by Marcy | Offerings/Activities
Open-ended questions and visual images are two really fast ways to introduce new stimulus into a conversation and open the door to new perspectives, new ideas and new insights.
The Conversations Sparker Cards™ use both. Of the 70 cards in the deck about 30% feature questions, the rest are visual images like the ones on the left. Use just the questions, just the images or mix them up and see what happens.
I just drew a random question: "Whats the priority?" and a random image: a view through window panes to a tree in soft focus.
What jumps out at me in this moment is how the window panes break up the background image and obscure the whole – the message here is to shift my focus from the individual details and re-focus on the big picture. WOW. I didn't really know what I would get – and this was perfect. It really is that easy to access a new perspective or insight using tools like this.
by Marcy | Uncategorized
I just received a great question from a Coaching Toys customer.
Can I use the Dream Cards via telephone?
Since most coaches work by telephone I thought I’d share my answer – which was a resounding yes.
The Dream Card Game content is word based rather than image based – this makes it much easier to use over the phone. What I like about this deck is that it gets clients thinking and dreaming outside their normal range of options.
Here's how I would use the deck.
Set the exercise up properly by letting the client know you will be doing a card sort exercise. The focus for your client is to choose based on what would really inspire, thrill, or interest them.
Take each card one by one and read it to the client. Ask the client to tell you which pile it goes in; the yes pile (it excites, inspires, interests them) or the no pile.
You will likely need to go through the yes pile a second and maybe a third time to narrow it down to 3-5 things your client would really love to experience.
Once you have the top 3-5 desirable activities you can begin to coaching around the choices. Were there any surprises? Take each one and explore: What is it about this that inspires/excites/interests you? What would it give you to accomplish this? Whats a first step? etc.
Another interesting activity would be to explore the no pile. Identify the strongest no's and engage in coaching. What makes it a a no? A great way to clarify values and attachments or assumptions.
To give you some context – here are some examples from the deck:
Cultivate your psychic ability
Give a public music recital
Own your own island
Create a new energy source for the good of the planet
Become a yoga instructor
Snow ski in the swiss alps
Star in a hollywood movie
Visit all 50 states
You get the idea – there are 56 to choose from.
What is it that inspires, excites and interests you?
