Whether you are a trainer, facilitator, educator or manager, flip charts (flip charts) are an inexpensive and effective tool to help make your ideas visual, display information or brainstorm in a training session or meeting. While there are other tools that can accomplish these goals as well, flipcharts remain one of the easiest and most versatile ways to communicate information in an adult learning classroom or office.

Here are five simple and creative ideas to enhance your flipchart pages:

1. Include colored icons or bullets in various shapes that relate to your topic to visually link them to the written text and your meeting agenda or topic. For example, by addressing the following issues:

– Telephone skills: use small telephones or headphones;

-Customer service skills: use faces with small smiles or faces with various expressions based on your text;

-Travel related: use cars, boats, planes, ships or other means of transportation.

-EEO or legal – use scales of justice; and

– Technical skills – use computers or other appropriate equipment.

2. Include applicable drawn images in various colors. Cartoon characters, caricatures, simple stick figures, and similar representations are great. If you’re using a Windows computer or laptop, you can insert some of these by going to the Microsoft Word toolbar and clicking “Insert,” then “Picture” or “Clip Art” to choose the appropriate images.

If you can’t draw well, and have an opaque projector (inexpensive versions can be purchased at arts and crafts stores, like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby and online). You simply project an image onto a flipchart page and trace it. You can also create a PowerPoint slide and project it onto paper for tracing.

One important thing to remember when using images is that you must obtain permission and cite copyright holders when using material that you did not develop yourself in order to limit legal liability.

3. Use colored shapes to differentiate key terms and titles. This will help differentiate them from other words on the page. For example, you can use clouds, stars, circles, exploding bombs, or geometric shapes drawn in various colors to highlight a concept, word, or phrase.

4. Attach key concepts written on cutout shapes that you attach to the page with tape, velcro, or artist’s adhesive to the back of each shape. For example, “bright ideas” can be elicited from participants and written on lightbulb-shaped cutouts in a variety of colors. Students could then upload and post their idea on a flipchart page and explain their thinking about it. That page could be posted on the wall for later reference and for students to look at during breaks.

5. Add borders to the flipchart pages with colored markers or colored tape. You can now buy masking tape at craft and office supply stores in a variety of widths and colors, and with various graphic images. Try to link to the agenda items. For example, if you are conducting a session on customer service or sales in a specific country, choose colors from that country’s flag or images that relate to its borders.