UNC Health Leadership Coaching & ICF-RAC Co-Present:
The Extraordinary Space Between Ordinary Words
April 8, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm ET
CCEUs - CC 1.0, RD 0.0
Speaker: Dr. Haesun Moon
As a co-host, we are thrilled to be in collaboration with UNC Health Leadership Coaching to bring you this event.
Here's what we know: coaching conversations don't turn on the big moments. They turn in the microseconds between what your client says and what you say next. That tiny space—the breath before you speak—is where the real work happens.
This session is for experienced coaches who want to pay closer attention to what's happening in that space. We'll look at how ordinary words from Coaching A to Z—words like already, instead, and suppose—do quiet but powerful work. Each one orients the conversation toward different possibilities, inviting your client into a particular relationship with time, agency, and what matters.
We'll use microanalysis from communication science to slow down actual coaching moments and examine what these words are doing dialogically. It is an invitation to notice: What am I shaping when I choose this word instead of that one? Where is this conversation going? And is that where we want to be?
You will develop finer-grained awareness of the conversational moves you're already making including the following outcomes:
Learning Outcomes
- Notice how ordinary words shape the dialogic orientation of coaching conversations
- Recognize the relational and temporal work that words perform in real time
- Develop more intentional next-word choices that align with what you're trying to create with your clients
Bio:
Dr. Haesun Moon is a communication scientist, author, and educator who teaches at the University of Toronto and serves as a faculty member at the Institute of Coaching, a Harvard Medical School affiliate. She is the creator of the Dialogic Orientation Quadrant (DOQ), a framework used globally to understand and improve conversations in coaching, leadership, and education. As the founder of Pracademia, she bridges research and real-world practice with wit, warmth, and scholarly insight. Her work makes the science of human connection accessible, equipping leaders and learners with practical tools for more meaningful dialogue.
**Link provided after registration.**
