How to Write an eLearning Storyboard | How-To Workshop

#eLearning #InstructionalDesign #eLearningStoryboard
When designing and developing an eLearning course, one of the first things you want to do is write an eLearning storyboard. An eLearning storyboard lets outline and document your learning content slide-by-slide and lets you review it with your stakeholders and subject matter experts before you begin development.
While storyboarding is an important part of the whole instructional design process for eLearning development, if you've never written an eLearning storyboard before, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. How do you organize your course content, when should you use a written storyboard vs. a visual storyboard, and how do you review it with your stakeholders and subject matter experts? These are all questions you've likely asked yourself when trying to write your first eLearning storyboard.
So, in this How-To Workshop, I'll walk you through my process for how to write an eLearning storyboard from beginning to end, including several real-world eLearning storyboard examples from my own projects.
👉 Learn more and download my eLearning storyboard templates by checking out this article: community.elearningacademy.io...
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1️⃣ Snag a Copy of My Book: amzn.to/3TZ56PR
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:12 What is an eLearning Storyboard?
08:26 Why Write an eLearning Storyboard?
11:49 How Do You Write an eLearning Storyboard?
12:34 Step One: Collect & Organize Your Learning Content
13:40 Collect Your Learning Content
17:45 Create an eLearning Course Outline
20:55 eLearning Course Outline Examples
27:39 Step Two: Pick an eLearning Storyboard Format
27:57 Types of eLearning Storyboards
30:45 Written eLearning Storyboards
31:35 Visual eLearning Storyboards
34:32 Determine How You Want to Present Your Course Content
37:20 Written eLearning Storyboard Example
44:50 Visual eLearning Storyboard Example
50:21 Video Storyboard Example
55:25 Step Three: Draft the Storyboard
56:10 What to Include in an eLearning Storyboard?
59:35 Steps Four & Five: Review & Edit Your eLearning Storyboard
59:56 Manage Your Review Cycles
01:03:00 Storyboard Review Instructions Example
01:05:05 Closing

[@elearningacdmy]

Learn more and download my eLearning storyboard templates by checking out this article: community.elearningacademy.io/c/knowledge-base/how-to-write-an-elearning-storyboard-instructional-design

[@Sa-sma]

i think your link is broken - I get an error message

[@Maybathome]

I've just completed my master's degree in Education and Technology in an attempt to become an e-learning designer. 1 year of very intensive studies, thousands of pounds and tons of stress, and I steel feel like an imposter. After watching your free tutorials I realise they have more value than a full master's course. Thank you

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for sharing! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the kind words!

[@loligravesen4538]

Couldn’t agree more

[@user-xo1sv8se4m]

This is not just a tutorial video about how to make a storyboard, also gives me lot of ideas about how to organize my thoughts and plans!!! Thank you so much!!!!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you liked it!

[@gillefhaolain3972]

Hi Tim. I am currently a teacher wishing to change careers and become an instructional designer. I have watched many of your How To videos and just wanted to say how incredibly informative and inspiring they are. The more of them I watch the more feel I could really do this. Your videos have also made me feel that I’d really genuinely love doing it. I now feel like I have a really clear idea of how to get started on my journey to becoming an instructional designer thanks to your brilliant advice, the worked through examples you give and all the insightful tips. Thank you.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I really makes my day...and I'm so happy you've found my stuff helpful! Please don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything I can do to help or if I can answer any questions! Otherwise, if you get the chance, I encourage you to participate in one of our monthly eLearning challenges in the community. It's a great way to put all of this info into practice: community.elearningacademy.io/c/design-challenges/

[@joshowoshobosho]

Wow! This video was so well made and jam packed with incredible information. Thanks!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I’m glad you liked it! Make sure to check out my complete guide for drafting eLearning storyboards here: community.elearningacademy.io/c/knowledge-base/how-to-write-an-elearning-storyboard-instructional-design

[@Saysometh1N]

I've binged watch a number of your trainings and have learned so much about eLearning design today than I have over the past two years. Thank you so much!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you've found it helpful!

[@aldarasanchezcandelas7780]

This video is incredible. Thank you, Tim! It helped me so much.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I so happy to hear it was helpful! Here’s my complete guide on storyboarding, which includes free templates: community.elearningacademy.io/c/knowledge-base/how-to-write-an-elearning-storyboard-instructional-design

[@sagarkapoormm7434]

Tim, you are a legend and your intention to genuinely add value and help other people who struggle with ID shows in your videos. Hats off ❤️

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks! I very much appreciate that!

