1- What is your philosophy when it comes to executive coaching?

I'm very focused on the influence and impact leaders have on relationships both personally and professionally. To me, leadership begins with the relationship the leader has with themselves. I have seen firsthand the requirement for leaders of today to have a 'student' mindset and that the depths of their inner strength and identity will match the heights they can lead and influence a team. I also believe that everyone is a leader regardless of their role description, the scope of their responsibilities, and their title. Leadership is synonymous with relationships. No relationships, no results.

2- What made you go looking for a solution like LoudDoc?

In the coaching and consulting space, nuances matter. In addition, the tone, emphasis, and importance of the content captured in attachments is equally as important. In the world of digital communication (text, email, attachments, DM's) I found there was a lot of value being lost in translation and a lot of unintended miscommunications. I was looking for a way to share content in a personalized and confidential way. I wanted to ensure the essence of what I was sharing was received and the understanding of the content was in alignment with the intention and purpose in which it was written.

Coaching and training happens with different types of frequency. Executive coaching can take place once every two weeks and at times once a month. My clients and I found that any miscommunication in between sessions was extremely inefficient and quite costly. As I said earlier, leadership is about relationships and delivering exceptional results. The words and actions of a leader can have significant impacts. My clients and I wanted to make sure there was next to no miscommunication as we developed their growing edges. Collectively we didn't want to spend our valuable face to face time either explaining the concepts or untangling misunderstandings. As a coach, just sharing static attachments wasn't a very effective way to transfer knowledge and energize my client.

So I'm always on the lookout for a solution that would help me better communicate with my clients, especially when I can't be there when they are ready to learn.

I want to be more impactful to clients, something that attached flat files just can't deliver. Essentially I was looking for a solution where nothing was lost in translation.

3- What was the biggest challenge in incorporating LoudDoc into your client relationship workflow?

Probably the biggest challenge was just getting over my own initial bias. In my head, I thought it would be a big learning curve and take a lot of time to learn a new technology. I made many assumptions including the time it would take to narrate the pages of the document I wanted to share. Instead of changing how I was sharing content, I would fall back on simply attaching static PDFs, because it was the way I've always done it, even though I wasn't getting results. Change is always hard. I have learned that not changing can be even harder.

I couldn't have been more wrong about the assumptions I was making. It was incredibly easy to do. I did a few narrations and once I got my cadence down, I could quickly narrate a LoudDoc in minutes. And the results were undeniable compared to my old way of just attaching a PDF to an email.

4- When did you know this was a game changer for your client relationships?

Right from the first piece of unsolicited feedback I received from the very first louddoc I sent. I have a document that presents important and nuanced concepts around leadership influence and relationship based negotiation approaches. It's typically something I would meet face to face and introduce to them. But instead I created a louddoc with my original PDF, narrated it with a personalized video recording and sent it off.

I was notified right away that it had been viewed (a cool louddoc feature you can choose to turn on/off) and the metrics showed me just how deep into the content they went. Something that a PDF attachment could never do. It also gave me the insight to know they were ready to talk about these concepts. Most importantly they emailed back right away and their comment made me realize how impactful a louddoc can be. And this is where I really knew sending content created with louddoc was a communication and relationship game changer.

Instead of a bunch of questions asking me to explain what I meant on a certain page, my client's comprehension of the concepts had accelerated. In addition, they could feel the energy and hear any necessary inflection and emphasis I was placing as they watched me speak and heard my voice. As I have used this more and more, clients feel they are 'seeing and hearing me' more often even though we are not physically meeting or virtually meeting over video conferencing. The time savings are incredible on both sides of the louddoc.

5- What do you attribute to this success in accelerating understanding on the part of your client?

I believe it's the authenticity of the communication. It feels like it's live! It's like I am right there with them as they consume the content. In a static attachment (if it is even opened) most people's eyes glaze over when they start reading. They want to flip through the pages, try and identify what's important and move on. And fair enough, we're all busy, and reading takes work! People also misinterpret the written word. Just think of the last time you received an email and text and you know exactly what I mean.

With LoudDoc, my voice really grabs their attention right from the get go. As a reader, you feel a sense of responsibility to pay attention because this person is actually talking to you. More importantly and just as quickly the reader realizes that this voice is helping you to interpret the page, reducing the work it takes to comprehend a page of content. The coach, as page narrator, is guiding you to what's important. It's also very personalized.

Not only that, as the narrator, I'm able to add more insight and clarity, relating it to the client's situation. It leads to a significant decrease in miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Here's a quote from one of my client's when they flipped through a LoudDoc I sent to them.

6- How have you incorporated LoudDoc into your coaching learning cycles?

There are a couple of ways LoudDoc has become an invaluable part of how I coach and communicate with my clients.

First, it's the insight I get into how my clients actually learn. Over time, I can see when clients are “available” to read attachments. For example, one client always opens attachments around 8pm at night. So now I know that's when they are most open to and available to lean into our work in between our calls.

Second, I typically use it to introduce or reinforce concepts and frameworks that are the tools my client needs to succeed in the area they have hired me to coach them. They are powerful reference materials and It's like having a meeting without actually having a meeting.

And third, I find they are a great way to provide a summary of an in person presentation or team training session, and even a keynote. Especially if that meeting involved a slide deck content that I shared. Even if the meetings don't utilize slides, the louddoc can capture pictures of the session and as the narrator I can further deepen the content that the participants took away.

Sending a follow up with louddoc keeps the discussions and lessons covered in offsite / key note/ training sessions alive and top of mind long after the one session is over.

7- What would you recommend to another coach who's thinking of using LoudDoc?

Just do it. No seriously. It's an absolute competitive advantage for your business. You'll find you're getting the outcomes for your client faster than you have in the past. It's that combination of your authenticity and sincerity in the knowledge you are sharing combined with the fact your client is reading it when they are ready to learn. If you don't think you have the time or if you feel you can't handle another technology, I am here to say (this is not how I usually coach) you are wrong! I can say this because I was wrong and had all the objections well-rehearsed. Feel free to reach out to me and I will email you a louddoc link of my own and you will experience it for yourself. Once you do that, I am pretty sure you will want to offer the same elevated and professional experience to your valued clients.