Season 6, Episode 5: Should I show it or say it?

Tania Huddart: When someone's talking to you, where do you look? At their face. So if I talk all the way through a demonstration, my clients are watching my face. But my face isn't doing the movement. My body is. If you want them to see it, the best thing you can do is be quiet.

Host: Welcome to Build Confidence and Purpose with Pilates. I'm here with Tania Huddart: Pilates teacher, teacher trainer and author of Teach Pilates with Confidence and 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 teaching the client who learns differently from you. Today we start Part 2 of the course, your teaching toolkit. Should I show it or say it?

Tania Huddart: Both. Just not at the same time. They're linked. It's how you use them together that has the power.

Host: Where does the quiet come in?

Tania Huddart: In the course, there's a video where I teach a roll-up to a teacher I was working with. That's the one where you lie on your back with your arms overhead, curl up to sitting, and then roll back down.

The first time, I did it the way so many of us do. I showed it, and I talked all the way through. Arms overhead. Exhale and curl forward. Find your sitting bones. Inhale and lengthen forward. You might need to bend your knees. Draw your shoulders down. Sit back up, and curl back down, one bone at a time.

Then I asked her to do it. And I said, "Do you remember what I asked you to do?" And she said, "Not completely."

Host: What did she remember?

Tania Huddart: The end. She said her brain was picking out points, because it was a lot. So she picked the points she could hold on to.

And she knows how to do a roll-up. She's a very good mover. Even she was confused. So imagine your first-time client getting that barrage of information. They get confused. And when people are confused, they stop listening. It takes a little while before they can take anything else in.

She could probably have done a fair version of it. But she'd have been thinking her way through, trying to remember all the bits and pieces I'd given her. That's not moving. That's remembering.

Host: And while you were talking, what was she looking at?

Tania Huddart: I asked her that. Was she looking at my body, or at my face? She said she was looking at the feet. And then, near the end, she thought, "Oh, I'd better look at the movement."

That's what happens. When somebody talks to us, we look at their face. My face isn't doing the roll-up. So you have to give your client the chance to see the movement. And the best way to do that is to be quiet.

Host: So what did you do the second time?

Tania Huddart: I said, "We're going to do an exercise now called roll-up. I just want you to have a look at it and see what it looks like." And I did it. Twice. Without a word.

Then I gave her one thing to focus on. The movement of the spine, as if she was uncurling it from the floor. That's all.

And this time, she could do it. She had a much clearer picture. When I asked what stuck with her most, she said the movement of her back. One bone at a time. Which was the one thing I'd asked for.

And then, while she was moving, I talked her through it. Uncurling one bone at a time. Now lengthen the spine. And curl back down. The words came while she was moving, not while she was watching. That's the difference.

Host: So the rule is, don't talk on the first one.

Tania Huddart: Do one or two demonstrations without talking. Let them see the whole movement first. Then give them one key point to focus on, and let them do it.

After that, you can start layering your cues on top, as they keep going. But only one new thing to think about for every couple of repetitions. We talked about showing without talking back in Season 2. In the course, you get to watch it happen.

Host: Here's my sceptical question. Won't all that silence make me look like I've forgotten what comes next?

Tania Huddart: It might feel like that, the first time. But it isn't empty silence. They're watching. They're taking in the shape of it. That's work.

Silence feels long to you. To them, it's room to look. You're giving them the best chance of success at that exercise.

And when you're nervous, silence is the hardest thing to give. I know. You want to fill it, to show you know your stuff. But it gets easier every time you do it.

Host: Does it work for a brand-new client, though? Your demonstrator already knew the exercise.

Tania Huddart: You're right. She's a very sophisticated mover, so I didn't have to give her much more. With a new client, you'll probably need a bit more cueing afterwards. But the order stays the same. Show it first. Then speak.

And if they get stuck, you can give them something else to do. You can break it down, or change the exercise. But if they don't have a complete picture of the exercise in the first place, everything after that is much harder.

Host: Then explaining. What makes a good explanation?

Tania Huddart: Explanation is where you really get to be the teacher. It's where you bring in new information. Or you expand on something your client has already felt.

But two things come first. You need their attention. If you don't have their attention, there's no point trying to explain anything. And then, be brief.

Host: How brief?

Tania Huddart: Here's what so many of us say. "Today we're going to do this exercise, and we're going to focus on this, and then we're going to look at this, and then that, and we'll add the breathing, and we'll use the exercise we did before." You've probably tuned out already. I would have, too.

Now compare that with this. "Today we're going to have lots of fun. We're going to revisit the exercise we did last week. And today we're really going to focus on where we place our feet." That's it. That's all you need to say.

Host: How do I know which one thing to say?

Tania Huddart: Ask yourself what the main focus of this exercise is, today. Not everything that matters about it. The one thing you want them to take away. What are the critical points? Which one do they need first?

In my example, it was the feet. That one focus can carry a whole exercise. Next week, it might be the breath. The week after, the shoulders. You don't have to say it all in one class. You have weeks.

Host: Isn't that going to slow the class down?

Tania Huddart: It does the opposite. When you plan what you're going to say, and you say less, there's more time for moving. Fewer words, more movement. That's what they came for.

So after your one sentence, they move. And as they keep repeating the exercise, you bring in another idea.

A good rule of thumb is one new instruction for every two repetitions. Sometimes three. It depends how the room is doing, or how your client is doing. Some people need two or three goes at something before you add anything new.

The course quiz puts it this way. Demonstrations and explanations need to complement each other. And clients need chances to practise new information before you give them another cue. A cue they haven't had time to try is just noise.

Host: But what if I can see three things going wrong at once?

Tania Huddart: You don't have to fix them all. That's the bit teachers find hardest. If you try to fix it all, your client is going to switch off completely. And then they don't progress at all.

So pick one. You can draw their attention to the others later, often by asking a question. That's where we're going next. The only exception is safety. If one of those three things could hurt someone, that's the one you fix. Straight away.

Host: So what could a teacher try in their next class?

Tania Huddart: Choose one exercise. Show it twice, without saying a word. Then give one thing to focus on. Count two or three repetitions before you add the next cue. And notice how often you want to fill the silence. It's more often than you think.

And before class, write down what you'd usually say to introduce that exercise. Then cut it down to one sentence.

Host: So, three things to take away?

Tania Huddart: One. Show it first, without talking. When you talk, they watch your face, not your body.

Two. Get their attention, then keep your explanation to one idea. And let them move.

Three. One new cue every two or three repetitions. You don't have to fix everything at once.

Host: And the question to sit with?

Tania Huddart: Think of the exercise you explain most often. Could you say what matters most about it in one sentence? And would your clients remember that sentence?

Host: Everything we talked about today is in Part 2 of Tania's online course, Teach Pilates with Confidence: Your teaching toolkit. It's open now. You'll find it at taniahuddart.com/academy.

Next episode, we stay in the toolkit. When should I ask, and when should I touch?

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: Your body does the showing. Your words do one thing at a time. Your clients are cleverer than we sometimes give them credit for. Give them room, and they'll find their way into the movement.