LISTEN TO EPISODE 34

SCOTT DOW:

"When you give coaching advice, you want to create a mental picture. Mental pictures are how people store memories. It's how they remember situations and all the lessons they've learned along the way.

Let me activate a mental picture for you. I'm going to say four words; 'turkey', 'pumpkin', 'pilgrim', 'parade'. Now, I bet Thanksgiving is a mental picture that came to mind, and that picture describes the situation and all the little rules of thumb you learned along the way.

When you think of Thanksgiving, that picture includes best practices. All you know about how to travel, dress and plan for that day come to mind because they're part of the picture.

Remember, you coach people through situations, and the advice you give has to fit the situation. And you want people to recall your advice whenever they're in that situation.

So here's how you create a powerful mental image. I want you to remember an acronym, N-E-R-D, 'nerd'. It stands for Notice, Expect, Remember, and Do.

So when you give coaching advice, point out the things you want people to notice, because that's how you focus their attention and that's how they'll know what to look for. Set realistic expectations so people know what to anticipate and they won't get caught off guard.

Give people reminders so people know what's most important and how to set their priorities. And give specific 'do's' and 'don'ts' so people know what works and what doesn't, and they can rehearse these behaviors in advance.

When you offer this type of coaching advice, you create a mental picture, an image people can use and apply to different situations, not just the one you're coaching them through right now."

OUTRO:

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