Season 2, Episode 8: How do I make a cue stick?

Tania Huddart: Let's go to a party. You arrive, and someone puts weights on your shoulders. Then they tie helium balloons to your wrists, so your arms float up. Across a big table, someone wants to shake your hand. But there's a birthday cake in the middle. So you reach forward to shake that hand, and you draw your belly away from the cake. Careful. Don't crush it.

Now. Which Pilates exercise did you just do?

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 the ways you can teach an exercise: show it, say it, ask it or touch it. Today's question is the one that comes straight after. How do I make a cue stick?

But first, Tania, I need the answer to that party.

Tania Huddart: It's Saw. You're sitting up, reaching forward and twisting. The weights keep your shoulders relaxed. The balloons float your arms up. And the cake is the reason you lift your belly away as you lean forward, instead of collapsing over your legs.

Host: Why a story, though? Why not just tell people what to do?

Tania Huddart: Because a list of instructions is bland. It's hard to remember. Try learning a list of random words. It's tough. Now weave those same words into a story, and suddenly you can hold on to them.

Bodies are the same. Saw has a lot going on. If I give you six instructions, most of them will slip away. If I give you a party, you'll remember the party. And the party carries everything I wanted to say.

Host: Let's back up a bit. What's actually happening when a cue doesn't stick? You say it, they do it, and by next week it's gone.

Tania Huddart: A few things. The first is that we say too much. We know a lot, and we love it, so we pour it all out. But you can't teach everything you know at once. People get confused, or they get overwhelmed.

The second is that we expect them to remember it after one class. They won't. I wouldn't either. A body needs time to learn a new way to move. So you repeat it, and you add a little each time, over weeks.

And the one people forget is that a cue has to mean something to the person hearing it. If it doesn't connect to anything they already know, there's nothing for it to hold on to.

Host: Connect to what?

Tania Huddart: To their life. Adults learn best when they can see why something matters. They don't want to learn things they'll never use.

So I won't just say "extend your spine". I'll explain that this is the opposite of all the sitting they do. Sitting in meetings. Sitting in the car. Sitting on the couch. All day, we fold forward. This is the way back. Now the movement has a job. It belongs to them, and they've got a reason to remember it.

Host: So it has to be relevant first. Then what?

Tania Huddart: Then simple. Keep your language plain and keep it the same from week to week. Medical-sounding words leave people confused. If you want to teach them a new idea, that's lovely. But give yourself time to explain it, and come back to it over a few classes.

Host: You use a lot of images when you teach. Where do they come in?

Tania Huddart: Words have limits. Some things are just too subtle to say. An image can carry what a sentence can't.

If I want a supple spine, I might ask you to move your spine like a panther. I don't have to explain which bone moves first. You already know how a panther moves. Your body knows it too.

Host: Does an image actually change the movement? Or is it just nicer to listen to?

Tania Huddart: It changes the movement. When you picture yourself doing something, your brain starts to rehearse it, almost as if you'd done it. I think of it like little tracks being worn into a path. The more you walk it in your mind, the easier it is to walk it in your body.

Images also help people let go. We often try too hard to relax. Ask someone to relax their shoulders and they'll grip. Ask them to melt their shoulders and see what happens. Try it yourself, right now. What came to mind? Ice cream on a hot summer day? Chocolate? That's the point. You found the picture.

Host: Give me one you'd start with.

Tania Huddart: The hot air balloon. Your pelvis is the basket. Your abdominals are the ropes that keep the basket and the balloon apart. Your rib cage and your head are the coloured silk balloon. Your breath is the flame that lifts you into the air. And your feet are gravity, gently pulling you back down to earth.

I call that a seed image. It's a starting point, not a script. You offer it, and you see if it grows. Some people light up straight away. Others need a different picture, and that's fine.

For breathing, there's the jellyfish. Your diaphragm, the big breathing muscle under your ribs, is shaped like a dome. Picture a jellyfish swimming. It pauses as it widens. That's your inhale. And it moves as it draws in. That's your exhale. It's an easy picture to carry home.

Host: And if it doesn't? If someone looks at you like you've lost the plot?

Tania Huddart: That happens. The wrong image can confuse people. So ask. Does that picture make sense to you? And if it doesn't, what comes to mind for you instead?

When they find their own image, it sticks, because it's theirs. Your job isn't to be the one with all the clever pictures. It's to help them find the one that works in their body.

Host: Back to the party. How do you build a story like that? It sounds like you'd need to be a bit of a novelist.

