How to Build a Learner Persona and Why You Should

?Are your learners bored???

So often our training audience attends training that isn't relevant or engaging or it contains so much extra information they feel lost. Sometimes the included scenarios make no sense for them and their role or sometimes the training is just plain inconvenient.??

When I was working internally at a national nonprofit, I can remember asking questions of my subject matter expert to learn more about a particular group of learners that we were going to create training for.??

I asked things like:

• What do they need to do related to this topic? I really wanted to identify that skill or that behavior.??
• What are they doing now instead? I really wanted to identify that gap or that change that needed to occur.??

The subject matter expert was patient, but finally looked at me and said that the people in these roles are never at their desk.?

They're responding to every emergency in the building:

• If the toilet gets stopped up, they're there.??
• If chemicals are off in the pool, they're there too.??
• If a child won't stop crying, they're getting a call and they're going to help.??
• If someone on their team doesn't show up for work, they're the ones who fill in.??

I hadn't asked a question yet about their context.

And that context is one of the most important things in creating effective learning. ?

Here's why.??

If I had created an eLearning, I needed to know that they weren't at their desk or that when they were at their desk, they might actually be sharing that desk with someone else and an eLearning might not be accessible for them.?

If I had created a scenario in the course, I needed to know what their day looked like to make sure I incorporated things like one of their team members not showing up for work. If everything in the scenario is perfect, it won't resonate and they won't know what to do when they get back to their job.?

Those are just a few of the things that could have gone wrong if I hadn't spent the time getting to know the audience.??

That’s why in episode 123 of the podcast, I want us to explore learner personas.??

What Are Learner Personas?

A learner persona is a fictional representation of a specific category of learners in your audience.?

Why Are Learner Personas Important?

Learner personas help you make learning more relevant. When you know a learner’s daily challenges, you can design training that fits into their real work environment.

They also build empathy as you research your audience and more deeply understand your learners.

But ultimately, we want to use learner personas to drive better outcomes. When training reflects real-world scenarios, learners engage more and are better able to apply what they’ve learned.

How Do We Build a Learner Persona?

• Identify Your Target Group – Who are you designing for? (e.g., frontline supervisors, new employees, executives)
• Define What You Need to Know – Consider their work environment, challenges, and motivations.
• Gather Data – Use focus groups, surveys, HR reports, exit interviews, or direct observations.
• Look for Themes – Identify patterns in needs and behaviors to shape your persona.

You can then use the persona in to design training.

To learn more, tune into episode 123 of Learning For Good.

Upcoming Events for L&D Pros

Nonprofit L&D Career Conversations with Nonprofit Pro, Matt Tod

What types of L&D roles are available in nonprofits?

What types of nonprofits hire L&D roles?

In this series, we will be meeting nonprofit L&D pros and learning more about their organizations, who they create training for, how big or small their team is, and so much more!

Plus, we'll hear their career journey with all its twists and turns.

This is the perfect event for you if you are in nonprofit L&D or are considering pivoting into nonprofit.

?? LinkedIn Live

?? Mar 19

?? 1:15-2 CT

We'll hear from Matt Tod from Plan International Canada.

This event is open to anyone. RSVP here.

Nonprofit L&D Collective Monthly Meet Up

Our monthly meet ups are a perfect opportunity to expand your nonprofit L&D network!

It's a time of intentional networking + you can bring any burning questions you have for the group. Past discussions have included LMS selections, accessibility, measurement and evaluation, and more.

?? Zoom

?? Mar 12

?? 12-12:45 CT

This event is open to all nonprofit employees in a training or leadership development role. Reach out to Heather Burright to see if it's a good fit for you.

Nonprofit L&D Collective Book Club

We have kicked off a book club in 2025!

If you're interested in learning about learning and want the fun and accountability of a book club, this event is the perfect opportunity to do so.

We will be discussing Learning Science for Instructional Designers?by Clark Quinn. Get your book and start reading now!?

?? Zoom

?? Mar 31

?? 12-1 CT

This event is open to all nonprofit employees in a training or leadership development role. Reach out to Heather Burright to see if it's a good fit for you.

Additional Resources Just for You

?? Follow or subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify so you don’t miss next week’s episode. I'll be sharing my 4-step process to help you write better learning objectives.

?? Not in the nonprofit sector but looking for a new role? Join my email list and get a nonprofit L&D job direct to your inbox every Monday.

?? Working inside a nonprofit or association? Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective, a community of nonprofit and association L&D pros where you can connect with each other, learn from industry leaders and tech vendors, and find the support you need to make a real impact.

P.S. Here's how we can work together. I help nonprofit and association teams create behavior change by partnering with them on their instructional design and leadership development needs. If you have training needs coming up, schedule a call with me so we can explore what this would look like for you.