Nov. 17, 2025

Great Coaches Hear The Story Under The Story

Send us a text Most conversations skate on the surface. We went deeper, exploring how coaches can hear beyond words and spot the subtle signals—tone shifts, posture changes, tiny pauses—that reveal what clients truly want but hesitate to say out loud. When you notice what’s missing, you unlock the path from polite goals to real desire. We break down the craft of presence: slowing down, breathing before you respond, and widening your attention to the whole person. You’ll hear how a client can...

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Send us a text

Most conversations skate on the surface. We went deeper, exploring how coaches can hear beyond words and spot the subtle signals—tone shifts, posture changes, tiny pauses—that reveal what clients truly want but hesitate to say out loud. When you notice what’s missing, you unlock the path from polite goals to real desire.

We break down the craft of presence: slowing down, breathing before you respond, and widening your attention to the whole person. You’ll hear how a client can light up describing a dream, then dim when they try to fit it into an old script—and how to name that contrast with care. We walk through practical prompts to reflect energy without assuming, and we show why those reflections build trust faster than any pep talk.

From there, we connect insight to execution by pairing life and performance coaching. The life lens gets to the root—beliefs, fears, and loyalties that keep people circling the same outcomes. The performance lens turns truth into traction with clear steps, environmental design, and feedback loops that make progress easier to repeat. Along the way we share examples of catching unspoken cues during goal-setting, and how that single moment can change the entire session.

If you’re ready to coach what’s real—listening to words and to what’s unsaid—this conversation will sharpen your presence and your results. Subscribe for more practical coaching tools, share this with a coach who cares about craft, and leave a review to tell us the most powerful unspoken cue you’ve ever noticed.

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Chapters

00:00 - Hearing Beyond Words

00:37 - What Presence Really Reveals

00:58 - How To Slow Down And Notice

01:10 - Catching The Unspoken Shift

01:58 - Building Toward Belief

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.680
You've said before that coaches listen with more than their ears.

00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:04.879
What do you mean by that?

00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.320
Well, words tell one story, but energy tells another.

00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:19.199
The moment that the coach notices something that's not being said, whether it's a shift in tone, their posture, or even their expression, that's when they start hearing the truth underneath the story.

00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:26.640
I want you to think about a time that maybe you had a conversation with somebody and they were telling you something, but you knew something else was going on under the surface.

00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:32.159
That meant that you were paying full attention to them, not just what they said, but to the whole person.

00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.880
So let me describe what you're actually experiencing in that moment so you can start looking for it.

00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:42.960
First is that body language reveals the emotion that sometimes our clients just can't articulate.

00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:47.359
Number two is listening with presence builds trust faster than words alone.

00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.439
And awareness of energy helps the coach know where to explore next.

00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:58.560
That's why breakthrough number five's quote is great coaches don't just listen to words, they listen to what's missing.

00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:02.399
So, how can a coach actually start paying attention to that level of detail?

00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.879
Slow down, observe, and breathe before responding.

00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.079
Take it all in.

00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:10.719
And of course, pay attention to your intuition.

00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:13.200
And what changes in a session when they do?

00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:20.000
First off, the client is going to feel deeply understood and you're able to help figure out the best path to go down while you're coaching.

00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:26.079
Can you recall a time where a coach caught something unspoken and it actually changed the session?

00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:31.280
I find this happens a lot, specifically when you're helping people identify their goals and what they really want.

00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:37.040
You'll see them when you ask them a question, they'll be really excited about what they want to be able to achieve.

00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:41.040
But then you kind of see them look down or their energy kind of feels kind of drained.

00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:46.480
And then they respond with some answer that really doesn't sound like the original answer that got them really excited.

00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:52.719
Now, as a coach, you have to be able to pick up on that because what people tell you maybe isn't really what they truly want.

00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:58.400
And when you see those inconsistencies and you can call it out, you can actually help identify what they really want.

00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:03.200
This is why in our certification, we actually teach life and performance-based coaching.

00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:08.400
The life part has to do with us asking questions to be able to get to the root of what's actually holding them back.

00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.199
And the performance part is helping them come up with a plan to go out there and be able to achieve it.

00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:22.159
And with these two things mixed and us focusing not just on the words that are said, but also how the client reacts, that's the real recipe to help your clients transform.

00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:26.000
Now, seeing what isn't being said takes a little bit of courage and a lot of trust.

00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.039
And I know you're up for it or you wouldn't be even at this part of the video.

00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:35.199
But that trust grows even stronger as long as you lean into what we're going to share with you in breakthrough number six.

00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:40.719
This one has everything to do with belief, but not just your clients, yours too.

00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:42.639
See you in breakthrough number six.