Will:  

CRC stands for Connect, Recommend, and Commend. And it's a really, really powerful tool that helps us as instructors to provide effective coaching guidance. And it can be used in a live and digital environment. Now, it does require a little bit of interactivity and so the move towards teaching virtually and pre-recorded does pose some difficulties with the old CRC. But keep listening because I'm going to tell you how you can approach the digital side of this after we get into the detail and the nitty gritty of what it is.

Will:  

Hey, I'm Will Brereton, founder of SH1FT Fitness and this is Group Fitness Real Talk, a show about how to survive and even thrive in group fitness in 2021 and beyond. Welcome to this week's episode. So a couple of episodes back, I think it's number 39 if you want to go back and check that after listening to this, we did a slightly shorter podcast on creating meaningful connections within class. And we got a lot of responses from instructors who really appreciated getting some technical teaching advice. We recently did a survey for all of our shift instructors. And one of the big things that came through was wanting to get more mechanical and technical ideas about how to become a better instructor. And so today, I wanted to create a snackable shorter podcast episode dealing with one specific question that kept coming back up in our survey. And that was how can I get participants to improve what they're doing? How can I give feedback in a way which actually lands with those people in my class that need it, and encourages them to improve on the things that they're doing to allow them to get better results. The good news is, is that there is a really, really simple answer to this. So today's podcast the next few minutes, I'm going to be giving you the tried and true way of creating positive change during class for your participants. And it's known as a CRC. Now a CRC stands for Connect, Recommend and Commend. Right up front, I want to differentiate this from another type of feedback, which people know as a feedback sandwich or a shit sandwich. Now a shit sandwich is where you're giving somebody feedback, and you start with something good. And then you put the bad feedback in the middle and then you finish with something good. So essentially, you soften them up to receive the feedback by telling them something positive, you give them the harsh stuff, and then you finish it off with another positive comment in order to leave them feeling good. But also having delivered that negative piece of feedback in the middle. Now a CRC is kind of similar to that, except it's not the same. So I want to start by differentiating that CRC is more about a live experience where you can actually create change on the go. And that's part of the structure of it, which I'm going to talk more about. I actually came across this, I think when I was public speaking so some of you might know this, but I'm obviously a trained lawyer and spent many years practicing. And I was a debating nerd at high school, to the point where I was actually in like the New Zealand into schools debating team at some point.

Will:  

But I did a lot of public speaking and we did a lot of training on how to how to give feedback or talk and we were giving feedback to other people that were debating when I was doing coaching, how to deliver feedback in a way that is understandable that creates a change and can be immediately implemented. I've been doing a bit of research on this in preparation for this podcast. And it seems like the concept of CRC at least that term comes from Toastmasters, which is something my dad used to do in the 80s. I don't know if that's a global thing, but Toastmasters was essentially a place where people go to refine their public speaking skills, their oratory ability, and it also formed a big part of the Les Mills initial module training. I suspect that the Toastmasters Les Mills connection has something to do with that. It was a really important part of the initial module training because it really did form a fundamental basis of why the Les Mills teaching system was so good. You guys know that I was a Les Mills instructor for a long time and a master trainer and an international presenter. And Les Mills education is super, super top notch. And so I want to recognize that this is something that is part of their instructor training. That's also taught in public speaking training all over the world. So this is not something I came up with. But it is such a fundamentally great way of encouraging changes in behavior that I wanted to share it with you guys. So if you already know what a CRC is, maybe this will be a little bit of a refresher. If you haven't come across the term before I really invite you to have a listen and then put it into play in your next class and see the results. Okay, so CRC stands for Connect, Recommend and Commend. And it's a really, really powerful tool that helps us as instructors to provide effective coaching guidance, and it can be used on a live and digital environment. Now it does require a little bit of interactivity. And so the move towards teaching virtually in pre recorded does pose some difficulties with the old CRC. bots keep listening because I'm going to tell you how you can approach the digital side of this after we get into the detail, the nitty gritty of what it is. So what is it, it has three steps, pretty obvious because it has three letters. 

