Baptiste Tier 1 Certification Feedback Process
The email from the Baptiste Institute about my feedback call arrived mid-week of the 8th week post application submission. The turnaround is typically 5-6 weeks, and I can only assume the delay was due to the Certified Teacher Global Summit taking place and a few Baptiste Affiliate studios who had key teacher applications in the process. I understand prioritizing in-person certifications and putting affiliate studios in the front of the certification line, that just makes sense. I scheduled my call with Sarah for the 23rd of October. True to form, the call was about 30 minutes long and she gave me feedback with the format of keep, stop, start. Things I should keep doing, stop doing and things I should start doing.
The feedback she gave was supporting and encouraging and any of the stop feedback was constructive. I have a tendency to use the words crawl, shine and pounce when other words could be more direct and impactful. My main takeaway from her feedback was for me to use simple, clear and direct language and assist more. She challenged me to call the pose and then offer one cue based on what I observed in the room. As part of her review of my certification video, she observed that I give 8-10 cues per pose which is more than the students can process. She said that students actually hear 25-30% of what the instructor says. Therefore, if the instructor says less, the words will have more impact for the students.
I appreciated her candid, constructive feedback. I asked her for advice about how to address a student's alignment if your verbal cues are not landing with a person in class. She suggested using the 80/20 rule. If 80% of the class are not using safe alignment, stop the class and workshop the pose or transition. She recommended to ask the person if they had a few moments after class to work on the pose and explain to the person that I wanted them to have a safe, long-term yoga practice and using safe alignment will help them to have a yoga practice for a lifetime. Again, this is great advice and I appreciate her experience in addressing a student's form without it coming across as judgment or criticism.
Soon I'll be shooting my second video, completing the self-assessment and awaiting what happens next!
