How to Be a Motivation Coach
- 1). Immerse in the concepts that motivate people. While psychological principles are at work in motivation, the academic language involved isn't likely to inspire someone. So learn the material, but translate it into everyday language. A shortcut may be going to seminars offered by motivational speakers and reading their books. That alone is not enough to launch you into a coaching career, but it is a good place to start. As you learn the concepts, see how they apply in stories everyone knows.
- 2). Let someone coach you. Many coaches get grounded in the concepts of motivational coaching by experiencing coaching themselves. While hiring a coach is one way to do it, there may need to be a more basic experience, such as an experiential group training aimed at personal development. Those trainings can offer a condensed opportunity to actually experience, rather than just hear, the concepts you will be coaching. Plus, many of those trainings give you opportunities to take on supervised volunteer or even paid coaching roles later.
- 3). Get experience. Most certification programs require that you have some experience coaching before you get the piece of paper saying you are certified. Offer your services for free to someone for a limited time. Give your clients the same training you would if you were paid, because what you are seeking in the relationship is more experience and referrals. Limit, however, how much you will give away free, because that can be interpreted as you lacking enough confidence in your coaching to get paid what you deserve.
- 4). Market yourself. What you are endeavoring to do requires the confidence to be clear on what you offer and willing to share that confidence. A website is necessary, unless you are already so full of clients that you don't need one. You need business cards at a minimum. Develop a presentation you can offer at motivational seminars. Use that as a marketing tool. Ask your clients for referrals. Ask them to recommend you. Ask your clients for testimonials, especially those that include first and last names.
- 5). Get certified. This is not absolutely necessary and you can get a good start before you get certified. However, a certification helps you net some of the higher paying clients upon which you would likely want to base your service. The CEO of a Fortune 500 company, for example, may require it before hiring you. If nothing else, it will be one less hurdle to overcome, and it will show that you were willing to go through an established coaching training to gain the skills you did.
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