Does life coach training onlinereally work? Well, it can, but you have got to really watch out for some landmines. This blog gives you guidelines on what to look for and what can make all the difference. As organizations from in-house training groups to prestigious Ivy League Universities explore how to do more training online, several important distinctions are emerging; here is how they apply to coach’s training.

Look for “Blended” Programs

A “blended” program is one that combines live group interaction with the instructor with online recorded video segments and asynchronous text-based interactions. This combined approach gets the best reviews from students across the board. Teaching in well produced video segments, combined with live interactions, either in a classroom or via recorded conference calls, works best. Getting the concepts from the videos which can be watched a few times, and answering questions through live interactions is very effective. I believe that asynchronous, text based interactions are not lively or immediate enough to be effective. Live conference calls and classroom interactions can be equally effective, with the conference call approach getting the nod for convenience. Be very careful NOT to get in a program that leaves you alone to only watch a bunch of videos.

Coaching Is Learned by Doing

Whatever the approach used for information transfer, coaching remains a learn-by-doing art. This means that you need to insist that any life coach training online program must include a significant amount of well structured coaching practice. For example, students in a class should be paired up in teams so that each participant both coaches and is coached by four, five or even six fellow classmates each week over the course of six to eight weeks. In addition, students should coach and be coached by master coaches on a weekly basis. This is absolutely required for an effective program. I would even say that without this intensive level of coaching and being coached, the program is a non-starter.

So Can You Do Life Coach Training Online?

Yes and no. Well conceived and developed online coach training modules can be very effective, but interaction and coaching with master coaches and fellow students are an absolute necessity. Doing Life Coach Training Online exclusively online simply does not serve you and should be avoided.

By the way… you’re invited to claim your FREE step-by-step “Life Coaching Business Blueprint” video toolkit. Just go HERE now to get yourlife coaching business blueprint videos.

Dave Iuppa
JTS Advisors Strategy and Accountability Coach