Season 2, Episode 6: Why doesn’t everyone get my cue?

Tania Huddart: Think about this for a moment. Where do your abdominals attach to your head? They don't. So why do we tell people to lift their head? The head isn't what starts the movement. It comes along for the ride. So I say, "Float your head." Not lift. Float. And the whole exercise feels different.

Host: Welcome to Build Confidence and Purpose with Pilates. I'm here with Tania Huddart: Pilates teacher, teacher trainer and author of Pilates & Purpose. Both voices you'll hear are made with AI. Every word Tania says is her own, and she's approved each one.

Last episode was about how much to correct people. Today, what happens when you give the correction and it doesn't land. Why doesn't everyone get my cue?

Tania, welcome back.

Tania Huddart: Thank you. This is my favourite part of teaching. The words.

Host: Let's start with the head, then. Why does one word matter so much?

Tania Huddart: Because the words you choose change what people do. Take the basic curl-up, where someone lies on their back and curls their head and shoulders off the mat. It's an exercise for the tummy muscles. And the most common cue is "lift your head".

But the tummy muscles don't attach to your head. The head is just the weight that makes them work. What really happens is your ribcage and spine curl forward, and the head follows. So if you say "lift your head", people do. They lift with their neck. They strain. And the tummy muscles hardly join in.

Host: And "float" changes that?

Tania Huddart: Very often it does. "Float" tells them how it should feel. Light. Easy. No straining. It's the most common cue in Pilates, and it's slightly wrong. Most of us were taught it that way, and we pass it on without thinking.

That's where teaching really starts. Your words have to explain the action in a way people can grasp. Then they have to repeat it. In my experience, people need a few different ways to explore one action. It takes time and repetition before your cue makes sense in their body.

Host: Are there other words like that? Ones that send people the wrong way?

Tania Huddart: Lots. "Squeeze", "push" and "pull" are the big ones. They sound clear. But they often make people grip. They do a quick, hard tightening, and the movement gets stuck.

Here's an example. If you tell someone to squeeze their glutes, their bottom muscles, the pelvis often tucks under. Now they've lost the alignment you were after. So instead, try "draw your sitting bones towards each other". Or ask them to move the muscles from the outside of the hip round towards the sitting bones. Same muscles. Very different result.

Host: So it's not about using fancier words.

Tania Huddart: No. The opposite. Keep your words simple. Complicated words cause confusion, not understanding. Choose words that carry the quality of movement you want. Light or heavy. Slow or quick. Soft or strong.

And watch what happens when you change your words. The movement changes too. I've seen it again and again. You don't touch anything. You just change one word.

Host: But sometimes the words are fine, and still only half the room gets it. Why?

Tania Huddart: Because people take things in differently. Researchers argue about learning styles, and that's fine. What I can tell you is what I see in the studio.

Some people need to see it. Show them, and they've got it. Some people need it explained. They want the words, in order. That can be a plain description, or it can be a picture painted in words. And some people need to feel it. They want to get on the mat and try it straight away. Most of us use a mix, but we lean one way.

So if you only ever teach one way, you're only really reaching the people who learn that way. Everyone else is working hard to translate you.

And even then, not everyone responds the same way to the same cue. A cue that works beautifully on one body does nothing on the next. So stay flexible. Be willing to change your instructions the moment they confuse someone. Keep collecting new ways to say things. From books, from videos, from taking other teachers' classes. I still do.

Host: So how do you reach all of them at once?

Tania Huddart: You cue in more than one way, all through the class. For the people who need to see it, show it, or paint a picture with an image. For the people who listen, give them a sound. For the people who need to feel it, give them something to touch.

Host: A sound?

Tania Huddart: Yes. Sound is wonderful. If someone holds their breath, or carries a lot of tension in their neck and jaw, try a long, slow "ahhh" as they curl up. They feel a bit silly at first. But it gets them breathing, and it softens the jaw and neck. You can ask people to hum as they breathe out, too. It gives the ones who try too hard something else to think about, and they relax into it.

I had a client once I could guide with sound alone. Even in a group class, I could make a particular sound, and they'd adjust their body. I didn't have to say anything else.

Host: And for the people who need to feel it?

Tania Huddart: Ask them to touch themselves. If their shoulders creep up, ask them to tap the tops of their shoulders and do a few shrugs. Now they can feel where their shoulders are. And you can put cues together. A touch with an image. A sound with a touch. Two ways in are better than one.

Host: Let's talk about images. Some teachers love them. Some find them a bit much.

Tania Huddart: Images are fun. And they can say things that are too subtle for plain words. Try asking someone to melt their shoulders. Better still, try it yourself. What came to mind? Ice cream melting on a hot summer day? Chocolate? You stop trying so hard, and the shoulders drop.

