Links

Here are some useful flip chart links:

Tips on Using Flip Charts
An article from a librarian with some very useful advice on flip charts

Pre-printed Flip Charts
Get your flip charts printed in advance

Post-It Flip Charts
Sticky note flip charts from 3M, the inventors of the Post-It

Flip Chart Shop
A simple shop with the best flip chart products around

The Best Flip Chart
An easel claiming to be “the best”

Digital Flipchart from Nobo
A flipchart that enables you to capture everything you write on it

Flipchart Wisdom
Visual notes on business thinking and innovation – all on a flip chart..!

Magic Whiteboard
A flip chart on a roll that sticks to the wall. As seen on TV’s Dragon’s Den

The Story of Magic Whiteboard
Newspaper article on the success of Magic Whiteboard

Presenting Phenomenally
The complete guide to being able to stand up and present confidently


Using a Flip Chart During Your Presentation

By Ellen Egan

While mentoring some colleagues to help them overcome their fear of public speaking and to improve their public speaking skills, I noticed a distinct “fear of the flip chart”. What is it and how does one overcome it?

It can be easy to spot someone with a fear of public speaking because they are glued to the spot where they began their speech and they refuse to move. The idea of using any kind of props (e.g. flip charts, handouts, etc) is terrifying because they would have to move and it might make the experience go on even longer.

However, an important public speaking tip is to use flip charts and other props to support your presentation. The way you use your flip chart is a critical part of public speaking. Here are some important public speaking tips and techniques for using a flip chart effectively:

1. Arrive early and be sure that the flip chart is positioned so that you can get to it easily when you need it.

2. Be sure that it is positioned so that you can stand next to it and write while still facing your audience (ie. Do Not Turn Your Back On Your Audience!)

3. Make sure you have several markers that work and immediately throw away the ones that don’t work. You don’t want to be scrambling to find a good marker during your presentation.

4. Only use blue or black markers please. It is too difficult for those at the back of the room to see other colors. Red is OK to accentuate things already written in blue or black.

5. When writing on the chart, make your letters at least 2-3 inches tall.

6. Draw lines in pencil pages beforehand to help you keep your writing legible.

7. Plan out your pages as you are writing the outline for your presentation. They will be the support for your public speaking presentation.

8. Write notes to yourself, in pencil on the flip chart to help remind yourself of all the important points to be included. I promise your audience won’t see the penciled notes.

9. If you have something that you want to present and then accentuate during the presentation or discussion, write out the flip chart page beforehand so that you can just flip the page to it.

10. If you need to refer to something that you wrote on a page at a later point in your presentation, rip off the page and ask someone to tape it up on the wall – don’t forget to bring big masking tape for this.

Flip charts are a great way to be interactive with your audience and get their inputs to your presentation. People feel important when you write their words and ideas on paper in front of the room.

I hope that this sparks some ideas on using flip charts to strengthen your public speaking and help to overcome any “fear of the flip chart”.

Ellen Egan is a public speaking expert who specializes in public speaking, public speaking tips and techniques and releasing your fear of public speaking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ellen_Egan

http://EzineArticles.com/?Using-a-Flip-Chart-During-Your-Presentation&id=2524540

100 Creative Presentation Ideas

By Amir Elion

Creative Presentation Ideas – It’s Showtime!

Listed below are just 3 of the 100 creative presentation ideas you can use to make your presentation unforgettable. You may use these creative presentation ideas when speaking to potential investors, at management forums, conference lectures or with your colleagues, employees, or any other presentation you have to make.

Each creative idea is described in the following format:

  • Basic description of the creative presentation idea
  • What for? major benefits of the idea, or how it may be used
  • Variations on the creative idea: how you can adapt the idea to different settings, goals and audiences
  • Comments: things you should pay attention to when using the creative idea

Well, here comes the first creative presentation idea:

Creative Presentation Idea #1:

Description: Do not use titles in your slides

What for?

  1. Tell the viewers that you left out the presentation titles intentionally in order to see if you could deliver your main points clearly
  2. When using the presentation as a learning aid in a workshop, if your audience is required to complete the titles, they will have to think about what you are teaching and actively participate in the discussion

Variations:

  1. Leave the titles out for only some of the slides – perhaps the ones that will be used for a review of the presentation so far, or to trigger a discussion on a controversial issue
  2. Write only half of the title, and ask your audience to complete it

Comments:

  • You can use a printed “complete” version of the presentation for yourself, so you can see the titles you meant to use

The creative ideas I suggest are of different kinds and levels. Some are crazier than others. You should choose the one that best suits your presentation needs. Do you want to make a really bold statement? Here is a more outrageous idea:

Creative Presentation Idea #75:

Description: Present the presentation blindfolded!

What for?

  1. You could definitely demonstrate your knowledge of the subject and a good memory skill as well as self-confidence by using this idea
  2. Use it to add some humor to your presentation: after you put the blindfold on, intentionally make some funny mistakes when referring to the slides, and only then show them that you know what you’re talking about…

Variations:

  1. Put the blindfold on for just a short part of the presentation, when you want to make a dramatic effect
  2. Provide blindfolds for the participants, so their sense of hearing will be heightened and you could test their memory after a few slides!

