Creating Flipchart Stories: Tips

Creating Flipchart Stories: Tips

Before all the fancy special effects and animation came along, cartoons were produced using labour-intensive, manual methods. Wondering how they were made? Well, they were literally drawn on flipchart-like notepads and animated using a rotoscope.

In other words, each scene was drawn on a sheet and the sheets were flipped at rapid speeds to create the illusion of consistent motion. Now, this might be a complex and outdated technique, but, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it for your presentations.

Of course, you can’t actually recreate the rapid motion without a rotoscope. However, what you can do is tell a story using an actual flipchart. Storytelling is a great way to get the message through. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using the technique in a classroom or in a conference room – the impact and appeal are the same.

However, there are a few tips you need to follow in order to make your flipchart story effective.

We’ve listed a few of them down below. Keep reading and happy storytelling!

Learn To Tell A Story

There is a certain way a story needs to be communicated. The way you communicate a story determines whether people pay attention or not and whether they’re actually picking up on your core message. So, the first thing you need to do is establish a unique theme or idea as the base of your story.

An attractive theme can breathe life into the story. One way to do this is to find something that your audience will relate to.

Establish Continuity

Now, back in the day, illustrators in the animation industry had to draw even the slightest detail in order to create a sense of perfect continuity. Of course, you don’t have to do that for a flipchart presentation.

Even so, it would be nice to create some sense of continuity. However, this may be difficult considering the limited number of sheets on a flipchart, unless, of course, your story itself requires very few illustrations. But, if you require several illustrations, you can optimize your use of space by illustrating two to three scenes on a single sheet.

This can create a sense of continuity, which, in turn, will help your audience stay attentive and process the information better.

Add Attractive Elements

Lastly, don’t limit your illustrations to simple images. Make the content as attractive as possible. For instance, add as much color as possible. In a previous blog on white-paper animation, we discussed how you could draw attention to a particular element by highlighting it with a particular color. You can do the same here.

You can even go ahead and just use colors as you please, especially if it plays an important role in making your story more effective. However, exhibit control and avoid going overboard. The focus is still the story. You’re not creating a work of art.

You can also try adding other elements such as pictures or stickers to make the content more attractive and the story more understandable.