Our students cannot see what we are trying to do unless we show them. Telegraphing makes the direction of travel visible, explicitly and often.
Students cannot see where a session is going unless we show them.
The premise of this session
No activities today. Both outcomes return as a question on the final slide.
Explain what telegraphing is, and why emerging adults need the direction of travel made explicit.
Telegraph the goal, the purpose and the next move at planned points in your own sessions.
What does it mean to telegraph a move?
A fighter draws back before striking. The opponent reads the movement and gets ready for the blow.
Unintended: it gives the move away.
A story plants a hint of what is coming, so the audience is ready when it arrives.
Deliberate: it prepares the audience.
An enemy winds up before it attacks. The wind-up is designed so the player can read the move and react.
Designed: it gives the player a chance to respond.
Making the direction and purpose of what you are doing visible to the student before you do it, explicitly and often.
“Today we test your options against the goal you set last time, so you leave with one to try.”
It names the goal, the purpose and the move before they happen.
“You should drop the module and take the internship.”
It gives the answer rather than the direction of travel. The student no longer does the thinking.
What our own research says about direction.
“An effective amount of direction in a coaching relationship with emerging adults may look like, rather than proscribing answers to problems, establishing the direction of travel when working with an emerging adult.”Garcia, McCloy, Saati, Cassar and Neal (2025)
Some students “expected clear guidelines and actionable points and were sometimes frustrated by sessions that nudged them towards introspection”.
The authors suggest coaches understand “where more directive advice could be helpful to potentially overwhelmed students”.
“clarifying what expectations are on both sides and providing more information about the aims and objectives of the coaching process can help with engagement”
Where we are going. Name the goal this session serves, in the student's own words where you can.
“This is about the goal you set...”
Why it matters to them. Link the activity to something the student cares about, and repeat the why.
“We are doing this because...”
What happens next and why you are doing it that way, especially before a non-directive move.
“I am going to ask rather than tell, because...”
A working structure for our practice; no published framework is implied.
Say where the session is going and how it connects to their goal.
Name the shift: what we just did, what comes next, and why.
Explain why you are asking rather than telling, so silence reads as purposeful.
Link what happened back to the goal and say what comes next.
| Moment | Untelegraphed | Telegraphed |
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An illustration written for this session. Press R or the button to reveal each row.
Where in your next session will you telegraph first?
Garcia, S., McCloy, K., Saati, M., Cassar, S., & Neal, M. (2025). Coaching as a tool for personal development in emerging adults: an exploration of a nascent approach. In ICERI2025 Proceedings (pp. 3721-3730). IATED.
Students described a tension between a desire for autonomy and a need for guidance.
The study places effective direction between the prescriptive career adviser and the neutral, detached coach.
An exploratory study: three student focus groups (12 students) and one coach focus group (4 coaches).