The health of your coaching business depends on your coaching competency and your coaching competency depends on how well you communicate with your clients. Most of your communication is done with words, though some can be done with examples, games, and non-verbal methods. But, words are the “meat” of your communication with clients.

When communicating with clients, it is easy to resort to clichés and jargons that have been used over and over again. These mostly meaningless words and phrases can be called “gobbledygook.”

Your Coaching Competency Depends on Throwing Out the Gobbledygook

Gobbledygook in heavy doses has an extremely negative effect on your coaching competency. If you are using too much gobbledygook, your clients will soon notice and begin to tune you out. Once they tune you out, they lose confidence in your competency, they put one foot out the door, and soon, you will have…NO clients. Plenty of gobbledygook, but no clients!

Just like periodically throwing out the trash, you need to eliminate the gobbledygook in your speech on a regular basis. We all use clichés and common phrases, and in small doses, they do no harm; occasionally they add some spice and value. However, when these phrases and clichés become a constant part of your coaching vocabulary, it’s time to take out the trash!

Make sure to listen to yourself when you speak with clients – you’ll hear them. Clichés, phrases, garbage words that mean nothing. Everyone uses them, but a coach’s competency is compromised when they are used too frequently. Use them with care and they won’t come back to bite your business in the butt!

Many coaches use greetings or opening lines that are gobbledygook. Here‘s one:

“How are you?”

How many times have you heard that opening line? Throw it out. Replace it with:

“How is that new project your are working on?” Or, “I see you are looking great this morning. You are really sticking to your workout plan.” Or, what a beautiful morning. What do you have planned for the day?”

One Meaningless Word

“Should”

Yes, that’s right, the word “should” is overused and is often meaningless to clients who have been hearing about the things they should do for years. They don’t need to hear what they should do, they need to hear about what the can do and will do, and how you will help them do it.

More Gobbledygook

“Let’s think outside the box.”
“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
“The ball is in your court.”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
“800 pound gorilla in the room”
“The bottom line”
“Raise the bar.”
“Push the envelope”

Clichés are often used to motivate, inspire, and educate. However, if used too frequently, they can make you seem flippant or robotic; clients may believe you have a “canned” routine that you use for all your clients. Will the occasional use of common phrases and jargon ruin your business? No, but you should use the clichés and the gobbledygook with extreme caution; regular use of trash words will effect your coaching competency and your business.

In recognition of National Cliché Day (November 3rd), let’s use that day to throw out all the tired clichés, useless jargon, and over-used expressions. Let’s think outside the box, raise the bar, and eliminate the 800 pound gorilla in the room; oops, I mean: For the sake of your coaching competency, throw out the gobbledygook!

Fred Philips
Business Coach
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