2 min readEnhancewell
Two instructors can teach the same exercise and get completely different results. Often the difference isn't knowledge. It's cueing: how clearly and economically an instructor helps a client understand what to do and how it should feel.
The Three Types of Cues
Verbal
Instructions, counts and imagery. The most common cue, and the easiest to overdo.
Visual
Demonstrating, mirroring or pointing to where the movement should come from. Especially helpful for new clients still learning exercise shapes.
Tactile
Touch to direct attention to a body part or guide alignment. Always ask for consent first, explain what you're doing and why, and respect that some clients prefer not to be touched.
What Makes a Cue Work
- One idea at a time. A client can usually process one correction while moving. Five at once becomes noise.
- Timing. Cue before the movement or at the moment it matters, not after the rep is over.
- Specific language. "Lengthen the back of your neck" is clearer than "fix your head."
- Imagery that fits the client. Some people love images; others want plain anatomy. Notice which lands.
- Positive direction. Tell clients what to do, not just what to stop doing.
Internal vs. External Cues
Internal cues focus on the body ("draw your shoulder blades down"). External cues focus on the environment or result ("press the bar away from you" or "reach your heels toward the wall"). Many instructors find external cues help clients move more naturally, then use internal cues to refine the details.
Silence Is a Cue, Too
Constant talking can stop clients feeling their own bodies. Once someone has an exercise, a few quiet reps let them find it for themselves. Then a single well-timed cue can take it to the next level.
Practice Makes Precise
Like any teaching skill, cueing improves with reflection. After a session, ask yourself which cues worked, which didn't, and what you'd say differently next time.
If you're an independent instructor looking for a calm, fully equipped space to teach your own clients, see Pilates studio rental at Enhancewell, with reformers, towers, chairs and barrels by the hour at Union Square.