&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">As a personal trainer, sports therapist, Biomechanics Coach, sports/strength coach, or anyone working with people in a 1:1 or group environment, communication skills will often set you apart from the rest of the field. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">You could have the most in-depth knowledge of strength programming but if you can’t communicate it then no one will ever listen or most importantly follow it. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">How often do you see in gyms the “smartest” and most educated  PT struggles to get a client while one who has done a 2 day online course but can communicate is fully booked?</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">It has nothing to do with their qualifications or their intelligence but the communication or emotional intelligence.</span>

&nbsp;
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">What are examples of these communication skills and how can we improve them?</span></h2>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Communication skills are a fundamental way of interacting with another being, person or animal.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">They can be visual, aural, oral, kinaesthetic and are often a combination of these.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">We, humans, are sensitive to others emotions that we read by their facial expressions. This is unique to us and we have the ability to ‘say a lot’ by simply moving the smallest muscles in our faces.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Even those who are blind can have the sense of sound to hear voice tone allowing them to get a sense of emotion, mood or feelings of the other person. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Also, there is more and more evidence explaining the power of physical touch in the realms of manual therapy, hugging, kissing and creating an emotion in another human by a simple touch.</span>

&nbsp;
<h2><b>How Can Communication Skills Be Utilised?</b></h2>
<h3><b>Physical Communication Skills</b></h3>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Well as you can see from the above if you are in the business of service provision, then they can be extremely useful.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A famous sales technique is to touch the customer's elbow lightly at the point of sale while looking them in the eye.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Connection and connecting is a HUGE part of what we do as trainers or coaches when we provide our service, ideas, and motivation. If you don’t enjoy my company then ultimately my business will fail. So we must already be at least reasonable at communicating, right? Manual therapists have a great </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">excuse</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to touch to connect and so long as always done by asking permission first, there is no reason why a PT can’t too. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Physical assessments can give trainers an excuse to professionally connect through human touch. So there is </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">way</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> more to those function tests than simply the measurement itself.</span>

&nbsp;

<b>Are They Always A Good Thing?</b>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The thing is they can go really badly against you too. Because we are so super sensitive we might misread a sign and this could have negative consequences. Like being kind might be misconstrued at flirting or you being distracted while thinking of a problem as someone is talking to you, they may think you don’t like them based on your facial expression. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Always conduct yourself with a professional aura, asking permission or explaining why you are doing something will put clients at ease. Unknowingly to them the power of touch will also enhance results through the power of human connecting.</span>

&nbsp;
<h2><b>How Can Improving Communication Skills Help Us……In Life? Business? Relationships?</b></h2>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Well, they can be practised, honed and then used to improve relations in all aspects of your life and business.</span>

&nbsp;
<h3><b>Powerful Communication Through The Written Word</b></h3>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">When writing marketing copy, a facebook post or blog imagine YOU are your customer. Remember the reader will likely be in a different state of mind than you the writer. You know the answers, they don't. You are educated on exercise, they are not. You may not live with the pain they feel or the movement limitations they have. They frustrations are likely to be very different from yours. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">So try to imagine you are talking to them face to face. </span>

&nbsp;
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What questions would they be asking you?</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What problem would they want help with?</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What would their opinion of personal trainers or gyms environments be?</span></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a good chance they would ask you very basic questions like </span>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Do you know an exercise to get rid of my spare tyre, or bingo wings?”</span></i>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Of course, you know such a thing does not exist but they don’t so their mindset about what you can help with will be coming from a very different angle.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">They might feel scared about doing a squat in front of everyone else in the gym. They may not know how to use certain gym equipment and they may feel intimidated. However your view of squatting and gym environments comes from a place of familiarity so is likely quite the opposite. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Our job is to educate our clients, members and participants on how to move well and strengthen their bodies but our ability to communicate efficiently and effectively is vital. </span>

&nbsp;
<h2><b>Examples Of Poor / Good Communication </b></h2>
<h3><b>Verbal</b></h3>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Client 1 </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What exercise can I do to lose weight?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">”</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">PT “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Any</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">” or “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shall I book you in?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">” </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">OR</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Client 2 “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do I get toned?” </span></i>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">PT “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Eat well and exercise” OR “ just lift weights”</span></i>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">While technically both answers maybe correct neither response actually ‘educated’ the client nor did they ‘connect’ with the client in anyway. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">How about these alternatives to enable the PT to connect with these clients.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">To client 2 the PT could have asked a question like “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">what have you tried so far?” Or  “are you new to exercise?” or “what’s your long term goal”</span></i>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The conversation with client 2 could have been “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Awesome I know lots of fantastic toning exercises but may I ask you some questions about what kind of exercises you actually like?”</span></i>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The mere act of asking a question instead of simply offering a solution tells the client the PT is actually interested in them. It also gives the PT more information about how they can help the client. The more questions you ask (while allowing them to respond by listening) offers you more evidence of how you can help this particular individual.</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">While the end result maybe the same service as you could have offered in teaching them ‘any’ exercise by ‘booking them in’ this alternative really engages them immediately. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Research has shown that people make decisions very quickly, in fact within the first few seconds of interaction. So if you can engage them and make them feel heard and validated, they are far more likely to book you and then continue a sustained relationship with you for the duration of their exercise journey. They are more likely to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">trust</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> you. </span>