[@leighmorgan1168]

What an amazing, comprehensive video on Storyboards! Thank you, Tim! Well done... as usual!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks, Leigh! I’m glad you found it helpful!

[@minal9972]

Thank you Tim for passing on the knowledge. I love the way you explain which is to the point. Please create more videos on Articulate Storyline which includes creating templates, complex interactivity with complex functionality, game based learning etc. Best regards from India 😊

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks! I have a bunch of Storyline sessions scheduled for the future, which you can find here: community.elearningacademy.io/c/events/?sort=asc

[@johnkimpan8194]

This was the most informational video I've seen explaining the storyboarding process. As someone new to storyboards, this is exactly what I needed. Thank you! Since this was so helpful, I just joined the elearning academy community.

[@elearningacdmy]

I'm so happy it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@saverino2023]

This video is gold! Thanks Tim for helping me clarify this storyboarding process.

[@elearningacdmy]

I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@jacquelinelimonchi5871]

This helped me understand Storyboards so much! I feel like this video broke it into chunks that I was able to feel more comfortable with. I love the way you showed the outcome of the storyboard in the actual eLearning course created because it allowed me to see how different and similar they can be. Thank you!!!!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@melissademski1558]

Thank you for allll of this! Moving into ID (from academia as an English Prof) and this series is exactly what I needed. I'm also an avid fan of the post-it note method - it works!

[@krisbickell9765]

Tim, well done! You really helped make the concept of storyboarding much more dynamic!

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you liked it, Kris!

[@jacquelineteagle8022]

This video was direct and to the point, no fluff. Thank You

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks! I appreciate that!

[@rootedivyflowerfarm2298]

I cannot express how much this clarified this process for me. Thank you so much for taking the time to make videos like this.

[@elearningacdmy]

It’s my pleasure! I’m so happy it was helpful! Thanks for the kind words!

[@andreataylor928]

Tim, this is the most comprehensive and comprehensible explanation of the storyboarding process I have listened to since getting into this field last year. Thank you so much for your calm and informative delivery. Excellent job!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks, Andrea! I really appreciate it!

[@audreyreid3437]

Thanks you, Tim so much. I've learned exactly how to formulated construction a storyboard. Respect

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks, Audrey! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@africanqueen007]

so glad I found you! excellent delivery, you make it seem easy!...thank you!!!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate the kind words!

[@chatorigaliwithsumanji6204]

Thank you so much!!! This is the best video I have encountered on storyboarding basics.🙇‍♂

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ConceiveBelieveAchieveTarot]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Thank you! So relatable to a lot of the tools that I use and teaching I am totally rethinking my whole life right now. I love the creativity the attention to detail just it’s just amazing and the remote life.🥰

[@irinasafiullina8037]

I love the way the material is presented! Thank you so much, very helpful:)

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[@sounakbhattacharya2688]

This is the best video about storyboarding I have ever come across. Thank you so much.

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@amysilva4731]

Thank you so much, Tim! This is a fantastic resource on storyboarding. I just met an instructional designer who only creates the storyboards, then passes them on to other members of the team to create the course using different authoring tools. I didn't even know that was a thing, and then you mentioned it in your video! I asked him if he would give me some feedback on the first storyboard that I created. This gave me some great tips to improve it before I pass it on to him! Thank you!

[@elearningacdmy]

I’m glad it was helpful, Amy! And yes…every team does it a little differently. Let me know if there’s ever anything else I can do to help!

[@sylviaindusa8685]

What an incredibly insightful video. You have amazing content.

[@paulasuniverse5029]

Excellent...Detailed and professional content and samples. One of the best tutorials I've seen.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks!

[@sonicapujji]

Love the analogy of the blueprint of the house to the storyboard for eLearning content. Definitely worth trying this angle with my stakeholders the next time. Thank you.

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@LaurenNewman1230]

Wow! This was so so helpful, Tim. Thank you so much!

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you liked it!

[@cc0822]

This is extremely helpful and valuable! Thank you for providing this content.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching!

[@priyakumar4305]

Really informative and insightful! I really found this process quite useful particularly how important it is to set stakeholder expectations in terms of review cycles etc. What I learnt new today was creating pop-up window in PowerPoint - same look and feel as one can build in Storyline! this is cool :) Looking forward to your next webinar on Prototypes

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DrJaiLeadership]

wow! This presentation was amazing. You closed all of my knowledge gaps surrounding storyboarding. Thank you. Job well done.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@Mudassar_Shahbaz]

Tim, you are doing an amazing job. Your content is very informative and easy to understand. It has given me a great understanding of how ID works.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[@RaePost]

So helpful! Thank you!

