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I have been fortunate enough to have been asked to present at many local, state, regional, and national clinics and conferences over the last 12 years. Speaking in front of a large group has never been easy for me. I really have to work on speaking more intelligibly and articulate my message to a broader audience. I do feel I can be a good communicator and teacher. I have been able to get my point across to a variety of people because of the personal connection. This is not easy when speaking in front of a large group and often feel overwhelmed.

I am a big fan of Ted Talks and came across a really good one from Julian Treasure a few years ago. Like anything I come across, I always try to process it and redistribute in a way that will help coaches, specifically in strength & conditioning.

Treasure talks about the seven deadly sins of speaking and I couldn't help by feel it wold be invaluable to coaches. Here's my take:

SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF SPEAKING
Gossip
It's amazing when I make the comparison to adults and middle school girls. Problem is some adults make middle school divas look compassionate and empathetic. In the weight room, don't get involved with what you hear from athletes about other athletes. You want to be involved in the the athlete's at a personal level to build a rapport. But, draw the line when it comes to their feelings about teammates and their coaches. Player misses lifting, don't assume or depend on their teammates to offer why. Ask them directly.

Judging
I was guilty of this. Anytime a first-year athlete would come into the program and wasn't able to squat parallel or they didn't move efficiently, I would make assumptions about their High School coach, their personal trainer, their work ethic, their parents, and so-on. So, because they didn't look good performing basic strength training movement patterns, I assumed they had some character flaws. I was so wrong about this, I am embarrassed that I felt that way. Two reasons it was a huge mistake to make judgments:

More often than not, the best lifter is not your best athlete, let alone your best player. I used to play a game with my new interns called, "Who is the best player on the team?" while that particular team was in the weightroom. It was a good drill for them to learn NOT to make the same judgmental errors I did and it helped understand the differences between physical preparation and technical/tactical preparation.
Isn't it my job to physically develop the athletes who come into our program to help them (and subsequently the team) reach all of their athletic goals? So why was I complaining? If I can get a really good lacrosse player, softball player, tennis player, etc. and help them get stronger, faster, and less susceptible to injury, isn't that the ultimate situation to be it. The specific development I was entrusted with was the area holding that athlete back. As as strength coach complaining about recognition in the early part of my career, I wish I would have learned to address what I controlled with more urgency and diligence.

A coach should not have an opinion about performance. What I mean is, coaches must remove the emotional attachment to how an athlete performance on the field or in the weight room. There is no need to judge, just a need to identify the problem and communicate a plan to address the of performance. Just because they have a crappy vertical, doesn't mean they're a crappy person. Take emotions out of the scenario.

Negativity
Our industry is filled with this. People are emotionally invested in what they are doing. Any difference of opinion is a direct threat to their character. As a coach, negative comments breed negativity. Setting the example of how much of a privilege it is to train athletes and changing the mentality from "have to" to "get to" is one of the most important parts of the job.

Now, I am not saying that some internet experts shouldn't be called out. I know I needed called out before. But tactfully expressing your views and respecting what you know know about other's situation will always be a better route to take.

Always ask yourself if the heated debate you are having on twitter would be any different if it were over a beer instead?

Complaining
As a coach, this should never be a part of your vernacular... ever. Coaches that complain about salary or the long hours are just silly. These are facts you knew about before you started the job. What has changed? Most people that complain about those two factors usually have pressure from outside sources (family?) or are unhappy about another aspect of the job. The bottom line is there are hundreds of coaches that will instantly take your job if you left and saying "coaching just isn't for me" is probably a better option. I had to make that choice myself, so I don't judge unless you blame others.

Excuses
This is one that most coaches will not tolerate from their athletes but often do themselves. The, "if I had more assistants, a bigger room, better equipment, more support, etc; then we would be able to accomplish what we need to.

This is the best thing I have heard (I think from Joe Kenn or Adam Feit or Ryan Horn). Be big-time where you're at. Make the situation you are in the best you can make it and take ownership of everything that happens in your weight-room.

Coach like everything depends on your performance as a coach. Give credit to and praise your athletes like every accomplishment is because of their effort.

