3 Things a Group Coaching Program Must Have – Part 1: Content

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Group Coaching Program Must Have

Ask a hundred coaches what a group coaching program looks like, and you’ll get a hundred different answers. After creating and delivering dozens of group coaching programs, I discovered that each program consists of a combination of these three things:

  • Content
  • Coaching
  • Community

Depending on your coaching style and on your business model, you might be offering these three in different amounts.  One coach may use a 30/40/30 ratio while others may create a program with 80% content, 10% coaching and 10% community.

Today I want to take a closer look at Content creation.

Content

When clients enroll in a coaching program, one of the things they expect is to learn something. But they want to do it in a way that’s simple. Anyone can find free information online, so it’s not really about the access. It’s about a well-organized system of steps and “must-know” teaching points that will make it easy for them to get started and implement. Clients want your guidance. They want your opinion based on your own experience, and are willing to pay for it. They also want a proven process that they can implement to get results.

Creating the content for your coaching program can be done in several different ways, depending on your teaching style.

  • Pre-created: Pre-record videos or audios before your program starts. I personally enjoy creating slides, then recording myself as I narrate and expand on each slide. Scripting each slide or each training module takes a lot longer and “awakens” the perfectionist in many coaches.
  • On the go: Teach your content with a live group of people and turn your recordings into the training modules. This is definitely the easiest way to create your content because you have instant feedback from the group and their questions help you make your content more useful and relevant. You need to have an outline (or even slides) for each training, but once you have it – it’s just a matter of sharing what you know on each topic.
  • A hybrid: prepare some content before the program starts, then expand on it on live coaching calls.

When I run my program for the first time, I usually start with the “on the go” content creation method. The next time I run, I simply turn my recordings into training modules and use the live coaching calls for answering questions and doing “laser coaching” with my clients to help them implement.

I start by setting up a program structure inside Group Coaching Genie. I name each module and create a space holder for the content for when I am ready to deliver it to a live group. Then I simply add my content “on the go”, adding a video or a PDF right into the module and releasing my content weekly to the group.

Regardless of what method you choose, your content needs to have a structure – steps, mindsets, principles, teaching points, or building blocks that form your process for achieving the result your clients want.

What if content creation feels too “heavy” or time-consuming?

Start by looking through your own content, such as an existing digital course, a book, or a blog series you wrote, and turn it into a group coaching program.

For example, let’s say you are a sales coach.  You want to deliver a group coaching program about how to create a high converting sales page.  You could take your blog series and divide it up over 5 to 6 weeks.  Consider an introductory video and record the rest of the coaching live.  The next time you want to run a group coaching program on creating high converting sales pages, your modules are ready to pull into your program.

By the way, all of this is very simple when you use Group Coaching Genie, a platform that offers great flexibility for creating coaching programs and courses. You can add documents of all types, videos, attachments, replays and more. It is not only a home for your coaching products, it’s a platform for your delivery and group management.

If you have no content of your own and you are not that excited about creating it, consider re-purposing existing content. Here’s how to think about it.

The content is not new, but your twist or perspective is new and when your perspective is relevant to your clients, it becomes valuable.

You can purchase PLR content (“private label rights”) and make it uniquely yours by viewing that research from a different angle.  Your coaching program results from your inspired research.  If an article or blog you read is in opposition to your beliefs it stimulates your creative process.  In that creative space you are more likely to take the content to the edge of what you believe.  The result is content that has your style, your twist.

Your content might consist of videos, audios, PDF documents, checklists, worksheets or workbooks, self-assessments, scripts, and templates – depending on the nature of your topic.

 

Sell Your Program Before You Create It

Selling before you build your course sounds scary, but it’s not. It can be motivating!

Let’s imagine that you had a group coaching program with 6 modules.  The cost is $1000 per course.  The first module focuses on the welcome and objectives. You could record a quick 15-minute video for week one and a second 15-minute video for week two.

Next, focus on building the content as you go along.  You finish week two’s content before week two’s coaching session.  Continue recording short videos and content to stay ahead of your group.  Time is sensitive so you will stay motivated to finish the course!  Record all the sessions as you go along, and soon you will have a pre-done course!

And again, if you use Group Coaching Genie, all of this can be easily set up and automated. It is a great coaching management tool that allows you to focus on organized content creation and delivery so you can focus on your groups!  All you need to do is load your content in each module as you develop it.

2 Comments

  1. Avatar

    I like the idea of creating the place holders in GCG. This helps to keep me focused on what’s next!

    Reply
  2. Avatar

    Nguyen Tran on 21 September 2020
    Hi Milana Leshinsky,
    I enjoy your style! My course is similar to yours. I have a 10 minutes introduction video and 10 minutes conclusion at the end. The content is in PowerPoint. I slowly dictate the important issues in the PowerPoint content. All my clients are very tentative and are absorbing the results well.
    Many thanks,
    Nguyen

    Reply

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