The ABC’s - Strategic Storyboarding

The ABC’s

Can a step-by-step approach to writing really HELP your charts? The answer may surprise you.

Take The “Lettering Frustration” Test!

Does everyday writing make you stressed out and anxious?
Are you accumulating a bad attitude towards writing on charts?
Do you feel embarrassed by how your lettering looks on posters?
Do you have writing that slants up or down?
Do you run out of room on the page?
Have you tried improving your penmanship without success?

If you’ve answered “YES” to one or more questions, you’ve come to the right spot. Instead of simply identifying the problem…this time, you’ve come to your writing help-line for solutions.

The real secret to lettering is: It All Starts with YOU. How you stand, where you look, how you hold the marker and how you work with an easel chart improves your outcomes. Pay attention to this checklist and watch your lettering shift to one that really works. Ready to find out?

Here are the top five rules to overcome frustration about lettering and have professional, legible, easy-to-read charts. Let’s get started.

1. Stand straight for straight letters

The way you stand next to an easel chart or wall chart will determine how straight your letters are. Stand straight…you’ll write straight. Stand at an angle…you know what will happen…your letters will go at an angle.

Standing straight also helps keep your lines of text straight. If you are a straight vertical, then it’s easier to keep the line of text from slanting up or down.

2. Look where you want to go

Your hand follows your eyes. Look at the far side of the page and you’ll create a destination for your line of text. Look down—your writing will head downhill. Look up—your writing will start climbing. Keep your eyes looking where you want to go and watch your lines of text get straighter.

3. Go with gravity

Just as you practiced with the beginning shapes, start at the top of each letter and work down. Using gravity makes it easier to write each letter. That means less work and more comfort for a more legible result. That’s a win.

4. Keep it simple

Each letter is made up of verticals, horizontals, diagonals and curves. Keep each part of the letter as simple as possible. Skip any additional loops, curves, and curlicues as they take longer to write and are harder to read.

5. Go for a Thick line

Hold your marker so that you’re getting a thick line. Your letters will be easier to read. You’ll have more flexibility for complex letters because you won’t see where the lines intersect. Your letting will appear confident, professional and powerful.

Now, that wasn’t so tough was it? You’re doing great and most likely you have a few more questions and perhaps continuing frustrations. Take a look at these most frequently asked questions and find your answers.

Over many years, teaching people how to use visual language, we’ve heard many frustrations with lettering. To give you the highlights, we’re including the top questions and answers so that you can get started solving the problems associated with lettering.

Q: When do you use capitals and when do you use lower case?
A: CAPS are best; But, print in upper and lower case when you need to.

It’s a big question and everyone has it. Use all capitals for titles, headings and section headings. Capital letters are easier to read and according to research, easier to remember.

The downside to capital letters is that they take longer to print. So, when you are capturing student comments, keeping up with participant answers and short on time—it’s better to keep up with the flow of conversation. Go with upper and lower case letters to keep in pace with comments.

Upper and lowercase printing does not mean cursive writing. Keep your printing in place by adding space between letters. Don’t slip into cursive writing, as it is too hard to read especially on posters in a classroom or meeting room.

Q: What’s the right size for lettering?
A: Size matters!

Lettering is all about finding the right size…too big or too small can be a problem. Most of us are used to writing on notepaper, so when we start writing on charts, we tend to write too small. Make sure that whatever you write—from titles to sub points—it’s legible from the back of the room. There’s no faster way to alienate your audience than to write unreadable text.

For titles—keep letters about two inches high. For writing, keep the height of letters approximately an inch high. This works for groups up to approximately 25 people. If you are working with larger groups, make your titles bigger. You may not have time to write all the lines of text bigger.

Q: How many lines should I have on one chart?
A: Space matters!

Leave room between lines of text. It’s easier to read. It’s easier to digest. A good rule of thumb is a title and no more than 4 lines of text on your chart page. I know-- it may not seem like much at first. But when your students can read it, remember it and apply it, you’ll know just how important this rule is.

Q: Shouldn’t I put all the information about one idea in the same place?
A: No squishing in line.

Squishing in more text, cramming it in when there’s no room is a bad idea. Don’t try to add in that one more word, that extra comment, that final detail. Start a new line. Start a new chart. Keep the space around lines of text.

This is also true for titles, headings and poster signs. Write the word first. Then draw the banner around it.

Q: How can I cheat to get great lettering?
A: Three secrets for you…

First: Create a template for yourself of drawing lines. On an easel pad, using a straightedge ruler or yardstick, draw a series of horizontal lines in black. Draw half way lines in between the main lines. Put this chart on a window. Tape your blank chart over it. The light coming through the window makes it easy to see the writing lines. It’s just like writing on lined paper!

Second: For titles and headings, write the word first in yellow. Yellow is difficult to see from a distance. You can make corrections until you like what you see. Then write over the yellow in a dark blue, purple or dark green.

Third: Buy paper that already has blue lines or grids on it. If this is too expensive to do all the time, make some of these grid sheets into template sheets as described above. Working on the window will save you time and effort in creating pre-made charts.

By now you’ve got the key points and secrets in lettering. You’ve learned how it all starts with you! You know how to stand, how to hold the marker, where to look and what to focus on. And you’ve got tips and techniques for managing those perplexing questions about legible handwriting.

Your handwriting makes a huge difference in how people perceive you. With legible, clear powerful writing, your charts will appear professional, expert and as if you’ve been doing this for years!

If you haven’t already, now is a good time to review the video, look at the PDF file of each letter, and go through the writing checklist. If you haven’t already, work through the practice section and take the time to apply what you’ve learned.

Before you leave this section, take the quick quiz to confirm you’ve learned the key points.

Practice:

Practice making a row of small vertical lines.
Practice making a series of one inch horizontals.
Practice drawing horizontal lines so that you can get a feel for staying horizontal
Practice each letter at least 5 times, using the principles described. Practice in the same size you’ll be writing on an easel chart. It is OK to do additional practice in a smaller size your notebook.
Practice using old newspaper. Turn the paper horizontally and use the column width as a guide for how large your letters can be.
Practice with the template of squares. Use this to make your letters approximately equal in height and width.

Apply:

• Walk to the back of your classroom and check if you can read what you’ve written. If you’re squinting, write bigger.

• Stand straight at the easel chart and you’ll find that you’ll be able to write straight without the lines of text going up or down

Make a list with four lines of text
Make a list with 5 lines of text