Storyboarding your Training Content

What is a storyboard? Basically, a storyboard is a visual guide to a piece of media. Filmmakers use it to lay out scenes, animators use it to organize sequences and instructional designers use it to map out courses, videos and interactive training content before they start building it. With that definition in mind, let's talk about what a storyboard is in the world of Instructional Design and eLearning. In the Instructional Design process I use, the term storyboard is a catchall term including the pre-development that occurs after outlining our content. I call anything I use to make my rough draft a storyboard - whether it's a script, a template or a conventional storyboard.

Writing Learner-Focused Course Goals and Objectives

Below is a course goal written in two different ways. Which one makes you want to take the course described?

a. Understand how to drive a car.
b. Drive a car.

Did you choose Objective B? I did - I want to actually be able to DO what I'm learning about!

And… ACTION!

It's great to understand, know, define, explain and describe things… but how often is that what our learners have to do with the things they learn from us? I'm going to go out on a limb and say almost never. Our learners are DOING - they're consulting, they're brainstorming, they're brainstorming, they're advising, they're creating, they're prospecting - and while they do these things they're using information they've learned, but most likely they aren't giving their customers definitions or memorized statistics.

At least, we hope not, right? Right.

Webinar Scripting

Do you use a script for your webinars? If not, you should! Far too often webinars are bogged down with “umms” and “wells” and awkward pauses while you or your presenters take time to gather your thoughts. Using a script gives you the chance to gather your thoughts BEFORE you’re on the air. This leaves your audience with the best impression of you possible.

Engaging and Entertaining your Learners

Our company recently reorganized. My department went from supporting one specific group of users, to a much broader group. One of the new groups I work with are the agents at our call centers. As anyone who as ever worked in a call center knows, this is a tough job. Generally speaking, customers don’t call a company (or a help desk) when things are going well. So you spend your work week fielding concerns, issues, instruct opportunities and the occasional venting via scream. I can tell you right now, I’m not sure I’d last a week. But the people in our call center? They’re wonderful- Funny and nice and excited and generally interested in the company, the product and the tools available to them.

Where are You Going in 2012?

Happy New Year and welcome to Learntastic! If you’d like to know about the author, click the Megtastic tab at the top of the screen. A few things you should know before you get started, sometimes we make up our own words, concepts or sayings here at Learntastic. If we ever make you go “What?” click the Wordtastic tab at the top of the screen for a definition. We’ll try to link you there when necessary. Alright, let’s get started!