Question on Fellowship ManeuversFollow

So, I've done quite a bit of research, both in and out of game, and I'm still unclear on this.

I understand that FMs can be opened randomly when fighting any elite or higher. I know that Burglars or Guardians can also trigger these.

I understand clicking the bullseye thing if I'm not on the correct target to bring up the FM wheel.

I understand what the colors mean, and what they are for.

What I can't figure out is: do I actually click on the circle for the color I want to pick? Or do I use a skill with an icon whose background matches the color I want? I ran GB with some kin last night and I was trying to figure it out, but either there was too much latency between what I chose and the visible effect on the screen, or I was doing it entirely wrong.

I was trying to select red. As a lore master, I thought since I have ranged abilities, I could simply trigger it from a distance. Clicking the red circle didn't seem to do anything (I didn't get "stunned"). Casting my burning embers didn't trigger it.

The only time I actually got it to work was when I ran up to the mob we were targeting, and furiously clicked both the red circle, and my hotkey for that staff slam skill. Unfortunately, I have no idea which of those 3 things I did triggered it.

Skillchains were my very favorite part of FFXI, so I'm really geeking out wanting to learn how to do this better.

As stated the Red/Yellow must be pushed when your in melee range, the Blue/Green can be pushed from farther away. If your keyboard allows you to make hotkeys you can set the colors to those if you dont feel like using the mouse to push the color you want. In game menu there is a list of different combos you can do with the colors, and this varies on group size. For better reference though here is a link to them.

http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Mechanics:Fellowship_Maneuvers