Using styles to make storyboards work harder

You've committed to creating proper storyboards. You understand they're essential for catching problems early, getting stakeholder buy-in, and making development smoother. But here's what nobody tells you: storyboards get long. Really long.

A 30-minute eLearning course can easily generate a 50-page storyboard document. Try navigating that without a map, and you'll spend half your time scrolling, searching, and trying to remember where you put that one section you need to revise.

There's a better way, and it's been sitting in Microsoft Word the entire time: heading styles and the navigation pane.

The problem with unstyled documents

Most people write storyboards like this: they type everything in the default "Normal" style, maybe bold a few headings or increase the font size to show hierarchy, and call it done.

It looks fine on the page. But try to find a specific section three weeks later when a stakeholder asks for changes. You're scrolling through dozens of pages, scanning for that one heading, losing your place, and getting increasingly frustrated.

Want to reorganise sections? You're copying and pasting blocks of text, hoping you didn't accidentally leave something behind or break the flow.

Need to see the overall structure of your storyboard at a glance? Good luck. You'll need to manually scan through the entire document to piece together what's where.

This isn't just annoying, it's a massive time-waster that makes storyboarding feel harder than it needs to be.

What heading styles actually do

When you apply heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.) to your document, you're doing more than just formatting text. You're creating a structured document that Word can understand and use.

Here's what that unlocks:

Instant navigation: The navigation pane shows your entire document structure as a clickable outline. Want to jump to Module 3, Section 2? One click. Need to find that branching scenario you wrote last week? Scan the outline and click.

Visual hierarchy: You can see at a glance how your storyboard is organised, which sections belong to which modules, where your major breaks are, how your content flows.

Easy reorganisation: Click and drag headings in the navigation pane to move entire sections around. Everything under that heading moves with it, no copy-paste disasters.

Automatic table of contents: Need to share your storyboard with stakeholders? Word can generate a clickable table of contents based on your heading styles in seconds.

It's the difference between wrestling with your document and having your document work for you.

How to set up your storyboard with styles

Setting this up takes about two minutes and will save you hours over the life of a project.

Step 1: Turn on the Navigation Pane

In Word, go to the View tab and check the "Navigation Pane" box. A panel appears on the left side of your screen showing your document structure.

Right now it's probably empty or just shows a few random lines. That's because you haven't used heading styles yet.

Step 2: Apply heading styles to your structure

As you write your storyboard, apply heading styles to create your hierarchy. For example:

Heading 1: Module titles
e.g., Module 1: Understanding Fire Safety

Heading 2: Section or screen titles
e.g., 1.1 Fire Triangle Explained

Heading 3: Sub-sections or interaction titles
e.g., Interactive Activity: Identify the Elements

Don't worry about what the headings look like yet, you can modify the formatting later. Right now, you're creating structure.

To apply a style, place your cursor in the line you want to format and click the appropriate heading style in the "Styles" group on the Home tab. Or use keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+Alt+1 for Heading 1, Ctrl+Alt+2 for Heading 2, and so on.

Step 3: Watch your outline appear

As you apply heading styles, the navigation pane populates with your document structure. You'll see your modules, sections, and activities organised in a nested outline.

Click any heading in the navigation pane, and Word jumps straight to that part of your document. It's like having a GPS for your storyboard.

Step 4: Use it to your advantage

Now that your structure is visible:

• Jump to sections instantly without scrolling through pages of content
• Reorganise by dragging headings up or down in the navigation pane
• Collapse and expand sections to focus on specific parts or see the big picture
• Check your flow by scanning the outline to see if your structure makes sense

Bonus: Making your styles look good

The default heading styles in Word are... fine. But you probably want your storyboard to look more professional.

The beauty of styles is that you can modify them once, and every heading using that style updates automatically throughout your entire document.

Right-click on a heading style in the Styles group, select "Modify," and adjust the font, size, colour, spacing, whatever you need. Change Heading 1 from Calibri 16pt to Arial Bold 18pt with a blue accent? Every Heading 1 in your document updates instantly.

This consistency makes your storyboard look polished and professional without manually formatting every heading.

Why this matters for storyboards specifically

Storyboards aren't static documents. They evolve as you:

• Refine your approach after stakeholder feedback
• Reorganise sections to improve learning flow
• Add or remove content based on reviews
• Jump between different parts to maintain consistency

Without heading styles, every one of these tasks is harder than it needs to be. With them, you have a dynamic, navigable document that adapts as your design evolves.

You can share the navigation outline in review meetings to help stakeholders understand the overall structure. You can quickly scan the outline to check that your scaffolding makes sense. You can reorganise entire modules without fear of breaking something.

It's a small structural decision that makes a huge practical difference.

Other people can navigate too

Here's a benefit you might not have considered: when you send your storyboard to stakeholders, SMEs, or developers, they can use the navigation pane too.

Instead of asking "can you change the thing on page 34?" they can jump straight to "Module 2: Customer Scenarios" and leave comments in context. Developers can navigate through the structure as they build. Reviewers can quickly check specific sections without reading the entire document.

A well-structured storyboard doesn't just make your life easier, it makes everyone else's easier too.

Start your next storyboard the right way

The next time you open a blank document to start a storyboard, take two minutes to:

1. Turn on the navigation pane
2. Set up your heading styles
3. Apply them as you write

You'll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Because here's the thing: instructional design is already complex enough. Your tools should make the work easier, not harder. Heading styles are one of those small techniques that compound over time, saving you minutes on every project that add up to hours over a year.

And if you're creating multiple storyboards with consistent structure (which you should be), you can save your styled document as a template and start every project with your navigation already set up.

Work smarter, not harder. Your future self will thank you.

Want more practical tips and templates for creating professional storyboards? My Instructional Designer's Starter Pack includes storyboard templates with heading styles already set up, along with guides for every stage of the instructional design process. Stop reinventing the wheel and start working with proven tools.

Find out more about the Instructional Designer's Starter Pack and streamline your workflow today.