The Sandy and Dave Show: Coaching Conversations for Coaches

In this episode, we revisit the 30-minute session and what to expect when you are working for one of these big coaching companies that offer only 30-minute coaching sessions. Dave dives into the research (of course he does) and Sandy has a few rants about profile photos (including her own...).

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• where do we find these 30-minute sessions - and why 30 minutes??
• Sandy goes on her soapbox about coaching bios and profile photos
• what 30-minute session structure look like for us
• how coachability comes into play when working for these big coaching companies
• what we strive to do - and what we might skip - in these shorter sessions
• what advice we would give to coaches new to these platforms

The study Dave mentioned: Behaviors and Structures for Coaches to Maximize Effects on Coaching, Coaching Research Institute LLP, 2013: https://researchportal.coachingfederation.org/Document/Pdf/519.pdf

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

The concept of trust and safety seems soooo simple, and yet... there is a lot to it regarding coaching conversations and how we show up for our clients! In this episode you'll hear areas of growth to consider when cultivating trust and safety, Dave's joy when it comes to word definitions, and some of Sandy's pet peeves about coaching over video. Enjoy!

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• the definitions of trust and safety
• rapport - is this the same as trust or safety?
• the ICF competency on trust and safety
• the National Board guidelines - do they even mention trust??
• Sandy's breakdown of 3 areas to cultivate trust with clients
• Dave's thoughts on what he does to create trust in and out of sessions
• 5 things Sandy hears in student recordings relating to trust and safety
• Sandy's pet peeve about video environments and how this can affect a feeling of trust or safety in clients

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Markers can be found here: November 2020 ICF PCC Markers

The NBHWC Practical Skills Guidelines (Competencies and "Observables") can be found here: September 2022 NBWC Practical Skills Guidelines

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

Wait, leading? Isn't that BAD in coaching sessions? Yes, and no. Leading *without leading* is pretty much in our job descriptions as coaches. We'll discuss this, why it can be good OR bad, and offer our two-point failsafe method to "lead without leading" that we use in our sessions.

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What do we mean by "leading"?

What do we mean by "leading without leading?"

What Dave prefers to call this

Discussion of why this is good - and bad - and how to do it using Dave's patented "lead without leading" method

Sandy shares what ICF PCC markers speak to this topic

The three things Sandy hears in session reviews from new coaches

How to practice this skill

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Markers can be found here: November 2020 ICF PCC Markers

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

Chemistry sessions. What are they? What should they include? What SHOULDN'T they include? And why does Sandy dislike that term, ""chemistry"" (major air quotes there)? These answers and more are discussed in this episode! Be sure to scroll down if you'd like a copy of Sandy's First Session Road Map if you need some structure to your initial sessions with potential clients.

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The purpose of chemistry sessions

Length of these sessions

Do we charge for these initial sessions?

Structure of chemistry sessions

Thoughts on coaching during this first session

Thoughts on "selling" to potential clients

Have we ever said "no" to a potential client?

Chemistry sessions when working for a coaching company (BetterUp, Modern Health, Spring Health, AbleTo, etc) - do they even exist in this realm? If so, how are they different?

People.... people who need.... people... listen to this volume UP to hear the way this song should be sung. By Jule Styne and Bob Merrill featuring the original Funny Girl herself.

ICF Guidelines on referring a client to therapy

NBHWC (National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches) does not have any resources regarding therapy referrals that we could find.

CLICK HERE for Sandy's First Session Road Map

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

Let's talk LANGUAGE! We're all taught to "use your client's language", but what about the coach's language? And what if you purposefully use language that is *opposite* of the words your client just spoke, what happens then...? What the heck is NLP, anyways, and why are we obsessed with it?? All of this and more in this episode. Enjoy!

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What's important about language in coaching sessions

Thinking/feeling language

How trust/rapport come into play when using language

Using different language than your client - on purpose

Internal vs external language

Away vs towards language

Flourishing vs languishing language

Violent language and metaphors

Cultural differences and coaching in a second language

Practices for coaches to try in their sessions

Holistic Coach Podcast (interview with Sandy)

Introduction to NLP (book)

The Power of Language

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

The new ICF Credentialing Exam is on the agenda for today! Dave is going to interview Sandy about her recent experience taking this exam, and Sandy is going to offer lots of things to consider and think about before, during, and after the exam. She also has a bright shiny new resource to help YOU prepare for this exam. Enjoy!