Comments:

  • Take care not to offend people with disabilities (e.g. blind people, etc.). Use this technique when you are certain you can do so tactfully and with good taste

As you might have noticed by now, these creative presentation ideas do not rely on an incredible knowledge of Power Point, or on unreasonable production expenses. Actually, in some of the ideas you don’t even have to use Power Point at all!. Here’s one:

Creative Presentation Idea #31:

Description: Have a painter/caricaturist assistant -

drawing images/cartoons on a flip chart as you explain

What for?

  1. This would make your presentation “live” on the go. Instead of using slides, the sketches would visually convey the major points you are trying to get through. For example – when you talk about the tough task lying ahead, a simple drawing of mountaineers climbing up a steep mountain would etch that image in the viewers mind.
  2. A caricaturist could add a touch of humor to your presentation with funny images and hints

Variations:

  1. If you have the talent – you could draw the sketches yourself as you speak.
  2. If there’s an electronic drawing pad – you could use it and show the drawings on a screen as they are drawn.
  3. Alternatively – ask some of the participants themselves to help you and draw those images on the flip chart as you speak.
  4. You could prepare and give the participants a comic book with the important things you talked about.

Comments:

  • Make sure there are enough flip chart pages you could use, and that everyone can see them well.
  • Rehearse the presentation with the painter and the list the major subjects you are going to talk about so that s/he would have time to think about how to make meaningful and relevant drawings.
  • Here are a few pointers on where to find the person to draw for you: look for high school or college art students who wish to practice and demonstrate their talent for a small fee or free of charge; ask around for other employees that have that talent and are willing to give a hand. Of course, if the presentation is worth the investment, you may always hire a professional caricaturist.

Get 100 creative presentation ideas – and more!
I hope these three examples of creative presentation ideas gave you a taste of how you can make your presentations into memorable events.
But the 119-pages “100 creative presentation ideas” e-book has more than just ideas. Here is the book’s table of contents:

Magic Whiteboard – a flip chart on a roll…!

How to Buy Easel Online

One of the best toys that you can ever give your child is an art easel that can kindle their creativity, talent, and love for art. No other toy inspires the young hands like a children's easel with paint, chalk, markers, dry erase markers, crayons, and a blank sheet of paper. There are several different types of kid's art easels that are available to help you make a selection.

So how do you go about purchasing one?

Well, the Internet is the best place to look for all kinds of kids' art easels and you can take your time looking at the various options available at many online stores before deciding on the type of easel you wish to purchase.

You would do well to follow these tips when buying them online.

1. Do your research – It definitely helps to be prepared before you hit the buy button when you are shopping online. There are numerous stores that sell kids art easels online and there are numerous choices that needs to be made before you decide to buy an easel. Do you need a standing easel or a desktop easel? Do you just need Chalkboard or Dry erase board or Magnetic Board or Paper Pads or all of them or a combination of them? Do you need a single-sided or double-sided easel? The questions are many and the choices numerous. That's why it helps to do your research first. In order to narrow down your choices decide on one or two things that are a must have feature. By narrowing the search you will save time and compare products effectively.

2. Fix a Budget – Kids Art Easels come in a broad range of $30 – $200 depending on the features and add-ons that you are interested in. Most of the easels do not come with accessories like paper pads, color pencils, chalk, dry erase markers etc. You would need to purchase them separately. Keep in mind that these are priced on the higher side and make sure you provide for these in your budget. When you see a $40 on an art easel you can be sure that they don't come along with the necessary art medium. Browse for the accessories and decide which ones do you want and then add those prices to the base price of the easel. First time buyers generally tend to overlook the art supplies and are surprised by the total cost when they need to order each of them separately.

3. Read Reviews – One of the benefits of buying online is that you can get different viewpoints of the product that you have chosen. Most of the online stores provide a way to write reviews by people who have already bought the product. You can read through all of the reviews to understand the quality aspects of the product that you would like to purchase. If you are not satisfied with the quality of reviews or if the online store does not provide many reviews you can search for reviews in other online review sites. Most of these online review sites provide unbiased reviews from real users and can definitely guide you in your buying process.

4. Choose a store that can ship nationwide- Buy choosing an online store that has nationwide ties you are likely dealing with a larger and more established shop that is less likely to make errors and better able to fix them if they do. Large stores are able to pass on the benefits of scale to their customers in the forms of discounts, free shipping and other offers. In case you are not satisfied with the product you can easily return back as these large stores have better refund policies in place.

5. Plan Ahead – One of the key aspects to buying online is to plan ahead. There are number of sales offered by different online stores at different periods of the year. If you are looking out for a product you can capitalize on these sales. You can also look for sales offers from online retailers who wish to dispose of surplus stock. You can thus get good quality stuff at very reasonable rates. You however need to be checking regularly to take advantage of such offers and planning ahead will definitely help you save a lot.

To sum it up, if you plan ahead and follow the tips above you should be able to seize upon some good bargains as well as have fun in the process.

For the best art easel reviews and buying guides from a real parent check out the Standing Easel Store. There you will find great reviews on kids art easels and tips to buy easel online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D_Albert
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Buy-Easel-Online&id=4883389

Products advertised on this page are sold by external companies who provide Using Flip Charts (Graham Jones) with a commission on each sale