Set the Stage: Assure you are in a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. Also, arrange to use a speakerphone or hands-free earpiece – I will be asking you to get up and move around. Also, have post-it notes (or scratch paper) available for coaching exercises.

Plan, Plan, and Plan: Fill out the PLAN YOUR COACHING SESSION form (see below) and submit this to me the evening before each session. In this way, we can start the call already running rather than warming up.

First Things First: Prioritize what you want to focus on so that your call is well worth the time and money. Because coaching calls are relatively short, they are not the place to save the best for last. Put the most important item at the top of your list.

Make Clear Requests: Write down or tell me what requests for coaching you have that will best serve your needs. For example, let’s say your number one topic is, “How to make my business more profitable in the next 60 days?” Ask yourself, “How do I want my coach to support me in this?” Do you want to brainstorm some new ideas, develop the ideas you already have by talking them through, work through a limiting belief with your coach, etc.?

Prepare Your State of Mind: Take a few extra minutes before the call to mentally prepare yourself, rather than ‘jamming’ the call into an already full day. In the words of one coaching client, “When I book a call with my coach, I schedule an additional 15 to 30 minutes for prep time. I may take a short walk and think, I may look over my prep form. I make sure that I take the time to ‘shift gears’ from my usually busy day. It pays off in big dividends.”

Keep the “Chit-Chat” to a Minimum: I love to chat, but you are not paying me for idle conversation. Chat with friends who aren’t charging you to talk to them. Get down to business quickly during our sessions.

Train Your Coach: Give regular feedback on our coaching partnership so that I know what works or what is most valuable to you so I can do more of it. Also, let me know what’s not working or has less value so it can be eliminated. At first, you might not know what’s of most value, but it won’t take long before you realize that some calls are very powerful and other calls are so-so. Evaluate the difference between the two calls and tell me your thoughts.

Debrief: Take a moment after the call to make notes about discoveries, insights or themes that were explored during the call. Write down action items if you did not write them down during the call. Some people write these notes on the back of the preparation form. They evaluate what they got out of the call, and notice what they didn’t cover that they want to address in the next call. You can request that I keep notes for you during a particular session when doing an exercise that requires you to have your “hands-free.”