This coaching tip starts with a question: how does your student feel about the time he or she spends learning to drive with you? It’s an important question, because ultimately, you want the answer to be: “My student feels good about the learning experience she gets from me.”

Your student is never going to remember every detail of any one lesson. She’s going to remember the really important stuff (you hope), and she’s going to remember how she felt. It’s something we all do. No matter what we remember about any experience, one of the most lasting imprints of any memory is how we felt during the experience.

So, think about this question when you’re out giving your in-vehicle lessons. How does your student feel? Are you leaving your student feeling good about their abilities, feeling competent, feeling like they’re getting better? Asking yourself these questions will make you work on getting the answers you want from them.

Watch this video to see me, Patrick Barrett, the Driver Education Guru, talk more about the feelings you want your student to have while learning to drive.