How to run engaging workshops for athletes (a coaching guide)
Knowing how to manage an awkward silence can make or break a workshop. Here’s how coaches can keep athletes engaged.
At some point, every coach asks their team a question… and is met with total silence.
I’m not talking about the thoughtful silence that you can bask in. I mean the kind of silence where just about anything becomes extremely interesting… shoelaces, the ceiling, the floor, and that one speck on the wall.
I’ve run countless workshops with hundreds of individuals over the years, from 12-year-old grassroots athletes to 30-year-old national-level athletes, and I have had my fair share of awkward silences.
I remember one session early in my career. I asked what I thought was a great question. Nothing. Twenty athletes staring back at me like I had just asked them to solve a math equation in another language. I panicked. I started rephrasing. Talking more. Filling space. It only made it worse.
What I’ve noticed over the years of practice is that the difference between group sessions that feel painful and the ones that rock isn’t the content. It’s about how to manage the room when things don’t go as you hoped they would.
This post is about that gray area… the moments we’re never taught how to handle… and the skill that separates forgettable sessions from the ones athletes actually remember. So: Here’s how to run engaging workshops for athletes.
Why athletes go silent (and it’s not what you think)
One of the biggest misconceptions that coaches have about engagement is that the quality of the question is the issue. However, most of the time, engagement comes from properly setting up the question.
The truth is, when athletes go quiet, it’s rarely because they don’t care. They’re likely unsure about:
- What kind of answer you’re looking for
- Whether there’s a right answer or not
- Whether it’s safe to say what they actually think
If they aren’t sure about those bullet points, silence makes a lot of sense. It’s a safety thing. Silence isn’t resistance. It’s uncertainty.
So, before opening things up, frame questions with something like:
- “There’s no right answer here, I’m just curious what you notice.”
- “I’m not looking for an A+ answer. Honesty is most helpful.”
- “Here’s some possible answers I’ve thought of…”
These may seem like small changes to tackle a big challenge, but they dramatically reduce the pressure your athletes feel. They’ll feel more confident and ready to engage before you even ask.
Asking a question without context is like handing someone a microphone at karaoke and saying, “Go.” If you’re like me, and your singing sounds eerily similar to an injured animal, you know how terrifying this is.
Put me in the same karaoke room, but say, “Everyone here is terrible, lyrics are on the screen, and clapping is mandatory.” It’s a lot easier, and context is king. Suddenly, people are willing to try.
Silence isn’t the enemy. It’s part of the process.
Most of us treat silence like talking to a telemarketer: we try to get through it as fast as humanly possible.
Dealing with silence probably goes something like this. You ask your question. No one answers. You feel discomfort. You feel the pull to rescue the moment in any way possible: repeat the question, rephrase it, answer it yourself, or keep talking until something happens.
The thing is, silence isn’t always a lack of engagement. Sometimes it’s just thinking.
If you rush to fill silence, you rob athletes of the chance to think.
Five seconds feels like an eternity when you’re leading the room. But that pause often gives athletes time to organize their thoughts and decide whether they’re willing to speak.
The first step is to wait a little longer than you think you need to before jumping in and saying anything. Then, if you really need to break the silence, good options include “It’s okay if this takes a moment,” or “Take a few seconds, no rush.” (There’s that context again).
Those phrases signal that thinking is both allowed and expected. All you need is one person to speak, and it will give others the courage to share as well.
It’s not the questions. It’s how you run the discussion
In my workshops, the way I structured the discussion was the biggest game-changer for engagement.
Athletes aren’t usually afraid of having an opinion. But they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing out loud, especially in front of their teammates.
Three simple changes to how you run discussions can change everything:
- Talk-write-share
If you ask a question and immediately open the floor, you’re asking athletes to think and speak at the same time. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fair share of mistakes when being asked to do this (and it’s quite literally my job). It’s a big ask, and it usually falls flat.
Instead of just tossing the question into the crowd like a T-shirt shot from a cannon at a sports game, I always follow the talk-write-share step-by-step structure.
- Randomly group the athletes into pairs
- Give the context and ask the question
- Tell athletes to first discuss their answers with their partners (in a 1v1 setting).
- Athletes then write down their thoughts on a post-it note (or in an online whiteboard platform like Padlet).
- Finally, ask the pairs, one by one, to share with the larger group.
With these steps, when they return to the bigger group, athletes aren’t sharing raw thoughts anymore. They’re sharing something they’ve both said out loud, had each other validate, and then written down.
