Write a storyboard for your video

Write a storyboard for your video

1. Outline the video with specific beginning, middle and end.

Identify what these will be for your video. A common approach is introduction, problem, solution with a call to action.

2. Choose a key scene for each section of your outline that will bring your story to life.

The key scene for the introduction should be able to convey immediately the setting of the video. For example, a man at his desk drinking coffee. The key scene in the middle of your video should concisely show the problem faced by your characters. For example, the man just spilled coffee all over his computer. The key scene in the final section of your video should demonstrate immediately how you solve the issue. For example, an anti-spill coaster is placed under the mug of coffee.

3. Draft your storyboard by either using pen and paper to draw your scenes, or use a digital tool like Google Slides’ storyboard template.

Sketch out each scene using your timeline as a guide and including your key scenes. You don’t need to have drawing skills to do this: stick figures are fine, as long as the result is comprehensible to others.

4. Add dialogue, voice-over scripts, and other text to your storyboard to avoid over-stuffing each scene with information.

If there’s more than one type of text in a scene, you will need to edit it down. Note whether the text will be seen on screen or audio only.

5. Add detail to each scene by explaining each scene.

Annotate each scene – if the scene has different actions in it, identify the order in which they occur. Indicate effects – whether the camera will zoom in on an object. Indicate timing for each scene – is this a short scene, or will this scene take up a larger portion of the video?

6. Do several dry runs through before producing the video or sending it to a production team.

Check whether there is too much information included, and whether the scenes transition logically. Have a colleague or external eye also check through your storyboard to see if it makes sense to them.