A Fractured Coaching Fairy Tale
Posted: Tuesday, March 22, 2011
by Carol Hess
Tame the Writing Monster
Once upon a time there was a coach named Connie. She was a very talented coach – one of those people who has been coaching ever since she was a little girl when all the kids in the neighborhood came to her for help with their problems.
When Connie grew up, she went to The Best Coaching School in the World (TBCSITW). The faculty at TBCSITW all agreed. Connie would go far. She was one of the best students it had ever been their privilege to train.
But she did wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more.
Every once in a while, someone would come to her coaching door and ask to be coached – the daughter of her mother’s best friend, her hairdresser’s first cousin once removed, a friend from coaching school. But it didn’t happen often enough.
Connie’s husband, the gallant Prince George (PG), had been enthusiastic and supportive when Connie decided to go to TBCSITW. But recently his enthusiasm had begun to wane. He had started to drop hints about Connie getting a “real” job.
One day, when Connie was feeling at her most desperate, suddenly there was a loud knock at her coaching door. When she opened it, there stood Carolita, the Good Witch of Writing. She was holding a pumpkin.
“Connie, you have been on my website. You have been to my classes. You have read my e-book. You know what I preach. Writing is the best business tool you have at your disposal to build your coaching business. You must write!”
“I know you are right, Carolita,” Connie admitted. “But I hate writing. I’m no good at it. What can I do? What can I do?”
“My dear Connie,” responded Carolita, “My dear, sweet, writing phobic friend Connie, do not despair. There’s more than one way to skin the Writing Beast!”
Connie winced at the violent image.
“Well, are you going to invite me in?”
Carolita entered Connie’s castle, sat down in the most comfortable armchair normally reserved for the cat, and carefully placed her pumpkin on the table next to her.
“Bring me a cup of Classic India Spice tea and some of your lovely pumpkin bread with the cream cheese frosting, and I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.”
When she had finished her snack, Carolita leaned forward and whispered into Connie’s ear. Connie began to smile. By the time Carolita finished whispering, Connie was grinning from ear to ear.
“I can do that, Carolita! I can definitely do that. Oh thank you for saving my coaching business. Thank you! Thank you!”
Carolita waved off Connie’s effusive thanks and, with a tip of her pointed witch’s hat and a swirl of her cape, she and her pumpkin vanished.
When PG came home from work that night, Connie told him about her visitor and what she had said. PG nodded and smiled. Then he began to grin.
Connie did what Carolita had suggested. Pretty soon the clients were beating a path to her door. Her coaching schedule was full, and she was making money hand over fist.
Coach Connie and Prince George lived happily ever after.
So did Carolita, the Good Witch of Writing. She was last seen boarding a plane for Africa with a rather good-looking and somewhat younger man on her arm.
The End
What’s that? You want to know what Carolita whispered to Connie? It’s really quite simple, my writing phobic friends.
A — U — D — I —O
That’s right, audio. If you can talk, if you can carry on a conversation, you can take advantage of audio.
There’s no rule that says you must write all the communications for your coaching business. In fact, you could talk them all out and record them. Then use the services of a transcriptionist for anything that has to be in written format. It’s not the most inexpensive solution perhaps, but it is a solution.
And even if you aren’t writing phobic, you still want to mix up how you communicate your message. People have preferred methods of receiving information and you want to take that into account. Also, recent studies show that people are more responsive to audio and video than to the written word.
So how do you substitute audio for writing? How do you mix up how you deliver your message? What does that look like in a coaching business?
Well, maybe you publish your blog posts with an option to listen to an audio recording of the post. Maybe your weekly ezine is usually an audio tip. Maybe the About You page on your website features a short video of you. Maybe some of the testimonials on your sales pages are in audio or video format or both.
You see? It doesn’t always have to be all about the writing. But it does have to be all about the communicating.
And that’s what Carolita, the Good Witch of Writing, whispered in Coach Connie’s ear that fateful day.
What whispers about writing are you listening to? Are they serving you?
Carol Hess (www.tamethewritingmonster.com), the Coach’s Writing Partner, shows coaches how to harness the power of writing to gain clients, credibility, and confidence. She shows you how to write smarter, not harder for the coach who wants to write less, stress less, and coach more. Get Carol’s new report, “ 15 Foolproof Ways to Bust Through Writer’s Block,” at http://www.tamethewritingmonster.com.
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