Trainer Candidates of CDT ITB 2025 Strengthen Public Engagement Skills in SCT 2

JATINANGOR, kemahasiswaan.itb.ac.id — Trainer Candidates (Ca-Trainer) of Character Development Training (CDT) ITB 2025 participated in a series of activities on the second day of Trainer Candidates School (SCT 2). It was held at ITB Jatinangor Campus on Saturday (5/24/2025). This event is a means to strengthen communication and leadership skills for ca-trainer through provision of Public Speaking and Crowd Control materials as well as direct practice.

The first session is presented by Panji Priambudi, S.Par., M.M with the topic "Mastering the Message: How Public Speaking Drives Effective Learning". In his presentation, Panji emphasized that the ability to speak in public is not an innate talent, but a skill that can be trained. "Great speakers are not born; they are trained," he quoted from Dale Carnegie.

He discussed the main elements in public speaking which include the speaker, the audience, and the message. Ca-trainer are invited to understand the importance of mental preparation, nervous management, vocal techniques, gestures, and audience interaction so that the communication becomes effective and meaningful.

The shared knowledge is directly applied through a public speaking simulation practice that is well-designed in both technical and systematicality. Each participant in a group is given one word to be explained verbally without saying the word, while other participants guess. This practice assesses the clarity of the message, eye contact, articulation, posture, and hand gestures. The assessment is carried out peer-to-peer and is included with objective reasons for the scores.

Then, it was continued with the second topic entitled "Crowd Control and Leadership: Leading with Impact in Dynamic Environments" presented by Dr. Phil. Eng. Hari Purnama, S.Si., M.Si, Lecturer at the School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (SEEI).

Dr. Hari emphasized the importance of effective classroom conditioning so that CDT can run optimally. Basic principles such as agreeing on class rules, recognizing participants, and building two-way communication are the keys to the trainer's success. He also reminded that leadership is not about giving orders, but being a role model and facilitator.

Crowd handling simulation techniques are carried out in groups. Each member takes turns as a trainer and trainee with different characters (active, passive, disruptive). The trainer is tasked with managing class dynamics with communication and conditioning strategies according to the knowledge learned previously. An assessment is again carried out peer-to-peer by group members who are tasked with observing.

After the series of practices are completed, participants work on the post-test online via Google Form. The event closed with an ice-breaking session, homework assignment, feedback, and closing documentation.

With SCT 2 done, it is hoped that all ca-trainer will be better prepared to carry out their roles in CDT ITB 2025. Through this training, they not only get the theory, but also direct experience in dealing with real situations that they might encounter when training first year students of ITB.