If you’re wondering how to be a great coach—not just a good one—here’s the truth: It’s not enough to understand coaching theory. You need to practice and apply your knowledge to go from a coach who “knows what they’re talking about” to a coach who “knows what they’re doing.”
What Makes a Great Coach?
Spoiler alert: It’s practice. Coaches who consistently practice specific behaviors (like deep listening, powerful questioning, and presence) are far more effective than those who don’t.
A meta-analysis of workplace coaching found strong effects on goal attainment and self-efficacy when coaches consistently applied evidence-based methods. In the case of this study, those methods included:
- Positive psychology interventions to build strengths, resilience, and optimism
- Structured goal-setting and action planning to track progress and accountability
- Self-reflection exercises to increase insight and clarify priorities
- Feedback mechanisms, including 360 assessments, to guide development
If these techniques sound familiar, it’s because they’re reflected in the Co-Active Framework: Be fully present, ask powerful questions, listen deeply, and guide clients through reflection and goal-setting.
What Are The Best Ways to Practice Coaching Skills?
We already know that practice makes great coaches, but there’s more to it than that. Practice is essential for newly-certified coaches, as it’s the best way to retain knowledge.
You know the saying, “use it or lose it.” Well, turns out there’s some truth behind it: Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve is a popular theory that illustrates how quickly information is forgotten over time without reinforcement. According to this model, individuals can forget 50% of new information within an hour (and up to 70% within 24 hours) if no effort is made to retain it.
The Best Methods for Practicing Coaching
When it comes to practicing coaching skills, the best methods are those that involve social learning, like:
- Peer coaching: Partner up with another coach or colleague to practice real coaching conversations. You can alternate roles as coach and coachee and give each other feedback on questioning, listening, and presence.
- Shadow coaching: Observe a more tenured coach in action, either live or via session recordings. Shadowing lets you see how experts structure conversations, manage energy, and respond to unexpected moments.
- Co-coaching: Co-coaching involves two coaches working together in a structured practice session, alternating roles as coach and coachee. Unlike informal peer coaching, co-coaching follows a set framework with explicit goals, time limits, and feedback checkpoints.
How to Find Coaches to Practice With
One of the biggest challenges in building coaching habits is simply finding people to practice with consistently. If you’ve trained with Co-Active, you should aim to find another alum to sharpen your skills with—many of our graduates connect for co-coaching sessions, peer feedback, and ongoing accountability. By tapping into this community, you can find partners who share the same framework and values, making practice more effective and aligned.
Outside of alumni networks, platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram can be excellent places to connect with other coaches who are eager to refine their skills. Posting a simple invitation for co-coaching partners or joining coaching-related groups can quickly expand your circle.
What Skills Should You Practice?
There are a few core coaching methods to focus on if you want to move from knowing to doing in your coaching practice.
- Active Listening
Active listening means giving clients your full presence and attention—not just to their words, but also to their emotions, tone, and body language.
To practice active listening, set aside moments in conversations where your only role is to listen without planning a response. Try repeating back what you’ve heard to check for accuracy, or practice short pauses before speaking to create more space for the client.
Recording and reviewing sessions can also reveal where your attention drifts and help you build stronger presence.
- Powerful Questioning
Great coaches ask questions that spark insight and possibility. Instead of seeking quick answers, powerful questions challenge assumptions, reveal hidden motivations, and encourage clients to define what success means to them.
Practice powerful questioning by keeping a running list of open-ended, thought-provoking questions and using them in mock coaching sessions:
- “What’s most important about this goal to you?”
- “What’s getting in the way right now?”
- “What would you do if there were no limitations?”
If you need help with this, check out 50+ Powerful Self-Discovery Questions Coaches Should Ask Clients.
After each session, reflect: Did your questions invite deeper exploration, or did they steer toward advice-giving?
Over time, challenge yourself to ask fewer but more impactful questions, focusing on curiosity rather than solutions.
- Feedback and Feedforward
Both feedback (insight into current behaviors) and feedforward (guidance for future actions) are essential to growth. Effective coaches practice offering feedback that is specific, constructive, and tied to the client’s goals. Feedforward shifts the focus toward possibility, helping clients identify what they can do differently moving forward.
Develop this skill by practicing with peers or co-coaching partners. After a session, offer one specific piece of feedback on what worked well and one piece of feedforward that points toward future improvement. Keep your comments short, actionable, and connected to the client’s stated goals.
- Accountability
Accountability transforms intentions into results.
Accountability can be practiced by building structures into your coaching sessions. With a partner, experiment with setting clear commitments and scheduling follow-ups to check progress. Notice how celebrating small wins motivates continued action. Over time, you’ll learn how to balance support with challenge so clients stay engaged and responsible for their growth.
Practice: The Foundation of Coach Development
Without regular practice, even the best coach training fades.
For new coaches, especially, practicing skills like active listening, questioning, feedback, and accountability is how you build the habits that create lasting impact for your clients.
If you’re ready to strengthen your coaching practice, explore the Co-Active Toolkit & Resources for exercises, guides, and tools to keep your skills sharp.
Not yet certified as a coach? The Co-Active Foundations program is the best place to start. You’ll gain the foundational skills and practice opportunities you need to coach with confidence.