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Flipchart
Having a good idea and the time to implement it perfectly (on the first try!) without any preparation and while interacting with the group is a very high expectation. Fortunately, good flipchart design doesn't have to be spontaneous. With a little preparation and the right techniques, visualizations are effortless even for non-drawing experts.
Join me in saying "Farewell!" to pens shaking with nervousness and photo logs you'd rather not put your names under.
For me, drawing spontaneously means putting something on paper without much thought or preparation. It's a great skill to impress seminar participants as well as relatives (especially the younger ones) and people sitting next to you on the plane. But it is not at all necessary to record group processes and contents of seminars or workshops.
Even if it sounds far less exciting: Preparation is what matters. And it doesn't have to take long or be tedious.
If you are well prepared, you can conjure up seemingly "spontaneous" images on the flipchart on stage. In reality, however, the images are not created in the second but are part of a personal "library" from which one can draw at any time.
Does that sound abstract? I'll make it more concrete and tell you why you can learn something from the squirrel.
You know the story of the squirrel who collects nuts and saves them for later? That's exactly what we want to do. Just not with nuts. Collect good flipchart examples. Whenever you manage to come up with a particularly good flipchart or find a visualization somewhere that you like, take a picture of it. And think about a filing system that you can use to find these photos again. This can be a digital folder or a notebook in which you collect your favorites.
Before you hold a seminar, workshop or presentation, you then go through the examples and see what fits well for the specific use case. If you also group your references (for example, according to the seminar phases: Arrival, introduction, theory, interaction, conclusion) will make the search particularly easy.
I always have a notebook with me in my seminars where I have sketched out examples that I think are good and can get inspiration from it in between or during breaks if necessary.
Tip: If you don't have the time or inclination to compile the examples by trial, error and search, you can also rely on a professionally created set of flipchart templates for workshops. fall back on.
Ideally, you can use your collection of flipchart templates not just once, but over and over again. And in the best case, they will not only benefit you, but also colleagues who present similar or the same topics (for example, by sharing a common digital folder with flipchart templates).
You can use your collection in several ways:
Youcan trace the ideas you've collected once (if they're quick and easy to reproduce) live, so you can "pull them out of your sleeve" whenever you need to.
You can use successful flipcharts as templates for tracing. If you still have the original, simply place a blank sheet over it and trace the lines. This is faster than starting from scratch, because you don't have to think about proportions as much.
Tip: This technique is ideal if you prepare flipcharts before the seminar and then complete them together with your participants.
Ifyou draw your templates digitally (or have someone draw them for you), you can print them out. You can label the printouts directly, use them for tracing as just described, or add cards (we'll get to that in a moment).
Tip: This technique is particularly suitable for very large groups if you need the same flipchart for several working groups. This way, everyone gets the same template and you save a lot of time and nerves.
Sinceit is difficult to present and take notes at the same time, some trainers outsource the visualization. This can be a professional graphic recorder, a colleague, or one of the participants.
Assigning participants to take notes may sound a bit daring, but it is very feasible if the basic grid has already been created in the form of a template and only more text needs to be added (for example, in a brainstorming session).
A flipchart is not a poster. The strength of the flipchart is the interaction with the participants. The content is recorded live. Even if the topic is exactly the same, the flpcharts will vary from seminar to seminar. And that is good!
Don't create "dead" charts that you present to the audience like a PowerPoint slide. Let the flipchart be part of the process. Use templates to create frames that you can fill, expand, and change together with the group.
I can hear the first quiet voices murmuring: "Isn't it very time-consuming to create templates that are filled and modified anew in every workshop? After all, I have to prepare them anew each time...".
Nope, it's not and no, you don't have to.
If you've made a special effort with a flipchart or invested in printing a template, you probably don't want to throw it away right after the first workshop.
The following tricks allow you to use templates more often:
Let me know if you have any questions about this topic or how you feel about flipchart templates in practice. I wanted to keep me this week times a little shorter - is me anyway not quite succeeded :) - but can like to add if there is interest.
In this course, you will learn the basics of working with a flipchart. We explore materials, writing, structure, images and how you can achieve great results with little effort.
