Storyboard
Storyboard is a collaborative story building exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- Before the meeting, determine the topic around which the players will craft their “ideal” story. Once the meeting starts, divide the group into pairs or groups of three or four, depending on the size of the group. Provide markers, pads of flip-chart paper, and stands.
- Give the players a two-minute time warning, and once the time is up, bring them back together. Ask for volunteers to tell the story first.
- After all the groups have presented, ask them what’s inspiring in what they heard. Summarize any recurring themes and ask for observations, insights, and “aha’s” about the stories.
- Alternative: Have individuals draw their storyboard images on large stickies.
- . Give the players a two-minute time warning, and once the time is up, bring them back together. Ask for volunteers to tell the story first.
- . After all the groups have presented, ask them what’s inspiring in what they heard. Summarize any recurring themes and ask for observations, insights, and “aha’s” about the stories.
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Prompts to use +
Before the meeting, determine the topic around which the players will craft their “ideal” story. Once the meeting starts, divide the group into pairs or groups of three or four, depending on the size of the group. Provide markers, pads of flip-chart paper, and stands.
Give the players a two-minute time warning, and once the time is up, bring them back together. Ask for volunteers to tell the story first.
After all the groups have presented, ask them what’s inspiring in what they heard. Summarize any recurring themes and ask for observations, insights, and “aha’s” about the stories.
Alternative: Have individuals draw their storyboard images on large stickies.
. Give the players a two-minute time warning, and once the time is up, bring them back together. Ask for volunteers to tell the story first.
. After all the groups have presented, ask them what’s inspiring in what they heard. Summarize any recurring themes and ask for observations, insights, and “aha’s” about the stories.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Storyboard. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Before the meeting, determine the topic around which the players will craft their “ideal” story. Once the meeting starts, divide the group into pairs or groups of three or four, depending on the size of the group. Provide markers, pads of flip-chart paper, and stands.; Give the players a two-minute time warning, and once the time is up, bring them back together. Ask for volunteers to tell the story first.; After all the groups have presented, ask them what’s inspiring in what they heard. Summarize any recurring themes and ask for observations, insights, and “aha’s” about the stories.; Alternative: Have individuals draw their storyboard images on large stickies.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Gamestorming; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Gamestorming.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.