1. transform dry
content into
creative
eLearning
make your storyboards
EPIC

2.  What theme(s) do you see
across all 4 images?
ACTIVITY A: FINDING THEMES

3.  Flexibility
 Indoors vs. outdoors
 Balance
 Leisure
EXAMPLE SOLUTIONS TO ACTIVITY A

4. What analogy could you use to enhance these
technical statements?
Dealing with multiple environments, multiple vendors
and increasing data all at once is a headache.
Moving to a converged infrastructure with unified
orchestration eliminates the headache.
ACTIVITY B: FINDING ANALOGIES

5. Music analogy
 Dealing with multiple
environments, multiple
vendors and increasing
data all at once is like
listening to multiple
radios all tuned to
different stations. It’s a
headache.
 Moving to a converged
infrastructure with
unified orchestration
replaces the headache
with harmony.
EXAMPLE SOLUTION TO ACTIVITY B

6. exploreEPIC

7. Who?
Who is the audience?
What?
What is the course
goal?
Why?
Why should the learner
care?
EXPLORE

8. playEPIC

9. How does a child
play?
With imagination
With stories
With games
With no limits
Play with your
eLearning content
like a child would
PLAY

10. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY

11. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
Who are the main
players in your story?

12. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
Whose eyes are you
seeing through?

13. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
Where should your
characters be?

14. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
What happens in your story?
setup | conflict | resolution

15. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
Who is talking and
what are they saying?

16. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
What should the tone
of your course be?

17. Use the building
blocks of creative
writing
Characters
Point of view
Setting
Plot
Dialogue
Tone
Theme
PLAY
What theme do you
see in the content?

18. Imagination Themes Analogies Stories
PLAY

19. Add a story to the
technical content with
the music analogy
 Who = Salesperson
 What = Learn how to sell
a solution that eliminates
the headache of multiple
environments, multiple
vendors, increasing data
 Why = Increase sales
 Characters:
 Point of view:
 Plot:
 Setting:
 Dialogue:
 Tone:
 Theme:
ACTIVITY C: ADDING STORIES

20.  Characters: Will (salesperson), Yuki (SME and violinist),
Javier (customer)
 Point of view: Third person
 Plot: Yuki tells Will about her recent concert, which leads
to a conversation about the company’s new solution; Will
then takes the right steps to sell the solution to Javier
 Setting: Coffee area at work; Will’s office
 Dialogue: Conversation between Will and Yuki
 Tone: Professional but fun
 Theme: Headache vs. harmony
EXAMPLE SOLUTION TO ACTIVITY C

21. immerseEPIC

22. Immerse the learner
in the story
Allow the learner to
control or interact with
the characters
Give the learner
opportunities to
choose a learning path
IMMERSE

23. What eLearning
interaction could you
add to immerse the
learner in the story?
 Storyboard recap:
 A converged
infrastructure solution
transforms customer
headaches into harmony
 Will must learn how to
apply Yuki’s knowledge to
sell this solution to Javier
 Through Will’s story, the
learner must discover
how to sell the solution
ACTIVITY D: ADDING INTERACTIONS

24. Provide a decision point where the learner
chooses the best response
 Will was able to get Javier on the phone to talk about the
sales opportunity. How should he start the conversation?
A. “I’d like to talk to you about the option to move to a
converged infrastructure with unified orchestration. It can
eliminate the headache you have with your current IT
environments.” (Fair)
B. “I have an exciting opportunity for you that will solve all
your problems.” (Poor)
C. “I understand you’re going through a headache dealing
with multiple environments, multiple vendors and
increasing data. Can you tell me more?” (Great)
EXAMPLE SOLUTION TO ACTIVITY D

25. condenseEPIC

26.  You don’t necessarily
need more time to create
story-based eLearning
 Condense the material to
focus on critical points of
each course topic
 Move supplementary
content to resources
 Let the story teach the
critical content
 Condensed content leads
to a more effective
course
CONDENSE

27. source
material
vs.
storyboard
demo

28. Explore
 Who = Technical
consultants
 What = Learn time
utilization concepts
 Why = Improve time
utilization
Play
 Fun and relatable story
Immerse
 Learner gets to choose
learning path
Condense
 Key elements addressed
HIGHLIGHTS FROM EXAMPLE COURSE

29. Technical Content Lessons Bowling Analogy in Script WBT Animation
Defining utilization Bowling pins represent
available time; throwing the
ball represents the act of
spending this available time
Calculating utilization Compared scoreboard to
utilization formula: amount
of points scored out of 300
possible points yields a
utilization percentage

30. Technical Content Lessons Bowling Analogy in Script WBT Animation
Utilization targets Targets displayed as
percentages of the pizza
Barb and Jeff ordered
Billable utilization time One billable activity is
displayed per slice of pizza
for a total of 8
activities/slices

31. Technical Content Lessons Bowling Analogy in Script WBT Animation
Influencing utilization Compare difficulty levels of
methods for influencing
utilization to difficulty levels
of bowling shots
Factors that reduce utilization Bowler in next lane has a
bad technique that causes
him to reduce his utilization
(Jeff and Barb watch him
throw a gutter ball)

32. questions?

33. thank you!