Why not simply let your learners role play against each other?
Actors are unfamiliar faces. Their presence, by definition, adds a level of realism that colleagues or coworkers can’t match. That gives the learning more impact.
Actors come prepared to step right up and play the scenario, which keeps the momentum going during the learning event.
Actors are less distracting to learners than colleagues and coworkers. An actor will never allow a scenario to get sidetracked into a personal conversation or devolve into laughter.
Actors will give 110% to their side of the role play, thus obliging the learner to step up and meet the challenge.
Learners need to be focused on learning, not acting. For a lot of learners, anxiety about having to act both sides of the role play undermines their ability to learn. Actors aren’t self-conscious.
Bringing in actors frees instructors to more objectively observe learners because they’re not saddled with facilitation, or concerns about poorly acted role plays.
Colleagues and coworkers often — consciously or unconsciously — help each other in a role play. Actors are neutral because they’re outsiders.
Actors have been trained to create and re-create characters and emotional states, with consistency, on demand. A facilitator can hit the "pause" or "rewind" button and, without fail, the professional actor can resume on cue.
Actors are trained to be sensitive to microexpressions and subtle changes in voice tones. They can give pointed, positive, actionable feedback on the learner’s communication skills.
Actors raise the energy level in the room because their presence adds a new dimension to the training.
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