Can your clients hear you?

Author: Deborah Mendoza

Have you ever given a brilliant explanation of spinal articulation in class only to have your clients still haul themselves up from their hip flexors in a roll up yet again? Or asked for a precise foot position only to be seemingly ignored by half of your class?

As teachers we spend a lot of time, learning the specificity of the work - the details of the short spine stretch, the nuances of the push through stretch. We want our clients to be as interested in what we know as we are and when they don’t seem to hear what we say it is easy to think, it’s their issue, maybe they are just not that interested in learning the work. But as teachers, we need to consider that maybe it is not them, it is me.

So how do we get our clients to hear what we are saying? How do we give our best effort to ensure they actually learn from us? Everyone learns in multiple ways, verbal, auditory, kinesthetic and visual are some of the terms we can use. As teachers we need to address multiple learning styles if we are going to reach all of our clients.

Verbally

Think about the actual words you are saying. Do our clients understand the vocabulary you are using? Movement terminology and anatomical terminology is foreign to many, don’t assume all will know what you mean by the words you say. Give your words context or repeat what you say using different words and terminology to help clarify your meaning to the verbal learning during your class.

Auditorily

Think about the sounds of your class. For auditory learning, the rhythm, tone and dynamic of your voice will impact how clients perform an exercise. Be aware of other sounds as well, the use of audible breath or the use of music (background or intentional) can also affect the intention and focus a client brings to an exercise.

Kinesthetically

Think about the actual movement experience our clients are receiving. Are clients actually tuning in to something new in their movement experience? If clients are just going through the exercises the way they learned them on day are they really improving? Challenge all of your clients to feel something new during each class and explore that new feeling.

Visually

Think about what clients are seeing. Especially in group classes we want clients to see what the exercises look like so they can follow along what we do. Make sure if you are demonstrating that you do so accurately because visual learners often see more than you think and they will mimic what you do. Also make sure you stop demonstrating or move to a different place in the room if looking at you will put the clients head and neck in a compromised position.