Strategic Storyboarding

Be Your Best Using Storyboards

YOU can be the best! The best trainer. The best presenter. The best communicator. If you’re just starting or it’s been a while, no worries. You’ve come to the right place to discover keys to succeed. Get comfortable It all starts with you. The most important thing you need to keep in mind is being comfortable. Comfortable in all the details: standing at an easel; holding markers; and creating charts. Your comfort puts people at ease. It’s professional, purposeful and you can be at your best. Little things can either throw you off or anchor you into a calm, centered, ready-to-go state of mind. Take time with the basics so that your foundation is strong, focused and solid. Let’s start with the basics: A marker is not a pencil. You don’t have to grip onto it for dear life. Hold it easily, near the front end of the marker and practice making lines on a piece of paper mounted on the wall, or on an easel chart. Practice holding the marker so you get THICK lines. That’s important. When you draw with thick lines, participants will see what you’re doing. A thick line also looks more confident and professional. Take time to practice drawing thick lines and getting comfortable with the marker. Think comfort! How to work with an easel. An easel chart is your tool. Get familiar with it. Adjust it so that the height works for you—higher or lower, so that you can comfortably write on it without having to an awkward reach. You should be able to stand next to the easel and raise your arm comfortably to reach the top of the chart. Practice standing next to the easel stand. Not gripping it. Not hiding behind it. Not hugging it. Standing next to it. Turn to write on it and then turn away. Consider the chart to be like a partner in a partner dance. Move--no glue on your feet. If you stay too long in front of the chart, no one will be able to see what you’re doing. If you try to write on the chart without standing in front of it, you’ll likely have a stiff back or feel crimped in how you’re standing. Keep moving. Psst… the chart doesn’t bite; so don’t stand a mile away. Practice touching the chart. Point and touch the chart lightly with your hand. See, that wasn’t so bad. Make eye contact The chart isn’t going to walk away. So, keep your focus on individuals in the group. Make eye contact. Really look at them. Now turn back to the chart. Still there. OK. Turn back for more eye contact. If this seems silly, it’s not. Your group remembers when you make eye contact. According to recent statistics, people remember only 7% of the content, but 43% that you make eye contact, and 50 % body language. Look at individuals, make eye contact. When you are comfortable with your tools, your audience reads that loud and clear. They can see you are at ease. They can sense that you’re comfortable. And it helps them to relax and focus on learning the skills you’re teaching.