How to Make a Storyboard on PowerPoint

Whether you’re prepping a product pitch or laying out your plan of attack to comply with a hefty government request for a proposal, storyboarding your ideas is an optimal way to see your plans from start to finish. The Microsoft PowerPoint presentation software lends itself well to the storyboarding process, as it is already set up in the separate squares – in this case, slides – needed in storyboards. With PowerPoint, you can realize your work on the printed page as well as on the screen, and start sharing your story.

Launch PowerPoint. Click into the “Click to add title” text box and type the title of the storyboard, such as your company’s name or the name of the product you are pitching. Click into the “Click to add subtitle” box and type the date and storyboard participants. Brand the storyboard with your logo by clicking the “Insert” tab, clicking the “Picture” button, browsing to a digital logo graphic and double-clicking it.

Click the “Home” tab, then click “New Slide.” A slide with “Click to add title” and “Click to add text” text boxes appears. Click into the “Click to add title” text box and type the first step, process or idea in the storyboard, such as “Product Problems.” Click into the “Click to add text” box and fill in the details, such as problems your new product solves in the marketplace. Write sparingly, in bullet or phrase form, as storyboards are usually light on text.

Click the small “Insert Picture” button in the middle of the “Click to add text” box, the first button on the second row. Browse to an image for the storyboard, such as an exploded blueprint or a photograph of something that reinforces the text on the slide.

Click the “New Slide” button. Type the next title, such as “Research.” Click into the text box and type details that go with this slide, such as how your company came to know about the problem and steps taken. Add images as desired.

Continue to add new slides, along with titles, text and images as required. You can also make an entire slide out of an image. Click once on a text or title box and press the “Delete” key to remove it from the slide. This can be optimal for showing a series, such as building a product from scratch to finish.

Click the “View” tab, then click the “Handout Master” button on the ribbon. This lets you see the actual storyboard as compared to a single slide in the PowerPoint work area. Click the “Slides Per Page” button and choose from 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 or 9 slides per page for the storyboard. This is just a preview to printing. Click the “Close Master View” button when finished previewing.

Click the “File” tab and select “Print.” Click the drop-down arrow on the “Full Page Slides” menu, the default option under the Slides section. Choose the same handout number you previewed, or your preferred number of slides per storyboard page. The more slides per page, the smaller they will appear. Change the number that appears in the “Copies” box to the number of sets of storyboards required, and then click the “Print” button.