Cathy Liska By Sarah E. Roberts, PCC www.claritymatterscoach.com
- Know the PCC Markers so well that you can recite them in your sleep.
I started with a printed copy of the PCC Markers discretely on a stand in front of me so that I could reference them while maintaining eye contact with my client. 
Create questions for each PCC Marker that are short, open questions that sound like you. Share them with your mentor and cohort for accuracy and ideas. Adding my own questions to my mentor and cohorts’ questions felt natural and was empowering.
Consider writing a script using the questions you created. Practice reading the script out loud so that you are comfortable with the flow of your questions. Although I chose not to use the script with my client, the process of creating and reading was helpful.
- Record early and often.
I remember feeling confident that once I had my questions all I had to do was get permission, record a couple of sessions and I’d have what I needed. Ha! I recorded and listened to a lot of recordings before I found the magic two.
Remember that each coaching session is as unique as the client and a great session may not make a great recording. For example, some clients are so self-aware they ask and answer their own questions. A good recording demonstrates you hit most if not all the markers.
Keep at it!
- Score, score, score.
I used otter.ai to transcribe each recording. With any transcription service, you will need to listen to the recording and correct the transcription. Because this process can be tedious and time consuming, I did this only for the sessions I identified as contenders. One thing that made this tedious and time consuming was my own speech pattern of “ah, um, okay” interjected throughout the session. A benefit of transcribing is that I am now very conscious of practicing the pause instead of using filler words.
Once you have a contender, use the PCC marker excel spreadsheet from class. Copy from the transcription and paste in the corresponding marker demonstrating you met that marker.
Make it fun by reviewing with your cohort. Our cohort chose to meet weekly to score and review. This created confidence, boosted morale, and increased our learning exponentially! The added benefit was the amazing friendships we made, the pride and the joy celebrating our new PCC credentials with one another.
