...and they only wanted MY project book!

A guest post by Sandra Dirks, freelance trainer

When Sandra Dirks set off to DIDACTA to win people over to new methods and trainings, she also had her new project book with her. Without knowing how much her audience would respond to it, she describes her surprise in a quick, informative, and entertaining way, as is typical of her blog posts. She then posts her statement on her website, www.apprenti-podblog.de. That's where we found the blog, and we were happy to share it here. It describes, from a practical perspective, how a project book can create "aha!" moments.

I had dollar signs in my eyes as I approached the 7-10 people who were impatiently waiting for me after the presentations. "Anyone who's waited this long wants to book me immediately or one of the few remaining spots in my open seminars!" I thought, beaming with joy as I walked towards them. But when I got there, I was abruptly disappointed. They weren't begging me for a spot in my seminar. No! They had waited so long to learn about the BOOK, the project book, my working document, my presentation book. It took me a few seconds to come down from my little cloud of bliss, as if I'd been punched in the gut. This book? This book, then, had stolen the show? Oh, damn. I had a chic new dress, the coolest shoes, great seminars, but they wanted: the BOOK?

Later, many interested people came to my booth. “I was at your presentation earlier. I really enjoyed it, but this book there is absolutely fantastic. How did you do that?” – One is tempted to reply: “I’ll tell you when you come to my seminar!” Unfortunately, that would be misleading, because in my seminars participants learn how to plan seminars and apply methods, but not how to draw, craft, or scrapbook methods into project books.

After spending a week processing and reflecting on this in my own little room – and let me tell you, it really wasn't easy! – I decided to dedicate a separate blog post to the project book.

Just like the old advice in BRAVO magazine: “If your crush likes someone else, get along with her, and he’ll eventually fall in love with you.” Or something like that… I’ve made peace with it, I’m not…uh…just a little bit jealous anymore. At least I drew it. So if you want to see it, you’ll have to book me, there you go!

The book is not self-assembled. I ordered it as a "blank" copy from the company Neuland. You can find all the details here.
For a long time, I wondered why this existed and what I could do with it, because it somehow appealed to me in the catalog. Last year, the idea came to me: to draw frequently used charts directly onto it. I should mention that I enjoy drawing flip charts and do so often. After an event, they usually go straight into the trash because I find nothing worse than presenting the next group with crumpled sheets of paper.
The key word here is appreciation. Furthermore, they paid to receive a flawless service.
With recurring topics, I eventually lose interest and just mechanically create the charts. Completely unenthusiastic. Sure, they still look okay, but I lose the enjoyment. That's why I'm recording these charts—in my case, review exercises and little breaks—in this project book.

Another advantage is the mysterious page-turning, as participants wonder what comes next, thus achieving a double effect: attention through the black book and the actual short exercise.

The book comes with two stylish clips that allow it to be opened during the presentation, but also keep the participants' curiosity in check, because you can't just casually turn the pages. 😉

The special feature is the two eyelets, which make it easy to hang the book on a flipchart. If the flipchart doesn't allow this because it has completely useless plastic flaps on the side (yes, these things do happen!), you can also attach it to a pinboard with two hooks. In this case, however, it's even more important to have the two clips on hand, because then they really need to hold the book open. Two additional clips would be helpful here to keep the book open.

Naturally, these are very robust metal eyelets. It should not be possible for the holes to tear out.

The book is very easy to unscrew from its protective cover. This is certainly very useful for projects, provided the book is filled and will be archived. For this purpose, you can simply order the book block separately. However, for additional topics, I would prefer to purchase complete books, as this would be too much effort, and I would then have to consider how to protect and store the book when I'm not using it.

The paper is significantly thicker (135 g/m²) than standard flipchart paper. Therefore, it can be written on very well from both sides.
When applying the fixative (necessary if you are using chalk over a large area), you should allow each side to dry thoroughly to prevent stains that would reveal the reverse sides.

In the following images I have tried to document that you will not see anything from the preceding or following pages:

As you can see, you can't see anything!

If you use a fixative, you can definitely fill large areas with the chalk. This creates the actual luminous effect that achieves the special impact.

If you apply less fixative to one area, you can sometimes get streaks like the ones in the speech bubble here. However, this only happened to me on this one page. Perhaps it's also due to the dark color I chose.

And here's a crafting tip if you'd like to elaborate on a topic. There's certainly much more you can experiment with.

Cut the page almost completely open and glue the leaves together at the top edge.

Repeat the procedure if necessary. But be careful: The pages must be securely stapled during the presentation.

Post-it notes provide the necessary flexibility regarding timing or scoring. I've created a small collection of them on the first page, which I can access as needed.

Oh right:
The question is, what happens if I make a mistake?
The answer:
Tear it out or glue the pages together. Then draw or write again. I tore out three pages in total and glued one double page together. Humans aren't perfect, it happens. 😉

If you want to learn more about additional content and the content of the other methodology project books, then you really need to register here or here right now. 🙂

Sandra Dirks

Sandra Dirks, born in 1971, lives in Braunschweig. She has worked as a trainer since 1998 (in-house as head of training). Since 2005, she has worked as a freelance trainer and author. She has completed numerous additional training courses, including group facilitation and consulting, MBTI certification, training in theatre pedagogy, as well as acting and comedy. She is also a certified trainer for Accelerated Learning.

Through her company apprenti, based in Braunschweig, she trains trainers and employees from various companies in the implementation of activating methods with a focus on "humor". A publication in this field is currently in preparation.

In her training sessions, Sandra Dirks uses simple, vivid, and target-group-oriented language, enriched with numerous practical examples. In addition to "classic" activation exercises, she also incorporates humor, anecdotes, comedy, and elements of drama pedagogy. All methods are applied with a focus on results rather than methodology. She often works in tandem, where appropriate, with the comedy writer Michael Krieg.

You can find out more about Sandra Dirks here.