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How-to guide

Build lifelike Personas

Design who learners practice with. Give an AI participant a role, a point of view, and a response style that support your learning goal.

Management Portal

For professors, managers, and independent learners

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Updated October 2026

1. Decide who is in the conversation

A Persona is a reusable participant template with a name, appearance, voice, and optional behavior details. The scenario determines the available roles and participant positions.

Persona
Defines an individual's identity, background, goals, and response style.
Scenario Modifier
Adds session-level behavior, pressure, constraints, or role-play context.
Custom Factor
Defines what to evaluate after practice, not how the participant should respond.
Knowledge Pack
Supplies searchable reference material for grounded practice.

Start with the learner's task. One clear role is often more useful than a long biography. Use fictional names and cases unless you have permission to use real information.

2. Set identity, appearance, and voice

  1. Open Personas in the Management Portal under Collections. Select Create Persona.
  2. Choose applicable scenarios, or select All Scenarios. This controls library availability, not automatic placement in a session.
  3. Enter a Name, up to 50 characters. Age and Sex are optional; use them when relevant to the practice context.
  4. Select the avatar preview to change appearance. Use Change Voice to choose a voice and preview it when needed.
  5. Add an optional Description, up to 50 characters, to help identify the template. Description does not control AI responses.
Persona editor showing Jordan, optional identity fields, avatar, voice, and description
Identity and presentation settings. The behavior instructions are farther down the form.

3. Write the behavior, then save

  1. In Bio/Personality Details, describe the role, background, attitude, goals, and response style. This field influences responses and allows up to 1,000 characters.
  2. State how the participant should react to the learner and what would make them more receptive, concerned, or convinced.
  3. Keep the instruction consistent with the scenario. Do not ask the participant to know private facts or recite a fixed script.
  4. If needed, expand Speaking style & examples. These optional advanced fields guide delivery and phrasing. Review AI-generated suggestions before using them.
  5. Select Save Persona and confirm the template appears in your library.
Persona editor with Bio/Personality Details, optional speaking style section, and Save Persona
Description is a library summary. Bio/Personality Details defines behavior. This is an unsaved example.

Example: a skeptical investor

Name: Jordan. Description: Skeptical investor. Adapt this Bio/Personality Details example to your scenario.

You are an investor considering an early-stage business pitch. You are interested but cautious about the revenue forecast. Ask one question at a time about customer demand, costs, and evidence. Listen to the answer before following up. Become more receptive when the speaker provides concrete support. Stay professional and let the speaker finish.

Give the participant a reason for skepticism and a path toward changing their view. "Be difficult" alone does not define a useful practice challenge.

4. Select the Persona for practice

  1. In a supported scenario's setup, open the Persona selection and choose a participant for the available role or position. Controls differ across the Web App, VR App, and Desktop App.
  2. For assignments, open Choose Personas. Use Import from Collection for a saved template or Create New to configure a participant.
  3. Review participant positions and venue seating when available. Scenarios do not all support the same number or type of participants.
  4. Use Hide Persona Bios in the assignment when learners should discover the personality during practice.
Assignment Persona setup with Hide Persona Bios, venue seating, and Import from Collection
Assignment configuration determines who learners encounter. Saving a template alone does not apply it.

5. Share appropriately and test

  • Personal templates belong to your library. Organization templates are shared; authoring depends on permissions and organization settings.
  • Complete a short practice or assignment Test Run before learners use the configuration.
  • Check that the participant stays in role, asks useful questions, and changes tone for the intended reasons.
  • If behavior is wrong, revise Bio/Personality Details, not just Description. Check for conflicting Modifiers.
  • If a template is missing, check its scenario availability, library source, permissions, and the participant roles the scenario supports.
  • Recheck an assignment after editing a library template. Do not assume it automatically adopts every library change.

Name, avatar, and demographic fields do not replace behavioral guidance. Avoid stereotypes; describe the individual's motivations and conversational behavior instead.

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