Communication Lessons from Coaching Conversations #5
Featuring Hockey (Goaltending) Coach Ian Clark
Ian Clark is the director of goaltending with the Vancouver Canucks.
Good news — You don’t have to know anything about hockey to learn some big communication lessons from Ian.
In this video, Ian Clark is taking Thatcher Demko through some goaltending drills. But really, it’s so much more than that. It’s a masterclass on communication and coaching.
Please watch at least 5 minutes of this clip before reading on:
After watching this video, I immediately went to the comments:
We instinctively know good communication when we see and hear it.
Brett Peiser (CEO of Uncommon Schools) is known for saying: “There is no such thing as a 100% solution, only one hundred 1% solutions.”
That’s how I think about communication.
Effective communication happens when you do many (small) things exceptionally well.
What exactly does Ian Clark do well?
I’ll focus on two categories: (1) Presence and (2) Message Delivery.
1/ Presence
What’s presence?
According to ChatGPT: “Having a strong presence generally refers to the ability to command attention, influence others, and leave a lasting impression through one's behavior, communication, and demeanor.”
Ian Clark has a strong presence. That’s what everyone who commented on the video felt — his presence.
But what exactly makes up that presence?
Tangibly: His body language and vocal expression
Intangibly: His authenticity and self-assuredness
Let’s dig deeper into what Ian did with each…
Body language:
Eye contact: In almost every instance Ian talks to/with Thatcher, he makes direct and sustained eye contact. His eye contact creates and fuels a deeper connection between the two, demonstrates his presence to Thatcher, and communicates his confidence in his messaging nonverbally.
Proximity: Ian was within ~2-4 feet of Thatcher during several teaching moments. In proxemics, this is known as the “personal zone.” This zone is reserved for people we consider family or good friends. The comfort level between the two in this zone is proof of the trust and respect they’ve built.
Positioning: Did you notice how often Ian communicates/teaches from a position lower than Thatcher? Don’t underestimate the power of your positioning when you communicate. When Ian communicates from a kneeling position, he’s subtly influencing the power dynamics. This undoubtedly helps him build trust and buy-in with Thatcher.
Vocal Expression:
Volume & Enunciation: Ian’s words are crisp. He speaks with precision. Because of this, he never has to repeat himself. It would benefit you in all situations to speak with precision. If you tend to ‘mumble,’ pay attention to your volume. It can be difficult to enunciate your words if you’re speaking too softly.
Rate of speech: Ian pauses in silence a lot. He makes a point, then pauses. He says something impactful, then pauses. He’s doing this intentionally. He knows those pauses give Thatcher the physical s p a c e needed to connect personally with the message. Don’t confuse this with talking slowly, which Ian is not. You can speak with energy AND pause.
Authenticity:
His body language/voice are congruent with his words — reinforcing one another.
He’s sharing information openly and willingly.
He uses the word “we” a lot!
He speaks directly and explains himself using concrete and specific words.
Self-Assuredness:
He doesn’t use hedging language (“kind of,” “sort of,” “maybe,” etc.)
He speaks clearly and concisely, never wasting words.
He uses positive body language — eye contact, posture, purposeful movement, etc.
He’s prepared to demonstrate everything he’s teaching.
People with a strong presence aren’t gifted. They’ve consciously honed their mindset, behaviors, and skills around communication, allowing them to create a powerful experience for the people they interact with. They do many (small) things exceptionally well.
2/ Message Delivery
Ian’s effectiveness is also the result of delivering organized and well-supported messages.
Three things stood out to me:
Ian always tells Thatcher why they’re doing the drills they are and why Thatcher should think about certain goaltending scenarios in the way Ian wants him to. This sounds like an obvious thing to do, but many of us don’t when we’re in a power position. We become arrogant about our title and think, “They should just do what I’m telling them to do because I’m the expert.” If you need to influence people, don’t just give them content; give them context.
As Ian is explaining things to Thatcher, he’s incorporating a lot of rhetorical questions into his explanations. These questions make it easier for Thatcher to follow Ian’s logic; they’re like breadcrumbs. An example of this comes at 0:24 — “We gotta keep challenging the pace — the lightness and the quickness. And keep overtaining that skill because there’s going to get a point where, as we talked about, that skill was already under full control. So how we going to improve it? We gotta add pace to it.”
Ian relies heavily on show-and-tell. For almost every drill he has Thatcher do, he’s in the goal himself, demonstrating what he wants to see while also talking Thatcher through his actions and mindset while completing those actions. This isn’t possible for all of us, but when it is, we need to lean heavily on it because it gives our listeners a complete picture of our message.
Before we close things out, I’d be remiss not to mention how coachable (easy to teach) Thatcher Demko is. Throughout the clip, we see him fully engaged and willing to “try on” everything Ian Clark asks of him.
I wondered, “Is he always this coachable, or does Ian’s communication and coaching approach make it so?”
Of course, we can’t know the answer, but it’s an interesting thought experiment.
Would the people/athletes you work with be more coachable if you communicated better? 😁
Want more? Here’s another great clip of Ian Clark in action 👇
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If you’re interested in working together or bringing communication training to your team, let’s talk.
Thanks for reading!
Jenny