Will:  

First up is connect. So this means that you need to engage the individual or the group directly. So there are heaps of ways to do this. But using eye contact or utilizing a person's name are the most obvious ones. And you guys will know this from teaching in class. The reason that it's important to do this first is because we can give coaching feedback that can be missed. If the people that need it don't realize we're talking specifically to them. If you're doing a class, and people are working hard, the music's blaring, they're really enjoying themselves, they're not necessarily listening to every word you say. And so using eye contact, specifically, calling out a person by name in a respectful way, is a great way for them to understand that the next bit of coaching feedback, the tips that we're about to give are directed at them. Step two, is recommend. So cutting to the chase, we want to avoid negativity. But we do want to ensure that we're nice and direct with the feedback that will create the outcome that we seek more quickly. So what you should do is rather than inform people of what they're currently doing wrong, let them know what you want them to change. So for example, "Hi, Amy. Try to lift up your chest" is a classic example. Now conversely, you can say, "Don't drop your chest." But the problem that you've got here is negative cueing. And this is another thing that we could probably do a whole podcast episode on to be honest, because heaps of people do it. But if you say something like, "Don't lift your heels", and the music's blaring, and people aren't really listening, sometimes people in your class can just hear, "lift your heels", it doesn't mean that they weren't listening, because honestly, it's sometimes hard to hear what people are saying through the microphone. And what this means is that not only have you use the negative cue, which is always a little bit inferior to a positive cue, although they're not always wrong. But given the amount of information that participants need to take into their head, you run the risk of them doing the thing you just asked them not to do because that's the only operative part of the cue that they heard. So keep it positive. And by hitting that recommendation upfront, you empower the participant on getting the most out of their workout, not feeling judged, or by not being perfect, or by thinking that they were doing something wrong. Now here's the most important bit, which is command, step three. Now the reason this is important is because if you leave it hanging after recommend, you're not necessarily going to induce the positive change. So the command stage is how you let your participant know of the effectiveness of their efforts. So regardless of how well Amy's lifted her chest, you need to end the interaction in a positive way. It could be as simple as Yeah, that's better. Or it could go further and remind Amy that you'll be checking on her later during the class. Either way, you need to make that participant feel that they're recognized for their efforts and encouraged to keep going. Because if they think they're doing something wrong, and they don't get the feedback that they have improved that or not, then they're going to have that question hanging over them. And it's not going to achieve the result you wanted, which was improving their movement. Now there are loads of ways that you can actually use the CRC. But the key takeaway is that in order to magnify the impact of your coaching feedback during a class, you need to first create a connection. Second, you need to focus on the positive change that you want to create. And third, and finally, you want to provide an indication of how successful the interaction has been. And you want to encourage the participant to want to engage with you again. And you know, if it doesn't manage to hit during the class, you can always catch up with them after the class because you've opened the door to a conversation about that element that you brought up. Now the final part is so important. Because simply giving out feedback, doling it out without any follow up isn't really helping people, it ends up just being criticism, which is something that doesn't make people want to come back to your class doesn't impact positive change, and just isn't good for anybody. So a good coach will provide the feedback and then stick around to see how it's landed and provide a follow up to that participant that class member so they can know how effective their efforts have been.

Will:  

The other thing I would note about a CRC is a little CRC goes a long way. So like any coaching information that offers real time feedback on what instructors are doing, it can take participants a while to absorb the information assimilated into the way in which they move and then reflect on that feedback. And remember to do it again the next time that move comes across. Because remember that a lot of people in our classes are not that kinesthetically aware, they might be intending to drop their heels or to lift the chest but they don't do it. It's not because they don't think they're doing it. They just don't have that level of awareness that we as fitness professionals and instructors usually have. So take your time and don't use don't overuse the CRC tool. It's something that needs to be used effectively. And that means not overusing it. Because again, if you give the same person the same advice over and over, and they're not taking it, it's probably because they're not understanding it. And that's when it leans into criticism. Now, there's another podcast episode that I might do in the future, which talks about understanding, when you give your feedback, if it is not having the desired impact, then you need to go back to what you were saying and change it. So one of the things that I see instructors do with a CRC that isn't as effective as it could be, is they say something like, lift your chest and lift your chest, and doesn't lift your chest later on and lift your chest and it doesn't lift your chest gives the third CRC within that class, by that time, and is a bit frustrated, because you're keeping telling her something that she obviously doesn't know how to do, you're looking like you are nitpicking on a person in the class, which is never good. And at the end of the day, you're not actually creating the outcome that you want to achieve. So that's where you need to if your CRC doesn't land, go back to your own drawing board and think about different ways that you could put it. That's an episode that we might do in the future. I'm not going to labor on that now. Because I want to finish off this podcast episode with a little introduction to how you do see are seeing in the current teaching environment, that is where a lot of our teaching is digital. Now I want to distinguish here between live stream teaching where this is possible, it is more difficult, because you might be watching people on a zoom screen with a gallery, you might need to actually stop teaching yourself go up to the zoom screen, put people on spotlight, watch them, it's a bit more of a laborious task, but it can still be done. But there's one place in which the CRC that I just talked about, which is live feedback designed to create an outcome is just not going to work. And that's where it's a pre recorded video. Now, that doesn't mean that we cannot utilize the principles of CRC, we still absolutely can, but you just have to be a little bit sensible and forward thinking about how you employ it. So you've employed the CRC as your effective way of providing feedback, and you know that it's working in your live classes.

