Tuesday, August 19, 2025
AI used in roleplay during CVTC's conversation competence course
As the Human Resources director for Eau Claire’s Drylock Technologies plant, Tobie Matherne was looking for a successful way to train new leaders.
“Many of the leaders we have now were promoted during or just after Covid …” he said. “Once we found stability in our workforce, we needed to address leadership training as some of our leaders needed the foundational skills to lead and continue their growth.”
Since the company had worked with Chippewa Valley Technical College to upskill colleagues in the past, Matherne reached out to Connie LeCleir-Meyer, CVTC’s Leadership and Organizational Development trainer in Workforce Solutions.
Matherne’s ask wasn’t so easy: to supply his colleagues with practical ways to approach crucial conversations at work.
LeCleir-Meyer is used to teaching people about managing those uncomfortable circumstances, but she knew she could create an even better educational opportunity that also involved AI. That’s how the Conversation Competence @ Work series was born.
“I worked with our IT department to create and integrate AI into the course,” she said. “Typically, this type of course would have involved a heavy amount of one-on-one roleplay. With AI at our disposal, it’s a very different way of creating and delivering a course.”
LeCleir-Meyer said, for her, creating the course was time-consuming, but incorporating AI into the curriculum made it more robust. Through the use of video lecture and with the AI element in place of in-person role playing, people attend in droves.
“They can practice the role-play element while sitting in their car, in a public area with earbuds in, they can type questions into ask AI, and they get immediate feedback on their work,” she said. “Most people don’t know that they can use artificial intelligence like this. When they do, they’re pleasantly surprised. They just need someone to guide them.”
Matherne, 54, of Cadott, said he was pleased with the course, taken by 20 of the Drylock Technologies colleagues.
“With young leaders who are still learning many aspects of leadership, tough conversations are easy to avoid,” he said. “Many of our younger leaders were learning how to have difficult conversations, and our seasoned leaders were learning new AI tools to help make their conversations better.”
Interested in the next competence course or other offerings? Visit www.cvtc.edu/continuing-education.
