Let’s get one thing straight: “serious” doesn’t have to mean “boring.”

Yet, time and again, I hear from L&D teams struggling to make their training engaging because internal stakeholders believe that “serious topics” require serious, no-nonsense delivery. The logic goes: “If online learning is fun, then learners won’t take it seriously.”

But here’s the reality: If the training isn’t engaging, they won’t remember it at all.

Ebbinghaus and the Forgetting Curve

If you’ve ever attended a training session and forgotten most of it by the next morning, you’ve experienced Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve in action. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a 19th-century psychologist, discovered that people forget up to 90% of new information within a week—unless it’s reinforced in an engaging way.

Now, let’s apply that to dry, uninspired corporate training. If your compliance course, for example, is a 30-slide deck of legal jargon and click-through quizzes, your learners will forget almost all of it within hours.

That’s a problem. Because forgetting isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a risk.

Fun Equals Engagement, Engagement Equals Retention

Neuroscience tells us that people learn best when they are engaged, emotionally connected, and actively involved. That’s where fun comes in.

“Fun” doesn’t mean turning your cybersecurity training into a slapstick comedy. It means designing interactive, engaging, and immersive experiences that capture attention, create emotional connections, and—crucially—help people remember.

Take gamification, for example. Research from the University of Colorado found that employees trained through gamified learning scored 14% higher in skill-based assessments and 11% higher in factual knowledge retention. Why? Because games provide immediate feedback, a sense of challenge, and rewards—things our brains love.

Or consider storytelling. A study from Stanford University found that people are 22 times more likely to remember information when it’s presented in a story format compared to facts alone. If you want employees to remember why compliance matters, a real-world scenario with consequences will stick far better than a list of regulations.

How to Push Back on “No Fun Allowed” Stakeholders

Next time you’re told that a training course has to be serious because the topic is serious, here’s how to respond:

🔹 “Our goal isn’t just to deliver training—it’s to make sure people remember and apply it.” A dull course might check the box, but it won’t change behaviour.

🔹 “Fun doesn’t mean silly—it means engaging.” Interactive scenarios, gamification, and storytelling aren’t frivolous; they are proven learning strategies.

🔹 “Let’s talk about business risk.” If employees forget critical information because the training was uninspiring, that’s a much bigger risk than making learning enjoyable.

🔹 “Do we want compliance, or just completion?” If the goal is real behavioural change, the training must be designed in a way that sticks.

Final Thought: Online Learning Is Fun

At the end of the day, boring learning is forgotten learning. If we truly care about knowledge retention, behavioural change, and business impact, then fun, engaging, and immersive training isn’t just “nice to have” – it’s essential.

So, the next time someone tells you that serious training can’t be fun, remind them that engagement isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.

🚀 Ready to create learning that sticks? Let’s chat.