On Friday, my 19 year old son and I went to see the movie Avatar.  The movie is an amazingly innovative tale about an indigenous community living on a planet named, Pandora.  If you know me, you know the compelling story, cutting edge special effects, riveting drama and powerful love story are all right up my alley for a great movie.

My son turned to me about twenty minutes before the end of the movie and said, "I think there's a big secret to this movie."  I laughed and replied that I was reminded so much of lessons I've learned that I knew I had to write a blog post.  No big surprise there!  The movie was filled with lessons about community, networking and most importantly - group coaching.

As a real movie buff, I know how difficult it is when folks share too much about the movie before you ever see it.  Rather than give away too much of the kewlness about the movie, I'll share a few quick lessons I remembered that speak to me powerfully about group coaching:

1. Look to the members of your group for energy, guidance and insight before, during and after your group coaching program. Appreciate the pace, intrigue and flow from the learners in your group.  Remember, you're creating a content-rich experience for each individual, as well as, for the group as a whole.  Listen and pay close attention to how your learners are learning to design a positive and highly interactive climate in the group.  Be sure everyone wins!
2. Borrowing the energy, guidance and insight is acceptable when you know you have to give it back. The people in your group coaching program are there because they know you can help them solve a very unique challenge.  Through your content and delivery of your program, you feed them with your own energy, guidance and insight.  They count on you as the group coach and resident expert to pave the way for transformation and it's a two-way, multi-dimensional approach to learning, sharing and growing.
3. The group is an interdependent network that you're tasked with helping to grow and thrive. Leverage the power and depth of the learning environment you create to benefit everyone.  Tap into the senses, memories and minds of your learners to challenge them to creative action, massive connection and lasting change.  Create masterful content using metaphors, compelling stories, powerful questions and more.  Transformation is guaranteed when you do!

Well, my son was right!  There is a big secret:  The learners in your group coaching program have two births. The first occurs when they enroll in your group coaching program.  Like babies, they need your support and expert direction wrapped with lots of caring and knowledge.   The second birth or rebirth happens after they've experienced major breakthroughs as a result of your amazing content and the compelling experience you create.  The rebirth is symbolic of the transformation created by your group coaching program.

Like Avatar, group coaching is compelling, cutting edge, riveting and truly transformational.  What group coaching lessons did you learn about watching this exciting movie? Leave me a comment

Wendy Y. Bailey - Master Certified Group Coach

Wendy Y. Bailey is a Master Certified Group Coach, Certified Experienced Coach and Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practictioner.  Affectionately called "WendyY" by her business associates, colleagues and friends, she's also the Creator and Founder of Group Coaching Mastery - Master Group Coaching with an NLP Twist.  WendyY helps coaches, speakers and trainers learn to create, design, market, fill and deliver bestselling group coaching programs using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (persuasive marketing, language skills and influence strategies.)   More about Group Coaching Mastery programs

Group hug, anyone?!  Building rapport and connection is one of the most important yet underutilized strategies in group coaching. You cannot dismiss the power of a good connection, a solid handshake or a warm group hug.  Unconsciously, each of your learners wants to know you relate to her perspective or shares her view of the world.  There's just no mistaking the sense of synchronicity when she knows her perceptions are acknowledged and understood.  It just feels good!

Why, then, is this such an underutilized group coaching strategy?

Anything I can offer by way of explanation is a bonafide excuse. There just is no justifiable reason for leaving this one out of the group coaching toolkit.  I don't mean to sound overly dramatic.  In the world of online marketing, high-tech communications and virtual connections, building rapport can be pretty challenging; however, let's be very clear — building rapport is THE most important approach to growing a thriving business and especially for delivering a profitable group coaching program!

Rapport is the unconscious connection that lets people know you understand them and that you care.  Attracting, getting and keeping great customers is a natural byproduct when people know you genuinely care about them.

I've boiled down my thoughts about rapport and connection into seven of my favorite ways to connect with your learners.  You may also want to listen to the audio excerpts at www.ConnectToYourLearnersNOW.com.

Build rapport with your learners via:

• The Senses
  Tap into the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings of learners.  Leverage your knowledge by speaking sensory language that appeals to the part in each and every one of them.  You'll appreciate the huge breakthroughs that happen as a result and so will your learners.
• Straightforward Honesty
  Very simply, people want to know you're human.  Your community of learners want to see your passion in the context of transparency and genuine kindness.  When you're in rapport with your learner, you can connect with her about ANYTHING.  It's true!  Challenge her to expand her thinking to help her stretch and grow.
• Memories
  Use memories to promote deeper connections and call forth powerful shifts.  Take your community of learners on a journey that ties personal triumphs and unique experiences to your topic.  The emotions of those memories guarantee a return of the same excitement, pleasure and joy of the past.  Take the opportunity to laser coach your learner if necessary.  The whole group will benefit from the experience.
• Dreams
  Recount ideas in the language of dreams from the present, past and future of your learners.  Similar to memories, dreams reconnect your learners with aspirations, missed opportunities while inspiring a renewed focus and energy.  How kewl is that?!
  
• Mirroring
  We like people who look like us, right?  Mirroring is a subtle technique that expands this concept when you match the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of your learners.  Although mirroring is subtle, it's a powerful technique that helps you relate and connect to your learners.  Your learners experience a newfound connection to you, too.
• Humor
  Twentieth century poet, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, said, "Laugh and the world laughs with you - weep, and you weep alone."  People appreciate cheerfulness and optimism, especially in a group.  It's like giving your learners a warm and friendly group hug - a gift for individuals as well as for the group as a whole.  Watch this video and notice how a wee bit of laughter brings you joy — it's unavoidably contagious!

[media:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWkOuH4zwvM]

• Natural, Irresistible Attraction
  Stand in confidence in everything you do and let your personality shine through.  I write with lots of exclamation points!  What can I say, it's part of my personality.  Folks who know me recognize that I talk the same way I write.  It's just my personality and I love it!!  Like laughter, confidence and personality attract similar personalities with high levels of confidence in your community of learners.

Remember, when you make establishing rapport a real priority AND you genuinely relate to people, they will absolutely love you!  You'll attract the only the best learners to your group coaching programs. This very simple and often underutilized strategy will ensure you're creating lifelong client relationships. 

Utilize rapport to create remarkable relationships with your learners today!

Persuasive marketing involves emotions.  Very simply, every word you speak or write has to touch deeply, genuinely inspire and intentionally motivate your audience to act.   Ok, so maybe that's not so simple. :)  I thought stirring emotions was pretty easy the first time I heard about persuasive marketing.  I quickly learned the real value for business growth as well as for boosting profits.

Truly persuasive marketing requires a clear understanding of your audience as well as their emotional state.   Know what emotions you want to stir and how you want to stir them.  Organize your speech strategically and choose your words very carefully.

I've mastered the art of persuasive marketing by asking a few simple questions:

1. Who is my audience?
2. How does my audience feel?
3. What emotions do I want my audience to feel?
4. How do I want my audience to feel these emotions?
5. Where (in their bodies) do I want my audience to feel these emotions? 
6. What words elicit the emotions I want my audience to feel?

Persuasive marketing is one element of your marketing efforts that ultimately guarantees big profits and phenomenal growth.

How are you doing with your persuasive marketing?