A Sample Coaching Session

Sample coaching session for management:

Asking is better than telling. Effective coaching today is not critiquing, it’s collaboration. Your goal in most instances is for the talent to get ownership of a coaching point when you ask the right questions. Research studies on recall reveal:

If you are told something, recall after 3 months is about 10%. 

If you are told and shown something…recall is about 32%

If you realize an insight and you verbalize it… recall increases to about 65%.

Sample coaching session:

Program Director/Brand Manager questions:

“What were the highlights on this show? Why did those segments work so well? Anything you would do differently the next time to make it work even better? How well did it connect to the target audience?”

“What didn’t work as well on this show and why? What would you do differently next time? What were you going for in that segment? To what extent do you think it achieved that?”

Then follow up on the points the show didn’t pick up on with your questioning. Deliver action points to work on in a direct and non-personal way.

Avoid the Big But Syndrome! For example, if you say something like, “That was an entertaining story you got from the caller, BUT, you missed the exit and got out on a low point,” the talent will only hear what came after the ‘but.’

Create a space between delivering praise and the action points that you suggest that the talent needs to work on to get better.  If you deliver praise and action point together, one or the other likely won’t be heard.

Always be specific and sincere with praise and never gratuitous.

Use the Rule of Three: deliver three points (or more) that the show is doing well and three action points to work on before the next coaching session. Hitting talent with a barrage of points can lead to confusion and paralysis by analysis.

Collaboration sends the signal that you are on the show’s side and there to help them actualize their talent. Then the show will not want to disappoint you and they will implement the points that you agree to address.