Diverse clients - Workshop at the ÖFB (Austria national football team)

Why do I love being a coach and trainer? Because I get to meet and support so many interesting people and organizations!

I took this selfie in Salzburg two weeks ago, when I got the opportunity to teach a workshop for the referee coaches of the Austrian national soccer league (ÖFB).

In each Austrian state (9) these coaches train the referees 3 times a week, so that they stay fit and therefore perform well during the soccer games. Based on the needs and wishes of the respective coaches I designed the training around 4 thematic blocks:

• rhetorical and voice

• body language and gestures

• quick-wittedness and

• overcoming objections easily

I like to start my trainings with exercises from improv theatre because it immediately breaks the ice and all participants are already engaged and warmed-up. So we did the zip-zap-boom exercise and had lot’s of fun.

Then we started with the first block where we uncovered the principles of communication and how the receiver determines the effect and meaning of a message. We looked at how to start their trainings right using the 5-S rule.

Then we went into voice training, revealing how the participants project with their voice now and how it should be done. Many people underestimate with how much, or rather little, volume they speak - so we did a practical exercise to get a feeling for how loud we should speak. Also, we looked at modulation as well as intonation and how important these two are to keep our audience engaged and to emphasize specific points.

After we focused on the next rhetorical point which was filling words and loser sentences. Many people are not aware of how often they use words such as “you know, sort of, basically, at the end of the day, right, etc. etc” and that these make them seem insecure. So we revealed the individual favorite filling words of each participant and how to evade them.

In the next block we looked at body language, gestures and how to best address and look at your audience. We did a practical exercise to uncover insecurities and had lots of fun with that. It was so great to see how engaged the participants of the workshops were and how open they were to participate actively in the exercises.

Then we went into the block about quick-wittedness and I shared some of my personal experiences. The workshop participants were surprised to hear that quick-wittedness is something everyone can learn and develop. In an exercise they where happy to exchange quick-witted answers to situations they had faced in the past and how to use and adapt them in the future.

Lastly we focused on how to successfully deal with objections and I offered them a variety of techniques they can use moving forward. In an open discussion we shared the most common objections they had faced and developed strategies to deal with them better in the future.

In the end every participant presented 3 key learning that they will take away from the workshop and implement in their next trainings.

I had a lot of fun teaching this workshop! It was even more rewarding when I got much positive feedback form the participants.

Thank you to the ÖFB!

If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me via email at flora@pauercoaching.de

All the best,

Flora