Seeing vs Being

We’ve previously written about using what we see in a client’s background to prompt some interesting conversations and questions with online coaching clients.

But what if you spot a client using a ‘visual’ communication style? They’ll probably say things like:

“I hadn’t noticed that before”

“That’s an interesting view”

“I’m looking for …”

“They couldn’t see it”

“Let me add some colour to this”

Matching the communication style of your client rapport builds quicker as you’re literally talking their language! So let’s see how we can get creative with this…

Some possible opening questions:

• What’s your favourite thing you’ve seen this year?

Followed by:

• What’s your favourite thing you’ve never seen?

This starts to broaden the clients understanding of ‘seeing’. It opens up the limitations they may have previously had, and creates an enabling constraint.

Taking this a step further would be turning the video off and asking, what do you see now? or Can you see more clearly now?

Important to partner well with your client here, as sometimes turning a camera off can lead to disengagement. It can make people less present, and more open to distractions. Maybe even just having them close their eyes would be enough.

But we’ve experienced that having a black screen can allow us to:

• Move beyond the surface and get deeper
• Bring attention from outside to inside
• Become more aware of our other senses (especially hearing)
• Offer a different space for clients to explore

Enjoy getting creative, experimenting and playing with these options to see what creates the right environment for you coaching clients to flourish.