Give your next practice session a clear purpose

Your next coaching session is tomorrow, and you'd like your client to leave with an exercise worth doing. Start with the task: reviewing an exchange, rehearsing a response, or applying a skill after training. Each guide below gives you steps to follow and a short note you can copy to organize the work.

Choose conversation review, rehearsal, or training follow-up. You can use the exercises with a client or adapt them for your own development.

Review a conversation and choose what to practice

Use this guide when you have a recorded exchange worth discussing. Begin with a question connected to the client's goal. For example, you might want to understand how a client responded when a customer raised a concern about timing.

1. Choose the exchange. Use a recording you're authorized to review and confirm who is speaking. Listen from a little before the concern was raised through the response that followed. If you're using Rapport Score, a timestamped coaching moment can help you find the relevant part. Keep enough of the surrounding conversation to understand what was being discussed.

2. Describe what happened. Write down the words or behavior you can point to in the recording. “I offered an earlier delivery date after the customer mentioned timing” gives you something concrete to examine. Ask your client how the concern was understood and why that response seemed useful. The explanation may change which part you choose to work on.

3. Choose the next attempt. Agree on one behavior to try in a similar situation. Your client might ask, “What makes the timing difficult?” before offering a solution. Decide where that question would be useful and how you'll review the next attempt. Keep the task manageable enough to remember during a real exchange.

Copy this review note: “The moment I reviewed was ____. I noticed ____. The context I need to consider is ____. Next time, I'll try ____. I'll review the attempt by ____.”

For more on working with the recording and your interpretation, read How to Separate Evidence from Interpretation in a Conversation.

Rehearse a response you'll need in real work

Use this guide when you know the situation you want to handle and would benefit from trying it aloud. You might be preparing to ask a colleague for a change, explore a price concern, or respond when a client questions your recommendation. Choose an exchange that matters enough to practice.

1. Set the situation. Describe who you're speaking with, what you need to discuss, and the concern you expect to hear. Choose a skill to focus on, such as checking that you've understood the concern before answering. This gives your practice partner a situation to respond to and gives you a clear task.

2. Try the exchange aloud. Rehearse with a colleague, your coach, or Ask Alex's live voice roleplay. Listen to the reply and respond to what you hear. Let the exchange develop far enough to find the part that needs attention. A response that feels awkward is useful material for the next attempt.

3. Adjust and try again. Review the wording, timing, or question you want to improve. Change one part and repeat the exchange. Finish by identifying a real conversation where you can use the skill, then make a note afterward about what happened. Bring that experience into your next review.

Copy this practice note: “I'm preparing for ____. The concern I expect is ____. The skill I'm practicing is ____. After rehearsal, I want to adjust ____. My next opportunity to use it is ____.”

Explore Practice & Live Roleplay

Plan follow-up before a training program ends

Use this guide when you're designing the work participants will do after a workshop or training session. Choose a skill that matters to the corporate client and identify where participants will have a chance to apply it. For example, managers might practice checking that a request has been understood before ending a discussion.

1. Define the behavior in plain language. Write what you want a participant to do in the relevant situation. “Ask the colleague to explain the next step in their own words” is clear enough to practice and discuss. Agree with the client on why that behavior matters to the work and what a useful review would examine.

2. Arrange practice and review. Decide how participants will rehearse, which real conversations are relevant, and who will help review the attempts. If recordings are involved, agree on permissions, access, and use before capture. Set a follow-up date that gives participants a realistic opportunity to apply the skill.

3. Use the findings to choose the next step. Review examples of the skill in use and discuss where it remained difficult. Ask participants what helped and what got in the way. Give the sponsor a specific account of the behavior reviewed and a recommendation for reinforcement, further practice, or the next development priority.

Copy this follow-up plan: “The behavior is ____. Participants will use it during ____. Practice will involve ____. We'll review these examples: ____. The reviewer is ____. The review date is ____. After the review, we'll decide what further support is needed.”

Read about reviewing what changed after training

Use a real conversation to begin

Choose the guide that fits your next task and fill in its short note. If you're using Rapport Score, bring an authorized recording into your review, explore the feedback, and select a response to practice. You'll have a clear purpose for your first session and something specific to carry into the next conversation.

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