Client case — Thales
Making an ‘arid’ topic impossible to ignore.
A crisis-management learning journey built around narrative immersion — not passive content.
47 min of audio in a one hour e-learning
Audio is the pedagogical backbone, not an add-on.
1
The challenge
Build awareness and practical reflexes around a topic learners rarely choose to explore on their own.
The objective was not to add another rules-first module, but to create an experience worth paying attention to.
First tests
No negative feedback — participants reported being pulled into the scenario and staying engaged to the end.
2
Pedagogical mechanics
- Start with a situation
- Learners experience the consequences before receiving the rules.
- Alternate formats
- Immersive fiction, anonymised real cases, expert debriefs and Retex.
- Debrief to transfer
- Activities and expert commentary turn emotion into practical learning.
- Deploy flexibly
- Full LMS journey, standalone audio files or instructor-led sessions.
3
Why it works
- Attention
- Narrative tension makes the learner want to know what happens next.
- Mental imagery
- Without the image, listeners build the scene in their own mind.
- Memory
- Emotion and situations create stronger anchors than abstract rules.
- Depth
- The format deliberately resists “shorter at all costs” when the subject needs nuance.
“I was not particularly convinced at first. Then I listened to a fiction and started making the movie in my head. I thought: we’ve got something.”
“The results have been very positive. We haven’t received a single negative comment. People immersed themselves in the scenario, were completely drawn in, and stayed engaged right through to the end without getting bored.”
Tristan Thérincourt
Deputy Director, Group Security — Thales