Start with a hexagon
Six equal-length lines making a flat-topped (or pointy-topped) hexagon. Equal angles, equal sides. If your hexagon is lopsided, your substituents will look like they belong to two different molecules.
Kekulé form: alternating double bonds
Add a second parallel line on three of the six bonds — alternating. So your hexagon has bonds going single–double–single–double–single–double around the ring. The double-bond positions don't correspond to fixed locations in reality (all six bonds are equal in length), but Kekulé form is essential for arrow-pushing in mechanisms because you need to show which electrons move.
Circle form
A perfect circle inscribed in the hexagon — slightly smaller than the inscribed circle of the hexagon itself, centered. This is shorthand for "six delocalized π electrons." Use it when you don't need to track individual π bonds: pure substitution patterns, structural overviews, NMR/IR practice problems.
Substituents go on the corners
When you draw a substituent, attach it to a vertex, not the middle of a bond. Long substituents go to the side (3, 4, or 5 o'clock positions usually) to keep the structure readable. For disubstituted rings, label positions as ortho (1,2), meta (1,3), or para (1,4).
Draw this on the whiteboard
Open the OChem Board whiteboard — benzene rings, wedge/dash bonds, and a clickable periodic table built in. No account needed.