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Hi, my name is Angie Miller with AFAA
and I'm so glad you joined me here again
this week for more education, motivation, and tips
to take it to the next level.
So this week I want to talk to you about something
that I think we all think is a little bit scary, but something
that is a great way to build our reputation,
and that is subbing.
Have you ever gotten a call to sub and you say yes,
and then you hang up the phone, and all of a sudden you
start having second and third doubts?
And I think it's because we think
we need to live up to the reputation of that instructor.
But you know what?
We don't.
We need to create our own reputation, and that's
the beauty of subbing, is it strengthens our leadership
skills.
We get to practice our cueing and perfect our delivery
and our choreography, and we get to do it
at hopefully multiple clubs in front
of lots of different participants
teaching lots of different formats,
so it's a great way to get really good at what we do.
But before you say yes to subbing,
I have some dos and don'ts that I think that you should keep
in mind.
So the first one is to keep in mind that you cannot make
everybody happy.
So when we do go out there we're teaching
lots of different formats at different clubs
and we're filling the shoes of somebody who has already
built a community, naturally the odds are kind of
stacked up against us, right?
But again, we know what we can get out of this situation
and we know how we can strengthen
our skills and our expertise.
So do the best you can, and that's
the best that you can do, right?
You give them all you've got and you try to please the masses,
but know that you can't please everyone all the time, right?
We're not superhuman.
So number two, know your limitations.
I have taught in many different places.
We've lived in Chicago, Illinois;
Scottsdale, Arizona; and I've even
taught in Northwest Arkansas and Des Moines, Iowa.
And the one thing that I have learned
is that as eager as I am to get-- build
a reputation at a club when I move,
I have to be careful to know my limitations.
So if somebody calls me they ask me to teach kickboxing,
I'm inclined to say something like, you know what?
I don't teach kickboxing, but I can teach a great total body
conditioning class.
Because I do want to go out there
and I want to show the best of who I am and what I can offer,
right?
So I have to know my limitations.
Yes, I want to grow as an instructor,
but I do want to stay within my scope of practice.
So number three, don't try to be somebody that you're not.
So again, we're trying to fill big shoes.
We've got-- we're filling in for somebody who's already
built a community, but the best thing that we can do
is be authentically us, because we have something to offer.
And if we are true to ourselves, then other people
will gravitate to us because they feel
that natural charisma about us.
So the next one is to leave with confidence, right?
When you're going in there, maybe another instructor
leaves like a lion and you motivate like a mom.
The key is is that no matter what, we
need to leave with confidence.
If we exude confidence, they pick up on that
and they feel confident about who we are
and what we have to offer.
And then the next one is, don't apologize.
I used to be a big apologizer.
I would teach and I would make a mistake
and I would say, oh sorry, sorry, sorry.
But guess what?
They only know I made a mistake if I let them know.
So it's a big-- if it's a big mistake and it's obvious,
I might make a joke out of it, but I try
to never say that I'm sorry.
Fitness is fun, it's not about needing to be sorry
if we make a mistake.
And then last but not least, do be the first one to arrive
and the last one to leave.
So I want to greet the participants
as they walk in the door, and I want to tell them goodbye,
and maybe I want to put in a little plug for myself,
tell them when I teach, tell them what I like to do,
what kind of formats I like to teach so that they can
help me build my reputation.
So my name is Angie Miller with AFAA,
I'm so glad you joined me today.
I do hope you say yes to subbing.
Keep doing what you love and loving what you do, and I'll
see you next week.
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