Coaches take the blame, athletes get the credit. If that doesn't sit well with you, this may not be the best career path for you.

Embroidery
This is flat out exaggeration or lying. Anytime I would give facts about myself to athletes, I must ask the questions: Are they really gong to feel differently about me if my best squat was 815 instead of 715? Are they going to feel differently if I was a scholarship player and a starter instead of a walk-on? Most coaches lie or exaggerate about things that are unnecessary to lie or exaggerate about. My first year as the D-Line and Strength coach at Allegheny, they listed me in the media guide as a 3-year starter at Clarion. I was livid because it was untrue, unnecessary, and unfair to Jason Slizofsky and Drew Seaman who did start at Nose Guard when I played there.

Dogmatism
This is the basic facts vs. opinions. I am not saying you need to have resources for everything you write about or say. It is actually great to have strong opinions, especially if you have formulated them over time, from experiences. The most important thing is knowing the difference.

Strength coaches have the standard arguments between the "best way" to train. Debates between speed training protocols, whether Olympic lifting is best for developing explosive power, or the hundreds of diet plans that are somehow all superior. As coaches, we don't necessarily need to differentiate what we believe is true and what is actually true. But, we do need to define what we think is true and why we think it's true.

THE FOUR CORNERSTONES TO POWERFUL SPEAKING
This doesn't mean speaking louder than everyone, typing in all caps, or adding motivational cliche's to every situation. As a coach, this translates to meaningful messaging that connects with people. Treasure uses the acronym HAIL to illustrate.

Honesty
Be true and clear. The truth is such a hard thing to come by nowadays when everyone has an agenda. The world of athletics is no different. When I was a D-line coach at Allegheny College back in 2001, I had to move a kid down on the depth chart. Instead of telling him that he wasn't playing as well as he potentially could and that he was not one of the best 4 player on the d-line; I told him some bullshit about how we were just trying to "mix things up" and "try out some new combinations up front". When I never moved him back to the 1st team, he and the head coach both called me out. He ended up quitting and it was my fault. From that season on I decided to be honest with every player, even if I hurt peoples feelings in the end. I realized that not giving the truth and being honest effected my character way more than their

Authenticity
Be Yourself. There are a lot of coaches that leave jobs and say to themselves,"I wish I would have just done it the way I wanted to do it," when talking about their past positions. I have been in the situation where I have tried to please everyone and became something I was not. I regretted not being my true self in an effort to keep a job longer. When I came back to Denison to be the Director of S&C and the D-line coach, I worked for the guy who replaced me. In an effort to not "rock the boat" and cause any friction, I kept my mouth shut with things I disagreed with. You know who suffered? The players...when no one would stand up for them. I didn't have thier back because I didn't want to be confrontational. I am ashamed for not being who I was as a coach that season in 2006 because of my lack courage.

Integrity
Be your word. Do what you say you are going to do. There is a huge issue with trust and today's athlete. With the lack of positive male role models and the social constraints on young girls today; athletes have a tough time trusting people in authority. Add in the high turnover rate in college strength & conditioning and there is a definitive boarder between coaches and athletes. This is the prime example of transactional vs transformational coaching. Coaches that are in it for themselves are identified very easily by athletes. The more adversity the athletes have been through, the more weary and harder it is for them to trust.

On two separate occasions I was the 4th coach in 4 years at an institution. At Denison I was the 4th DC in 4 years and at Army, the 4th S&C coach in 4. That is 4 different systems, 4 different sets of expectations, 4 different vocabularies of terminology. It took a tremendous amount of work on all of our parts to establish trust. Once that happened, sets and reps no longer matter. They did anything we asked of them.

Love
This means a true caring about your athletes. Caring about them as people and not as your social media subjects. Too often we as coaches use our responsibility to promote ourselves. We steal the spotlight from the athletes we are trying to spotlight. Caring , I mean really caring, about the well being of your student athletes means taking their burden and having empathy for everything they are going through. If you see past the stats and find their "why", you will be able to show them what most won't. Love.

Here is the original TEDTalk from Juilan Treasure: