The Words We Choose: A Coach’s Practical Guide to Empowering Clients and Cutting Out Language Missteps
Every word we speak as coaches has the power to either open or close possibilities, to invite or inhibit awareness. The Words We Choose is a deep dive into how subtle language habits can unintentionally shape a coaching session. This session explores the most common verbal missteps coaches make, from seemingly harmless words to phrases that quietly shift power away from the client.
Together, we’ll examine why these habits develop, their impact on the coaching relationship, and how to replace them with language that truly empowers our clients. Through real-world examples and reflection, participants will build awareness of how tone, phrasing, and word choice influence trust, autonomy, and insight.
Rather than focusing on what not to say, this session highlights how to communicate in ways that respect the client’s autonomy and elicit deeper insight.
This is an invitation to have a greater impact by speaking with intention, listening with your whole self, and creating space for your clients to empower themselves through coaching.
Jille Bartolome, MCC, is the founder of CoachPath Academy, a boutique, highly individualized coach-training school devoted to the evolution of the coaching profession. A pioneer in the field since the mid-1990s, Jille attended the first International Coaching Federation (ICF) conference and has since contributed to the profession as an ICF assessor, mentor coach, and member of the ICF Ethics Credentialing Review Committee.
Drawing on three decades of coaching and leadership experience, Jille is known for her rare ability to blend rigor with warmth, helping coaches grow their confidence, deepen their presence, and embody the true spirit of coaching. Her work focuses on developing coaches who think deeply, listen intuitively, and serve their clients with both precision and heart.
Through CoachPath Academy, Jille has created a learning environment that feels both personal and profound; a place where new and experienced coaches alike are invited to explore the skills of coaching and the mindset that sustains it. Whether she’s teaching, mentoring, assessing or speaking, Jille’s passion remains the same: elevating the quality, ethics, and consciousness of the coaching profession worldwide.
