Art: Inspiration and Creativeness by Vladimir Kush

Vladimir Kush The Metaphorical Realism of Vladimir Kush by Mourad EL AMRANI Vladimir Kush is a Russian-born surrealist painter and sculptor, although he prefers to refer to his art as metaphorical realism. Music : Enya- white is in the winter

Flip Charts

Flip Charts 101: How to Use Flip Charts Effectively

by Andrew Dlugan

Updated: Sep 25th, 2013

When I was in high school, every teacher used an overhead projector regularly. Many years later, I can’t recall the last time I saw one used as meeting rooms are increasing equipped with digital projectors to display PowerPoint and Keynote slides. This is a clear technology upgrade, and I don’t miss the overhead projector at all.

Similarly, the flip chart is another device my teachers used often; sadly, it also gathers dust often in dark, neglected corners of meeting rooms. But flip charts are more than just relics; they remain one of the most versatile tools readily available to speakers.

In this article, we list the core benefits of using flip charts, and give several tips that will help you use this wonderful tool effectively.

Core Benefits of Flip Charts

Flip charts are both a static display tool (like slides or props) and a dynamic creation tool (like a whiteboard or the ubiquitous back of the napkin). This versatility offers many key benefits to speakers, including:

1. Writing or drawing on a flip chart is an active process, and energizes the speaker. Whenever I step up to the flip chart, my energy levels rise.
2. Audiences ask more questions. I don’t really know why, but perhaps it’s because the scribbles or sketches on a flip chart feel less permanent (than electronic slides), and thus more open to questioning and dialogue.
3. Writing takes time, and this provides healthy pauses for your audienceto absorb information or take notes.
4. Flip charts and brainstorming go together like peanut butter and bananas (yummy!). One of my favorite training techniques is using a flip chart to record brainstorming sessions. I ask questions, and then speedily record responses shouted out by my audience.
5. Flip charts are low tech and analog. You don’t need to worry about passwords, projector bulbs, or extension cords — just present! (I’m not saying they are better than slides; rather, I think speakers should master both options.)

Flip Chart Do’s and Taboos

Using flip charts effectively is a basic skill every competent speaker must possess. You may not use flip charts in every presentation, but you should be able to wield one effectively when appropriate.

Here’s a few tips to help you:

1. Be prepared.
Check and double check that you have markers (and that they aren’t dried out) and enough paper.

2. Choose dark, saturated colors.
To maximize visibility all the way to the back of the room, stick to high contrast colors like black, blue, red, or dark green. Stay away from yellow or anything pastel-shaded.

3. Use colors consistently.
If you are using more than one color (you should), then use them consistently. I typically use black as my base color, but then use red or blue to emphasize key words, or annotate the text.

4. Position the flip chart to maximize visibility for your audience.
I’ve seen speakers use flip charts from exactly where they stood at the beginning of the session: in a far, dark corner. Don’t hesitate to move the flip chart to a more convenient location.

5. Minimize the time spent standing in front of the flip chart.
Lots of people advise standing to the side, even when writing. I find this difficult to do without compromising legibility. However, it is important to quickly move off to the side when you aren’t writing or drawing to avoid being an obstacle.

“Flip charts are more than just relics; they remain one of the most versatile tools readily available to speakers.”

6. Be neat… it matters.
If nobody can read it, it’s pointless. Practice your penmanship. It’s not hard to do, but it does take practice as it is different than writing on a desk or table.

7. Print.
Don’t write.

8. Print large.
Make sure every word you print can be read by the person sitting in the back row of the room.

9. Print straight across.
Keep your words/phrases oriented straight along the page. Don’t dip down as if your words are tumbling down a waterfall. If you find this difficult, pre-trace some faint pencil lines along the flip chart pages.

10. Give the flip chart the focus.
If you are using both slides and a flip chart within the same presentation, consider whether the two are needed concurrently. If you don’t need your slides when using a flip chart, black out the slides (use the “B” key in PowerPoint to do this) to put the entire focus on the flip chart.

11. Don’t use flip charts for lengthy sentences.
Focus on single words or short phrases. This will keep the tempo quick and active — just what the flip chart should be.

12. Draw pictures. You don’t need to be an artist.
Of course flip charts are good for planned diagrams, but they shine when used for impromptu sketches. Use colors wisely.

13. Make tables, charts, or graphs.
Let your imagination go wild.

14. Pre-fill some pages, either in whole or in part.
It depends on your overall presentation plan, but sometimes it makes sense to pre-write or pre-draw some or all of the pages. On pages meant for brainstorming, I’ll often pre-write the column headings. When using diagrams, I’ll often draw out the main blocks using black marker before my session, and then add color labels and highlights during the presentation. If you do this, be sure to leave a blank page in between prepared pages so that the lines don’t show through.

15. Use pencil to give yourself invisible hints.
You can sketch diagrams in pencil beforehand, and nobody will be able to see them. (You can do this for an arbitrarily detailed figure by projecting it onto the flip chart and tracing in pencil.) Then, during your session, just draw over these invisible lines with markers. Alternatively, you can write reminders to yourself in the corner of the page in pencil. If you plan well, you can eliminate hand-held notes entirely, even for lengthy sessions.

