[How To Coach Series] - The First 5 Minutes Are Vital

This is something I learned from my Mentor, Kirk Duncan. When you are holding a coaching appointment, the first 5 minutes are vital for setting the tone for the rest of your time together.

If you get on a coaching call and you don't have a plan for directing your client, then they can take control of the conversation and it can be very difficult to get it back on track!

I experienced this with one of my clients, she was a talker! She could take the conversation and just talk and talk and talk! It was hard to interject and get her back on track, and the thing that I had prepared to teach her that day fell to the wayside. Then when I had 5 minutes left, I tried cramming in the things I had prepared to teach and it was ineffective. She felt bad for taking the whole appointment time. And I felt bad for letting her!

I thought I was being a good coach listening to her! Well, I learned from Brendon Burchard that if you are just there to listen to them and they don't learn something new, then your status falls from coach to friend, and they don't want to pay you for that.

If I am not directing the conversation and teaching her the things that I have prepared for her, then at the end of the call that client will feel like she paid me for nothing! She won't have her next action steps or any new information that could have helped her towards her goals!

Coach Kirk taught me what it looks like when I am losing the lead...

Losing the Lead (what the client says or does to take control of the conversation)

Guess what happened - Random Stories
Distractions - small disturbance becomes BIG
Avoidance - Forgot assignment, goal, who they are
Turn the Attention- complete turn in a new direction
Tangent upon Tangent - Squirrel

What I need to do to LEAD them!

Questions to set tone (NOT how are you? or What have you been up to? Because those will take you off topic, ask the RIGHT questions.)
Declaring what to focus on today and it's value
Redirect to get back on track
Circle back to finish the conversation if it gets off track
Review and Clarify each step of the way

Here is the Framework Coach Kirk shared with me for a One Hour appointment.

10 minutes: Clarify Goal and Review Progress

15 minutes: Training: Mindset, Skill/Education

15 minutes: Q&A and Review Training (this is where you have them TEACH BACK what they've learned, which is vital to you understanding what they learned and where the holes are in their understanding)

10 minutes: Decide upon the Next steps to take

5 minutes: Tracking and Reporting Plan until next appointment

5 minutes: Vision - Always end on their vision of life after their goals are achieved, this will leave them excited and inspired to pursue their goals.

Every coach should have a framework to follow during their coaching appointments. Do you have one you follow???

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