~Written by Carol Capper MS, OTR/L, PRYT~
Often the question comes up from both PRYT students and practitioners – How do you invite prospective clients into this work? How do you get them to understand what this work is about? At some point there is need for more than a prepared 25 word “elevator” speech.
I believe that there needs to be some sorting out of intention before finding an answer that can be meaningful and realizing that there is no one answer that fits everyone. Yes, yet another way in which “client centered” shows up!
Consider exactly what it is that you want to offer to a client. Often what we want to offer is the sum total of our passionate feeling for PRYT. That can be overwhelming – both for us to try to distill down to a manageable size and also for the other person to take in and digest.
So, what is the offering? How big, how deep, how wide does it need to be? Difficult to know unless you have some information about the person in front of you or the population you are targeting – which means you might need to begin with a question. How you determine what to ask depends on what you already know, or think you know, about them.
Maybe they’re yoga students or health care practitioners or professionals too busy to take care of themselves or young adults willing to try just about anything. The point is to listen first to those you want to invite into this work. You needn’t know a lot, just enough to have a sense of what might create curiosity in them about what you do.
Then you might focus on how to bring the curiosity forward to where it opens the door to a willingness to try out what you have to offer. Often this works best if presented in terms with which they are familiar so that what you are saying lands in a context they can understand. One way is by noting how PRYT is similar or different from what they do for themselves already. Perhaps PRYT can be seen as a next step in consolidating or deepening the effects of what they are currently doing.
We all love words like “transformation,” but I suspect that these ideas can be a bit unnerving to prospective clients or referral sources. Remember what drew you to Phoenix Rising in the first place and what it was like when you opened the door to try it out. What was it that stood out for you in attracting you to this work? What invited you in?
Remember that experience is the greatest resource, and being present, listening and having a clear intention may be all the basic tools you need.
And isn’t that what PRYT is about anyway?
Carol Capper MS, OTR/L, PRYT