Will:  

But you're an instructor who also has a digital subscription, you have a VOD library video on demand. So how do you go about bringing in CRC'ing, which you know, is a really effective way of people improving their behavior into something that's pre recorded, where you can't necessarily give live feedback for what the people are doing? The answer to this is that you do something called pre emptive, correction, pre-emptive CRC'ing, and this is what I want you to think about when you are creating digital resources for your members for your participants. So this is the equivalent of a preventative action rather than a repair. So I want you to think about it in terms of that. Here is where you are providing a cue that you know, will probably relate to something that someone is doing wrong. But instead of doing it in response to seeing it, you're doing it because as an experienced teacher, you know that on this particular move, this mistake often happens and this is a way to avoid it. So what does a preemptive correction, a pre emptive CRC look and sound like? They're actually really, really simple. And the bulk of the work here goes into identifying what are the most likely faults or potential risks of any given activity or exercise. And then what would I say to avoid people making that mistake. So let's think about a squat. Now anyone that's taught a squat will know that there are some really, really obvious things that someone in the class almost always does wrong. And I already referenced those two examples earlier in this podcast, that is, the chest is not lifted, so people are bending forward and allowing their vision to track down and an angle to come into the back that is not optimal for a squat, or people are not grounding through the heels and pushing through. So when you're thinking about teaching a digital class, and doing a squat, you should be thinking about what can I do in order to ensure that people are not going to make this mistake. Now it's not a CRC because you're not doing the Connect, Recommend, Commend thing, but you were structuring your cues in a way that prevents you from needing to do this. And this is something that you should be doing in live and digital classes, but it's especially important in digital. Now, one other little hack. And this is something that I learned back, like 15 years ago, when I was presenting on Les Mills DVDs, as they were then then our videos, obviously. And we needed to hit out a number of coaching cues in that. And so when I would teach my tracks on the DVD, I would be doing something like a knee repeater. And we were teaching live classes then so there were like 200 people on the class and I knew that on a knee repeater. One of the things that people often did wrong is they didn't ground their heels. So they create a little bit of instability in the knee. They didn't get the effect of warm up into the legs and glutes. So what I would do is When I was delivering the masterclass presentation that I knew was going to be recorded and sent out to instructors all around the world. Sometimes, if I couldn't see anyone making the mistake that I knew people often made, I would just make up a fake person. And so there are body attack DVDs where I'm like, James, James dropped the heel and a little bit. Awesome, that's great, you're so much lower. James did not exist, I made up that person so that I could get that cue out. Now, that's not necessarily something you're going to be able to do if you're teaching a small live stream class, but it is actually something that you can employ, you can kind of make out that you're seeing a if you're teaching digitally, like live stream or video on demand, imagine that you are seeing a mistake and corrected. And if you're using a gallery view, you can even throw out a name. And I wouldn't suggest using the name of someone that you can't see doing it wrong. But the reality is reality is that everyone could usually drop a little bit lower. And so saying something like, hey, Sarah, can you drive through your heel a little bit more and drop a little bit lower on the bat, chances are she can, depending on the move, you'd need to know the move, you need to know the common mistakes, but you can fake it and still get the same improvement from the CRC that relates to all the people in the class. Okay, so that's the end of my little short mini-pod. CRC'ing. Connect, Recommend, Commend. Connect so that people are open to feedback, recommend with a clear instructional cue that is positive. And then commend, which is tell people let them know how effective their change has been. If it is effective, great, you've immediately enacted change. If your CRC doesn't work, you can either revisit it with different cueing for people to understand later. Or you can choose to pause, get through the class and then potentially take that person aside and say, hey, remember when I said to do this in that track? This is what I meant and provide them with a little bit more one-on-one coaching. Either of these is a recipe for success because people will learn they will feel more successful, and that will make them want to come back to your class even more.

Will:  

Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying the show, don't forget to subscribe for all the latest episodes wherever you get your podcasts. And while you're there, please drop us a review. You can also get in touch with me at will@sh1ftfitness.com. I'm Will Brereton and you've been listening to Group Fitness Real Talk.