Using Flip Charts and Visuals

The best visuals can be the simplest and easiest to use. The purpose of using visual aids is to enhance your presentation. Using a flip chart has many advantages. Here are but a few:


• Flip charts are basic: They do not require a great deal of technical knowledge and expensive equipment.
• Flip charts are cost effective: They cost $5-15; the marking pen is under $2. Both can be used repeatedly for one investment.
• Adding color is inexpensive. Buy several markers with different colors. Be sure to get the oversized markers, so they will be easy to see from a distance. Avoid yellow, pink, aqua blue, or any shade that is truly light.
• Refrain from using too many colors. 2-3 colors work best. Be sure your colors don't clash. The proper shades of green and purple may look good. But be sure you have shades that compliment each other.
• Flip charts make impromptu changes easy. If a lightening bolt of inspiration hits, flip the page and write it out for your audience.
• There are numerous varieties of easels that hold flip charts pads. Be sure you are prepared if your chart does not fit the easel that is supplied. What is Plan B?
• Notes for 'the next page' can be written on flip charts, for the speaker's eyes only. Write very lightly in pencil, and in the same place on each page. Thus, you will know where your note to you is located, and your audience will not see you reading your notes.
• Prepare your charts with care. Use only 4-6 items per page. They should be no less then 4 inches in height, preferably 6 inches. Your audience needs to be able to read what you have written.
  Print or write neatly. Don't use all block letters the same size. This makes reading from a distance difficult.
• Write on alternate pages, with a 'clean' page in between. This prevents your audience from having a preview of the next page bleeding through.
• Mistakes happen. It is always best to prepare your visuals in advance. This makes correcting mistakes easier. If your mistake is small you can cover it with a liquid paper product. If it is fairly large, use the opportunity to add depth to your flip chart. Cut out two complimentary shapes from two different colors of paper. A dark and a light color work best. Glue these to your flip chart, one on top of the other and over your 'mistake'. It makes a great visual. Especially if it looks planned.
• How you store your flip chart between uses is important. Lay it flat or keep it in case designed for this purpose. If you take good care of your flip chart it will last through numerous speeches.
• Flip charts are not only large pads of paper. You can use large sheets of cardboard or posterboard also. When using posterboard, be sure to have a full support behind them, so they don't bend around the easel. Prepare them carefully, covering the cardboard with wrapping paper, cloth, or any other decorative background. Be sure to use a solid color or a small patterned print. Then attach paper words. During your presentation you can simply remove the boards one at a time.
• Practice, practice, practice. Be sure your boards or flip chart pages are in the proper order. Be sure the spelling is correct. Stand back far enough to determine if the letters are large enough to be seen by your audience. Prepare your visuals early, to give you time to get comfortable with them during practice, and to be sure they are properly done.
• Look at and talk to you audience not to the visual. Never face your flip chart while you are speaking. This directs the sound away from your audience.
• You are the speaker. Don't use visuals that distract from your speech. Distractions can come in the form of misspelled words. It can also be a speaker that is more interested in fiddling with his visuals than he is in speaking to his audience.

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