Body Parts and JCI Courses

Body Parts and JCI Courses
By JCI Sen Mennen M. Aracid, ITF 106

Why bother taking JCI official courses? Think of it as exercise. If there are certain parts of the body you are not happy with, you can go to the gym and develop that body part.

So it is with JCI. I can think of three body parts that will benefit from JCI Presenter, Trainer, and Designer.

Heart, hand, and mind.

JCI Presenter.

If there is anything that JCI presenter is good at controlling, it is stage fright. It is a one-day workshop packed with at least 5 speaking exercises. I would be surprised if a student went out of it saying that he still feels nervous standing before a crowd.

Of course, presenter is not a cure-all. Stage fright is a lifetime challenge. I still feel it coming on moments before i start a workshop. Fright becomes especially heightened when expectations are high; when the audience is foreign; when I am not in full control of my content.

The biggest body part that gains from JCI presenter is the heart. In my opinion, JCI Presenter gives the participant the opportunity to replace fear with self-trust. The pounding of the heart is reduced. Sweating becomes lesser the more you practice. Your speech challenges are brought to the forefront.

Because we are from different provinces, we carry our own unique intonations, pronunciations, and syllabication. With JCI presenter, all these are presented before the participant. He, and only he, can decide how to address them.

What gain can one get from this course?

If one persists in developing his presentation skills, he will become more attractive, more persuasive, and more receptive to messages other than his own.

Personally, I gained courage and a positive mindset as a result of JCI presenter. Going through the course is one thing. But enabling the others to overcome their own stage fright is more fulfilling.

JCI Trainer

JCI Trainer is a two-day course that discusses basic course preparation and implementation. This  course is a hands-on course.

The course covers how to deal with adults as learners in JCI or work-related workshops. Adults are very challenging as a crowd. Their minds are like written slates. When they sit and listen, they cannot pay attention for very long. They also have prior judgments and impressions. They tend to favor learning environments that are fun, safe, and interactive.

In order for the trainer to succeed in this environment, he has to earn the trust of his audience. This is where the hand-learning takes place.

I’d like to think of it as crafting a product that suits the taste of the buyer. Here, the trainer is craftsman. He is the sculptor that chips away at a block to form a learning experience.

I say that JCI trainer is a skill because it takes years to master. I admit that even though I may have some years of experience behind me, I am still a novice at this. I do not have the perfect answer for each learning situation.

Just because I have years behind me, I admit I do not have the right to tell the world I am the best at what I do. Just like learning the piano takes a lot of practice, being a master at training requires unyielding commitment to learn and be open to new approaches.

You may not say you are an excellent trainer. It is your audience that tells you that you are. So be careful when you hear someone claiming that he is the best. To be sure that he is, ask his audience. They can tell you the correct picture.

The audience is the measure that tells you that you have the hands of a master.

JCI Designer

JCI Designer is a three-day workshop on course module preparations. This prepares the JCI member to write his own original training content. This course prepares the trainer to make his own powerpoint, trainers’ guide, and participant manual. The twist is that he may not necessarily be the one to run the course.

Takeaway: The instructions have to be clear and specific. So that the writer’s intended results are replicable all the time.

JCI Designer is the invisible hand that makes things happen. If a student practices this skill well, he will be very good at giving precise instructions. I say precise because JCI Designer is built around the course writer giving out instructions to someone else who runs his training module.

In simple terms, it is like giving instructions to a trainer what needs to be done, what words to say, what results to expect if there are simulated activities, what questions to ask so that a specific response is exactly the response that the trainer wants to get.

It’s not a very easy skill to develop. I liken JCI Designer to a cooking show. The writer must prepare the ingredients first. Second, he has to instruct the viewers how he wants the cooking done. Third, he has to be clear about how the final product must look like.

Anyone following the cookbook must replicate the same results every time.

This is the concept behind the overhaul of the JCI official courses. Certification is given to individuals who will commit to the same quality and results for trainers. This is a consequence of the JCI being a global brand; that anywhere in the world the quality of training is the same.

So I say that JCI Designer is the mind. Someone who wants to build a lasting imprint is not content with training alone. He writes courses for other people to use and to learn from. This is the reason why International Training Fellows are minted.

At one point, their responsibility shifts from trainer to mentor. Here is where the challenge is for trainers who are used to the limelight: they no longer should be there. They should be building and lifting up others who also what to contribute to JCI on their own right.

And what is the reward?

I think it is the sense of legacy. That at one point, you might see someone down the road who says: “Thank you because you have helped me become what I am today; and for that I am grateful.” Positive change is not about numbers. Positive change is about building character one person at a time. Positive change is giving what you’ve got so that the other person can be better.

But it pre-supposes that you yourself are a product of what you teach. Heart, hand, and mind.

Mennen is a human resource and E-Learning consultant who has addressed professionals in the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Germany, and the US.

He designs and implements courses in e-learning, project management, facilitation, course design, sales, negotiations, management, and communication.

His work experience covers management, sales, and operations in informaton technology, pharmaceuticals, and educational solutions. He draws from his 20 years of industry experience compelling solutions and insights to corporate challenges.