How To Prepare For Your First Coaching Session (Go-To Preparation Checklist!)

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So, you’re a new coach and you’ve just booked your first coaching session with a new client. Congratulations! But as the time gets closer to actually delivering the session, you might start feeling a little jittery, a little uncertain… Rings a bell? 

Don’t stress, because you’re at the exact place you should be! 

In this video blog, we will cover some simple tips and tricks for you to prepare yourself well for your first coaching session ever… so read on! 

First Coaching Session Feels

first coaching session preparation

Doing something for the first time is always a big thing. Hearty congratulations to you for taking that step! 

Now, as a new coach going into your first coaching session, you can have a myriad of emotions… 

You may feel overwhelmed, uncertain, a little scared, a little anxious, and a lot excited. 

All of these feelings are great, but it’s important to understand why you’re feeling this way.

It’s mostly because you are uncertain about how your first coaching session is really going to go… about how that first conversation with your client will blossom… about whether you will do a great job or not! 

Recognizing why you are feeling all of these emotions is critical in maintaining your composure and going into your session with awareness, preparation, and a touch of confidence. 

How To Regulate Your Emotional State? 

How To Regulate Your Emotional State

As discussed, it’s important to bring awareness to your emotions, and then work towards regulating them so you can go into your first coaching session feeling competent and confident. 

This is because when we are too emotional, our rational or logical minds tend to turn off. Which can lead us to take action based purely on our emotions. 

Here are a few things you can do to calm yourself down before your first coaching session: 

Listen to something that is calming – Relaxing music is a great example! 

Go out in nature – Walking barefoot in nature (for example, in your garden) will help you connect more with yourself. 

Meditation – Using meditative or hypnotic tracks will help you feel more grounded and level up your confidence. 

4 Steps To A Successful First Coaching Session

how to deliver your first coaching session

Once you have regained composure, and feel in control of your emotional state, you must do the following four important things to successfully conduct your coaching session. 

These 4 things will help you maintain structure for your sessions, and by doing so, let you focus your mind on coaching instead of wondering about the million different ideas that you think you have to do! 

Build Rapport – This is the first step to a successful session. Build rapport with your client – engage them in conversation that is light, fun, relatable, and personal. Don’t overdo it. Keep it balanced enough that you are able to have a connection with your client. 

Define Objectives – The next most important thing to do is to define the objectives of your coaching session. This is something that should be coming from your client and what their goals are, so make sure to host a space where you gain clarity about your client’s needs.

Coach – Next, you go into actually coaching your client. This is where you bring your art to the floor! 

Set Follow-Up Steps – After you’re done coaching, ensure to set up concrete follow-up action steps for your clients. Not doing this will not create the impact that you wish to bring to your client; it will leave them feeling directionless. 


It does not end here! For anybody who’s going into their first coaching session, it’s highly recommended that you do two important things

These are really simple things to do, but we’re surprised how many coaches forget them completely. 

Go over to this video to watch Ajit explain these two steps in detail, and why they are so important for you. 

And remember to leave a comment below after you’ve successfully nailed your first coaching session – we’d love to hear how it went! 


About The Author

Evercoach Team

Evercoach is the premier place to find up-to-date and relevant information about coaching and the coaching industry. Our authors are industry professionals, with years of experience in the coaching industry and some owning their own successful coaching practices.

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