ACE Personal Trainer Manual, 4th edition Chapter 3: Communication and Teaching Techniques 1
Introduction • Successful personal trainers demonstrate excellent communication and teaching techniques. • Fitness professionals who excel in exercise science will be ineffective if they cannot establish positive relationships with their clients. • These relationships are based on good communication and teaching techniques.
Stages of the Client–Trainer Relationship • The early days of the client–trainer relationship consists of four stages: • The rapport stage begins with first impressions. • During the investigation stage, personal trainers review any client data. • In the planning stage, the trainer designs an exercise program in partnership with the client. • Next, clients are ready to begin working out, signaling the beginning of the action stage. • While these stages describe the traditional progression, they often overlap and recur.
Rapport Stage • During the rapport stage, the personal trainer sets the scene for establishing understanding and trust. • Influences include the personal trainer’s: • Physical appearance • Facial expression • Attire • Self-confidence • Rapport continues to develop through verbal and nonverbal communication. • Personal trainers must work to create a climate of respect and trust.
First Impressions • Clients’ first impressions are based on many controllable factors, as listed on the following slide. • Personal trainers should always conduct themselves appropriately since opportunities to meet future clients may unexpectedly arise. • During the first meeting with clients, personal trainers should convey their: • Education • Training • Certifications • Qualifications • Work experience
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication • People seek to verify verbal content by evaluating the speaker’s: • Appearance • Facial expressions • Body language • Tone of voice • Personal trainers should speak clearly and use language that is easily understood by clients, without talking down to them. • Verbal content can be enhanced with visual information that illustrates concepts. • Exercise demonstrations may accompany verbal explanations.
Nonverbal Communication • Nonverbal communication has many components, including: • Voice quality • Eye contact • Facial expression • Hand gestures • Body position
Nonverbal Communication: Voice Quality • A weak voice does not inspire client confidence. • On the other hand, a loud, tense voice tends to make people nervous. • Personal trainers should use a voice that is firm and confident to communicate professionalism. • Some people end their sentences with a higher pitch, as though asking a question. • This communicates indecisiveness and can be distracting.
Nonverbal Communication: Eye Contact • Direct, friendly eye contact shows clients they are the focus. • When a listener looks away, the speaker feels as though he or she is not being heard. • Similarly, when a speaker looks away, the listener does not feel important. • The speaker does not seem to care about the listener’s reaction.
Nonverbal Communication: Facial Expressions • Facial expressions convey emotion, but work best when the emotion is sincere. • Most clients can sense an artificial smile. • As personal trainers work with clients, their faces should display: • Genuine concern • Thoughtfulness • Enjoyment
Nonverbal Communication: Hand Gestures • Use of hand gestures varies from culture to culture. • People are most comfortable when a speaker uses relaxed, fluid hand gestures. • When listening, a personal trainer’s hands should be quiet. • The following hand motions may be distracting to clients: • Fidgeting • Clenched fists • Abrupt gestures • Finger pointing
Nonverbal Communication: Body Position • An open body position communicates confidence. • Good posture is especially important for personal trainers. • Their bodies serve as symbols of their professional expertise and models for their clients. • Poor posture suggests • Fatigue • Boredom • Poor physical fitness • A rigid, hands-on-hips stance may be interpreted as aggressive. • While seated, the personal trainer should look attentive by leaning slightly forward and keeping the arms uncrossed.
Personality Styles • Personality style is an individual’s characteristics, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviors, and coping mechanisms. • Scales exist for analyzing and categorizing personality styles. • People can be classified based on whether they score low or high on the dominance and sociability scales. • The figure below illustrates the four personality styles that are described in this model.
Self-assessment of Personality Style • Personal trainers can benefit from assessing their own personality styles. • Identifying personality styles can help trainers understand how their clients: • Communicate • Behave • Want to be treated
Working With Different Personality Styles • A personal trainer should never assume that what works with one client works for everyone. • This table provides guidelines for adapting rapport-building strategies to a client’s personality style.
Investigation Stage • Rapport continues to build during the investigation stage, as personal trainers gather information from their clients. • Much of this information is very personal in nature, including: • Medical concerns • Fitness assessment results • Body weight • Exercise history • Clients who sense that the personal trainer is a professional will be more honest and comfortable.
Gathering Information • Personal trainers should use the investigation stage to understand a client’s exercise likes and dislikes. • What has worked (or not worked) in previous exercise programs may work (or not work) again. • Careful attention can help personal trainers: • Read between the lines of fitness forms • Understand the emotions behind the stories that clients tell
Demonstrating Effective Listening • Effective listening: • Means listening carefully to the words and the emotions behind the speaker’s words • Takes a great deal of attention and energy • Instead of listening carefully, the listener is often busy: • Formulating arguments • Forming judgments about the speaker • Thinking about what to say next • Being preoccupied with their own thoughts • Effective listening occurs when the personal trainer listens to a client empathetically, and with an open mind. • Communication occurs most effectively in quiet, private spaces that limit distraction.
