How to structure coaching sessions for the most impact and greatest client results.

While every client has their own unique experiences and challenges, a great coaching plan to structure your appointments offers serious benefits!

Using a well-designed session structure in your life coaching business will help you:

Feel confident conducting a session with any client, even if they’re new
Deliver a consistently high quality coaching experience to every client
Reliably generate life-changing client results
Develop your signature coaching style (Want to find yours? Take our quiz!)

This post will help you create your own session plan for successful, results-driven life coaching sessions.

You’ll find challenging and evocative questions for each section of the session structure, and you can download our free life coach session template to help you plan your appointments.

Why Structure Your Coaching Sessions?

If every client is different, why would a coaching tool like a session template be a good idea?

It’s simple- without a coaching session structure, you’ll end up treating every client session like a standalone event. That can make it challenging to hold clients accountable over time and make sure they’re achieving their goals.

Without structure, your coaching process ends up being reactive instead of proactive.

Reactive coaching makes it easy for the coaching conversation to be derailed with whatever is happening for your client right now. And while addressing the present isn’t necessarily bad, it makes it easy to miss making progress on big-picture goals.

A well-structured coaching session will help you help your clients:

Know what to expect in each session, helping them feel more comfortable
Achieve long-term goals over time as each coaching call builds on the last
Experience coaching sessions that are both engaging and productive
Feel confident in their work with you while having a consistent, professional experience

6 Step Coaching Template for Transformational Sessions

1. Prepare for Your Coaching Session

Your coaching session begins before the start of your appointment. Preparing yourself to be free of distractions and 100% focused on your client is essential.

Your mindset plays a significant role in the results you help your clients create.

Before you begin your session:

Take some time to imagine yourself as the coach you want to be
Visualize the session you’re about to have going as well as it ever could
Focus on the vibration that version of you would bring into the upcoming coaching session
Remind yourself of your “WHY” – the reasons you became a coach in the first place and what you hoped to help people achieve

2. Build Connection

Think of this first part of your session like preheating the oven to prepare your favorite recipe. Warming up your client and establishing connection helps clients feel safe and get ready for the work they’re about to do with you.

This is a great time to ask your client general, open-ended questions that help them feel seen and heard.

If this is your first session, you might ask:

Could you tell me, in 2-3 minutes, what has been going on in your life over the past 3-5 years?
What brought you to the point in your life where you said “It’s time for me to work with a coach?”

If this is a follow-up session, you might ask:

How have you felt since our last session together?
What steps have you taken since our last appointment?
How do you feel about the progress you’ve made or the challenges you’ve faced?
What differences have you noticed since starting this coaching program?

3. Set Goals

Setting goals for each session helps both you and your client stay focused and on track.

Based on your client’s feedback in the previous step and the design of your coaching program, help your client clarify what they would like to focus on during your time together.

Encourage them to identify specific obstacles, challenges, or goals that they would like to accomplish, preferably those that are related to their bigger vision.

If this is your first session, you might ask:

Where are you experiencing longing and/or discontent in your life?
What would you do if you had unlimited resources?
What would you try now if you knew you could not fail?

If this is a follow-up session, you might ask:

What obstacle or challenge did you experience in the last week that we can work through today?
What next step would you like to feel confident about achieving between this session and next?
What result were you hoping to achieve or experience since our last session that you did not?

4. Evocative Coaching

Using the feedback from the previous step, it’s now time to get into the meat of the session– the coaching.

At Brave Thinking Institute, we use an evocative coaching methodology. Put simply, we are committed to helping our clients access their own answers, resources, and personal power within.

We encourage our coaches to avoid using sessions to give their clients the answers or tell them what to do.

Instead, focus on helping your client:

Connect with and calibrate the vision for the life they want to create
Identify the paradigms and limiting beliefs that are keeping them from moving forward
Uncover possible solutions and new ways of making progress toward achieving their vision
Develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the resources they have at their disposal

The two most important coaching skills you’ll use at this stage are asking the right questions and being an active listener. Listen with discernment- Pay attention to what your client says and what they aren’t saying.

If this is your first session, you might ask:

Pretend it’s 3 years from today and you’ve created your dream life. Can you describe your life to me in the present tense and in as much detail as you can?
Imagine your dream is sitting in the palm of your right hand, and on your left hand is your current life. In between is the gap. What do you think you’ll need to bridge the gap?

If this is a follow-up session, you might ask:

What can you do now with what you have?
What is the real challenge you’re facing in this situation?
What would the version of you who had already achieved their dream do in this situation?

5. Action Steps to Bridge the Gap

Each of your clients is facing a gap- the space between where they are now and where they want to be. It isn’t enough to build awareness; real results require action steps.

Challenge your client to identify and commit to relevant, realistic actions they can take after the session ends. Make sure the actions are related to the insights and goals of the session. And make sure they also move them in the direction of their dreams.

You might ask questions like:

What can you do now with what you have?
By when? (Time-constrained commitments are empowering and encourage action!)
What could you do this week that would have the biggest impact on your current situation?
What do you need in order to successfully take this next step? How can you get what you need?

6. Reflection

Finally, set aside some time for your client to reflect on the session.

Assess whether or not they feel as if they achieved the goals they set at the beginning of the appointment. Ask them to summarize breakthroughs and points of learning that stood out to them. This will help them to retain and apply the new information they gained.

You might ask questions like:

What were your biggest take-aways or insights from this session?
How would you summarize our time together today?
Are there any specific topics or questions you want to make sure we cover in our next session?

Free Printable Life Coaching Session Plan Template

Click here! Download our free Printable Life Coaching Session Plan Template PDF!

Use this guide to track client progress or as a reminder as you navigate your life coaching sessions.

Grow Your Coaching Business By Tapping Into Your Coaching Superpower

The best coaching sessions are focused on the needs and goals of the client…

And when it comes to helping your clients experience life-changing results, your unique gifts can make all the difference!

As you design your coaching business and hone your coaching techniques, tapping into your coaching superpower can help you:

Leverage your unique gifts and natural talents as a coach
Avoid common pitfalls and reveal blindspots you might not be aware of
Harness the power of unshakeable confidence in your personal coaching approach
10x your business success by knowing exactly how to get the best results with your clients

Take the quiz now and discover your coaching superpowers!