Episode 31: The Cues We Use Pt. 2

Movement Logic: Strong Opinions, Loosely Held

Welcome to Season 2 and Episode 31 of the Movement Logic podcast! In this episode, Laurel and Sarah discuss three types of cues movement teachers like yoga teachers and strength coaches use—verbal, visual, and tactile cues. Namely, we look at the differences between these three ways of cueing, and the plusses and minuses of all three types. We also discuss:

• What deeper understanding we need to have about our students as well as the movement we’re teaching before we cue at all
• What a verbal, versus a visual, versus tactile cue is.
• The timing of verbal cues and how it relates to motor learning.
• A debate in the yoga community about whether or not teaching using verbal cues (only or predominantly) is preferable to demoing while teaching.
• How Laurel & Sarah’s teaching has changed with respect to cueing.
• Different ways of stage and contextualize a demo.
• Why highlighting the difference between what a movement looks like versus what it feels like can be helpful.
• Whether to use first person or second person pronouns (or even to talk at all!) while demoing.
• 3 main ways you can give tactile cues, tips for teachers when giving tactile cues, and the benefits and drawbacks of each way of giving tactile cues.
• Why obtaining consent is crucial before touching students.
• The perils of “creepy hands”.
• How trying to teach too many things means not teaching much at all.
• The importance of using multiple types of cues—verbal, visual, and tactile—and aligning them toward a clear movement goal.

Sarah’s Motor Learning Presentation

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