&nbsp;
<h3><b>Staying Positive </b></h3>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Things like pain reduction and wanting to have a thigh gap are what might be classed as ‘negative’ goals. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A negative goal is something that isn’t a pleasant thing to focus on, like pain, or maybe isn’t realistic either, maybe like the thigh gap.</span>

&nbsp;
<h3><b>Empathy</b></h3>
&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Sometimes having been in the same place as your potential clients can endear you to them. If you write honestly about how it made you feel to be fat or unfit, it can help potential clients feel you will be able to empathise. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Practising mindfulness can help us to do this skillfully. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe make some notes about how you felt, your frustrations, weaknesses, thoughts, fears, what made you not exercise or try to lose fat etc </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This could then help you communicate verbally or in your marketing copy or blogs.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe even describing how your were your own coach or hired a coach, how you took steps and then how you created new habits, how you felt better and started to see as well as feel the benefits.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This takes skill, especially if you no longer look that way. It might be a brave thing making one of your old photos available to prove your journey. But the potential rewards if communicated well are exponential.</span>

&nbsp;
<h3><b>Listening Skills</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Personally I believe listening to be not only the most important communication skill but also one of the most under utilised.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Asking questions will ultimately tell you what &amp; how to ‘sell’. Asking the right questions will give you all the information you need. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Not only that, it makes your clients or potential clients feel valued, heard &amp; important to you. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A very simple method to demonstrate that you are listening is </span>

&nbsp;
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ask an open question (one that requires more than a simple yes or no)</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maintain eye contact as they reply</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nod occasionally, smile or frown when appropriate </span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paraphrase back what they have said ie “</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">so let me get this clear he said it’s ok to eat as much chocolate as you want if</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">…”</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Continue to question as appropriate </span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sympathies &amp; offer a solution….within your services </span></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h3><b>Other - Legal </b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Communication Skills go beyond simply from you to your clients or potential clients. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Writing very clearly, collating all research done around a clients conditions, letters of referral, screening forms, reports &amp; reflective journals can all be used in legal cases. In fact that’s one of the primary reasons for having them, to demonstrate how you have provided an appropriate duty of care. Getting second opinions on email or text are evidence of good practise. </span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This also creates a more secure record for validating your insurance. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Always imagine if your client was a relative of yours, if they were injured in a session how would you feel if the trainer had shoddy records if any at all! Versus a trainer with lots of notes, evidence of care, research etc?? A judge will also take your work more seriously </span>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;
<h2><b>Communication Skills Training Plan</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The key word is “skill”. A skill is trainable, you can get better at it... with practice.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The problem is that most people aren’t willing to practice this type of skill. As you’re reading this, I am going to guess that’s not you. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">So how do I suggest you train to improve this skill?</span>

&nbsp;

<b>Step 1: Pick 1 Aspect To Focus On - E.g. Listening</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t try and work on all of them in one go. That’s overwhelming, confusing and you’ll probably just start getting odd looks from people as you try and remember all the things you’re supposed to do.</span>

&nbsp;

<b>Step 2: Select 1-3 Things To Bring Into Your Locker</b>
<ol>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wait for people to finish their sentences before I respond</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recap what I heard them say… in their words</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ask questions to go deeper into what they answered</span></li>
</ol>
Then go practice these things over and over. After each interaction, ask yourself, did I do those things? At the end of each day take a moment to reflect and ask yourself, "how did I do that today?"

Before you know it you'll be doing those things automatically. Then you can start on the next skill to learn.

&nbsp;

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Never under-estimate developing your communication skills. I believe that improving your communication skills can dramatically improve your chances of success in business and well in anything you do in life really.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The best trainers may not have the highest qualifications nor the biggest toolbox of skills. However they will know exactly how to make YOU feel great in their company. </span>

&nbsp;

<hr />

&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Discover What The Biomechanics Coaching System Could Do For Your Business &amp; Your Clients</strong></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">rachel@biomechanicseducation.com</h3>
<a href="https://biomechanicseducation.clickfunnels.com/biomechanics-coach-l4-low-back25799549"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-7922" src="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Biomechanics-Coaching-courses-UK-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" /></a>