Methods of Effective Listening • Encouraging • The personal trainer may use short words or phrases such as “I see,” “Yes,” and “I know what you mean.” • Paraphrasing • The personal trainer can demonstrate understanding by restating in a clear and concise way the essence of what the client has been saying. • Questioning • Open-ended questions provide an opportunity to demonstrate good listening skills and encourage the client to share relevant information. • Reflecting • The personal trainer can demonstrate understanding or seek clarification by trying to restate the main points and feelings in the client’s communication. • Summarizing • At appropriate points in the conversation, the personal trainer should try to summarize key points that have a bearing on exercise program design.
Self-disclosure • Personal trainers can also use a limited amount of self-disclosure. • These self-disclosures should be limited, keeping the focus on the client. • For example, a personal trainer might say: • “I think I know what you mean. When I moved to a new city last year, I didn’t exercise for several weeks either. What did you do then?”
Responding to Difficult Disclosures • Personal trainers are sometimes unsure of how to respond when clients share sad information. • Often, a short response is all that is required, such as “I’m so sorry,” or “That must have been very hard.” • If the situation affects program design, the trainer can turn the conversation back to the practical details. • If clients reveal new medical information, they should be referred to their healthcare providers.
Planning Stage • Personal trainers must continue to listen to clients’ responses to their ideas and suggestions. • Client adherence is better when clients help take responsibility for exercise program design. • The planning stage generally moves through the following steps: • Setting goals • Generating and discussing alternatives • Formulating a plan • Evaluating the exercise program
Setting Goals • The personal trainer should help clients define goals in specific and measurable terms so that progress can be evaluated. • Effective goals are SMART goals, which means they are: • Specific: clear statement of what is to be accomplished • Measurable: must be able to measure and track progress • Attainable: must be realistically achievable in the available time • Relevant: important to the client • Time-bound: must have estimated time of completion
Realistic Goals • The personal trainer should err on the conservative side of goal setting. • Lofty goals feel good and sound inspirational, but clients are soon disappointed when progress is slow. • Fitness indicators that may demonstrate change include those listed on the following slide.
Process Versus Product Goals • The personal trainer should be sure to include process goals as well as product goals. • Process goal • Something a client does, such as completes a certain number of workouts per week • Product goal • Something achieved, like weight loss • Clients typically achieve process goals before product goals. • More suggestions for setting goals are presented on the following slide.
Generating and Discussing Alternatives • The ultimate goal for every client is adherence to the exercise program. • A number of variables influence client adherence. • One cause of exercise dropout is that clients perceive the program as too time-consuming. • The trainer should encourage a modest exercise program rather than an ambitious program that is never performed. • The personal trainer should encourage the client to take the lead in what seems realistic.
Formulating a Plan • Once an exercise program is decided upon, it should be written down and given to the client. • The plan should include all the information needed to get started, such as: • Advice on what to wear • Where to go • Any tips on facility etiquette and customs that might help the client feel more comfortable
Evaluating the Exercise Program • Exercise program evaluation occurs regularly. • The personal trainer and client should review exercise records and discuss what is working and what needs to change. • Clients should also be reassessed periodically to measure progress. • The exercise program should be evaluated both in terms of exercise challenge and adherence. • If adherence is faltering, the personal trainer and client should discuss what is causing problems. • The program should be revised as necessary.
Using Motivational Interviewing Techniques • Motivational interviewing motivates people to make a decision to change their behavior. • The personal trainer’s goal is to create awareness that a sedentary lifestyle will likely cause health problems. • Using direct questions, the personal trainer can convey that: • Good health is important • A sedentary lifestyle is actually dangerous to their health and well-being
Methods for Motivational Interviewing • Personal trainers who use motivational interviewing will be most successful if they: • Ask probing questions • Listen effectively • Provide educational information • Keep the conversation friendly • Build self-confidence • Encourage clients to generate ideas • The personal trainer’s job in a motivational interview is to: • Be supportive of the client • Challenge sedentary behavior
Action Stage • Once the exercise program design is complete, the client is ready to begin exercising. • Typically, the program is a combination of: • Exercise completed by clients on their own • Exercise performed with the personal trainer instructing and supervising • The personal trainer can enhance client success in many ways during the action stage.
Setting Up Self-monitoring Systems • The personal trainer should give the client a system for recording exercise sessions. • Self-monitoring is one of the most effective ways to support behavior change. • Self-monitoring systems help in two ways: • They increase client self-awareness. • They enhance client–trainer communication by leading to productive discussions.
