In 2 experiments, learners who were seated at a computer workstation received a narrated animation about lightning formation. Then, they took a retention test, a transfer test, and rated the speaker. The results are consistent with social agency theory, which posits that social cues in multimedia messages can encourage learners to interpret human-computer interactions as more similar to human-to-human conversation. (Contains 25 references, 2 tables, and 1 appendix.) (GCP)