Part 3 of How to be a Really Good Instructor, I mean, How to Nail Your Next Audition, goes into tips 7, 8, and 9. By the time you read these, you’ll have your students, and your bosses (both current and future) eating out of your hands and applauding.Read more…
Here is Part 2 of Top Ten Tricks for Nailing Your Next Audition, or, as I like to subtitle it, How to Be a Really Good Instructor! Tips 4, 5 and 6 will help you look good, select an appropriate profile, and show them that you are indeed a professional indoor cycling instructor. (As we all are, even if you teach for free!)Read more…
After three weeks being out of commission, I’m slowly getting back to teaching my Tues/Thur 6am class, the end of a 12-week periodized program. Since the information and coaching is very specific and is based on what was done in the previous weeks, I had no one who I could trust to sub for me. (Yup, really!) But I do have very understanding and wonderful students who cared more about my recovery than their class! So today was my second day back, teaching off the bike. My husband remarked these past two classes were the best he’s ever seen me teach, because I was focusing so much on my students. Here’s what I said and did, plus my latest field-test playlist, which I loved!Read more…
Bryon Black has auditioned over 100 prospective new instructors as a co-director of his club’s cycling program. He brings you some valuable tips with so much meat on them that I’ve divided this into a 4-part series. The first three articles each cover three tips, and the final article is devoted to one incredible tip on its own; it’s that impactful. It will not only get you the job, but it will raise your own coaching to another level. In fact, most of these tips are excellent suggestions simply for being a better indoor cycling coach whether you are auditioning, or working at the same facility with the same students for over a decade!!Read more…
Every one of us has different methods of assimilating information. When you coach your students, you should understand that the learning styles of your students may be very different. Christine presents one of the simplest and most effective ways to make sure you are delivering your coaching so that all of your students in your classes can understand what you are trying to say. After reading this article you will have numerous ideas for incorporating all styles into your teaching.Read more…
A comment on my ICA Facebook page got me thinking that perhaps the FREE articles on ICA aren’t as evident as they should be. So I would like to highlight these articles and their wide ranging topics so you can see what you might have missed. These articles and interviews are just as educational and insightful as the premium articles, and you are free to share them with all the instructors you know. And don’t forget that articles on the Sage Advice Blog are always available to anyone at anytime, many of them hitting on very important topics for indoor cycling instructors.Read more…
Have you ever taken over a class from a popular instructor, or at a new gym, and you not only get the sense that they don’t like your style, but you’ve gotten complaints or negative comments from students? That’s what happened to ICA member Beth, and she’s pretty down about it. I’ve got some suggestions to help build your confidence and stand your ground, as well as how to make sure you learn from the situation.Read more…
In Part 1 of this series on creating profiles I talked about the key elements of profile design. I promised to give you the exact same profile with a variety of different purposes. Here is one profile with nine different objectives. Your students may not even notice they’re doing the “same thing” even if you taught two of these a week apart. You will see how your objective can drive your students’ perception.Read more…
Research suggests positive language gets more physical response than yelling. Bill examines a recently released study and applies the findings to successful indoor cycling instructors and their impact on motivating their students.Read more…
You may have noticed that we’ve been providing more profiles on ICA. However, I think it’s very important for instructors to know how to create and modify their own profiles. It’s like the old adage “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life.” By teaching you how to create your own effective profiles, I’m feeding your indoor cycling coach for a lifetime! But be warned: you may have to wipe your existing profile creation slate clean…Read more…