Adding a Powerful

NEUROLANGUAGE COACHING Gear to your

AMY SENDREA & MONIA PONTI Teaching
• Neurolanguage Coaching Training Course
6 hours – Brain Based Coaching
24 hours – Language Coaching
 Neurolanguage Coaching Certification

• Rachel Marie Paling – Owner & Director

What brought us
IMPETUS here?
AGENDA 3 Sections
• What is coaching exactly?
• What is it not?
• What are the different types of coaching?
• What is your definition of coaching?

COACHING What is it?

ICF – International Coaching Federation

“A thought-provoking and creative process that

inspires clients/students to maximize their personal
and professional potential.” http://coachfederation.org/ethics/

COACHING What is it?

• Co-creating the relationship
• Facilitating learning and results

COACHING What is it?

 COACH COACHEE

1. Identifying an impasse 
2. Getting an insight 
3. Setting goals from general to specific 
4. Setting specific actions 
5. Setting time lines 
6. Identifying follow-up actions 

COACHING ENGAGEMENTS Who does this?

 ASK
Ask questions about how to get
the solution.
“What do you think the solution is?”

COACHING
PROBLEM SOLUTION
Tell them what the problem is. Tell them the answer/solution.
“You seem to be having trouble with…” “This is how you do it.”

CONSULTING TEACHING
TELL
• Powerful Questioning
• Active Listening

Listen & Speak

COACHING ENGAGEMENTS like a Coach
“People forget 50-80% of what they’ve
learned after one day and 97-98%
after a month.”
(http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infocs/study/curve.html)
Awareness of
• how the brain makes connections
• how it hardwires learning
• how to break habits

BRAIN BASED COACHING

 QUIZ

What do you
INSIGHTS ABOUT THE BRAIN think?
 TRUE or
FALSE ?
Human brains are very similar. They use the same sets of
circuits.
The brain creates millions of new connections every day.
Our working memory is very limited.
Most people can create new habits or change their habits as
long as they have the right facts and evidence.
It’s practically impossible to deconstruct things that are
hardwired in our brains.
It’s easy to create new wiring in our brains.
1. No two brains are alike.

6 Insights into the

BRAIN BASED COACHING Brain (David Rock)
 TRUE or
FALSE ?
Human brains are very similar. They use the same sets of
circuits.
The brain creates millions of new connections every
every day.
second.
Our working memory is very limited.
Most people can create new habits or change their habits as
long as they have the right facts and evidence.
IIt’s practically impossible to deconstruct things that are
hardwired in our brains.
It’s easy to create new wiring in our brains.
 2. The brain is a connection machine.

6 Insights into the

BRAIN BASED COACHING Brain (David Rock)
 TRUE or
FALSE ?
Human brains are very similar. They use the same sets of
circuits.
The brain creates millions of new connections every day.
Our working memory is very limited.
Most people can create new habits or change their habits as
long as they have the right facts and evidence.
It’s practically impossible to deconstruct things that are
hardwired in our brains.
It’s easy to create new wiring in our brains.
3. The brain hardwires everything it can.

6 Insights into the

BRAIN BASED COACHING Brain (David Rock)
 “Ouch!” Automatic
(Learning/Change)
“Aha!”
(Awareness) 4.
Unconscious
3. Conscious Competence
Competence
2. Conscious
Incompetence
1.
Unconscious COACHING
Incompetence
LEARNING
BRAIN BASED COACHING JOURNEY
(1960s Anonymous)
 TRUE or
FALSE ?
Human brains are very similar. They use the same sets of
circuits.
The brain creates millions of new connections every day.
Our working memory is very limited.
Most people can create new habits or change their habits as
long as they have the right facts and evidence.
It’s practically impossible to deconstruct things that are
hardwired in our brains.
It’s easy to create new wiring in our brains.
4. Hardwiring
affects our
perception more
than new facts
and information.

6 Insights into the

BRAIN BASED COACHING Brain (David Rock)
 TRUE or
FALSE ?
Human brains are very similar. They use the same sets of
circuits.
The brain creates millions of new connections every day.
Our working memory is very limited.
Most people can create new habits or change their habits as
long as they have the right facts and evidence.
It’s practically impossible to deconstruct things that are
hardwired in our brains.
It’s easy to create new wiring in our brains.
5. It’s practically impossible to deconstruct our wiring.

6 Insights into the

BRAIN BASED COACHING Brain (David Rock)
 TRUE or
FALSE ?
Human brains are very similar. They use the same sets of
circuits.
The brain creates millions of new connections every day.
Our working memory is very limited.
Most people can create new habits or change their habits as
long as they have the right facts and evidence.
It’s practically impossible to deconstruct things that are
hardwired in our brains.
It’s easy to create new wiring in our brains.
6. It’s easy to create new wiring.

