One of the popular debates in the online coaching space nowadays:
Should coaches curse?
Both sides have arguments that make sense:
Those who liberally throw around F-bombs and curse like sailors argue that it’s just the way that they talk, and it draws the right people to them while repelling those who don’t resonate with them.
(There’s also the whole “pattern interrupt” argument)
The other side who think that cursing coaches should have their mouths washed out with soap argue that it’s not professional, it makes them look uneducated, and will cost them business.
Personally I don’t lose any sleep when I see a coach use profanity, and I’ve hired some who have potty mouths.
As for my business, the language I use in my content can be salty – although I’m not one to throw F-bombs all over the place or anything. If I suddenly started injecting F-words into my emails or on my podcast, it would come across as strange since I’ve never been one to do that.
It sounds like a crazy concept, but my advice is to just talk like you normally talk.
So if you curse like a sailor in real life, don’t try to sound like a nun in your content.
If you never swear offline, don’t suddenly start talking like a drunk biker when you go online to look cool or edgy.
After the Tony Robbins documentary (“I Am Not Your Guru”) came out a few years back, I noticed a lot of coaches mimicking Tony’s cursing (since he swore 1,715 times in that film).
Immediately after its release, I saw coaches who normally didn’t swear spouting off on social media with posts like: “If you don’t go for your F&%^$ing dreams you’re playing too F$%@#^ing small! Get a F&%^$ing life!!!”
The posts came across as kinda silly, since I hadn’t seen those coaches talking like Andrew Dice Clay or Richard Pryor before. They guessed that profanity is the reason for Robbins’ success, when there’s a lot more to it than that.
It sounds like a Hallmark-card cliche, but just “be yourself”.
Anyways, I’m myself inside the pages of my Secret Coach Club hard copy newsletter and every month I share exclusive insights and strategies to help you grow your coaching business.
The May issue is a special theme one dedicated to content creation.
It’s going to the printer soon – grab it before it’s too F$^%&$ing late,
