5 best Flipchart tools for trainer session survival

1. Marker Pen Top of my list is the   Promarker from Letraset

It comes with a large chisel nib for fills and a small nib at the other end for detail and finer work. The ink is alcohol based, permanent, and non-toxic. It dries fast on flip chart. 

It is advisable to use a spare blotter sheet to prevent ink bleed.

Useful tip: For quicker work on the fly wind some masking tape around the barrel  ( see in photo) which you can tear off for quick display on lecture / syndicate room walls.

2.  Another great colouring tool for displayed charts which avoids fears of bleed through damaging wall decorations is the  Stabilo   Woody 3 in 1 wide pencil 880/750. It is a coloured pencil, wax crayon and watercolour pencil in one. Its XXL lead is equivalent to 8 standard pencils.

3. As pro- trainers know yellow is not a good colour if you want you audience to see what you have written. This is why I have a thick yellow crayon for my flipchart work.

I use it for prepared drawing and numerical calculations which I build up during a session when using a flipchart . If I am worried of spelling a technical term incorrectly I pre-write it on the flipchart in yellow crayon. I can see it up close to the flipchart but the delegates usually cannot.

Useful tip: Another way to distract delegates from your use of yellow crayon is to put a heading in black with a border . Their eyes are drawn to the heading not the yellow crayon.

4. Glue sticks  Henkel Pritt Stickss are so handy for flipchart work. Since 1969 the Pritt stick has been the clean, quick and accurate way to stick paper, paperboard and photos and syndicate collage work.

Useful tip:   The Mr Pritt character on the barrel gives you instant inspiration for simple cartoon eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheeks mouth and hands to spice up your charts .

5. Masking tape . One way that Flipcharts beat PowerPoint outright is in the display area. Tearing off a flipchart and hanging on the wall using masking tape helps leaves the messages of your training session up for longer. After all once a slide has been changed it’s gone.

The effect of a gallery of flipcharts wallpapered through a training session is really useful for summary and review of session. It allows delegates to get up from sitting and promenade and take a note of points to follow up after the training interaction. They also see what a lot of work they have generated in the session.

Useful tip:  I photograph all course flipchart work with my  trusty Fujifilm digital camera and email them as a follow up to my delegates.  This also saves them time noting very detailed information from a flip chart during the session.

I get through lots of masking tape on courses so I recommend the  Poundland pack of 4 reels as particularly good value.