Individualizing Teaching Techniques • Understanding how people learn can help personal trainers provide sound instruction. • People gather information through their senses, primarily: • Visual • Auditory • Kinesthetic • While people usually prefer one pathway over others, most people use a combination of pathways. • All three techniques may be used to introduce a new skill, but a trainer should emphasize the client’s preferred learning style. • The personal trainer can identify which pathway a client prefers by watching for clues in language, as presented on the following slide.
“Tell, Show, Do” • Motor learning is the process of acquiring and improving motor skills. • “Tell, show, do” illustrates a good way to introduce a new skill. • Allow clients the opportunity for focused practice.
Providing Feedback • Once a client has tried a skill, the personal trainer should give helpful feedback. • Feedback should do three things: • Provide reinforcement for what was done well • Correct errors • Motivate clients to continue practicing and improving • Correcting errors should be sandwiched between reinforcement and motivation. • Feedback should be limited to a few simple points. • Feedback should be phrased positively, pointing out what the client should do.
Providing Physical Feedback • Personal trainers can provide helpful feedback by touching clients to: • Indicate where they are supposed to feel the movement • Help them achieve the correct body position • Some clients are uncomfortable being touched or may misinterpret physical contact. • Personal trainers should explain the purpose of any physical contact, and ask clients for permission for this contact.
Using Effective Modeling • Personal trainers should model the healthful lifestyle advice they are giving to their clients. • Personal trainers should also model good attitudes, such as exercising for positive reasons. • People are more likely to adopt exercise if they believe exercise improves quality of life. • Trainers should be especially diligent about modeling healthy attitudes around young people. • Young people may have a tendency to develop problems with body image.
Behavior Contracts • Behavior contracts spell out the behavior the client is expected to perform and a reward that will be given upon successful achievement. • Contracts may be problematic if the behavioral expectations are set too high. • Behavior-change contracts offer extrinsic motivation for exercise. • People who exercise regularly for extended periods of time often do so because of intrinsic motivation. • Most people exercise for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. • Process goals work better than product goals, since they are more predictable and controllable.
Cultural Competence • Cultural competence is the ability to communicate and work effectively with people from different cultures. • Personal trainers can develop cultural competence by taking time to learn about clients’ beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles. • Personal trainers can increase their own cultural competence by: • Acknowledging their own biases regarding people of other backgrounds • Learning about clients’ beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles • Being careful not to form new stereotypes
Difficult Clients May Require More Effort • Building rapport can take more effort when clients are: • Reluctant to begin exercising • Afraid of getting injured • Depressed and anxious about their health • Personal trainers who encounter resistance should ask questions and promote productive discussion. • Personal trainers should display their credentials and mention continuing education opportunities they pursue.
Empathy and Rapport Enhance Adherence • Establishing a good working relationship enhances adherence to behavior-change programs. • Personal trainers develop empathy with a client when they put themselves in the client’s position. • Personal trainers’ attempts to understand are conveyed through effective listening with an open, nonjudgmental mind.
Professional Boundaries • When personal trainers and clients work together for an extended period of time, it is normal for each to experience a feeling of friendliness toward the other. • The professional effectiveness of personal trainers is undermined when they become too personally involved with their clients. • What is the difference between empathy and personal involvement? • Empathy occurs when the trainer demonstrates understanding and acceptance toward the client. • Personal involvement occurs when the trainer becomes friends with the client or enters into an intimate relationship. • The client–trainer relationship should cease immediately if an intimate relationship develops. • When clients talk about intimate issues, trainers should not feel compelled to show understanding or even a strong interest.
Stages of Motor Learning • Cognitive • Clients try to understand a new skill. • Movements are often uncoordinated and jerky. • Personal trainers should use the “tell, show, do” technique and provide ample opportunity for practice. • Associative • Clients begin to master the basics and are ready for specific feedback. • Personal trainers must find the balance between giving appropriate feedback and giving too much feedback. • Autonomous • Clients are performing motor skills effectively and naturally. • The personal trainer is doing less teaching and more monitoring. • Once skills are learned, the personal trainer may decide to introduce new exercises or routines.
Incorporating Effective Communication and Teaching • Personal trainers should prepare for each session by preparing to: • Listen effectively • Put fresh energy into each personal-training session • Personal trainers should ask clients for feedback on their own performance. • Personal trainers should use electronic communication channels with discretion. • Personal trainers who allow clients access to their Internet pages should maintain such pages in a professional manner. • Personal trainers should try to make training fun.
Summary • Successful personal trainers consistently demonstrate excellent communication and teaching techniques. • Personal trainers must provide helpful direction through all the stages of learning and incorporate effective communication and teaching techniques. • This session covered: • Stages of the client–trainer relationship • Strategies for effective communication • Stages of learning and their application to the client–trainer relationship • How to incorporate effective communication and teaching techniques into daily interactions with clients