How to Coach Better
Announcing one of my next projects.
Ever since I can remember, I have enjoyed teaching.
At 6, I was willing to lecture anyone who wanted to hear me about Pokémon. I arranged a study session at my place during Middle School to explain to people the History materials we would cover in class. I started to make money teaching guitar classes before High School. I built a corporate training company, 2 different alternative education projects, taught classes, workshops, and courses, and did lots of both mentoring and, recently, tutoring with AI.
Throughout this time, I developed a series of strategies and principles that have helped me make sure students and mentees are engaged and making progress with their learning. Because of it, I was often put in a position of helping other educators and coaches develop their own style, providing frameworks so that they could increase their results.
2 years ago, I was invited to teach a full course on “How to Teach” to a series of corporate trainers. It was the first time I actually had to write down the different things I believe can make a learning experience truly different, the meta-principles that go beyond your actual content and actually allow you to design something that feels unique for those who witness it.
Recently, as I talked with a friend about some of those ideas, he mentioned I should offer that as a service. It reminded me of a couple of calls I had done in the past, similar to this, so I started to design something I could test. Around that same time, Satyajit Rout reached out to talk about my piece on mentorship, and I saw that as the perfect opportunity to test the service and see how it would go.
Things went great (you can read his feedback if you scroll down), and I decided to finally launch it to the world.
What follows is an attempt at answering some of the questions people may have about the Program.
“What will we do?”
This is a one-on-one course, happening online, focusing on helping you be a better coach or educator.
An introductory call of 30 minutes where you tell me some of your biggest struggles as an educator/coach. What is it that’s bothering you? What are the shortcomings of your current strategies? What do you wish could be better?
This will help us both understand if there’s a match between us and if I’m the person to help you, or if there’s somebody else I know who will be better at it.
It’s also where I’ll share the price of the program and set up the payment information.
If we start the program, we will have a total of 6+1 sessions.
The first 4 are weekly, at a given time defined by both of us.
The last 2 are separated by 2 weeks.
The extra one happens 1 month after our last session and is focused on feedback and possible last tips for implementation of some of the strategies.
Each of the 6 sessions starts with a similar structure:
Reviewing past work (you will have a series of small tasks to implement in your practice);
Presenting the Session Strategies
Q&A;
I usually tend to have 1-3 main strategies per session, tailored based on our introductory call and progress of the actual coaching program. However, one of the things I deeply believe in is flexibility, and I’m willing to adapt the structure of the sessions to better serve your needs.
This can mean roleplay, watching recordings of your sessions together and commenting, answering questions from past sessions, etc.
During the time between sessions, I’m fully reachable, and I can answer questions or give you feedback on the tasks that you have to do.
“Who is it for?”
There are many different types of education and coaching. The people who have benefited from my services fall into the following categories:
Coaches starting their journey;
High-skilled professionals who have a hard time translating their knowledge into an actual teaching practice;
Alternative Educators who work with classes or 1-1 mentoring;
Educators/Mentors who have a hard time connecting with or unlocking results in their students;
Educators are struggling to capture the attention of a class.
“Can you give me an idea of some of the material we’ll be covering?”
As I mentioned before, a lot of my sessions are tailor-made to you based on our introductory call. I adjust the full scope of the sessions and review each of the strategies for the next one based on your feedback and implementation.
This is why it’s hard for me to have a concrete “plan” to offer people, which is also why people may be more “reticent” to engage with me on such a process. Because of it, I’ve developed what I would consider a basic plan to propose to basically anyone who would be the “standard” client.
Session 1 - Designing Emotional Landscapes
Understanding the role that emotions play in both students and teachers;
Understanding how to use certain triggers to prompt emotions that drive the learning forward.
Session 2 - Voice Leading your Materials
Understanding the music concept of “Voice Leading” and how you can better design your curriculum to navigate much more naturally, creating “conceptual bridges” between seemingly different ideas.
Session 3 - Biases
Understanding different cognitive biases applied to education, particularly the ones that connect with how students relate to new information.
Understanding how to recognize your own biases as an educator and how they can unconsciously affect your results.
Session 4 - Metaphors
Understanding why metaphors are the best way to bypass resistance, communicating the gestalt of an idea, and allowing the client or student to intuitively get something faster.
Understanding how to craft and choose metaphors that fit your specific students rather than relying on generic comparisons.
Session 5 - How to Ask Better Questions
Understanding the difference between open and closed questions, how to ask questions that unlock possibilities, and how to ask questions that guide the client towards the kind of insight you’re looking for.
Session 6 - Dilts Pyramid
Understanding Dilts’ Neurological Levels Model as a tool to unlock new goals and emotional states for students and coachees.
Things I have written about How to Teach
I have written A LOT about education in this Substack, but here are some of my favorite pieces:
Feedback from People I’ve worked with
João played an important role in my journey in the school, not only as a mentor, but also as someone who made me feel genuinely welcome and supported from the beginning. His guidance, trust, and friendship gave me the confidence to grow into my role as a teacher and shaped the way I approached it. I’m truly grateful for everything I learned from him, both professionally and personally.
Nuno, Teacher
When I started working with Joao, I had been having difficulties managing my expectations of coaching prospects and clients. In particular, I wasn't sure if my expectations of them were unrealistic. Joao clarified the importance of setting standards in educational experiences. That was a big source of reassurance for me and it allowed me to be myself without second-guessing myself.
Another early occasion for insight for me was understanding my own defensiveness in my interactions with clients. I came to understand that it emerged from not being ready to meet the client/learner where they were. Joao encouraged me to have a ridiculous amount of empathy for clients. This was and is the biggest step for me. It is something I remind myself when I notice myself slipping into old habits.
(…)
Joao's way of giving feedback is gentle and honest. He pointed me to my strengths as a coach and gave me specific suggestions for improvement, connecting his own ideas for my improvement with how it would enhance the client's experience with me.
Satyajit, my first client for this specific program. You can read his full testimonial here.
If you’re looking forward to increasing your coaching/educational capacities, reach out!