LMS vs. Authoring Tools

I like using the bookshelf analogy. An LMS is like a bookshelf. The courses/modules are the books.

You can structure the bookshelf (LMS) to house a series of books together (like several modules within a course) or keep them separate. You can also house blank books (that would be a an empty module on the LMS). An eLearning development software (like Articulate Rise or Storyline) is what writes the content in the books.

So without an eLearning development software, you would just have an empty bookshelf. Similarly, without an LMS, you would just have a bunch of books floating around and no way to access or organise them.

Obviously there's a lot of nuance not captured in that analogy, but I find that tends to get the general idea across to my clients!