CreateBlankHow to make a coaching workbook
CreateBlank·
A coaching workbook is not a list of questions, it is an order. Four steps. (1) Write one sentence about what should change for the client. (2) Order the questions reflect, then insight, then action. (3) Keep three or four questions per page, one per page for deep prompts. (4) Print a copy and fill it in yourself. A 12-page workbook lands at roughly 25 to 35 questions. Every question you cut makes the boxes bigger, and bigger boxes get longer answers. A first draft takes about an hour.
Why start with the goal sentence?
Start with questions and the workbook grows. Good ones keep occurring to you and none of them feel cuttable. Twenty-four pages later, the client fills in the first three and closes it.
So write one sentence first. "Once this is filled in, what can this person do?" Something like "they have their own basis for deciding whether to stay or leave." With that sentence on the table, cutting is easy. If a question does not serve it, it goes.
What order do the questions go in?
Reflect, then insight, then action. The reason is plain: people cannot reach a conclusion before they have laid their situation out where they can see it.
- Reflect — pull up what actually happened. Ask for facts, not verdicts. "In the last two weeks, when did you feel most drained?"
- Insight — ask what the answers reveal. The best questions here send them back to the previous page. "What do those moments have in common?"
- Action — land on one next step, with a deadline and a way to check it. "What is the first thing you do this week? When, and where?"
Without that arc the workbook is a survey. You collect answers, and the client leaves with nothing.
What makes a good question?
- ✓Narrow the time and the scope. "How have things been?" gets nothing back. Cut it to "in the last two weeks" and a specific scene comes to mind.
- ✓One thing per sentence. "What was hard and how did you solve it?" is two questions. Most people answer the first and move on.
- ✓Keep one uncomfortable question. If every question is safe, the workbook is safe and useless. Put that one later, once they are warmed up.
How do you use it in a session?
The parts that organise facts work well sent ahead: summarising a period, checking numbers, listing things out. That buys you session time.
Anything touching feelings or decisions goes better in the room. Alone, people write with an audience in mind and hedge. With someone beside them and a set amount of time, they get more honest, not less.
Print it yourself. Ask clients to print and most will not. The case for paper over a link is inwhy a handwriting workbook.
The four steps
- 1. Write one sentence about what should changeDo not start with questions. Start with what the client should be able to do once the workbook is filled in, in one sentence. That sentence becomes the test you use later to cut questions.
- 2. Order the questions reflect, insight, actionOpen by recalling what actually happened, then ask what pattern that reveals, then land on one next step. Shuffle the order and you are asking someone to conclude before they are ready.
- 3. Keep three or four questions per pageEvery question you cut makes the boxes bigger, and bigger boxes get longer answers. Give a deep question a page of its own.
- 4. Print one and fill it in yourselfWhether a box is too tight or a question is vague only shows up with a pen in hand, not on screen. Fill one in before the session.
CreateBlank has steps two through four built in. Write what you want to ask the way you would say it, and the outline comes back moving from reflection to action, with the questions per page and the box sizes already handled. Making, editing and preview are free.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a coaching workbook and a worksheet?+
A worksheet is one page of exercise. A workbook is a sequence. It starts by looking back, moves through insight, and ends in action. Hand out single sheets and the client has to rebuild the context every time.
How many questions should it have?+
Three or four per page, so roughly 25 to 35 across a 12-page workbook. The count matters less than the rule for cutting: if a question does not serve the one-sentence goal, it goes.
How do I write questions that get real answers?+
Avoid anything answerable with yes or no, and ask one thing per sentence. Instead of 'how have things been', try 'in the last two weeks, when did you feel most drained'. Narrowing the timeframe brings back a specific scene.
Should clients fill it in beforehand or during the session?+
Both. The fact-gathering parts, summarising a period or checking numbers, save session time when done in advance. Anything touching feelings or decisions goes better in the room. Filled in alone, people write defensively.
What if a client leaves boxes empty?+
Usually the question was not too hard. Either the box was small or the question asked two things at once. Note which boxes come back empty and split those questions or enlarge the boxes in the next version.
Can I sell a coaching workbook I make?+
Yes. It is built for handing to clients or selling. Making and editing are free; a credit is spent only when you take the PDF, and re-exporting after edits is free.
How long does it take?+
About 10 minutes to write what you want to ask, 20 to 30 to adjust the outline, and an hour in total to a print-ready PDF. The second version, after you have run it once with a real client, is usually much better.