Communication lessons learned from the world of fitness

When I am not communicating by day, I am communicating with lots of people another way in the evenings. Two out of five work days a week I am a Zumba fitness instructor and I love it.

One of the things I love about teaching Zumba classes the most is the influence the class can have on people. It can as simple as broadening their knowledge of international rhythms, or making an even bigger difference in their lives -which any Zumba instructor can tell you happens often. People are always willing to share the positive effects this workout has made in their life, physically, mentally and emotionally.

One of the things I love is having a person who has never tried Zumba, come to a class. Sometimes they're nervous, shy, excited, or all three. Sometimes they feel obligated to tell me they're uncoordinated. None of that matters - what I love is testing myself with these participants. I do not have a fitness background, therefore the "instructing" part scared me when I first started. I have learned so much since then. One of the most fascinating things to me is the rhetoric of visualization in fitness instruction.Providing participants with visual cues is crucial to the Zumba fitness program; and doing it well takes a lot of learning, practice, and even more practice. 

The way I test myself, is by watching how the participants move and how precise they are in mimicking my moves and transitions. When I sneak in a nose scratch, or throw in an accidental extra arm manoeuvre, and they do the same - I know they are watching me well. I know they're relying on my visual cues and I feed off of that;  in return I get even more energized and the adrenaline really gets flowing, which is then passed on the the class.

The creator of Zumba, Beto Perez, didn't speak a lot of English when he invented Zumba and first starting teaching it in Miami back the late 90's. Therefore, he relied heavily on visual cueing, and that become a part of the Zumba brand it is today.

If you don't know what Zumba is, or want to see an example of an instructor relying only on visual cueing, click here. It is an older video from 2006, and the people at the back were likely trying Zumba for the first time. The instructor is Tanya Beardsley, a Zumba Education Specialist who has become one of the faces of Zumba, and she is great to watch, I have learned so much from watching her on DVD's.