JCI Presenter Training day was held on 30th Jan, with a fully booked attendance list. Which wasn't difficult for most members who participate were still on a high after attending Inspiration day in Reading on Saturday 29th. So the atmosphere and energy levels were an added bonus to the day.

The group was lucky enough to have 3 wonderful trainers for the day - Adam Woodall (Head Trainer), Simon Bucknall (Assistant Trainer) and Solveig Malvik (Assistant Trainer). We were pleased to have National President Allison Cowell attend the Inspiration Day on Saturday 29th, she also stayed on and was one of the trainees for the day.

The group was split into 2 smaller groups of people so the trainers were able to give the participant more face time and it allowed people to feel a little less intimidated when presenting to the other members, especially as most of the participant haven't had much experience in public speaking.

The objectives for the day were met and exceeded, which is unsurprising with such a motivated group of people who were just soaking up all the information that the trainers were offering. Some of the learning's which stood out includes how to structure Presentations, how to design them in a way to capture the audiences attention and engage their interested but also which presentation to use in the right situations, e.g. Project Proposals to get people to buy into the idea your giving them, Sales Report to get the listeners attention and outline the benefits of your idea, Project Status Report to state the facts and keep the tasks and people inline with the plan.

One of the "ah-ha" moments for the day was being told that presentations are like swans - Swans look like they are gliding gracefully across the water from the top view, but realistically they are frantically moving their legs to keep moving and people who deliver good presentations are sometimes feeling the same - all calm on the outside while frantically trying to remember the contents of what they want to say next as well as judging the impact on the audience. It's a point like that were people feel a little more relaxed about the fear of presenting as everyone around them feels the same. Though the message for the day was, it's not about the presenters themselves, it's about the audience and what your trying to tell them. It's a way of thinking that needs to be adapted to be a great presenter and we all have the capability in us!

By Nadene Jones, JCI London Social Director

Nadene receiving her graduation certificate from Head Trainer Adam Woodhall

and Assistant Trainers Solveig Malvik and Simon Bucknall