The Sandy and Dave Show: Coaching Conversations for Coaches

Let's make a plan! This episode is all about helping your client plan action steps/goals, accountability, and support with those goals.

This Episode is part of our "Coaching Session Structure" series, where we will be leading you through the structure of a coaching session. Be sure to check out Part One, How to Start a Session, and the following episodes to get all caught up.

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Dave shares the ICF (International Coach Federation) competency "Facilitating Client Growth" and the three markers that speak to planning and support

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

How to move from evoking awareness to planning and support

Getting specific with action steps – if there are any!

Accountability and finding a way to be accountable that does *not* include the coach

How to navigate this stage of a coaching conversation within the confines of a 30-minute session

What WE do in our sessions during planning and support

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Competencies (8) and Markers (37) 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!

Evoking awareness is the "meat" of the any coaching session! We got lots to say (as always) about this topic, and here we give our thoughts and tips on how to work on this important skill.

This Episode is part of our "Coaching Session Structure" series, where we will be leading you through the structure of a coaching session. Be sure to check out Part One, How to Start a Session, and the following episodes to get all caught up.

SHOW FLOW and LINKS (some may be affiliate links)

What is evoking awareness? Dave shares the ICF definition

Some examples of how evoking awareness shows up in a session

How curiosity comes into play when it comes to evoking awareness

Some skills and techniques that are useful for evoking awareness

Tips for new coaches to improve this skill

How evoking awareness shows up in the NBHWC (National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches) Practical Skills Guidelines (linked below)

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Competencies (8) and Markers (37) 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!

What is the "topic" or "focus" of a session? Isn't this the same as the "agenda" or "agreement"…? Let's compare the ICF and NB competencies and figure out how to set a good agenda/agreement!

This Episode is part of our "Coaching Session Structure" series, where we will be leading you through the structure of a coaching session. Be sure to check out Part One, How to Start a Session.

SHOW FLOW and LINKS (some may be affiliate links)

Dave explains what we mean by the "topic" or "focus" of a session

How we as coaches can help clients unearth what's beneath the topic

Explanations of the terms agenda, agreement (and later, contract!)

Sandy and Dave compare the ICF (International Coaching Federation) Competency 3: "Establishes and Maintains Agreements" and its 4 markers VS the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches (NBHWC) Practical Skills Guidelines for agenda (see below for links to both of these resources)

Things for new coaches to consider when setting the agenda/agreement

Our thoughts and experiences when setting agendas

The ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach) Competencies (8) and Markers (37) 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

JUST STOP IT !!!!!!! (what our sessions really look like) 😉

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!

Welcome to a special episode of The Sandy and Dave Show! Gather 'round the fire and listen to our tales of "nightmare clients", why some of these clients might actually be uncoachable, and how Dave misses Sandy's reference from 2001: A Space Odyssey at the top of the episode.

Spoiler alert: We believe that there's no such thing as a "nightmare" client, however, there may be uncoachable clients. Everything else may be an indicator that the coach needs to do some work on themselves to get to a place where they can meet their clients in whatever challenging situations may appear in their coaching conversations.

Some examples of clients we discuss include:

• the talker
• the one-word responder
• the emotional client
• the UNemotional client
• the wandering agenda client
• the no-show ....and lots more!

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it - and be sure to head on over to our website to see our costumes (if you want to be truly frightened by some bad wig action). Happy Halloween everyone!

Find Dave at coachdshen.com

Find Sandy at swansoncoaching.com

Visit The Sandy and Dave Show website

Special thanks to Purple Planet for our spooooky Intro music, and thanks as always to JuliusH for our Outro music.

What is the best way to open a session? With breathing exercises, grounding exercises, checking in – or none of the above? We got some pet peeves to share here as well as good practices for keeping a session 100% client-led from the very start.

This Episode is part of our "Coaching Session Structure" series, where we will be leading you through the structure of a coaching session. Stay tuned for Episode 6, where we will talk about the Topic/Focus and Agenda/Agreement of a session.

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Starting a session starts BEFORE the session

Our thoughts on "chit-chat" at the start of a session

Sandy's pet peeve that many new coaches do at the start of a session (rant warning!)

Skillfully asking about progress/checking in at the top of a session

Some things Sandy sees when reviewing student sessions

Dave's thoughts on starting a session when you only have 30 minutes (spoiler alert: skip the chit-chat!)

We share some examples of "good session openers"

Health Coach Training Institute (If you are a new-ish coach looking to start or further your ICF training, ask about the "Advanced" course – there is also a basic course for those who are beginning their coaching journey)

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!

