ACE Personal Trainer Manual

5th Edition
Chapter 3: Communication and Teaching Techniques
Lesson 3.2
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• After completing this session, you will be able to:

 Use and apply motivational interviewing techniques
to establish rapport
 Identify different learning styles and implement
teaching techniques with clients
 List and discuss the three stages of motor learning
 Incorporate effective modeling strategies to build
credibility with clients
 Give appropriate feedback
 Design behavioral contracts for clients
 Develop communication strategies to help build
rapport with clients

© 2014 ACE
 MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES

• Unless a client has made a decision to change,

his or her exercise attempts are likely to fail.
• Motivational interviewing:
 Refers to a method of speaking with people
in a way that motivates them to make a
decision to change their behavior
 Is designed to show supportive concern
while challenging a client’s current behavior
 May help clients feel the need to become
more active and make a decision to start
exercising
 Is used by a personal trainer to create
awareness in clients that a sedentary
lifestyle will likely cause health problems

© 2014 ACE
 MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES

© 2014 ACE
 ENHANCING CLIENT SUCCESS

• Once the client is ready to begin exercising,

the personal trainer can enhance client
success in many ways:
 Setting up self-monitoring systems
 Using individualized teaching
techniques
 Allowing clients the opportunity for
focused practice

© 2014 ACE
 ENHANCING CLIENT SUCCESS

• One of the most effective ways to support behavioral change is

by self-monitoring.
• A personal trainer can support self-monitoring by:
 Offering the client a system for recording supervised and
unsupervised exercise sessions, such as a workout card or
electronic system
 Recording the exercise, resistance, repetitions, and sets of a
workout, and/or the time, intensity, or heart rate
• Self-monitoring also:
 Gives clients a more objective view of their behaviors and
increases self-awareness
 Enhances client–trainer communication as the personal trainer
reviews the workout record and asks questions about what is or
is not working

© 2014 ACE
 ENHANCING CLIENT SUCCESS

• Understanding how people learn most effectively can help personal

trainers provide sound instruction to diverse groups of clients.
• Trainers should provide individualized teaching techniques:
 Auditory learners may like a lot of explanation or ask several questions.
 Visual learners learn by watching and appreciate longer
demonstrations with less talking.
 Kinesthetic learners learn by doing and needing to feel the movement
before catching on.
• Once a trainer learns what works best for each client, he or she
should emphasize the preferred learning style.
• Additionally, teaching pace should also be modified for each client.
While some catch on to new skills quickly, others do so more slowly
and require more patience and support on the part of the personal
trainer.
© 2014 ACE
 ENHANCING CLIENT SUCCESS

© 2014 ACE
 ENHANCING CLIENT SUCCESS

Tell me and I’ll forget

Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I’ll understand
--Chinese Proverb

• Tell, show, do approach

• Motor skills will be taught most effectively if the following
points are kept in mind:
 Remind beginners that it takes time and practice to
improve motor skills
• Introduce new skills slowly and clearly:
 Keep explanations short and clear.
 Briefly demonstrate the skill and allow clients time to
watch.
• Allow clients the opportunity for focused practice:
 Once the personal trainer has “told and shown,” the client
is ready to “do,” or perform the motor skill.
© 2014 ACE
 “TELL, SHOW, DO”

By using the “tell, show, do” method, teach a friend,

family member, or client an exercise he or she has never
performed before.

Ask the client for feedback on the experience and

brainstorm ways to improve this aspect of your training
sessions.

© 2014 ACE
 GIVING APPROPRIATE FEEDBACK

• Once a client has tried

the skill, the personal
trainer should
respond by giving
helpful feedback.
• The feedback should
do three things:
 Reinforce what was
done well
 Correct errors
 Motivate clients to
continue practicing
and improving

© 2014 ACE
 EFFECTIVE MODELING STRATEGIES

• Personal trainers should model the same

healthful lifestyle advice they are giving to their
clients:
 Enhances credibility of the trainer and promotes
the notion that physical fitness will deliver
benefits that are worth the cost
 Promotes the attitude that physical activity can
feel good, reduce stress, and build confidence
 Emphasizes exercise as a means for improving
health rather than as punishment
 Emphasizes improvement in the quality of life,
rather than exercise being something painful one
must do to lose weight or look better
 Emphasizes self-acceptance along with self-
discipline
 Promotes a healthy attitude when working with
younger and often impressionable clients