There's a reason images work. When you picture yourself doing a movement, your brain lays down tracks, a bit as if you'd really done it. So a good image is a kind of practice. It helps the body find the movement before it's even moved.

But the wrong image can confuse people. So check. Ask them whether the picture makes sense for the movement. If it doesn't, ask them what image comes to mind for them. Very often theirs is better than mine.

I think of my images as seeds. A starting point. Here's one I use for posture. Your pelvis is the basket of a hot air balloon. Your tummy muscles are the ropes that hold the basket and the balloon apart. Your ribcage and head are the coloured silk balloon. Your breath is the flame that lifts you up. And your feet are gravity, trying to pull you back down to earth. Some people light up at that. Others look at me blankly. Both are fine. The blank ones get a different image.

Host: What about anatomy? Should you name the muscles?

Tania Huddart: Match it to what they know. Very few clients know the names of the muscles under their ribs, or deep in the side of the hip. But nearly everyone knows their ribs, their shoulder blades, the front of their thigh. Start there.

Some people love to learn more. You can show them a picture, or a skeleton, and they're delighted. Others just want to move. For them, try "feel the length between the crown of your head and your tailbone". Or "soften your breastbone". Or "push off from your big toe". That's enough to tell them which part of the body to move. They don't need a lecture. They need to know where to look.

Host: And when left and right gets muddled?

Tania Huddart: It gets muddled all the time. Lots of people struggle with left and right when they're exercising. So use the room instead. Turn towards the door. Turn away from the stereo. Reach towards the ceiling. Reach your fingers towards your heels. Nobody gets the door wrong.

Host: Is there a shape to a good cue? Something a new teacher can follow?

Tania Huddart: There's one approach I like. There will always be exceptions, but it's a good place to start.

First, know the exercise yourself. It's very hard to be clear about something you can't do in your own body. Teach what you love first. That builds your confidence.

Next, cue the position. "Lie on your back. Knees bent. Heels in line with your sitting bones." Get them set up before anything moves.

Then decide what comes first, the breath or the movement. If the movement is a bit complicated, I usually teach the movement first and add the breath after. Then layer. Give one cue, let them do it once or twice, then add the next. You don't have to say everything you know in one go. It takes time for a body to learn a new way to move.

And stay calm when it doesn't work. Your client probably doesn't even know what you were trying to do. Stop. Think. Breathe. Try another way.

Host: A lot of newer teachers borrow cues from their own teachers, or from videos. Is that a problem?

Tania Huddart: It's how we all learn. But borrowed cues can feel clunky in your mouth. And if you're uncomfortable with a cue, your clients pick that up.

So when you borrow an idea, find your own way of saying it. Practise it out loud, on your own. Record yourself and play it back. Listen. Then tweak it until it's clearer.

Host: And then try it on real people.

Tania Huddart: Then try it, and watch faces. If people look confused, it's time to change your words. Find another way to describe the movement you want. When a cue doesn't land, the first thing I change is the words. Not the client.

And one more thing. Keep rude jokes out of your cues. Some people will laugh. Others will be offended. It's not worth it.

Host: Is there a way to check your cueing, without waiting for confused faces?

Tania Huddart: Film yourself teaching. Then watch it as if you were your client. Do your cues make sense? Does the class flow? How fast are you talking?

You might be surprised. You need to talk a fraction ahead of the movement. Your client needs to hear what to do next a moment before they do it. If you're cueing as they move, you're already late.

And be kind to yourself when you watch it back. Don't beat yourself up. Learn from it. Honestly, it can be fun.

Then keep practising different kinds of cue, and notice how each one lands on different bodies. Get to know your clients. Their skill, what they find hard, any injuries. Keep them in mind when you plan. Good cueing has a lot of layers. Learning. Practising. Watching. Thinking it over afterwards. And your own intuition. Over time, you'll find you're mixing all of them without thinking about it.

Host: So, three things to take home?

Tania Huddart: One. Your words change the movement. Choose words that carry the feeling you want. Float, not lift. Draw together, not squeeze.

Two. People take things in differently. So show it, say it, and let them feel it. Two ways in are better than one.

Three. When a cue doesn't land, change your words, not your client. Then film yourself and listen.

Host: And the question to sit with?

Tania Huddart: Listen to your own cues. Do they make sense? Would you understand them, if you'd never done the exercise before?

Host: If you'd like somewhere to start, there's a free cue card at taniahuddart.com. It's a one-page card for writing one cue several ways: as a picture, a sound, a direction and a touch.

Next episode, we look at the whole toolkit. Show it, say it, ask it, or touch it?

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: Just this. If someone doesn't get your cue, it isn't a failure. It's information. Try another way in. There's always another way in.