How do we know when a person is "coachable"? What are the essential traits of a truly coachable client? What is the "coachability index", and who the heck is this Thomas J. Leonard guy, anyways?? These questions and many, many, more are answered in this episode.

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What is coachability?

Thomas J. Leonard's "Coachability Index" – his 10 questions that he asked all potential clients

Sandy's thoughts on TTM (Trans-theoretical Model aka Stages of Change) and coachability

Dave's experience with coachable clients in working for a coaching company

What we look for in potential clients in terms of coachability

Thomas J. Leonard's Coachability Index

Research and thoughts on coachability:

Forbes: What is Coachability and How Can I Embrace It?

Forbes: Why Genuine Coachability Matters and How to Achieve It

European Mentoring and Coaching Council: How Coachability is Defined by Coaches

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!

Things every brand new coach should know before embarking on a coaching career, including the "CYA (Cover Your A**) Trifecta", Dave sharing some math fun (much to Sandy's chagrin), and Sandy singing AGAIN (much to David's chagrin).

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The essentials that need to be considered if you are a new coach setting up your business

Dave shares some thoughts on math(s) and making money as a new coach

The average rates companies pay coaches (fall 2022)

Sandy shares what to look out (sneaky employers!) for when job searching

Where the money is in the coaching world

The basics of what you need to get started if you are "going it alone"

Sandy's "CYA Trifecta" to protect your business

Our thoughts on websites and what to have even if your website is a one-pager

The importance of finding your way of communication and marketing in a way that's fun and authentic to you

Thoughts on continuing education and certifications

What to NOT get caught up in when starting your coaching business

Passive action vs. Massive action

What worked for us when we first started out What didn't work for us when we first started out

Our thoughts, tips, and resources

LINKS (some may be affiliate links, we thank you for your support!) Insurance – Sandy uses CM&F Group – there are others out there that work well for coaches

Client agreement – there are many examples out there, here's one from the ICF

Lisa Fraley has a lot of resources on her website

Website Building/Graphics&Logos:

Wix

WordPress

Kajabi

MailChimp

99Designs

Fivver

Upwork

Scheduling platform: Practice Better

Peer Coaching: ReciproCoach

State laws for health coaches (Council of Holistic Health Educators)

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!

Should you have a coach if you are a coach? Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes, you should. Every good (and great) coach has at least one mentor, business, or another type of coach to help them work on coaching skills as well as personal issues.

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The three types of coaching you can get as a coach

What mentoring coach is – and isn't!

Some bad habits Sandy and Dave worked through with the help of a mentor coach

An important skill that we didn't learn in our coach training that we later learned with a mentor; other skills we improved after working with a mentor

Why working with more than one mentor coach can be helpful

Why personal development is just as important as working on coaching skills

How emotions, energy and intuition can help – or hinder – your coaching

What Sandy sees when reviewing student PSA (Practical Skills Assessments) and how coaching can help

Benefits of working with a mentor one-on-one vs. in groups

When mentor coaching is a requirement

How group mentor coaching works

How to find a mentor coach

Things that could get in a coach's way when it comes to getting coached themselves

RaeNotes Transcription tool for coaches

ICF "Find a Coach" tool

Better yet, work with one of us!

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!

Demonstrating all of those coaching competencies in a short amount of time can be a challenge, but it can be done! We'll walk through just how to do this; we'll also talk about the 30-minute coaching session in a workplace/corporate environment, share our tips for coaches to feel more comfortable in these short sessions, and more.

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Sandy talks about PSAs for health coaches

NOTE – the NBHWC has changed its guidelines for PSAs; there are now 18 skills that new health coaches should strive to demonstrate (changed from 17 as Sandy mentions in this episode). Your coach training organization PSA guidelines may offer slightly different skill markers or competencies for their training purposes. Current NBHWC Skills Guidelines can be found here (2022)

Sandy speaks of the importance of having a "good PSA client"

The most important thing Sandy thinks you can do during a 30-minute session (ANY session, really!)

The issues Sandy sees when reviewing PSAs

Sandy's pet peeve about reflections and summaries

Sandy's top three tips when recording a 30-minute PSA

Dave talks about 30-minute sessions when working for a coaching company

Dave's explanation of how this all works and the types of clients he works with

How Dave navigates sessions when clients just want information, not "proper" coaching

How Dave's private practice clients differ from the clients acquired through coaching companies

What happens when Dave runs out of time with those 30-minute clients – is he stressed and feeling the pressure?

Does the client notice or care if markers/competencies are demonstrated?

Dave's top three tips for a coach starting work for a coaching company that offers 30-minute sessions

Dave shares some research on where the 30-minute session time length came from.

ICF Research Another research project and findings

Keith Webb – shorter, more frequent sessions are better

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!