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The new exam vs the old Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) Exam and we remember (or not) about the CKA

What you need to get in order before taking the new exam

What is actually IN the exam

How to best prepare for the exam

Sandy shares her experience in the world of proctored exams

Tips for best and worst answers

Sample question dissection/discussion

Barriers to passing the exam

BASIC INFO FROM THE ICF

ICF EXAM CONTENT and SAMPLE QUESTIONS ACC PILOT EXAM INFO (Jan/Feb 2024)

ACC CANDIDATE GUIDE

PCC CANDIDATE GUIDE

COACH THE PERSON, NOT THE PROBLEM - book by Marcia Reynolds

SANDY'S 7-PAGE ICF EXAM RESOURCEPALOOZA and STUDY GUIDE

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

Let's talk METAPHORS! This was a fun episode as we tried to cram in as many metaphors as we could, lol... we invite you to take a listen and write down the ones that you hear, and visit our website (no peeking!!!) to see if you got them all!

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Sandy and Dave discuss why using metaphors can be really useful in coaching conversations

Sandy lists a few well-known (at least here in the US) metaphors and gets into "violent" metaphors

Dave talks about using a client's profession as a place to gather metaphors

How *we* use metaphors in our coaching sessions

How coaches can improve their metaphor use

Go to our website (The Sandy and Dave Show) to see a list of all the metaphors we used in this episode!

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

What do you do when a client has a strong emotion in a session? Do you acknowledge? Offer space? Uncomfortably shift in your chair and secretly wish the session would end sooner rather than later? This episode is about how to use, deal with, and/or avoid (ok maybe not avoid) emotions that come up in coaching conversations.

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The definition of emotion

Emotions vs. feelings

"Faux feelings" – what are they?

How to sense emotion in a client

Some things that might get in the way of sensing emotions in clients

How Sandy works with emotions in her sessions

How Dave works with emotions in his sessions

Using "neutral language" to share observations about emotions

Managing strong emotions from clients during sessions

What Sandy sees in student sessions when it comes to emotions

Loss and grief – why these emotions come up so often in sessions.

Candace Pert – The Molecules of Emotions

Karla McLaren – The Language of Emotions Lisa Feldman Barrett – How Emotions are Made Emotional vocabulary/feelings wheels:

Feelings and Needs Wheel created by Bret Stein (based on Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg, PhD)

The Feeling Wheel by Gloria Wilcox

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Markers can be found here: November 2020 ICF PCC Markers

The NBHWC Practical Skills Guidelines (Competencies and "Observables") can be found here: September 2022 NBWC Practical Skills Guidelines

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!

This episode is all about gratitude! What it is, how it's different from thankfulness, how to cultivate gratitude, and what toxic gratitude is (who even knew toxic gratitude was a thing??), and more. We'll also offer several gratitude practices that you can share with your clients - or make your own.

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The definition of gratitude

Gratitude vs. thankfulness

Gratitude and positive psychology

Things that can keep us from feeling gratitude

Toxic gratitude (aka "attack of the shoulds")

Tools and practices to help cultivate gratitude

Some excellent quotes on gratitude.

Gratitude Vs. Thankfulness: Is There a Difference?

Effects of gratitude intervention on mental health and well‐being among workers: systematic review

Neural correlates of gratitude

Exploring neural mechanisms of the health benefits of gratitude in women: A randomized controlled trial

10 Ways to Apply the 3-To-1 Positivity Ratio

Mel Robbins - Toxic Positivity

Tara Brach - Gratitude: Entering Sacred Relationship

Hidden Brain (2 episodes): https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/where-gratitude-gets-you/ https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-enemies-of-gratitude/

Ideas for appreciation

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Let's wrap it up! With kittens! This episode is about how to properly and gracefully close a coaching session, and hopefully Sandy's orange boy cats will behave during the recording...

This Episode is part of our "Coaching Session Structure" series, where we will lead you through a coaching session's structure. Check out Part One, How to Start a Session, and the rest of the previous episodes to catch up.

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Dave shares some ICF (International Coach Federation) competencies regarding closing a session

Sandy talks about the NBHWC (National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches) Practical Skills Guidelines and closing a session

What to cover when closing a session

What to do when a client "reopens" a topic at the end of a session

What to do when you are running out of time in a session

What Sandy sees in student sessions when it comes to closing a session

How Dave and Sandy close their sessions.

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Markers can be found here: November 2020 ICF PCC Markers

The NBHWC Practical Skills Guidelines (Competencies and "Observables") can be found here: September 2022 NBWC Practical Skills Guidelines

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Intro and outro music by JuliusH. Thanks Julius!