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Coaching with cards: Methods made easy

Get your coaching cards methods e-book!

We offer you a collection of coaching cards methods that you can use, adapt, or modify for your coaching, therapy, workshop, training sessions. We hope these suggestions inspire you in your important work with people.

Simple ways to make your session interactive

We offer you a collection of coaching cards methods that you can use, adapt, or modify for your coaching, therapy, workshop, training sessions. We hope these suggestions inspire you in your important work with people.

Here's one method from the ebook that's perfect with the deep pictures!

"Pick a picture for how you are"

Kickstart your workshop in a personal & fun way.
Share an impression of mood & situation.
Increase engagement and foster psychological safety.

How to facilitate

Spread picture cards in front of your participants.

Spread picture cards in front of your participants.

Choose a set of 20-60 pictures and spread them in front of your
participants, e.g., on the table or floor. When working online in the
icebreaker browser app, select a card deck and share the invitation link with your participants.

1on1

Ask a check-in question.

For an open start, an open-ended question works best, e.g. "How
are you today?" or "How have you been lately?"

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Give time to reflect and select a card.

Ask people to answer this question by selecting a card that
represents their answer.

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Invite people to share.

You can give the floor to the first speaker and have them present
their card. After they shared, encourage them to nominate the next
speaker. As the moderator, you can simply select the image for
everyone to see.

Projective Methods & How Coaching (Picture) Cards Work Their Magic

For many of us, it’s not so easy to open up and be vulnerable in front of our friends and family. This difficulty in sharing our thoughts and emotions usually also happens when interacting with strangers. Sometimes, it’s painful to honestly face ourselves. In other cases, we might not even be aware of how we feel about something until our cup overflows and we’re overwhelmed.

Making human connection easy

Making human connection easy

Finding a way to overcome these barriers to deep conversation and meaningful reflection is the reason behind our work at metaFox. Using metaFox coaching cards often goes like this – participants pick a card to answer a given question or topic. Each person takes a turn to talk about the images they chose and how it relates to their life. Everyone is encouraged to express themselves truthfully as a way of connecting with each other, to unburden themselves, and feel a little bit better.

This example demonstrates how the deep pictures (the first coaching cards we developed) use the principles of projective methods and adapt their techniques. Simply put, projective methods are enabling techniques to help reveal what matters most to people, their motivations, and subconscious attitudes, among others. Some commonly used projective methods are association techniques like complete-the-sentence exercises and the Rorschach Inkblot Test; expressive techniques like play, drawing and painting; and using photographs and images as tools to surface people’s perspectives and experiences.

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Using visual triggers and visual metaphors

These picture cards are designed to function as visual triggers. We’ve mindfully selected the images included in each set to bring about an emotional response from the viewer. They are visual metaphors helping to give a private experience, a feeling, or a thought some concrete shape and form.

Combining beautiful images with powerful questions

Combining beautiful images with powerful questions

The picture cards combine the power of the visual and the verbal – beautiful images with fitting questions. They are developed by the metaFox community composed of trainers and facilitators who understand first hand the needs of coaches and trainers.

Want to learn more?

We're running a FREE email course on The Power of Conversation Prompts. In this course you will learn many practical methods and tools you can use for your daily practice.

Learn more about this course