[@elearningacdmy]

You are so welcome!

[@cokeacola1226]

Tim, this is so helpful and timely for me! I’m going to definitely use your content mapping process. We use Mural at my job, so I’m going to attempt the process using that tool. Sometimes I feel like you’re psychic with how timely some of your sessions are for what challenges I have. 😂 Thank you!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks, Courtney! I’m glad it was helpful! I’ll try to keep using my psychic 🔮 powers for my future sessions! 😂

[@trainer4uu]

Thank you so much. This was very helpful in helping me get my head wrap around a number of things that involve storyboarding including how to communicate it to stakeholders and smes!

[@elearningacdmy]

I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching! If you'd like to learn more, feel free to check out my complete article on storyboarding here: community.elearningacademy.io/c/knowledge-base/how-to-write-an-elearning-storyboard-instructional-design

[@marcialaramore5779]

This video was so informative, as you explained this topic so well. Thank you !!!!!

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! I’m glad you like it!

[@jess09081994]

What a great video! Thank you!

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@reynardmhlahlo9864]

So much value in this , thank you so much , I have liked subscribed and joined your community , amazing work !

[@elearningacdmy]

I'm happy to hear it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@ayeshakalim398]

A very thorough explanation about creating storyboard, it is quite a reminder for me as an Instructional designer as not been into this much detail while studying in my master's degree program at the university. Thanks Tim for all your help and guidance. I will surely apply these skills to my next storyboarding project. 🏆🥇

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you liked it!

[@lucianegarcia5894]

This was really informative. I am beginning to understand the process because of your videos. This video is so comprehensive, I just bought the book.

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ravneetkour8191]

I am about to start my job as an ID and God thank you so much for this! I got to learn so much from this. Loved it.

[@elearningacdmy]

Congrats on the new job! I'm glad you found the video helpful! :)

[@AndrewOMalley]

Love this!

[@martignyvalais9635]

This was brilliant! Thank you.

[@elearningacdmy]

I’m glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching! Make sure to check out my complete guide for storyboarding (with free templates) here: community.elearningacademy.io/c/knowledge-base/how-to-write-an-elearning-storyboard-instructional-design

[@techielabteacher]

This was the best storyboarding video walkthrough and it contained EVERYTHING! I am purchasing your book (which has been sitting in my Amazon cart for a month). But today, I am getting it. Thank you so much for assisting me with a task I have been struggling with.

[@elearningacdmy]

I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it! My goal was to be as comprehensive as possible. Let me know how you enjoy the book! 😊

[@techielabteacher]

@@elearningacdmy I will. Question: What are you using to present this video?. I do presentations, but I like the clean interface of your video. Thanks in advance.

[@elearningacdmy]

@@techielabteacher Hey Reba. All of my slides are simply created in PowerPoint...and then I record and edit it all in Camtasia. I hope that helps!

[@techielabteacher]

@@elearningacdmy Yes, this helps. It is motivating me to learn Camtasia. It is really clean.

[@merrymary428]

Fantastic!!!! So so good!!!

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you liked it!

[@travelingronnie1568]

🐟"Just start typing...just start typing🐟"! Great video!

[@elearningacdmy]

Yes! Thank you!

[@Careerbitesarabia]

that was very instructive thank you

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JessieCarty]

This was SO helpful! I was wondering if you'd ever done a storyboard challenge for the community? Like present a storyboard and then have people interpret it in the tool of their choice? I'd so try that :)

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks, Jessie! Glad you liked it! We actually decided to take a small step back from the challenges for now. :( However, that doesn't mean we won't possibly bring them back in the future. I'll keep this idea in mind! :)

[@JessieCarty]

@@elearningacdmy Totally understand that! I'm wondering if there is some way I could help host something like this to help aspiring IDs out. Hmm. You got me thinking!

[@katesprague9867]

I am working on my MSLxD. I am in my second course and I am stuck on storyboarding. I started crying after you said this is a common roadblock for others. I am so frustrated. Thank you for going in depth in this process.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching and commenting, Kate! I'm so happy to hear the video helped. I don't know a soul in this industry who didn't struggle with storyboarding the first few times. As much as it's important, It's not something that's intuitive. So, my best piece of advice is just keep writing and iterating...and eventually it'll come together!

