It may sound like a chance just to gorge on food but the Big Supper is actually a JCI Yorkshire training event open to JCI members and guests from across the Yorkshire region!

In 2014 this event was held in Leeds at the cocktail delight that is Living Room.  Unfortunately I was driving so I ended up with a beautifully mixed lemonade however the good company and interesting speaker more than made up for my dry evening.

One of the best things about regional al events in JCI is catching up with my JCI Yorkshire friends and also meeting new ones. Having being handed my person bingo sheet in arrival I knew this wasn't the best use of my time, as a more experienced JCI member, so I set about helping newer members to fill their sheets and shout bingo!

It was amazing to realise how much I knew about the people in the room and how much I knew about them!  With representatives from JCI Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Barnsley, Doncaster and Harrogate, President Charlie and I were in good company.

After a quick grab from the food table it was time to start the main event. The evenings teaching came in the form of Nigel Jardine, an international coach and speaker. Nigel's mission was to teach up some tips and tricks to not be afraid to be the real us and to be heard and comfortable in who we are around others. Sounds easy right?

All of us have the us we are with close friends and family and the us we are around others. Nigel sober the evening telling us it's okay to be who you are and to be comfortable with this. In the UK we are a negative bunch, we use the words can't and font like they're going out of fashion! We discussed compliments and his we are bad at taking them. This ran particularly true for me as I'm the first to caveat anything positive someone else says about me.

Nigel taught up to speak more positively, avoid telling people what not to do and to phrase things in a more positive way. Lean forward, be more relaxed and this will make toy more comfortable and confident.

This all sounds very simple, but is it really that easy to live by? As a glass half empty person, especially if the glass is full of wine, I want to be the positive person who is comfortable enough to be the real me around anyone. Do I feel what Nigel has taught me will help me achieve that? The answer is yes. His tips and tricks as simple common sense rules the only difficultly is getting used to using them and making them habit.

Recently we've heard a lot about 30 days to create a habit and 100 days of happiness. Hopefully if I can create a habit I will also become a happier person. At the very least I have my JCI friends around me to provide guidance and support and I can't wait for the next regional event!! 


Gemma Fletcher

JCI Rotherham Marketing Director