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193 | AI for Coaches: 3 Things to Do and 3 to Avoid · Women in The Coaching Arena

• 0:00
  Speaker: 64% of coaches are now using AI in some form.
• 0:04
  Speaker: I'm actually surprised it's not even higher, but many of us are using it wrong.
• 0:09
  Speaker: Maybe we are making ourselves invisible in a world that's already drowning in generic content.
• 0:16
  Speaker: And today, I want to talk about how I used AI in my business, what's brilliant, what's dangerous, the mistakes that I see other people making, and often make myself too.
• 0:28
  Speaker: I'm Jo Lott.
• 0:29
  Speaker: Welcome to Women in the Coaching Arena.
• 0:31
  Speaker: I'm an ICF-accredited coach, and I have helped hundreds of qualified coaches get clients with honesty, not hype.
• 0:37
  Speaker: And before we get started, I should say I'm not one of those people who is slow to adopt AI.
• 0:44
  Speaker: I've been completely the opposite, actually, and I'm always looking for the next exciting tool.
• 0:50
  Speaker: I have AI assistance built into my program.
• 0:54
  Speaker: I use transcription tools.
• 0:55
  Speaker: I use it for brainstorming, editing, and all sorts of things.
• 1:00
  Speaker: So this isn't a be careful of technology episode, but it is a here's what we need to keep bearing in mind as we build our business with AI.
• 1:11
  Speaker: Let me address the elephant in the room first.
• 1:14
  Speaker: Yes, there are now AI coaching platforms.
• 1:17
  Speaker: You can get an AI coach for 30 pounds a month.
• 1:22
  Speaker: It will ask you questions, give you frameworks, hold you accountable, and honestly, some of them are surprisingly good.
• 1:32
  Speaker: So should you be worried?
• 1:34
  Speaker: My honest opinion is no.
• 1:37
  Speaker: AI will never be able to sit across from you and feel the shift in your energy when you are having a breakthrough.
• 1:47
  Speaker: It will never read your face and know that what you actually said isn't really what you mean.
• 1:53
  Speaker: It won't be able to adjust its entire approach mid-session because it can sense that you're carrying something else from your personal life.
• 2:02
  Speaker: And real coaching is built on the ability to feel what another person is experiencing and respond to it in the moment.
• 2:12
  Speaker: So AI is eating the bottom of the market, so that low-cost template type of thing.
• 2:20
  Speaker: But as it takes over the surface level work, the demand for genuine human connection and coaching can actually go up because many of us have no one to talk to other than ChatGPT many days.
• 2:36
  Speaker: So we are actually crying out for real connection, for someone to actually care about you, rather than just an app asking, "How does that make you feel?"
• 2:48
  Speaker: It really isn't the same as a real human who actually cares about the answer.
• 2:55
  Speaker: So let's be specific about how I'm using AI in my business, 'cause I think it's always really interesting what's possible and then what you can really decide to do.
• 3:04
  Speaker: Inside my program, I have built custom AI bots embedded into my portal.
• 3:11
  Speaker: These custom inbuilt bots are trained on my specific frameworks.
• 3:17
  Speaker: They are filled with all of the transcripts from my lessons, so they know the types of things that you are trying to achieve, and they are usually one specific purpose.
• 3:29
  Speaker: So for example, I have one bot for niching, I have another bot for creating a great signature offer.
• 3:36
  Speaker: So the more you can give that AI tool a really defined job, the better the job it does.
• 3:45
  Speaker: So it's 10 times better than just normal ChatGPT that's pulling stuff from everywhere because it's programmed in the back end with very strict instructions and my specific frameworks.
• 3:58
  Speaker: And my clients really love them.
• 4:00
  Speaker: So Lisa, one of the coaches in my program, used our AI assistant to get a full website review and write-up at 11 o'clock at night.
• 4:12
  Speaker: Super specific, and yes, she still comes over afterwards and shares it with me, because the problem with AI is it does generalize, so there will be telltale signs that we need to work on.
• 4:26
  Speaker: But she has such a stronger starting point for me to review, so the learning curve is so much quicker.
• 4:36
  Speaker: Another coach, Daisy, got an entire offer document built while she was out walking her dog.
• 4:42
  Speaker: So she sent the AI her rough thinking, went for a walk, and came back to that fully structured offer that she, again, can come over and share with us, and we can reiterate and really make sure it's outstanding.
• 4:56
  Speaker: So that is the magic of AI in coaching.
• 4:59
  Speaker: It extends the support for your clients without requiring more of your time.
• 5:05
  Speaker: For my own business, I use Fathom to record my Zoom calls, and it really has changed how I capture insights.
• 5:15
  Speaker: My AI agent, Victor, can now proactively provide me three social posts a week from real conversations and real contacts that I've had on those calls.
• 5:28
  Speaker: And I know that may make you nervous, especially with one-on-one coaching.
• 5:32
  Speaker: So again, AI does the work, but you use your brain power and nuance to understand if that's appropriate for you to share or not.
• 5:44
  Speaker: The biggest mistake I see in coaches marketing with AI right now is using it to create content that sounds like AI.
• 5:53
  Speaker: Often, I have a client come over and share their work saying, "Does this sound too AI?"
• 5:58
  Speaker: Usually, if you're asking the question, the answer is yes.
• 6:03
  Speaker: You're asking the question because you know it sounds too AI.
• 6:08
  Speaker: So really do take the time to make it personal.
