling and poor branch narratives from what we already know is the best way to have the conversation.
One thing you wanna think about is are there different phases of the conversation being had between the learner and the virtual human, right?
In our example scenario, it is a customer service conversation with a customer. And typically this conversation follows an introduction, a getting to know the needs of the customer phase a recommendation phase, and then a closing phase.
Another thing we wanna think about are what are the skills that we're asking learners to demonstrate in this conversation? And at what point in the conversation will we see those skills arise upon the learner?
Another thing to think about is how are we soliciting demonstration of the key learning points?
The key learning points, if you can remember for this scenario, are asking probing questions to learn about the learner's needs and lifestyle as well as consultative selling and being able to recommend solutions that are best fit with the customer's needs.
Where in the conversation do we expect those to happen? And so we can sort of map each of the phases of the conversation from beginning to end keeping these sorts of things in mind.
Another consideration is what emotions will both the learner feel throughout the conversation and the character feel within the conversation, right?
Maybe there's, and this might change depending on the, the reactions of the customer and how the conversation is going in the best path.
The conversation usually goes fairly well. There might be some, you know, disagreement or discomfort by the learner, especially if the virtual human I is challenging the learner and the learner needs to overcome that.
You know, we definitely wanna see that in the best path and we'll see what that looks like here. So the conversation that we've outlined is I think there are nine different decision points here.
We'll go through the introduction, the inquiry, the recommendation, and the closing. So Pete opens up, Pete is the customer, if you can remember, he's fairly neutral.
He's shopping for a wearable fitness tracker. The learner responds and says, I'm happy to help you today. May I ask what you're looking for in a fitness tracker?
That's a probing question. That's a skill that we wanted the learn learner to demonstrate. The virtual human Pete responds and says, you know, I'm trying to stay more accountable with exercising.
I work all day and night, but wellness is important. And the learner, what we want them to hear from that and actively listen, is that, oh, they have a demanding job.
you know, maybe we want to also have them purposefully inquire, which is another skill we're tracking about that and what they're looking for.
The learner says, it sounds like a demanding job. In addition to tracking activity, are phone notifications important? Sort of reading into that, right?
Pete says, I'm already tied to my phone. So less screen time with a wearable, the less screen time with a wearable, the better.
We've understood the sort of more of the needs and unpacked that from the character. Then we go into more probing questions.
You know, the character might be starting to get a little bit more impatient, but after asking a number of probing questions, then we're able to recommend a personalized solution that is best fit with the learner's needs.
You can see here, after going more over a personalized solution of wearables, then we're winning over the learner. And it's ending on a pretty happy note.
Remember, this is the best path, and the, the customer is now selling or trying to close this sale.