[@Exegesis66]

Start with an outline first! Some people want to jump into the vines and hang them up onto a trellis, that's a lot of work IMO but to each his/her/their own. My brain certainly prefers to start with the trellis and add the vines, i.e., an iterative outline method. When I outline just knowing the topic before a coaching session it activates the generative learning principle and makes me more focused and ask better questions in the session. Then iterate after the session. Then gather data and iterate again. The outline changes each time, reorganizes based on categories that make sense, etc. This controls the flow of information coming in and when I stand back to look at the outline it's easier to see what should be cut and consolidated. Anyone else work this way?

[@antonelareis396]

great video

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@kepikathapa3888]

Thankyou 😇

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching!

[@locamusica]

Wow thank you for this very comprehensive delivery! You are simply the best ! What software did you use to create this online tutorial?

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you liked it! I record and edit all of my stuff in Camtasia.

[@SuperFilip2012]

I love it, thank you so much. How long do you usually spend on a 20-25 slide storyboard?

[@elearningacdmy]

It really depends. In some instances it might take me a day or two…in others it could be a week or longer. It depends on the content, the complexity of the course, etc.

[@nachocambon4749]

God damn, thank you

[@elearningacdmy]

Happy to help! :)

[@lasandraconliffe3598]

Hello I am a student in a learning course and I am tasked with creating a course story board and outline Thank you for this. very informative my issue is that I am using an LMS what software program did you used to create this learning videos or how to and how do you implement KZbin content into the story board for the course..

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for the kind words! I appreciate it. Most of the examples you saw would have all been created in Articulate Storyline, Rise, or Camtasia. With all of these program, you can publish them and host them on most LMS platforms. I hope that helps...let me know if you have any other questions!

[@priscillajamoh3609]

Are these storyboards you showed, available to download for studying purposes?

[@aquilesdamiron-alcantara511]

Tim, what program did you use to produce and edit this video? I like that we can see you and the visuals on one screen.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for asking! I record and edit everything in Camtasia. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@geek.6743]

Thank u.....🐸🦜🦩🌴🪴

[@jctommcclain84]

Enjoyed you book and your video(s)! Can you share what tools you used to create the video? Thank you.

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks, I appreciate it! As for my videos, I edit and produce them all in Camtasia. I hope that helps! :)

[@jctommcclain84]

@@elearningacdmy Thank you! Very helpful.. Thanks again!

[@kiranraj2009]

Thanks Tim for this informative video. I have a question with regard to the process you follow: Without explicit instructions in the storyboard to the development team, how will they know when to animate the onscreen elements in sync with the narration?

[@elearningacdmy]

Great question! It really depends on the workflow of your organization. For some folks, they're writing their own storyboards and doing their own development, and so indicating when something needs to be animated may not be necessary. And even when the storyboard is handed off to a developer, oftentimes, the developer is given the discretion over the visual style and animations. However, if you're the one writing the storyboard and need to indicate when something needs to be highlighted, then by all means, you can add that information to your storyboard. The great thing about storyboarding, as I explain in the video, is that there's no single way to write a storyboard...you can adjust it to fit your needs.

[@kiranraj2009]

Thanks for clarifying, Tim.

[@elearningacdmy]

@@kiranraj2009 My pleasure!

[@PMWorkshop]

how do you use Miro to draw lines between boxes?

[@changliupierce]

Hi Tim, thank you for the great video again! Can you share what screen recording tool you are using for this video that both showing your face and your screen? Thank you! -- Chang

[@elearningacdmy]

Glad you liked it! I use Camtasia to record and edit everything. Hope that helps!

[@changliupierce]

@@elearningacdmy thank you!!

[@TheStuartGibson]

On the written storyboard, how do you et the word doc so clean, is there and easy way without pressing the space bar a million times

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching! Can you tell me a bit more of what you mean by it being "clean?"

[@funsun3277]

What did you use to actually make the final project?

[@elearningacdmy]

Are you referring to a particular storyboard I showed, or are you talking about the video itself?

[@kasunids]

Name of storyboard software please

[@PMWorkshop]

where is the Miro template

[@loligravesen4538]

Map it map it map it - backward design

[@elearningacdmy]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Here's my complete guide to action mapping: community.elearningacademy.io/c/knowledge-base/how-to-create-an-action-map-instructional-design

[@geomantilla]

That intro was ridiculously long

[@elearningacdmy]

You’re welcome to skip it and jump ahead…that’s what the timestamps are for. Remember, you’re the mayor of your viewing experience. 😉