How Great Coaches Speak #25 (Part 1)
How Great Coaches Speak #25 (Part 1)
What Michael Boyle can teach you about being a better speaker
The 25th coach in this series is Michael Boyle, a long-time Strength & Conditioning Coach and Founder of Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning outside of Boston.
Aside from his success over the last 30 years at MBSC, he’s also served as the S&C Coach for Boston University, the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Bruins, the 1998 US Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team, several Olympians, and many other elite athletes.
I first met Coach Boyle in 2017 through my husband, Brendon. Since then, I’ve attended many of his talks and presentations and spent personal time with him when we were all in the same city.
I share that bit of information with you because I’ve had the opportunity to see Michael in both professional and personal settings.
One reason I think he’s had so much professional success is because he’s as genuine as they come. The Michael Boyle you get on a stage is the Michael Boyle you get when you sit down for a beer with him.
If you’re going to pursue anything as a professional, pursue genuineness.
I’ll share one video in today’s post with two speaking/presentation lessons, and I intend to share another video (or two) with lessons in a follow-up post next week.
In this clip, Coach Boyle is presenting (with slides) on Youth Athlete training.
Please watch 3-5 minutes of the clip before reading on. Watching the clip a second time after reading the post would also be beneficial.
The two lessons I want you to take from this video:
Don’t shy away from sharing your viewpoints clearly and directly.
Always guide your audience through the logic of your message.
Lesson number one: Don’t be afraid to share your viewpoints clearly and directly.
In the first 30 seconds of this clip, Coach Boyle says: “Bodyweight training is a dumb idea.”
If you’ve ever heard Coach Boyle speak, you know he doesn’t mince his words when sharing his perspective on a topic so long as he has the knowledge or experience to back it up.
He could have said, “I don’t believe bodyweight training for youth athletes is effective,” or “We need to move away from glorifying bodyweight training for youth athletes,” but it wouldn’t have had the same effect.
The directness and boldness of his message catch your attention and make you want to listen to him explain himself. That’s the point.
When I coach people on their speaking and presentation skills, I often find myself teaching and encouraging them to share their viewpoints clearly and directly.
It’s something a lot of us are afraid to do.
We’re afraid to hurt feelings, be challenged, invite disagreement, be perceived as unprofessional, and so on.
Instead of sharing our viewpoints straightforwardly, we water them down with indirect language, weaken them with hedging phrases (kind of, sort of, etc.), and pre-apologize for any discomfort they might cause others.
By the time we’re done sharing them, our listeners still don’t know what we think.
Remember: If you don’t have reasons and evidence to back up your viewpoint, then it’s probably best to wait on forming one and sharing it.
Being direct is not the same as being mean. It’s OK to have bold and controversial viewpoints.
So long as you refrain from attacking someone’s personhood and you can support your viewpoint with reasons and evidence, own it. And if you’re proven wrong, change it.
Lesson number two: Always guide your audience through the logic of your message.
Here are a few examples of how Coach Boyle does this…
“Alright I understand, now I need to get my kid to train. I got this 11 to 18 year old kid, what do I do with them from a training standpoint?”
“The strength and conditioning people are going to be like, ‘what are you talking about bodyweight training is a dumb idea?!’”
“So it seems like a really good idea; people always say, ‘Oh I just do bodyweight stuff with my kid.’”
“People are going to say, ‘What about bench being an overrated exercise?’”
Go back to the clip and notice how often Coach Boyle frames his content through the questions or concerns his listeners likely have based on what he’s saying.
His presentation style is almost like a continuous Q&A session: Here’s the question you’re probably asking right now… here’s how my content answers that question… Here’s the next question you’re probably asking… here’s how my content answers that question…
It’s effective because it’s easy to follow. His approach makes you feel smart.
It’s almost as if he’s holding your hand to walk you through the logic of his message. He’s constantly creating moments of micro-understanding.
In Closing
Over the last few years, I’ve come to appreciate how effective Coach Boyle’s approach is at sparking conversation.
Whether you tend to agree with him or not, you can’t argue with how powerful his public viewpoints have been in advancing the field of S&C.
His willingness to have and share an informed viewpoint invites others to build on it, challenge it, and even disprove it—all of which push the S&C industry forward.
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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
Many Thanks Jenny , do enjoy your education.
Thanks Jenny!