16. Refer back to flip chart pages throughout your presentation.
Help your audience draw connections by referring back to relevant flip chart pages from earlier in your presentation. For example, I sometimes open by brainstorming some big picture questions the audience has about my topic. Then, as the presentation proceeds, I can refer back to those questions as they are answered. If necessary, rip off the pages and post them on the wall to ensure they are accessible.

17. Get your audience members at the flip chart.
You could have a volunteer act as a scribe for you, or you could have small-group activities planned using flip charts. There are endless training techniques you can employ… perhaps that’s another article.

Piers can be the best teachers.

I found this Ted Talk from Peter Norvig interesting. He said that one of his students reminded him that : " Piers can be the best teachers because their are the ones that remember what is like to not understand".

https://www.ted.com/playlists/24/re_imagining_school

Plan B if the Internet crushes.

I found this Ted Talks about creating a plan B in case Internet crashes very interesting. He talks about how much we are depending on Internet in all areas and what if...............?

http://on.ted.com/DannyHillis

What is tapping with Louise Hay. Incredible how it works!!!

I encourage you to  watch this video. With all my love to you!! Louise Hay sits down with the Tapping Solution's Nick Ortner by The Tapping Solution http://www.thetappingsolution.com/ Best-selling author Louise Hay is known as the "Queen of Affirmations", and knows better than anybody the power of positive focus. Her book "You Can Heal Your Life" has sold over 50 million copies worldwide! But there's one thing she knows for sure...only focusing on the positive and ignoring the negative things going on in your life, both present and past, won't make your problems go away. :) As she puts it's..."If You're Going to Clean a House, You Need to See the Dirt..." We all have "stuff" that we're dealing with at any point in our life. Financial challenges, emotional ups and downs, relationship problems, and so much more. It's all a natural part of life. How we address those issues, find their root causes, and "clean them up" as quickly as possible are what make all the difference. In this video Louise will share with you how to go about balancing the "clean up" work with the use of Tapping and how to then get back to the positive with life changing affirmations. Most people make some extremely common mistakes when it comes to this "inner work" that leaves them frustrated and running in circles. In this video she shares how to create a simple shift in perspective that can wipe these challenges away in seconds. One of the most powerful aspects of Tapping is it's ability to create forgiveness of our past and current life. As Louise says..."Forgiveness Wipes the Slate Clean, So That Other Things Can Come In..." Love, forgiveness and self-acceptance are the most powerful gifts anybody can give themselves. But getting to a point where you can turn off the background negativity isn't always easy... You know what I mean, the "I'm not smart enough", "Who do I think you am?", "I'm not lovable", "I can't be successful" type of comments. These type of comments severely limit our ability to fully express who we are and live the life that we want. In this video Louise will share with you how to use Tapping to allow forgiveness, love and self-acceptance into your life... She'll also share with you her personal struggle with growing up feeling that she wasn't good enough and will open up about how certain past emotional traumas were manifesting in her body and creating physical challenges (and how the same thing may be happening with you). You'll get to tap along with Louise, share in her open Tapping experience and have your own as you tap along with her. (The last 10 minutes are especially emotional for Louise.) Get ready for a powerful, emotional and very moving shift that will help you to finally move forward past any blocks that have been holding you back...

Can Facebook online social network replace a real one?

Facebook turns 10.

 

This article is about if an online social network, in this case Facebook, can replace a real one. This point got my attention:

The problem is multi-fold. The time we spend socializing online not only discourages face-to-face communication, but it also undermines our confidence at engaging in real conversations with real people about the real problems and issues that thread through our lives. In one study, Ph.D. student Sergei Golitsinski, member of the International Center for Media & Public Agenda (ICMPA) at the University of Maryland, was shocked to see, “how many students around the world wrote that going without media not only severed their connections to their friends, but challenged their sense of self.”

Here the link

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/02/04/is-facebook-breeding-loneliness/

Oncology Esthetics

I had the honor to meet Morag Currin and to talk about Oncology Esthetics.  She is one of the most caring, compassionate and knowledgeable esthetician that I had ever known. Her mission is to help patients going under cancer therapies with skin treatments. I am posting here her web site.
http://www.oncologyesthetics.com/about-us/team/

Morag Currin

Founder, International Director and Educator

Mórag Currin is a highly sought-after esthetic educator with more than 19 years of spa industry experience and more than eight years of training and training management experience. She pioneered the only Oncology Esthetics® certification for spa professionals and has set the standard in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She also is the author of Oncology Esthetics: A Practitioner’s Guide (Allured Books, 2009) and Health Challenged Skin: The Estheticians’ Desk Reference (Allured Books, 2012). Her students learn to incorporate adjustments to spa treatments specifically for people undergoing cancer therapies, to screen for cancerous skin lesions, and to bring cancer survivors’ skin back into balance. She has traveled around the globe with her training and expertise, helping to raise the bar in the spa industry and to open the door to all people, regardless of skin type or health condition. Going beyond the world of esthetics, Mórag continues to reach out to those suffering from a variety of health challenges through Equine Facilitated Wellness (EFW).