How to Use Virtual Teaching to Serve Your Clients in New Ways and Build Your Business
Blog Content Tips for Trainers // June 01, 2020
By Dawn Strom, GYROTONIC® and GYROTONIC® Master Trainer and Movement Therapy Coach
Virtual instruction is quickly becoming a new and easy way to connect with clients when you can’t meet in person. It provides a variety of benefits, including location freedom, opportunities to reach an international community and support your in-person clients in new ways.
However, virtually working with clients can also bring up challenges for movement teachers who rely on in-person cueing and presence to communicate with and lead clients. As Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis instructors, the movement experience we share with our clients depends upon the state of the art Gyrotonic equipment, presence, kinesthetic awareness, and touch, as well as visual and verbal cueing. These elements are primary to delivering the embodied movement experience and cannot be reproduced in the same way virtually. However, virtual instruction can offer opportunities to support your clients to deepen their homework exercises and develop new movement habits, offer support when you can’t meet in person, and create a convenient way to help them develop a home Gyrokinesis practice.
So, how can you integrate virtual instruction into your Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis teaching practice in a way that creates a high level of value for your clients, honors your expertise, and supports the value of your in-person work?
The key is to understand the big picture of the value you are creating for your clients and how virtual instruction can support the value of your in-person work.
ELEVATE YOUR MINDSET
Get clear on your purpose, the people you want to help, and the problems you want to solve. For instance, your purpose may be to help others heal through movement using the Gyrotonic Method. You may want to work with women with chronic pain, and you may have personal experience and specific expertise with a condition like chronic pain. This purpose can help you focus on creating a unique service that integrates in-person work and virtual work to help people struggling with chronic pain to heal and be pain-free through Gyrotonic movement.
Focus on how to tailor your in-person and virtual instruction to support your client’s unique needs. You can look at both your virtual and in-person instruction as unique ways to meet their needs. In-person instruction is the best tool for communicating new movement and the depth of embodied connections. But working virtual instruction can meet clients where they are, in their homes, and help them to work on material and develop their daily habits.
For instance, your clients with chronic pain might benefit the most from working with you in person once a week on your Gyrotonic equipment and doing virtual Gyrokinesis with you in the morning to help them create the daily habit of moving in their homes to manage pain daily. Or, you may use a virtual session to help keep them moving while they are out of town so they can stay out of pain.
DEEPEN YOUR PRACTICE AND HONE YOUR SKILL SETS
Deepening your personal Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis practice will help you hone in on your in-person and virtual teaching skills. We all teach from experience in our bodies. Virtual instruction requires a deep connection with what you are experiencing in your own body and energy, and the ability to translate it into visual and verbal cueing. Going deeper into your practice can allow you to focus on, and go deeper into, some of your cueing and create a new depth for your client.
Work on your virtual teaching skills. Often, virtual education requires you to go a bit slower, use your vision, verbal cueing, and physical demonstration in new ways. When deciding how to approach virtual teaching, ramp up your practice, and slow down the movements and the sequencing. Get creative with metaphors and cues to help your clients experience the movements deeply.
For instance, where you may use a touch cue in person to communicate lengthening the spine, teaching virtually you could tap into a new and rich metaphor that can help your client access a new level of connection.
Choose your tech and create a clear process to on-board clients. There are many options to use for virtual meetings. You will want to choose the tech options that are the easiest for you and your clients to use and that meets the legal requirements for privacy required by your insurance and/or license. To increase the ease of on-boarding clients, make sure they know ahead of time how to use the software and leave some extra time in between sessions so you can troubleshoot any technical issues that come up.
ALIGN YOUR STRATEGY
Align the value of your virtual and in-person services with your goals to support and complement each other to grow your business and expand your reach. If you keep your focus on the anchor of your in-person work, you can use virtual teaching as a compliment to support your clients and help them get more out of your in-person work.
For instance, if you offer virtual Gyrokinesis to supplement and help your clients deepen the principles they learn in your sessions, the work they do virtually will deepen their experience on the tower as well.
Know the results you deliver and price your services based on the value of the results you provide to your clients. How you price your services is an individual choice, but I invite you to consider what your clients are “really” buying. After 15 plus years in business, I have learned that clients are paying me for how I apply my expertise to help them solve a problem or achieve a goal, not my time. Whether I deliver my instruction virtually, or in-person, does not matter as long as they are able to get a solution to a problem that is affecting their lives and keeping them from the activities that they love.
In marketing, your virtual and in-person programs speak to the needs and desires of your clients. Consider what your client’s pain points and goals are in their own words and highlight the results your clients will experience in all aspects of their lives.
For instance, a Gyrotonic program for chronic pain could help the client to reclaim the confidence to move again without fearing that it will cause a flare-up. Or a Gyrotonic program for seniors could help them get back to walking without the fear of falling. Focus on these details and talk about your virtual and in-person work as tools to help them solve their unique challenges and achieve their unique goals.
If you are ready to explore virtually working with clients, consider your mindset, your skillset, and your strategy. Step into the new world of virtual teaching as an opportunity to deepen and position your in-person expertise and serve and support your current clients in new ways. And consider the ways that you can use the virtual connection to connect internationally, deepen your community connections, and strengthen your local business in new and sustainable ways.
____________________
To connect with Dawn:
404-827-8766 | 612-867-5004
info@dawnstrom.com
www.dawnstrom.com
2531 Briarcliff Rd, Suite 209, Atlanta, GA, 30329
