WEBVTT

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Hi.

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My name is Angie
Miller with AFAA,

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and I'm so glad
you joined me here

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for more education,
motivation, and tips

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to take our teaching
to the next level.

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We, as a global group
and as community,

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can grow through
connection with one another

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and education and inspiration.

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So I have a question for you.

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Have you ever taught
a group fitness class

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where you had members who were
carrying on a conversation,

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or maybe members who
text during class,

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or even those who
answer their phone?

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So I've had all those things
happen to me when I'm teaching.

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And that's what I want to
talk to you about today

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is how to deal with
difficult behavior.

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But before I do that, I do
want to say that I don't think

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most people set out
to be difficult.

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I think that, for
most people, they just

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don't realize the effect of
their behavior on others.

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So once in a while, we do
get a difficult person,

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but that is more about where
they are in their lives

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and what's going on.

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And I think it's important
that we don't take it personal.

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So at the end of
the day, though,

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our goal is to teach
effective, safe group exercise

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classes with a lot of energy
and that we don't let anything

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compromise that experience.

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So I have some strategies
that I use to deal

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with difficult behavior.

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And the first one is
that I set standards

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at the beginning of class.

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So it's like in college
when you get a syllabus.

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The syllabus lets you know what
to expect from the teacher,

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and it allows the teacher to
tell you what they expect.

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So that's what I
do with my classes.

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When I teach group exercises, I
set standards at the beginning.

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So I say things like, please
turn off your cell phones

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or put your cell phones on mute.

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Please consider keeping
conversations until later.

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And if you have
any concerns, feel

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free to share them
with me after class.

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A second strategy that
I use is proximity.

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Proximity really pays off.

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So sometimes if
there is conversation

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going on in another
part of the room

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or maybe somebody is texting,
I might just proximally

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move from where I'm normally
at at the front of the room

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and just navigate my way back
toward whatever is going on.

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I don't look directly
at that person.

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I don't stop teaching,
because I don't

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want it to be perceived
as confrontational.

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Sometimes I just want to maybe
bring awareness to that person.

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Because we all get distracted.

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We are kind of a
texting society,

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and we're easily distracted.

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And sometimes we just
need gentle reminders.

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So a third thing that I
do is I call out names.

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Because if I call out,
hey, Susie, how's it going,

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then I just bring Susie
back into the moment

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and get her reengaged
in the experience

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and I let her know that I
care about how she's doing.

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So if she's in the
middle of texting

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or she got momentarily
distracted,

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I bring her back
into the moment.

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And that's what it's all about.

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Another strategy
that I use is I talk

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about the research
on mindfulness

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and how important it is that we
stay engaged in our experiences

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as we are living them, because
that really reduces stress

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and allows us to get the most
out of everything that we're

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doing in the moment.

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Another strategy that I
use is group response.

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So I will ask everybody
to count down with me.

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Or I'll ask them to turn around
and say, how are you doing,

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to the person next to them.

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It draws community together.

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It gets the group going.

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It builds energy.

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And again, if anybody
has gotten sidetracked

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with another activity, it
brings them back in the moment.

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And then, last but
not least, there's

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that gentle one-on-one
conversation

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that we can have with a
person or persons after class.

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And I usually start
that conversation

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by asking them what they
enjoyed about the class

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or if they have any concerns
they'd like to share.

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And then I share my
concerns in a professional,

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non-confrontational manner.

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I just give them my
perspective and I talk it

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through with them.

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So the main thing is that we
always want to be personal.

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We always want to
be professional.

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And we always want to create
the best types of class energy

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that we can.

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So my name is Angie Miller.

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Those are the
strategies that I use

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to deal with difficult behavior.

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Thanks for joining me today.

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Keep doing what you love
and loving what you do.

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