© 2014 ACE
 BEHAVORIAL CONTRACTS

• Behavior-change contracts may be

motivational for some clients and
typically spell out the behavior the
client is expected to perform:
 Contracts that offer extrinsic
motivation, such as a reward, are
helpful to get clients started.
 Contracts with process goals work
better than those with product goals.
• Contracts can also be problematic:
 May instill a sense of frustration when
high expectations are not met

© 2014 ACE
 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

• Cultural competence can be defined as the ability

to communicate and work effectively with people
from different cultures.
• Personal trainers:
 May find it takes more effort to build trust with
people who differ from themselves in terms of
age, gender, ethnicity, size, socioeconomic status,
educational background, ability, and fitness level
 Can develop cultural competence by taking time
to learn about clients’ beliefs, attitudes, and
lifestyles
 Can improve their rapport-building ability by
learning as much as possible about each client,
and by trying to understand clients different from
themselves

© 2014 ACE
 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

• Building rapport with some clients may require extra effort:

 Those reluctant to begin exercising
 Clients who are afraid of getting injured
 Those who are depressed or anxious about their health
 Clients with negative experiences, prejudices against athletes or
physical educators
• Some clients may have less trust in young people, old people,
women, people who appear to be overweight, or people of a
different ethnicity
• Nevertheless, personal trainers who behave professionally and try to
understand their clients often win the hearts and trust of even the
most reluctant clients.
• Personal trainers should mention their certifications, credentials,
various training programs, and other continuing education
opportunities they pursue or have completed.

© 2014 ACE
 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

• Empathy and rapport

evolve over time from
good communication
between the personal
trainer and client.

© 2014 ACE
 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

• Understanding empathy and professional

boundaries
 Empathy:
o Occurs when a trainer demonstrates
understanding and acceptance toward the client
o Can be demonstrated without leaving one’s role
as a professional
 Personal Involvement:
o Occurs when a trainer becomes friends or enters
into a romantic relationship with the client
o Causes difficulty in maintaining a client–trainer
relationship
 The professional effectiveness of a personal
trainer is undermined when he or she becomes
too personally involved.
 The client–trainer relationship should cease
immediately if a romantic relationship has
developed.
• Over time, personal trainers develop certain
boundaries that allow them to behave
professionally and express empathy without
becoming best friends with clients.
© 2014 ACE
 STAGES OF LEARNING

• Personal trainers must learn to provide helpful direction to

clients through the three stages of learning:
 Cognitive stage of learning:
o Occurs most frequently in the early stages of the client–trainer
relationship
o Clients are trying to understand the new skill
o Movements are often uncoordinated or jerky
o Be careful to not overwhelm clients by teaching too many new skills
o Use the “tell, show, do” teaching technique
 Associative stage of learning:
o Clients begin to master the basics and are ready for specific feedback
to help refine the skill
o Balance giving an appropriate amount of feedback
 Autonomous stage of learning:
o Clients are performing motor skills effectively and naturally
o Teach less and monitor more

© 2014 ACE
 CONTINUED CLIENT INTERACTIONS

• Personal trainers must continue to build productive relationships

with clients throughout all of their daily interactions by using the
following techniques:
 Periodically reinforce credentials to help clients perceive personal
trainers as educated and competent.
 Prepare for each session by cultivating a mindful focus:
o Review the materials on upcoming clients and set goals.
o Allow for effective listening and fresh energy with each client.
o Ask clients for feedback.
 Use electronic communication channels with discretion:
o Give clear directions for contact.
o Maintain all social media sites or pages in a professional manner.
 Ensure training sessions are fun and enjoyable, though playfulness
should never “cross the line” or detract from the exercise plan.

© 2014 ACE
 SUMMARY

• Successful personal trainers consistently demonstrate excellent

communication and teaching techniques throughout the various
stages of the client–trainer relationship.
• Personal trainers who work with clients who differ from
themselves can benefit from developing cultural competence and
learning about their clients’ beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles.
• Trainers must become adept at developing an empathetic
understanding of their clients while maintaining professional
boundaries.
• Personal trainers must learn to provide helpful direction to clients
through all the stages of learning and incorporate effective
communication and teaching techniques into their daily
interactions with clients.

© 2014 ACE