Online sessions

If you'll hold your sessions online, ensure you have all the technical stuff set up and working. A stable internet connection is crucial - if you can't depend on your wifi, you can use cellular data from your phone. A quality webcam and a good mic are a must, too - higher-end laptops have them by default, but there are affordable options, even if you have to buy them separately.

Choose a backdrop without distracting elements - your clothes hanger or kids running around in the background will not look professional. Place the camera at your eye level so you're not literally looking down at the client. Never have your camera facing the window - to compensate for the harsh light from it during the day, the camera will underexpose the scene and make you darker. At night, the window will reflect your room.

In-person sessions

As we mentioned in Lesson 1, the best option for in-person sessions is to have your own office if it's possible and financially feasible. Otherwise, you will either be invited to visit the client or have to depend on co-working or public spaces like cafes or restaurants.

For the last option, choose a calm spot with enough space (especially if you'll be using laptops) and privacy to talk without interruptions. If it's busy, make a reservation in advance or have a nearby backup option.

Session structure

You don't want to go to a session without a precise idea of how it's going to unfold. If this is your first time, try to find online some real-world examples of what a session in your industry should look like, or at least some tips from established professionals on how to approach it. 

Reserve specific time for all necessary points you want to discuss and get through. Divide your session into multiple parts, make a bullet-point list of everything you want to cover, and read it aloud at the beginning of the session. If there's a set of questions you always ask, place them where they belong within the session. When you want to move to the next part during the session, always ask the client - if he forgot to mention something, it will be a nice reminder that now's the time.

If possible, find out beforehand how flexible the client is with the number of sessions. Rather than fixing on a specific number, agree on a range you are both comfortable with. This will help you avoid the awkwardness of asking the client whether he wants an extra hour every time you stumble upon something unexpected that would make you go over the limit.

Keeping the session on track

Depending on your industry and the nature of the sessions (and their number), the pressure to stick to the timetable may vary. In any case, it's important to keep the session what it should be, recognize when it's starting to get off the rails, and not be afraid to intervene.

We're working with the presumption that your client wants to get what he wants from you in the shortest time (lowest number of billable hours) possible and that you want to fulfill the client's expectations and don't needlessly prolong the sessions.

To help you know what exactly to look out for, here are a couple of ways your session can go off the script:

1. Talkative client - Some people like to talk. That's not a problem in general, but it may be for you if a representative of this group happens to be your client. There's no problem for them to spend 10 minutes describing a thing that can be summed up in 2 minutes without any loss of context. Take a couple of these, and your session is up without you having a chance to speak. We recommend gently interrupting such a client the very second you are confident that you know what he wants to say and finish the whole point yourself with a question mark at the end, so he knows you want him to confirm you got it right. If you aren't correct, the client will usually quickly tell you where you are wrong.

2. Going off-topic - When you recognize the topic of the conversation is getting into something else than you both originally intended, say it and repeat the original topic of the session and describe it in a way that excludes the off-topic topic from your further conversation.

3. Focusing on unnecessary details - A common newbie mistake is to be so ready and willing to help your client, that you zoom into every single detail he mentions and try to offer your input. Unless that's the objective of your session, you will never get to the big picture - or if you do, it will take a lot more time than you have probably allocated.

Even if the reason your session(s) didn't deliver the client what he wanted will be the client himself, he will rarely be self-aware enough to acknowledge it. It's not about keeping the number and duration of sessions as low as possible. We just want you to be ready to recognize when you or the client is unintentionally sabotaging the sessions. If the client knows that one of the things mentioned above is happening and he's okay with it, everything is fine.