This structure does a great job of creating a sense of comfort and safety when sharing one’s thoughts.
- Write before you speak
This is used in the talk-write-share structure above, but can also be used on its own. The change is simple: give athletes time to write down their thoughts before discussing the question with the group.
Writing does two things well:
- It gives space for athletes to reflect (since we all reflect and process at different speeds)
- It helps athletes find the language they want to use before they’re asked to do it publicly
I can’t tell you how many athletes have come up to me at the end of sessions and told me how helpful it was to have something to read when asked to answer a question in front of the group.
- Walk around the room
This is also used in the talk-write-share structure above. It’s one of the simplest tools you can use and one of the most overlooked.
When athletes are discussing in pairs or writing down their thoughts, don’t stay planted at the front of the room. Move.
Walk around. Listen in. Be present. Not in a way that feels like you’re checking on them… but in a way that shows you’re part of the process.
Your presence changes behaviour. When you walk around the room:
- Athletes stay more engaged because they know you’re nearby
- Conversations stay on track
- You get a real sense of what’s being said, not just what gets shared later
It also gives you something even more valuable. Insight.
You’ll start to notice patterns:
- Who’s struggling to answer
- Who has something meaningful but isn’t confident enough to share
- Which ideas are worth bringing back to the group
And that allows you to guide the discussion more effectively. You might say:
- “I heard a really interesting point over here. Would you be open to sharing it?”
- “A few groups mentioned something similar. Let’s explore that.”
Suddenly, you’re not just asking questions anymore. You’re facilitating.
The best coaches don’t just lead from the front. They work the room.
What the best coaches do too
Great discussions don’t happen by accident. They’re shaped by small, intentional behaviours from the coach. These behaviours may seem small, but they completely change how athletes show up.
They model the way
Athletes are very good at reading the room. If you ask for honesty but never model it yourself, they’ll feel that disconnect.
This isn’t about oversharing about your life or making it all about you. It means sometimes going first in a way that shows what’s allowed/expected.
That might sound like:
- “I used to struggle with this too.”
- “I didn’t always handle this well as an athlete.”
- “This is something that I am still working on to this day.”
When athletes see that honesty doesn’t get punished (in fact, praised), they’re more willing to take that risk themselves.
They praise the early sharers
The first person to speak is doing something brave. They’re taking a social risk that no one else has yet been willing to take.
How you respond to that moment matters more than anything else in the session.
If you brush past it or move on too quickly, you send a message: “That wasn’t important.” But if you slow down and reinforce it, you send a different message: “This is what we do here.”
That can sound like:
- “That’s a great example, thanks for sharing that.”
- “I really appreciate you going first there.”
- “That’s exactly the kind of honesty we’re looking for.”
Early sharers set the tone. Your reaction decides if others follow.
They reinforce the new norms
One good discussion doesn’t change behaviour. But repeated experiences do. If you want athletes to open up, you need to consistently reinforce what’s acceptable in the room.
That means:
- Acknowledging effort, not just “good answers.”
- Highlighting honesty when you see it
- Bringing attention back to the behaviours you want repeated
For example:
- “I like how honest that was.”
- “Notice how many different perspectives we’re hearing.”
- “This is what good discussion looks like.”
Culture isn’t created in one moment. It’s reinforced in a hundred small ones.
Confidence comes from repetition, not perfection
Contrary to popular belief, running engaging workshops doesn’t mean you need to have the charisma and humour of a stand-up comedian.
At its core, engaging workshops for athletes are about:
- Creating safety
- Connecting
- Structuring discussion so we learn about each other
- Knowing how to respond when things feel awkward
I’ve run sessions that felt amazing. And I’ve run sessions where I wanted to disappear into the floor. That’s part of it. You’re not trying to eliminate awkward moments. You’re learning how to handle them.
That is a skill that every coach in the world can learn.
Let Build Better Humans make your life easier
If this article resonated, what you’re probably looking for isn’t more ideas. Its structure you can rely on.
At Build Better Humans, we’ve built plug-and-play curriculum options that take the guesswork out of running sessions and help you consistently create engaging workshops and meaningful conversations with your athletes. One focuses on helping coaches support athletes in developing life skills through sport, with clear discussion prompts and guided activities. The other is built around mental performance skills, providing coaches with practical tools and questions they can use in brief, consistent touchpoints throughout the season.
Both are designed to reduce guesswork and increase engagement, so you can focus on the athletes in front of you. Explore the curriculum options here. Don’t want to run workshops yourself? No worries. Click here and we can run them for you.
