First Coaching Session: Questions and Structure to Keep in View
Updated 2026-11-01 · 2 min read
This rail is for a coach's first paid session with a new client over video. They've paid, and they want to feel it was worth it by the end of the hour. Your structure sits on the cards, so you can keep your eyes on your client.
The rail
Start warm
- How are you feeling about today?
- We have [60] minutes and finish at [time]
- Today we set your goals and agree how we'll work
Our agreement
- Sessions: [how often], [how long]
- Between sessions, reach me by [channel]
- What stays between us, and what doesn't
Where they are now
- What's going well for you right now?
- What made you look for a coach now?
- From 1 to 10, where are you with [area]?
What they want
- If this goes well, what's different in [6] months?
- How will you know you got there?
- Why does that matter to you?
What's holding you back
- What's stopped you so far?
- What have you already tried?
First small step
- What's one thing you could do this week?
- How sure are you that you'll do it, 1 to 10?
- What would make it a 10?
Wrap up
- What are you taking away from today?
- Recap the step and when we'll check on it
- Next session: [date and time]
How to use this rail
- Copy the rail. Press Copy this rail. It copies every card as text, with a heading on each one.
- Paste it into a new note in GlideRail. GlideRail spots the headings and offers to split the text. Press Split into sections: the rail's name at the top becomes the note's name, and each card heading becomes its own card.
- Fill in the brackets. Set the session length and the area you're coaching before you join.
- Open Cue Mode. Put the window near your camera, then move between cards with ⌘[ and ⌘] (they work from any app while Cue Mode is open) or a two-finger swipe.
- Turn on Live Rail, if you like. On an Apple Silicon Mac it listens to the call and offers the card whose heading matches what was just said, so when your client starts on what's holding them back, it can offer that card. One click opens it, and it never changes cards on its own. It listens on your Mac, and no audio is saved or sent.
If you share a worksheet on screen, turn on Invisible first (Pro), and the share leaves the cards out. On Zoom, first set Settings, Share Screen, Advanced, Screen capture mode to "Advanced capture with window filtering" (the Zoom guide shows it). Cue Mode and Live Rail are Pro too, and every download comes with 7 days of Pro, free, with no card needed.
Make it yours
Put your own coaching model's questions in place of these, in the order you run them. Leave room to listen, and cut any question you'd rush. Copy the rail again for each new client, and add a card with what you learned about them before the next session.