Table of Contents
Introduction
I remember the first time I entered a chemistry lab in high school. The first time I performed an experiment with the pipettes and test tubes. The first time I saw the pink Potassium Permanganate turn colourless after adding Hydrochloric acid.
I knew then and there that I’d never have to memorise those pesky equations and techniques. I had seen them happen in reality. I no longer needed to imagine them. The entire experience is frozen in time for me. That’s the power of experiential learning. It cements what the books teach you so you can viscerally feel it in your gut.
Live coaching demos are no different!
You must’ve encountered various coaching modalities and techniques during your coach training.
You must’ve wondered how it’s done or what a coaching technique really looks like. You, my friend, are not alone. We’ve all felt this need to see the magic happen live.
But you don’t need a staged or live coaching demonstration that leaves you hanging at the end.
You need to witness and be part of a live coaching session. More than that, you need clear answers to that coaching session’s what, why and how.
In this article, that’s what we are going to talk about.
Live Coaching Demonstration and their importance in elevating your coaching practice.
What is it, how does it work, and why coaches should consider opting for quality coaching demos?
Without any further ado, let’s get started!
What are Live Coaching Demos?
A live coaching demo or demonstration is a setup where an expert coach conducts an actual coaching session with a client in the presence of a live audience (often other coaches).
It’s intended to demonstrate what happens in a real-life coaching session without any filters or premeditated responses. You experience many “Aha!” moments when you see an experienced coach dealing with a client in a live set-up. You observe their communication style, ways of intervening, and how they approach a coaching session in general.
The Importance of Live Coaching Demos
Helps eliminate assumptions
Like a lab experiment gives concrete evidence, a live coaching demo can help eliminate assumptions and bring more clarity. Watching a powerful coaching session can change the way you think about coaching. Reflecting on learnings and incorporating them into your coaching practice becomes easier.
Boosts your confidence as a coach
96% of people consider confidence a very important trait in a good coach. (Information reference: a study by ICF). Pretty obvious, right?
Your lack of confidence starts showing up when dealing with your clients. Often, new coaches get so caught up in following the steps and textbook techniques that they stop being authentic and present. The client can see right through it. Since most clients (46%) find coaches through referrals and word-of-mouth, this over-the-mill coaching style can sabotage your reputation as a coach.
Live coaching demos help you verify or challenge your existing ideas and enable you to identify the areas of improvement with correct solutions. Confidence contributes to your professional as well as personal development as a coach. You stress less and show up with more confidence and balance.
What’s wrong with YouTube coaching session videos?
There are a lot of coaching demo videos published online. Some of them even provide analysis and explanation pointers. But most of these videos are for the general public to understand what coaching is about.
They are more for clients and less for coaches to learn.
Another problem with these videos is their authenticity and credibility. Staged demos are a reality, and while they give us a taste of how a coaching session looks, they may not be adequate for coach learning and scientific analysis.
Moreover, these demos are one-sided. You cannot ask your queries, share your reflections or discuss your learnings with anyone. Which makes the whole idea of watching coaching demos somewhat pointless.
What challenges can coaches overcome by participating in Live Coaching Demos?
Rules are important. Until they aren’t.
New coaches often stay apprehensive about whether they are doing it right. The coaching rules they have learned during training or in books weigh heavily on their minds and can turn their coaching formulaic. However, professional coaches can switch from a prepared strict-coaching pathway to a more agile and comfortable flow. They stay firm and let their unique selves flow while dealing with clients– without losing the context.
You learn to become more confident in your approaches by watching live demos. While simultaneously keeping your feet on the ground.
2. Discovering and staying aware of the fine line between coaching & therapy.
The line between coaching and therapy can easily get blurred. As a coach, your task is to help your client realise their inner potential and help them navigate obstacles so they can perform better. But in the process, you or your client may often circle back to past emotional triggers and traumas.
It’s no longer coaching when you are dealing with a client’s traumas or behaviour issues. It’s therapy. Such slips undermine the ethical boundaries and professional integrity of the coaching process. You want to help your client in any way you can, but this boundary breach can even put you in a dangerous position later.
Why dangerous? Because, as a coach, you might not be trained to deal with issues of psychotherapy or psychiatry. Moreover, it can be tempting for you to motivate your clients to do more, plan more, and chase the elusive transformation.
Live coaching gives you the necessary reference point. You take inspiration on how to navigate such delicate moments professionally. You start alerting yourself before you cross your “coaching threshold”.
3. Escaping the isolation trap
Coaching can get lonely. Especially if you’re not practising within a company or a wider coaching association. But when you witness, in a group, a live coaching demo, there’s immense scope for shared learning and observation. Apart from that, you also have some access to the coach, the coachee and the moderator to further the conversation happening within you. You have a space to reflect and gain multiple perspectives.
Inside Coaching Cabinet, our free peer support group, you can even take those learnings and practise them in small groups to grow in skill, not just theory.
How to Get the Most Out of a Live Coaching Demo
- Observe with an Attentive & Energetic Mind : Take a nap before attending the demos to keep your mind attentive. Observe the flow and energy of the session as well as the words and actions of both the coach and the client.
- Keep a notepad handy: Take notes from the coaching demo sessions. Track reflections, methods used in certain situations, etc. Analyse, connect the dots and implement them in your coaching practice whenever required.
- Ask Questions: Coaches often undermine the depth of their queries and refrain from asking them. But getting a peek inside the coach’s mind can by far be the most important information you need to connect the dots of a live coaching session.
Conclusion
Live coaching sessions are a great way to expand your coaching lens. But that’s not enough.
When you dissect what you watched, with the coach and the coachee, you understand how a particular question or insight helped the client.
You also get to see the real, in-the-moment working of the coach’s mind, which can open a doorway to immense learning.
At Rocket Supervision, we understand this need for community and shared learning. That’s why The Coaching Lab, our live coaching participation arm, has been designed to accelerate your learning. You are exposed to coaches from different niches, different levels of experience and even cultural backgrounds.
What we have built is a truly inclusive and global community of coaches with a safe space to observe, learn and grow together.
At the Coaching Lab, coaching is not taught. It is experienced. We provide you with a range of coaching sessions so you can venture into new niches, explore how other coaches work and bring their best practices to your coaching toolkit.
I love the variety of approaches you have created. Every month there’s something new to learn form each coaching session. It really elevates the shared conversation about what effective coaching looks like.
– Catherine Cheshire, PCC Executive coach
The modelling and experiential element is varied and instructive in a way that training programmes don’t quite hit. I love the variety of approaches you have created. Every month there’s something new to learn form each coaching. It really elevates the shared conversation about what effective coaching looks like. – Catherine Cheshire PCC Executive coach
We would like to invite you inside and offer you access to these powerful conversations between a coach and a client.
Want to know what it looks like?
