During each class, barre instructors are tasked with remembering choreography, sticking to the beat of the music, seamlessly flowing from one move to the next, cuing the body for safety and effectiveness and doing all of this while making the class FUN. There are many ways to make a fitness class enjoyable, but today we're focusing on the teaching voice. The words we say and how we say them have an impact on the class we teach. Here are 3 ways to make your barre class more exciting by ramping up your teaching voice.
Beat Matching
Yes, our exercises match the beat of the music, but did you know our voice can too? Break up the standard speaking cadence with beat cuing - matching words to the beat of the music. Speak to the beat in the middle of a long series or when counting down the last few reps. This example is better heard than read, so we're providing audio below.
Motivational Cuing
Motivational cuing is the last step in our 5 Tips for Effective Cuing guide, but that doesn't mean it's not important. Our job as fitness instructors is to keep our participants feeling and moving at their best and one of the ways to do that is through our choice of words. We're not talking about adding Motivational Speaker to the resume; it's actually a lot easier than you think.
Make it a goal to say each client's name at least once during class: "Stephanie your form is looking on point today"
Set an intention at the start of each class and refer back to it periodically: "Today's focus is all on inner strength, find your inner strength right now to get through your last 8 reps"
Incorporate empathy and positive reinforcement: "I know this is challenging but I see you push through it week after week and you can do it again today"
“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”
Voice Inflection
We all need a voice volume baseline which we're able to take up or down at various points throughout class. Side note - use of a microphone is critical to adding inflection in your voice. When the beat drops let your voice drop (and by drop we mean lift) as well. Getting low in thigh work, bring the volume of your voice down with it. We've got some audio examples to share.
Ready to make your barre class more exciting?