There are certain phrases that become attached to teaching like gum on the bottom of a shoe. You don’t notice them at first. Then one day you hear yourself say them fifteen times in a single class and suddenly realize they have become part of your identity behind the mic. “Now we’re gonna…” is one of them.
As a teacher trainer, I can almost predict the phrases that will take hold in new instructors before they even begin teaching. “Okay.” “Good.” “So.” “Now we’re gonna.” They are thinking words. They buy us time. They fill silence while our brain catches up to our mouth. They reassure our clients that we have not forgotten them while we try to figure out what comes next. And in the beginning, that is understandable. Teaching is fast. Your brain is scanning choreography, music, timing, bodies, injuries, modifications, personalities, and your own nerves all at once. Those filler phrases become little life rafts.
But eventually, if you want to stand in your power as a teacher, you have to let go of the raft.
The strongest instructors do not sound like they are searching for a plan. They sound like they already know where everyone is going. Confidence in teaching is not about volume or ego. It is about clarity. It is about direction. Your clients should feel like they are being led somewhere intentionally. Even when you are adjusting on the fly, the room should feel guided rather than managed.
I had a strict beginning to teaching. My mentor Lydia was not interested in casual language in class. I still remember walking into a room full of women and greeting everyone with “Hi guys.” She immediately corrected me. Not one male was in the room, yes, but that wasn’t even the real issue. To her, it was too informal. It diminished the role of the leader in the room. “Well done ladies” disappeared from my vocabulary too. And I was never allowed to say “abs.” It was always “abdominals.” Specificity mattered. Precision mattered. Language mattered.
At the time, I probably thought some of it was excessive. But years later, I understand what she was really teaching me. She was teaching me that words create authority. They create trust. They shape how people perceive your knowledge and your confidence. Every cue you use is either strengthening your position as a leader or quietly weakening it.
That doesn’t mean you have to sound robotic. It does not mean you need to become overly polished or stripped of personality. Anyone who has taken my classes knows I swear like a sailor. But I also know exactly when it costs me the room. I can feel it happen. I can hear listening ears shut off because my own tongue stole impact from the message. Sometimes the easiest words to grab are not the best words to use. Sometimes the language that feels most natural to us personally does not best serve us professionally.
And that is hard to admit because many of us build identities around language. Certain phrases feel like home. Certain words feel emotionally satisfying. My brain moves quickly. It settles on the easiest path available. Most teachers’ brains do. But easy is not always effective. Familiar is not always powerful.
“Now we’re gonna” is usually not about the exercise. It is about hesitation.
It sounds small, but clients hear uncertainty faster than teachers realize. Imagine sitting in the backseat of a car while someone driving says, “Okayyyy… now we’re gonna… uh…” while approaching a roadblock. Even if they eventually figure it out, your nervous system notices the pause before your brain does. You feel the lack of certainty. That same thing happens in class. Clients are constantly reading the energy of the instructor. They are asking themselves, consciously or unconsciously, “Am I safe here? Is this person leading me somewhere intentionally?”
The irony is that many teachers use filler language because they are trying to appear calm. But the filler itself exposes the uncertainty.
And look, sometimes classes do go off script. You planned one thing and then you walk into the room and realize half the class has knee injuries. Or your clients are significantly weaker than expected. Or way more advanced. Or the energy in the room is flat and your original plan is dying in front of your eyes. Great teachers pivot all the time. That is not weakness. That is skill.
But own the pivot.
Do not drag your clients through your uncertainty while you figure it out publicly.
Instead of “now we’re gonna try this,” say, “It’s time to take this up a notch.” Instead of sounding apologetic for the adjustment, say, “I found a better way for us to connect to this muscle group.” Rally the room. Lead the room. Make it feel intentional even when it is spontaneous.
Because clients are not coming to class to watch you think.
They are coming because they want to stop thinking for a little while.
They want to trust someone else to guide them through the next hour. They want to feel held by the structure of the class. The more confidence and clarity you provide, the more freedom your clients feel inside the workout itself.
One of the biggest mistakes new teachers make is believing that confidence means never making mistakes. It doesn’t. Clients forgive mistakes all the time. They forgive forgotten choreography. They forgive a mixed-up right and left side. They forgive the occasional awkward transition. What they struggle to forgive is insecurity that asks them to carry the emotional burden of the class with you.
If every transition sounds hesitant, the room begins to feel hesitant too.
This is why cueing matters so much. Cueing is not just instructional. It is energetic. Your language creates the emotional rhythm of the room. Sharp language creates momentum. Clear language creates trust. Decisive language creates safety.
Even simple shifts matter.
Instead of:
“Now we’re gonna do arms.”
Try:
“Grab your weights.”
“Take the arms overhead.”
“Let’s challenge shoulder stability.”
“Bring your focus to upper body strength.”
The cue moves forward instead of hovering in indecision.
And this goes beyond filler words. It is also about whether your language represents you well. Does the way you speak match the level of professionalism you want attached to your name? Does it reflect the experience you want clients to have? Does it support your expertise or dilute it?
Teaching is performance in many ways. Not fake performance. But intentional performance. Your energy affects the room whether you realize it or not. Your pacing affects the room. Your word choice affects the room. The best instructors understand that leadership is not accidental. It is built.
That does not mean becoming someone else.
It means becoming more deliberate about who you already are.
There is also something deeper happening underneath filler language that teachers rarely discuss. Silence feels vulnerable. New instructors often fear pauses because they think silence exposes inexperience. So they fill every second with sound. But powerful teachers understand that pauses can create authority too. A well-placed pause can command more attention than ten rushed words stacked together.
If you know what comes next, you do not have to rush to prove it.
You can breathe.
You can observe.
You can choose your words carefully.
That level of calm is magnetic in a teacher.
I often tell trainees that clients are borrowing your nervous system for the hour. If you sound frantic, they feel frantic. If you sound uncertain, they feel uncertain. If you sound grounded, they settle into the work more deeply.
And the beautiful thing is that this skill can absolutely be trained.
Start listening to yourself. Record your classes. Notice your patterns without judgment. Most teachers are shocked the first time they hear how often they repeat the same filler phrases. That awareness alone changes things. Then begin replacing those phrases intentionally. Not with perfection. With purpose.
You do not need bigger vocabulary to become a stronger teacher. You need more deliberate vocabulary.
You need to stop apologizing for taking up leadership space.
Because the truth is, many instructors hide behind casual language to avoid fully stepping into authority. Authority can feel uncomfortable, especially for people who naturally want to be liked. But leadership and likability are not the same thing. Your clients do not need you to sound like their buddy every second of class. They need you to lead them confidently through an experience they could not create alone.
That is your job.
So the next time “now we’re gonna…” starts climbing out of your mouth, pause for a second. Ask yourself what you actually mean. Ask yourself what direction you are truly trying to give. Then say that instead.
Specific.
Clear.
Intentional.
Because your words are part of your teaching technique.
And the strongest teachers are not just teaching exercises.
They are teaching trust.
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