How to develop and utilize video stories to promote effective psychosocial and sociocultural coaching practice

Stories are a valuable and effective tool to disseminate research findings to coaches. However, the use of stories, although encouraged, is not mainstream in coach education and usually represented (i.e., written) as realist tales (e.g., case studies) (Van Maanen, 2011). In contrast, recent research suggests that coaches prefer stories in video format due to the communication of emotional, verbal, and non-verbal behaviors, which underpins the complexity of psychosocial and sociocultural coaching practice (Szedlak et al., 2018). Thus, the aim of this presentation is to outline practical steps of (1) how to write research-based stories using creative analytical practices and (2) the process of developing video stories to highlight their potential to promote effective psychosocial and sociocultural coaching practice. We wrote and produced three video stories that portrayed ineffective psychosocial and sociocultural coaching practice, including issues such as: ableism, ageism, sexism, racism, and unequal power-relationships. As part of a broader project (funded by the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada), these video stories will be utilized as a learning tool for strength and conditioning coaches to reflect on opportunities and gaps within their formal coach education to identify psychosocial and sociocultural competencies. Outlining the steps taken to develop and utilize these video stories, we aim to demystify the process of how to effectively use video stories and encourage coach educators to more readily include video stories as a learning tool in coach education.