Your First Coaching Session: Five Steps to Prepare

Building your first coaching session starts here, and this integrative project turns everything you have practiced into a real, filmed session with an actual coachee. If you are learning to coach and want a clear roadmap to prepare, execute, and gather feedback, this is your starting point.

This is more formal than the casual practice you did before. Instead of loose exercises, you will structure a complete session, record yourself in action, and close the loop by asking your coachee how it went.

What does this coaching project actually involve?

The project breaks down into three clear phases that build on each other. You are not just talking about coaching anymore, you are walking it.

1. Preparation: you choose a topic and get ready with the tools provided.
2. Execution and filming: you run the session with a real coachee and record yourself.
3. Feedback: you ask your coachee to tell you how the session felt from their side.

Think of it as preparation, execution, and feedback working as one flow. Each step feeds the next, and the whole thing builds toward that final recorded session you will share [00:34].

What is an integrative coaching project? It is a hands-on assignment where you combine every skill you learned into one real, filmed coaching session with an actual coachee, followed by their feedback.

How do you choose your coaching topic and coachee?

Start with the topic you feel most confident coaching on. For example, the coach here would pick conflict management because that is the area that works best for him [01:32].

Complete this sentence to lock it in: "The topic I think I am going to coach on is..." You have been thinking about this for a while, so trust that instinct.

Next, find a person to coach. It can be someone who helped you before, but a new person is even better. Here is a simple pitch you can use:

• Mention you are taking a coaching course on Platzi.
• Explain there is a project where you interview and coach someone.
• Ask them to help you unleash their greatness with a short session.

It is a win-win situation. Then ask your coachee to prepare a question or a real challenge from work that connects to your chosen topic [02:26]. For conflict management, you might ask: "Can you think of a challenge at work where you feel you get into conflict with other people?"

How long should a first coaching session be? Around five minutes is a solid target, or a little more if needed. It is enough to move through all five steps without rushing.

What are the five steps of a coaching session?

This is the structure we want to see in your role-play. Follow these five steps in order, and your session will have a clear arc [03:34].

1. Connect with your coachee so they know what to expect.
2. Listen using the techniques and questions you already learned.
3. Redefine the challenge so you can transform it into workable actions.
4. Brainstorm solutions, the B from the ABC framework.
5. Create a task or homework based on the solution you crafted together.

Each step has a job. Connection builds trust, listening gathers the real story, redefining reframes the problem, brainstorming opens options, and the final task turns talk into action.

Why does connection come first?

Connection is the foundation, and here comes the interesting part: it happens fast. In the first 30 to 40 seconds of your conversation, you cover three things [04:40].

• Your methodology, so they understand how you work.
• Confidentiality, so they know their information is safe.
• Your authenticity, because being yourself is what makes the connection real.

Like good Wi-Fi, you want to connect strongly from the start. If you are authentic, the connection takes care of itself.

How do you handle confidentiality in a class project?

Since this is a project, you will share your findings with your community and your coach. Be transparent about that. Mention it during your connection phase, and if your coachee agrees to share their information with your educational community, that is perfect [05:23].

Honesty here protects trust. Your coachee should always know where their words are going before they open up.

How should you prepare before recording?

The challenge right now is preparation, not posting. You do not need to publish anything in the community yet, because the whole project builds toward that final session [05:58].

Here is how to get ready:

• Bring a script and write notes on your methodology, confidentiality, and authenticity.
• Write a couple of questions you might ask.
• Rehearse in front of a mirror, or record yourself saying the words out loud.

When you prepare like this, you feel more at ease and perform better when you sit down with your coachee. Now go and amaze the world, and tell us in the comments which topic you chose for your first session.