6 Insights into the

BRAIN BASED COACHING Brain (David Rock)
 Controls basic emotions :
fear, pleasure, anger, memories

• Must be in a calm state for lasting learning to occur

• If over aroused  recalling, memorizing, understanding
becomes limited
• SCARF® - David Rock

LIMBIC SYSTEM
BRAIN BASED COACHING – Emotional
Brain
• Active Listening
• Powerful Questioning

Listen & Speak

COACHING ENGAGEMENTS like a Coach
• Making a conscious effort to hear and
understand what other people are saying.

• Paying close attention to what they’re

saying and how they’re saying it.

ACTIVE LISTENING Definition

 upbringing agendas
experiences
• Find order & predict what will happen next education
expectations

• Neurons send signals to brain about our predictions in advance

• Compare received data with our predictions

1. We hear what we listen for, pay attention to what we expect

2. We listen to prove our theories about other people/situations

How the brain

BRAIN BASED COACHING likes to listen
• People seek our help  responsible  want to help
• Tend not to see others as capable, strong, fully able to come up with
great ideas and solutions on their own

1. We listen to others as needing help

2. We stop listening and rush in with advice / solution

How the brain

BRAIN BASED COACHING likes to listen
 Listen Listen for what
generously people mean
Listen for
Potential
Listen at Listen without
all levels judgment

LISTEN FOR POTENTIAL Quiet Leadership –

David Rock
• Requires coach’s full attention and trying to view the
situation from the coachee’s perspective.
• Listen without interrupting and reacting – GET USED TO
SILENCE  ALLOW FOR THINKING TIME
• Allow coachee to develop their own conclusions and insights.

Listen
LISTENING FOR POTENTIAL Generously
•PARAPHRASE
 demonstrates listening and empathy
 clarifies understanding

•REFLECT what has been said by repeating a statement in a way that

makes the essence of the statement clearer.

Listen for What

LISTENING FOR POTENTIAL People Mean
“I get really nervous when I have to speak in front of people.
I don’t know why. I just get scared.”
- “Sounds like your are saying you’re afraid of making mistakes.
Does that sound right?”

 "What I'm hearing is," and "Sounds like you are saying," are great ways to
reflect back.

REFLECT
LISTENING FOR POTENTIAL Examples
• Paraphrase & Reflect:
 "What I'm hearing is…"
 “It sounds like you are saying…”
 “Are you saying …? / Are you telling me …?
 “I’m picking up that …”
 “I’m getting the sense that …”
 “So if I’m hearing you right…”
• “Am I right?”

LISTENING FOR POTENTIAL Reflect

 Let’s Practice!

LISTENING FOR POTENTIAL ACTIVITY

 Placement

PERMISSION

Clarifying Questioning

Quiet
DANCE OF INSIGHT Leadership -
David Rock
 Coaching Conversation:

 Permission – Asking if it is okay before proceeding

 Placement – Where you are & what’s going to happen next
 Powerful Questions – thinking questions
 Clarifying – “Repeating” a statement in a way so it is clearer

Quiet
DANCE OF INSIGHT Leadership –
David Rock
 DIALOGUE ACTIVITY:
Pick out Permission and Placement

DANCE OF INSIGHT ACTIVTY

• Permission:
 Are you comfortable talking more about that?
 Would you like to brainstorm ideas with me?
 Are you ready to discuss next steps?
 Would it help to set a timeline?
 I get a sense you have more to say about that, could I probe a little further?
 I’d like to understand more about your thinking, would it be alright to talk
more about that?

DANCE OF INSIGHT Permission

• Placement:
• Setting the scene
• How long you’re going to speak for
• Where you’re coming from
• What your goal for the conversation is
 Today I’d like to focus on …How do you feel about that? (with Permission)
 We’re going to take 8-10 minutes on…
 Now we’re going to move on to…

DANCE OF INSIGHT Placement

• Clarifying
 “What do you mean when you say...”
 “Is this what you mean?”
Clarifying Checklist – What to ask yourself
What is the person trying to say?
What are they not saying?
What is the emotional context inside what they are saying?
What’s “behind” their words – what do they really feel?
What’s the essence of what they’re saying?
What are they saying that they can’t hear for themselves?

