Coaching & Programming
Using Story Turns A Session Into Scenes, And A Client Leaves With A Feeling They Want Again
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The specialist course where story is taught →
In short: A FASTER specialist course teaches that a client's story is a collection of their experiences, and that every session can follow a story. A story has ups and downs, and the client judges everything a trainer does, so the trainer builds a collection of feelings that leaves the client feeling great. The course gives a story structure with the trainer as narrator, the exercise as a character, and the client as the protagonist, moving through need, go, search, find, take, return and change. Exercise creation then supplies the scenes.
A session people remember as a whole
A client does not score a session block by block. They walk out with one overall feeling, and that feeling decides whether they book the next one. The Injury Recovery to Performance Specialist course gives trainers a way to design for it: shape the session like a story.
The course puts it in one line: a client's story is a collection of their experiences.
The airport example
The lesson starts with a holiday. You have saved up all year, and the morning has ups and downs. The alarm goes off, which is a plus, then the early start is a minus. The drive to the airport is a plus, the motorway queue a minus, and finding zone H in the car park another minus. Checking in on time is a plus. A rushed fry-up is a minus. Then you sit down on the plane and look forward to the pool.
Nobody remembers that morning as bad. The negatives are part of the journey, and the reward at the end lands harder because of them. The course says it directly: not every experience is positive, and there are negatives and positives in a story.
The client judges everything
The course adds a second point. Everything a trainer does with a client gets judged by the client, and their perception is reality to them. So a trainer builds a collection of feelings on purpose, to leave the client feeling great.
If every session follows a story, exercise creation supplies the scenes, moving the client through emotions and feelings that add up to a good experience, session after session.
The structure, in the course's own words
The course borrows a TV story shape and gives each part a role in a session:
- Narrator: you, the trainer.
- Exercise: can be a character, a friend or a villain.
- The client: the protagonist, with a want or goal.
- Need: something is not quite right, a movement they find they are less good at than they thought.
- Go: they cross the threshold and weigh up their choices.
- Search: overcoming the hurdles in the way, such as low confidence.
- Find: discovering a way to perform the task or exercise.
- Take: the struggle and the hard work, where the villain exercises may appear.
- Return: a party, one specifically enjoyable and fun part of the workout where they see what they have achieved.
- Change: they see how well they have done, and the next session picks it up.
Using it on a Monday
A trainer does not need all ten parts every time. A useful first step is to pick the exercise the client finds hardest and place it in the Take, then plan a Return that the client enjoys. The last thing they do in the session is then something that feels like a win.
It works on any client and any goal, because the structure sits around the exercises and does not depend on which ones you choose.
Where it is taught
Story is one of the lessons in the Injury Recovery to Performance Specialist course, alongside the lessons on analogies and visuals and on specific communication. The learning is visual and interactive, and you can work through it by listening, reading, writing answers or dictating them.
PT Manager opens at sign-up with FASTER and is free, so a trainer can build the sessions straight away: PT Manager.
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You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
The specialist course where story is taught — taught by the people who wrote it, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
Also worth a look: PT Manager, free with any FASTER course.
See what the course covers →Frequently asked
What does the course mean by a client's story?
A collection of their experiences. A session is one chapter of it, with ups and downs that the client remembers as a whole.
Does every part of a session have to feel good?
No. The course says not every experience is positive. Overcoming a hard part is what makes the end feel like a reward.
Who plays which part in the structure?
The trainer is the narrator, the exercise can be a character such as a villain or a friend, and the client is the protagonist with a goal.
How does exercise creation fit in?
The course uses exercise creation to write the scenes, so each block moves the client through a feeling on the way to a good finish.
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