Storyboarding is a powerful tool for visually communicating ideas and concepts to clients, executives, and stakeholders. Storyboards allow you to walk people through a narrative visually, bringing your ideas to life. This makes pitches more compelling and memorable. Storyboards are sequences of images, like comic strips, showing the flow of a story. Each scene is sketched out in a panel to visualize the narrative. Originally used in filmmaking, storyboards are now commonly used in business to pitch and present ideas.
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Storyboards typically include rough sketches for key scenes, dialogue/descriptions, and numbers indicating sequence. The sketches don’t need to be works of art – simple stick figures and captions effectively convey ideas. The goal is walking people through the story visually.
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Benefits of Pitching with Storyboards
There are a few key benefits to using storyboards for pitching ideas and concepts:
- Visualization – Storyboards allow people to literally see your idea and how it would work. A verbal pitch is abstract, but a storyboard makes it concrete.
- Flow – The sequence of sketches shows the logical flow and progression of your idea. This helps people understand causality and relationships.
- Engagement – Storyboards keep people engaged in your narrative visually versus just listening passively. The combination of visuals and narrative is more dynamic.
- Memorability – People remember stories much better than bullet points. The visual narrative gives them something memorable to hold onto.
- Iteration – Storyboards can be revised quickly to iterate on ideas. Sketches are fast and you can rearrange panels to improve flow.
Use Storyboarding Templates
Creating storyboards from scratch can be time-consuming. Instead, you can use storyboarding templates to help accelerate the process. Many free and paid storyboard templates are available online.
Some things to look for in a storyboarding template:
- Panels for sketches numbered in sequence
- Space for captions under panels
- Story arc templates (beginning, middle, end)
- Different panel sizes and layouts
- Character templates
- Icons and shapes
The right template makes it easy to focus on your story instead of layout and formatting.
Pitching to Clients
Storyboards are extremely effective for pitching ideas and concepts to clients:
- Present a storyboard as part of an initial pitch to get buy-in on a concept. The story will sell the idea better than bullet points.
- For an existing client, use storyboards to show proposed additions or changes to a campaign or project. This allows clients to visualize adjustments.
- To pitch a product or service, map out a typical user flow or customer journey with a storyboard. This helps the client envision how customers would engage with the product.
- For internal team pitches, storyboards help get alignment on direction and approach before kicking off a project.
Tips for Pitching Storyboards
Follow these tips when pitching with storyboards:
- Keep it simple. Only show key scenes and points. Don’t overwhelm with detail.
- Focus on the viewer. Sequence panels and caption them as if telling a story directly to the client or leader.
- Practice your narrative. Know what you’ll say about each panel before presenting. But also go with the flow based on reactions.
- Print storyboards large enough for groups to see. Or use presentation software to display digitally.
- Set up the story before showing the boards. Give some context about the goals, issues, or opportunities you’ll address.
- Encourage discussion and feedback. Storyboards are flexible, so use them as tools to facilitate conversations.
So, next time you need to sell an idea, lead people through a process, or outline a strategy, reach for storyboards. Turn your concepts into compelling visual narratives that engage audiences.