DANCE OF INSIGHT Clarifying

H T T P S : / / W W W. C O N F E R E N C E S . U I L L I N O I S . E D U / U S E R F I L E S / S E R V E R S / S E R V E R _ 1 6 3 0 / F I L E / 2 0 1 3 U I U C B U S I N E S S C O N F E R E N
C E / T H E B R A I NAT WO R K / T H E B R A I NAT WO R K . P D F
 Placement

PERMISSION

Clarifying Questioning

Quiet
DANCE OF INSIGHT Leadership -
David Rock
Powerful Questioning

Listen & Speak

COACHING ENGAGEMENTS like a Coach
• Catalyzes INSIGHT, INOVATION, and ACTION
 generates curiosity in the listener
 generates energy and forward movement Open-ended
 invites creativity and new possibilities questions
 stimulates reflective conversation (WHAT? HOW?)
 is thought-provoking
 surfaces underlying assumptions
 channels attention and focuses inquiry
 evokes more questions

POWERFUL
COACHING ENGAGEMENTS QUESTIONING
• AVOID QUESTIONS
 focus too much on problem and its details rather than desired outcome
 force action too soon
 convey your personal opinion or advice

QUESTIONING
COACHING ENGAGEMENTS
PITFALLS
 Presentation doesn’t go well
OUTCOME
Forgetting script, rushed BEHAVIOURS
speech, no eye contact
habits

Panic, judged, incompetent EMOTIONS

uncomfortable What we feel
Can’t present, not good THINKING: Mental Models Coach has to
in front of audience What we think try to impact
thinking
Values & Beliefs

Iceberg
COACHING ENGAGEMENTS
Model
DIALOGUE: Identify powerful questions you
could ask at each level

ICEBERG MODEL ACTIVITY

• VISION questions:
 What would you like the outcome to be?
 Could you describe the ideal outcome?
 What would it be like if you could…?
 How would it feel if you could…?

• THINKING questions:
 How long have you been thinking about this?
 How often do you think about this?
 On a scale of 1-10, how motivated are you to reach this goal?
 Can you see any gaps in your thinking?

POWERFUL
COACHING ENGAGEMENTS QUESTIONING
• PLANNING questions:
 Do you have a plan for achieving your goal?
 What do you think would be a good plan?
 What can we do to move forward in this area?
 What can we do to help you feel differently about this issue?
 How clear is your plan?
• DETAIL questions:
 What actions do you need to take to help you achieve your goal?
 What alternatives do you see for moving forward in this area?
 What is one step you could take towards that this week?
 What will you complete by next week?

POWERFUL
COACHING ENGAGEMENTS QUESTIONING
AGENDA 3 Sections
“Neurolanguage Coaching™ is the efficient and fast
transfer of language knowledge and skills from the
Language Coach to the Language Coachee with
sustainable effects facilitated by brain based coaching,
coaching principles and neuroscience.”

(Rachel Marie Paling, 2014)

LANGUAGE COACHING Definitions

1. How do we bring coaching principles and brain based learning
into the ESL classroom?
Repeated Practice: Giving students many opportunities to repeat
new structures for new wiring to happen. Introduce new concept,
test for recall, refresh the knowledge, test for recall again.
Stretching into Conscious Competence: When introducing a new
concept, don’t run to the rescue. Encourage them to work it out.

Bringing it into the

LANGUAGE COACHING classroom
Keeping the Limbic System Calm
 Placement & Permission
Experiential Learning
Studies of the brain and learning show that physical, emotional,
social involvement in learning increases engagement and
retention .
 Reflection, choice, and control over their learning.

Bringing it into the

LANGUAGE COACHING classroom.
Self-Directed Learning : outlined by Knowles (1975)

 Majority of the responsibility for learning to the student

 make their own goals

 set their own actions and timelines

Bringing it into
LANGUAGE COACHING the classroom
 2. How could you teach grammar differently using a
coaching perspective?

Ask more thinking questions

Let them tell you what they already know
Use powerful questions and Listening for Potential

Bringing it into
LANGUAGE COACHING the classroom
 3. What would be some examples of situations in your
classroom where you could use these principles?

After assessments
Giving feedback
One on one interactions
Whole class (placement & permission)

Bringing it into
LANGUAGE COACHING the classroom
Rock, D. (2006). Quiet Leadership. New York: Harper Collins.

https://www.conferences.uillinois.edu/UserFiles/Servers/Server_1630/Fil
e/2013UIUCBusinessConference/TheBrainatWork/TheBrainatWork.pdf

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm

If you are
SOURCES
interested.
Feel free to contact us. 

Amy Sendrea – [email protected]

Monia Ponti – [email protected]

If you are
SOURCES
interested.