Speaking succinctly is like speaking simply. Mastery of speaking as a coach lies in simplicity; yet to master simplicity requires a commitment to ongoing practice.
According to Oxford Dictionary, succinct means, “briefly and clearly expressed.” Simply means, “in a straightforward or plain manner.”
I use succinct and simply interchangeably in this article.
It can seem unfair that our coaching client can speak for 5 minutes or more at a time. Yet if the coach in return speaks for 5 minutes, the coach has likely shifted out of coaching mindset and instead are teaching, directing, or leading their client. The longer the coach speaks, the more the client has to process.
Presence and Listening
In order to speak simply, we need to first be listening. To develop listening, we need to be present in each moment. A professionally trained coach learns to expand their ability to hear what is being said, and to choose their response, and offer as simply as possible.
We listen for the words the client is using, including the energy and tone of voice. In addition, there is often non-verbal communication from the client in the form of facial or body movements.
Deciding how to respond 
Here are three ways a professionally trained coach can respond:
- Use of succinct summarizing
- Ask one customized, open-ended question at a time
- Offer a succinct observation
Use of succinct summarizing
Summarizing can be useful, especially if used sparingly. Too much repeating or summarizing of what a client says, can keep the client talking about the same thing. Sometimes the question is, “Who is the summarizing for?” as it often seems a way for the coach to give themselves time to think of a question or observation. This is of less service to the client to have their words repeated, sometimes almost verbatim, back to them.
As a coach becomes more confident in their summarizing abilities, they can shift to using summarizing strategically, such as to clarify and confirm the coaching session focus with the client. It’s often an iterative process for the client to express what their topic is, and clarify the desired outcome they are seeking from the exploration of their topic/s.
There may be other times during a coaching session where it may benefit the client for their coach to summarize what they heard, and ask the client to respond to (correct, agree). Yet there are other skills the coach has that can deepen, or broaden, client learning – a very powerful coaching skill being the next one….
…Ask one customized, open-ended question at a time
…Ask one customized, open-ended question at a timeOur coaching client benefits from being asked one open-ended question at a time, at a pace that allows for the client to consider their response. Asking more than one question at a time (i.e. stacking questions) can confuse the client as to what is most important to respond to. The coach may inadvertently be encouraging their client to speak more than they would otherwise. Sometimes the client will answer the last question asked, or the easiest question.
A coach can benefit from taking a breath before speaking, so they can ‘hear’ themselves and consider the one question to ask.
If the coach lets the client know, they are pausing for a moment to consider the question they want to ask, the coach is also letting client know it’s okay for them to pause and take their time to consider what they may say. Once the coach has done this a few times, there will be a shared understanding built between coach and client of the value of space, silence and ‘hearing’ oneself.
Without taking a pause, a coach is likely to stack questions. In time and with practice, the coach can trust their intuition to guide them to say the question that is there to be said. The coach doesn’t need to ‘qualify’ their question with a lot of pre-setup before asking their one question.
An example of stacking questions might be, “What’s important to you about trusting your decision? Because I heard you say you were doubting yourself. What makes you doubt yourself when you’ve been given feedback you’re doing a great job and ready to lead the new project? How do you want to respond to your self-doubt?”
Instead, the coach may pause, breath, and trust the question to ask. An example might be, “What would help you to replace self-doubt with self-trust?”
Even just writing the stacked questions, I can feel tension in myself, as to what I’d respond to! Versus the one succinct, customized question.
By customizing questions, the client knows you’re listening to them, because the coach is incorporating client-specific words into their responses.
For example, a coach could ask, “What’s important to you?” While succinct, simple and open-ended, such a question gives no indication the coach is listening to this client. It’s a general coaching question. A customized version might be, “What’s important to you about trusting yourself?” Notice that the latter question likely requires more time for the client to respond as it’s a deeper level of question.
A coach of any skill level can learn to customize questions, even a beginner coach (ACC). A more experienced coach is expected to speak more succinctly, especially moving toward mastery (MCC). For every coach, it’s a matter of practice, practice, and more practice.
Offer a succinct observation
According to Oxford Dictionary, an observation is “a remark, statement, or comment based on something one has seen, heard, or noticed.” This is different than to summarize, which is defined as, “to give a brief statement of the main points of (something).”
An important distinction is to ‘offer’ an observation, which means coach is not attached to what they see, hear or notice as being ‘right.’ Instead, we offer in a way that allows the client to consider, which includes ease of ability to agree or disagree with what the coach has offered.
Again, a key coaching skill is to offer an observation in a succinct manner. There’s usually a set up statement, wait for client to be ready, then coach offers their observation, followed by coach inviting client to respond.
An example might be, “I have an observation, may I share and get your input?” [Client: Sure]. When you were speaking about doubting yourself, I observed your speaking slowed down. When you talked about trusting yourself, you spoke faster and used your hands like ‘this.’ [Coach might mirror how client used their hands]. What’s your response to any of that?”
Improving simplicity
It takes practice, practice and more practice to master the ability to speak succinctly.
One way for a coach to improve their succinct speaking abilities is to review a recording of their coaching session and consider what succinct, customized questions the coach might have asked (and didn’t). Or what succinct observations the coach might have offered (and didn’t).
Consider asking a client for permission to record one of your coaching sessions, with the specific intent for the coach to improve their coaching abilities. Your growth mindset clients will likely be impressed that their coach is wanting to continually improve their coaching abilities. There may be some clients where recording isn’t allowed, or they don’t feel comfortable with being recorded. Simply, ask another client.
Once you have a coaching session recording, obtain a transcript of the session. If video recorded as well, there is benefit to just watching your coaching session, noticing client face and body movements. Consider what observations coach might have offered to the client (and didn’t).
Then watch/listen to the recording again while reading the transcript. Pause the recording as often as needed to consider the following:
- What words did the client say?
- What words did coach use in response?
- What customized questions might have been asked (that weren’t)?
- What observations might have been offered?
- What did the coach miss hearing or observing altogether?
- How can the coach improve their responsiveness for next time?
In closing…
A coach who asks succinct and customized questions in an effortless manner, has most likely been through their journey of practice, practice, and more practice. Until they achieve customized simplicity.
For me, this is what still has me excited about coaching after nearly 3 decades as a professionally trained coach; what questions can I ask that support the client to go deeper into their ‘world.” And what observations can I offer to support the client to gain more self-awareness? And to do all of this with creativity because I’m incorporating client words and concepts in my questions and observations.
Written by Carly Anderson, MCC
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