Tips to prepare for your PCC Certification Exam: logistics

When you want to apply for the ICF PCC Certification via Portfolio, it is advisable to start with good planning. Taking the time to prepare with intention the recording of the sessions you are going to present will make the process more manageable and will significantly increase the probability of passing on the first try, avoiding having to pay additional fees for each recording that needs to be repeated.

What to keep in mind?

In this post we are going to talk about the logistical part, and in the next one I will explain the keys to a session that meets the requirements of the PCC level.

Point one of our planning is to be clear about what outputs we need to produce in order to start the process:

You must submit two recordings of between 20 and 60 minutes in length, accompanied by a verbatim transcript of each.

This task already presents some challenges:

1. First, to obtain two recordings:

We are usually reluctant to ask our clients for permission to record the session. It is important to have several recordings so that you can choose the ones that best meet your requirements, so you should prepare the ground so that your coachees feel comfortable with it.

• Ask permission to record all sessions you have with the client, so that the tape recorder becomes a normal part of your relationship and both coach and client can forget about it and coach more naturally.
• Explain well how you will guarantee the confidentiality of the recordings. What you will do with the ones you do not choose. And who will listen to the ones you send to ICF. Agree with the client only to use his or her first name.
• Give the client a way out: if at the end of a session for any reason (usually the content) he does not feel comfortable with the fact that it is being used, he can indicate it, and you delete it right then and there in front of him.

You will find that most customers are happy to help us, if we take these three recommendations into consideration.

There are different ways of recording:

• You can buy a small recorder that records the session in mp3, and usually gives good sound quality.
• If you make sessions via a virtual platform, such as Skype, you can download an application that records the calls and automatically downloads them to your computer. More information.
• On Mac you can record audio with QuickTime Player. It will work for both face-to-face and videoconference sessions. Then you have to convert that file to mp3, in order to send it to ICF. Windows also has a standard program called "Sound Recorder".
• Smartphones also offer the possibility to record, but be sure to put the cell phone in Airplane Mode, to avoid incoming calls that paralyze the recording.

In all cases, be sure to do a test, before you start recording a session. There is nothing as frustrating as doing a wonderful session and then realizing that it didn't record ...

2. The second challenge is the duration of the session:

Most coaches do sessions of about an hour, but it is also very common for us to exceed this time. We can present sessions with a minimum duration of 20 minutes and a maximum of 60 minutes, but it is important that it is a complete session, from beginning to end. No chunks of sessions will be accepted. To help us meet this objective, I recommend agreeing from the beginning with several clients on a lower session length, for example 40 minutes, for all sessions of their process. This way, even if we overdo it a bit, we do not go over the 60 minutes. Shorter sessions also bring more focus and intensity, both of which contribute to a more transformative experience for the coachee.

3. Finally, we are faced with transcription:

You can choose to do a manual transcription of the recording, I have personally done it a few times, but you will spend several hours on it. Keep in mind if your recording is 20 minutes or 60 minutes, and if your client is rather reflective, answering slowly to the questions you ask him, or if he talks a lot and fast... But there are also professional transcription services, which I recommend as an excellent alternative. They usually charge a fee of 1€ per minute of audio plus VAT, and deliver a Word document, differentiating between coach and coachee. Typing "audio transcription" in your search engine will bring up several options.

Now we are ready to start recording. In the next post I will offer keys to align with the requirements related to the ICF Key Coaching Competencies, the content and the form of our sessions.