If you are a nutritionist, a personal trainer, a strength coach, a health coach, a dietician, or anyone working in ANY field that has anything to do with nutrition or health, you WILL eventually get questions about yet another food documentary from your clients.
Whether or not YOU will choose to watch the latest hottest food documentary, your clients most definitely will. They will come to you, and ask if you have seen it. They will ask what you think. [Because you are super awesome, and they trust you, and they want your opinion.]
You hear their questions, and can practically feel your eyes rolling into the back of your head. But you force yourself to look at your client, and smile gently. [What’s that noise? Ah, that’s your gritting teeth.]
One fellow coach asserted that because his clients were not “professionals”, he did not feel the need to start a discussion around a documentary.
I disagree.
Any discussion that client is motivated in having is a coaching opportunity.
They will be inspired, and motivated by the documentary.
They will have questions.
They will rely on your expertise and seek your sage counsel.
What an opportunity!
Four Strategies To Have A Client-Centered Coaching Conversation About Any Food Documentary
The following strategies will help you have a client-centered coaching conversation, and help your clients reach their goals – no matter the documentary.
Remain neutral
“Have you seen that food doc yet, coach? What do you think?”.
“Is it true???”
It’s a trap. Resist the urge to take the question as an opportunity to share YOUR thoughts and beliefs about the film in question. Just don’t do it.
By shutting down the conversation (and that’s what happens, when you engage in a Hamlet-worthy soliloquy on why health documentaries are an awful source of health information), you’d be wasting a great coaching opportunity.
This is also not the time and place to show how much of an expert you are, by dismantling every inaccuracy or error. Your client is already confused and overwhelmed. Don’t add more to their plate just to appease your own ego.
Instead, seek to understand more about how the film impacted them.
“Ah, I can see how you’d have this question after watching the film. Can you tell me a bit more?” “What points in the film stood out for you?”
“What led you to asking me this question?”
For bonus points, see if you can have a discussion about the film with someone without explicitly stating your beliefs around the main topic. Usually that would mean asking a lot of questions, and listening a lot, which sounds a lot like… good coaching. 🙂
Praise
Find something (anything!) to give them a high-five about.
“So glad you asked!”
“Ah, good to hear that you are so curious to learn more about your health.”
“Kudos for seeking more info, and for coming to me for help.”
Why bother with the praise? Starting with positive feedback, allows the client an opportunity to engage in “self-enhancement”, a basic type of motivation that is associated with increased self-esteem, increased sense of control and all kinds of great things. All good things when you are trying to help someone reach their goals.
You may know this practice already as “looking for bright spots”. Maya Angelou’s quote comes to mind here: “… people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
Make your client feel good for coming to you with questions.
Frame the proposed behavior change as an experiment
“Coach, I think I want to try eating THIS WAY (vegan, carnivore, intermittest fasting, and whatever other way that the documentary is suggesting is THE right way to eat)!”
Client wants to try something different when it comes to their nutrition?
Cool. Here’s where you, the coach, come in! You can help them strategize, implement, and assess.
The client may be inspired by the film, and want to “start tomorrow!”. Have a conversation around what they would need to put in place first to maximize their chances of success.
When do you want to start?
How long do you think you want to try it for?
What are you currently eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? What will you eat instead, once you start eating according to [whatever eating approach the documentary suggests]? Let’s brainstorm some options.
Help them to set up the specific parameters for the specific experiment. Is this something they want to try for a week? For a month? Even if they want to eat this way “forever”, it is still beneficial to identify a time interval at which they will evaluate how this approach is working for them, and tweak if necessary.
You can ask the following questions:
- What would you do, once your trial period is over?
- How will they know if this experiment is going well?
- What specific tangible outcomes will they expect? What will they be on the lookout for?
- Will they pay attention to changes in their energy levels? Quality of sleep? Weight? Performance?
- What will happen if they do not see those results?
Your job as a coach is to help the client to go from vague to specific and actionable.
Stay on their side. No matter what.
Imagine a situation where you scoff at the documentary right off the bat, point out all the inaccuracies in the science used, and then have a client who STILL decides to try thay way of eating after seeing the film.
If this client “falls off the wagon” a week later, they’d hesitate to come to you for the fear of gloating and “I told you so” eye rolls.
Or, perhaps, you endorse the documentary passionately and without reservations, and the client discovers some inconsistencies in the film, and brings them back to you.
Regardless of whether they choose to experiment with the new way of eating or not, whether they stick to the change for a day, or a week, or find a new lifelong way of eating that makes their body happy – stay on their side.
The client should have absolutely no doubt that they can come to you for support no matter what. This is where staying neutral (see earlier point) will make your life much much easier.
If you manage to maintain neutrality from the beginning, your unconditional support will be much more believable to the client.
Hope this helps.
Until there is a new documentary. 😉