• 6:12
  Speaker: So if you're thinking, "Why isn't my content working?"
• 6:16
  Speaker: Then do use that lens of Does it sound like AI or does it sound like a real human being that you are?
• 6:24
  Speaker: If you covered over the name on your LinkedIn profile or your Instagram profile, would anyone know that that content was from you?
• 6:33
  Speaker: Would they see your stories, feel your stories, and feel your presence in your post?
• 6:40
  Speaker: In a world flooded with AI content, your human perspective and imperfectness is actually more valuable than ever.
• 6:49
  Speaker: I've experienced this myself before I found my real content voice.
• 6:54
  Speaker: I was leaning heavily on structured content, templates, or AI-assisted formatting with everything perfectly optimized.
• 7:04
  Speaker: So one great trick I learned was to think about people that you have worked with over the last seven days, problems that you have helped solve, proof, so case studies or testimonials over the last seven days, and promotion
• 7:21
  Speaker: of your actual services.
• 7:23
  Speaker: So what are you promoting this week?
• 7:25
  Speaker: Your lived experience has emotional charge, and we buy on emotion.
• 7:32
  Speaker: People can hear you, feel you, rather than an algorithm deciding if your thing is perfect enough to pump out.
• 7:41
  Speaker: Let's make this really practical.
• 7:43
  Speaker: Three things AI is great for.
• 7:46
  Speaker: One, systems and admin, automations, email sequences, client onboarding documents, workflows.
• 7:55
  Speaker: This is where AI saves real time with no downside.
• 7:59
  Speaker: Two, first drafts and brainstorming.
• 8:03
  Speaker: Use it as a thinking partner, maybe you're voice noting it, maybe it's getting ideas from your calls or other things that you're working on, and then really heavily edit that output.
• 8:15
  Speaker: But get that starting point.
• 8:17
  Speaker: Maybe it's the formatting, maybe it's something like that that will really help you structure your ideas.
• 8:22
  Speaker: Three, client resources.
• 8:25
  Speaker: Build tools that can help your clients make more progress between sessions.
• 8:30
  Speaker: AI that helps them work through specific frameworks, get quick feedback, or structure their thinking will extend your support without you draining your energy.
• 8:42
  Speaker: And three things AI should never do.
• 8:45
  Speaker: One, write your content completely.
• 8:48
  Speaker: Your perspective is your competitive advantage.
• 8:51
  Speaker: The moment you outsource that to the algorithm, you will become invisible.
• 8:56
  Speaker: Two, replace your coaching.
• 8:59
  Speaker: Yes, it can support it, absolutely, but it can really hardly ever replace that human connection.
• 9:07
  Speaker: Three, make your decisions.
• 9:09
  Speaker: I have seen coaches ask, "What should I price my program at?"
• 9:14
  Speaker: Or, "What niche should I choose?"
• 9:17
  Speaker: And these require self-knowledge and human judgment.
• 9:21
  Speaker: AI doesn't know your life, your values, or your clients the way you do, so be careful not to outsource all of your decisions to AI, or again, you lose that self-trust, which is what it requires to build a
• 9:35
  Speaker: business.
• 9:36
  Speaker: Here's what I genuinely believe about AI and coaching right now.
• 9:40
  Speaker: We are at a fork in the road.
• 9:42
  Speaker: One path leads to coaches becoming more generic, using AI to churn out content.
• 9:50
  Speaker: create cookie cutter programs, perfect efficiency but no soul.
• 9:56
  Speaker: The other leads to human coaches becoming more human.
• 10:01
  Speaker: So using AI to handle the stuff that doesn't require the human touch, like your admin and things that will help you be more efficient, and pouring your energy into the things that you can only do, which is real,
• 10:15
  Speaker: genuine connection, personal perspective, deep relationships, and deep coaching.
• 10:21
  Speaker: The coaches that take the second path won't just survive, they will thrive, because we are all craving that connection.
• 10:30
  Speaker: We want to know who you are, hear your experience, your real stories, your actual perspective, your ability to sit with another human being and help them see what they can't see on their own.
• 10:43
  Speaker: That is irreplaceable, and the market is pricing it accordingly.
• 10:48
  Speaker: Premium coaching, the deep personalized humankind, which is probably what you are offering, is the segment that most people in the room want desperately.
• 11:01
  Speaker: So here's what I want you to do this week.
• 11:03
  Speaker: If you are not using AI at all, then do have a go.
• 11:07
  Speaker: Use ChatGPT or whatever your AI of choice is, and brainstorm your next piece of content.
• 11:14
  Speaker: I would ask it to interview me on my perspective, my opinions, and help pull out some sort of idea for your next article or social post from whatever you shared from those questions.
• 11:29
  Speaker: Then head over and read your last five pieces of content.
• 11:34
  Speaker: Do they actually sound like you?
• 11:37
  Speaker: Or is it obviously an AI post?
• 11:40
  Speaker: If someone covered your name over, would anyone know that that post was from you?
• 11:46
  Speaker: Or is it so generic that it could've been from any other coach?
• 11:51
  Speaker: If you can't hear your own voice through your posts, then your audience can't either.
• 11:58
  Speaker: The coaches who win in 2026 will use AI as a tool and still be human.
• 12:05
  Speaker: So thank you for being here today.
• 12:07
  Speaker: I hope this helps you to put your personality and your heart and your soul into your business.
• 12:13
  Speaker: And like I always say, trust yourself, believe in yourself, and be the wise gardener who keeps on watering the seeds.