Tania Huddart: You don't. You've been hearing stories since you were a child. Books, films, the theatre. You already know how they work.

A story has a setting. That's where it happens. It has characters. That's who it happens to. And it has a plot. Something happens, then it gets harder, then there's a moment of real tension. And at the end, there's the point of it all.

For Saw, the setting is a party. The tension is the cake. You have to reach forward and shake a hand without crushing it. And the point is simple. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Lift your belly as you lean forward. And please, for goodness sake, don't ruin the birthday cake.

The climax, by the way, is when you have to do it all again on the other side. Or when you spot someone in the class crushing the cake.

A good story doesn't have to be clever. It needs one clear theme. It can draw on your own life. And it should leave a little room for wonder, and for the client to solve something.

Host: If I want to write my own, where do I start?

Tania Huddart: With the person. What does this client need, to bring their body back into balance? What's stopping them? Then ask what pictures come to mind when they do the movement. That's where the story is hiding.

There's a line from the filmmaker Andrew Stanton that I love. "Make the audience put things together. Don't give them 4. Give them 2+2." He says the audience wants to work for their meal. They just don't want to know they're doing it. Your clients are the same. Let them put it together.

Host: Does this work with children?

Tania Huddart: Children thrive on it. A story is one of the best ways to hook them in. You can use songs, too, and lots of Pilates exercises already look like animals or sports, so you have plenty to play with. Ask them to move like an animal of their choice. But give them a rule. Animals are quiet, so they notice but don't get noticed. Otherwise they'll be roaring and wrestling in seconds.

Host: What about adults who don't think in pictures at all?

Tania Huddart: Then try sound. Sound cues are lovely for people who hold their breath, or carry a lot of tension in their neck and jaw. Take a basic abdominal curl, where you lift your head and shoulders off the mat. You can add a long, slow "ahhhh" as they curl up. People feel a bit self-conscious at first. But it gets them breathing, and it softens the jaw.

I had a client once who I could guide with sound alone. Even in a group class, I'd make a particular sound, and they'd adjust their body. I didn't have to say a word. The sound had become their cue. That's what you're after. Something that lives in their body, so they don't need you to spell it out.

Host: A lot of newer teachers borrow cues. From their training, from other teachers, from videos online. Is that a problem?

Tania Huddart: Not at all. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Books, videos, a class with another teacher.

But borrowed cues can be clunky. If you're not comfortable with the words, your clients will pick up on it. So when you borrow something, find your own way of saying it. Practise it out loud, on your own. Record yourself and play it back. Listen like a client would. Does it make sense? Then tweak it.

Host: And when you try it in the room?

Tania Huddart: Watch the faces. If people look confused, the words aren't working yet. Find another way to say it.

And be kind to yourself while you do this. Your client usually doesn't know the cue you just tried didn't work. So stay calm. Stop. Think. Breathe. It will be better next time.

Over time, you'll find you can mix your cues without thinking about it. A picture with a sound. A touch with a story. That comes from practice, from watching, and from trusting your own intuition. Nobody starts there.

Host: How long does it take for a cue to really stick?

Tania Huddart: Longer than you'd like. You show it when it's new. You bring it back as a reminder the next class. You repeat it, and you build on it. Don't expect anyone to remember everything from one class.

And layer it slowly. Give one cue, then wait. Let them try it once or twice before you add the next one. Give them time to put your words into their body. You don't need to share everything you know in one session. Stay calm, and be patient. It takes time for a body to learn a new way to move.

And here's the thing to hold on to. A cue that sticks is one they no longer need you for. They feel it on their own.

Host: So if someone's driving home with three things in their head, what are they?

Tania Huddart: One. Say less, and connect it to their life. A cue sticks when it means something to the person hearing it.

Two. Use pictures, stories and sounds, not lists. A body remembers a party far better than six instructions.

Three. Make every cue your own. Say it out loud, record it, and watch the faces in the room. Then change it if you need to.

Host: And the question you'd leave them with?

Tania Huddart: Pick one exercise your clients always forget. Ask yourself: what images come to mind when they do it? Then plan a story of your own around it. A setting, some characters, and a cake you mustn't crush.

Host: If you'd like some help with that, there's a free story planner at taniahuddart.com. It's one page, and it walks you through the setting, the characters and the plot of a movement story.

Next episode, the mixed class. Your beginner is right next to someone who's been coming for years. How do I teach one class to every level?

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: You already know how stories work. You've loved them all your life. So bring them into the room with you. Your clients will remember the cake long after they've forgotten the cue.