COMMUNICATION IS A SKILL

newsletter May 11, 2023

Communication Is A Skill

Don’t fumble the ball, marble mouth.

By Eric Bugera

Communication is a key component of every fitness industry position.

You’re tasked with taking a physical skill the way you understand it and translating it verbally in such a way that another human can perform it.
This takes time, trial and error, and commitment. Start practicing.

What’s Your Job, Really?

You’re a trainer, coach, or clinician. Your skill set is primarily in the realm of physical fitness, rehabilitation, or performance; but, the unifying skill that overlaps any of these vocations is the ability to deliver your scope of practice to another human. Whether teaching a squat, stabilizing the core, or learning to jump – the ability to translate your knowledge in a way that properly lands with any individual person is the most important part of your job. What you know is a powerful asset, but if you lack the capacity to articulate your knowledge to the audience you serve – someone else who can will secure your business.

Repetitions, Repetitions, Repetitions.

No matter how well read you might be, the ability to speak your craft into existence is the hallmark of expertise. Being able to physically manifest your knowledge by another human successfully performing your words is the real job you’ve been enlisted to do. This isn’t something that happens overnight – it’s a skill that only develops through trial and error, immense failure, and repetition. Continuously practicing the skill of articulation will not only razer sharpen the confidence of your delivery, but challenge the depth of your own understanding. When the first line of explanation falls flat, how else can you deliver the message in such a way that might land? How well can you pivot to earn the dollars your service is valued at?

Reading, writing, speaking, and performing your base of knowledge in an endless cycle of practice will give you the arsenal of educational bullet points needed to succeed. Whether its social media captions, blogs, casual conversations, or on the floor training – the diversity of experiences writing, speaking, translating, and putting into practice will give you perspective on all the seemingly impossible ways your initial run-through might fail.

Your own physical training can help enlighten you to sensational based cues or on-the-floor know-how that might land with clients, but everything must be tested against a real human. Otherwise you risk becoming that trainer simply repeating the same failed advice expecting a different result. When one thing fails, put yourself in the client’s shoes. What perspective might suit them best, what metaphor, analogy, experience, story, or any other human-to-human tailoring of your knowledge can you apply to the situation.

Caption Your Way To Success

In the same way that short form media can be a terrible educational tool – it can also be an excellent training tool for your communication. Turning common problems into bite-sized fixes through any medium you can get your hands on can expedite how you refine your methodology. Repeat yourself, speak on the same topic over and over, find holes in your own logic or explanations. This is the way to build your communication such that no client is left behind. Your value is born in your ability to communicate. Sets and reps are only one prong of the many ways a client will see results. Discussion, cues, and communication can go a long way in their development – so long as you are constantly developing along with them.

Isolate key or repeatedly challenging skills for your clients to grasp.
Write, speak, and practice the skills physically – and frequently.
When one explanation fails, work to provide countless others through your experience articulating the topic through various mediums.