Communication Coaching FAQs

CxC offers writing support, spoken project support, visual project support, and support for technological projects for undergraduate students. 

• If you want to meet with a coach one-on-one, we offer in-person and Zoom appointments.
• If your schedule doesn’t allow you to meet one-on-one, you can upload your work to receive asynchronous feedback. 
• If you want to work things out on your own, we also offer self-guided resources.

Schedule a time to meet with a coach

No. If you are working on another kind of communication project, you can schedule an appointment with a coach who specializes in visual, spoken, or technological communication by selecting the appropriate service from the drop-down menu on the scheduling page.

All coaching services are available to LSU students at no additional cost. 

• Coaches can help you during all stages of the process, from planning and drafting to revising. Keep in mind, though, that the most useful conferences happen early in the process.
• Coaches will discuss options to improve various features of a project, such as development, organization, audience adaptation, clarity and coherence.
• Coaches will also work with you to set long-term goals that will transfer to future communication tasks.

• We do not copy-edit or co-create your work. 
• We do not evaluate grades you already received, guarantee grades or estimate what grade we expect your paper to get.
• We do not and will not report sessions to your professor or any party outside of the CxC team (except for disclosures related to Title IX reporting).
  • If your professor offers an extra-credit assignment, you are responsible for providing your own proof of attendance. We request that you not include CxC staff/coaches in any photos you take as proof.

Our communication coaches are trained to first help you ensure that you are addressing the overall idea and organizational concerns of your project. Together, you and your coach will check to make sure the thesis/main argument, support, and overall aspects of the project are in accordance with the assignment and your goals. 

From there, time permitting, you and the coach may review some finishing touches like punctuation and grammar to identify patterns of error. Most writers make the same types of errors when they write. Once patterns of error are identified, you will learn how to proofread for and correct that error. The coach will guide you through the first examples to clarify the rules and then encourage you to proofread the rest of the text.

Keep in mind, CxC communication coaches are trained to help you as the communicator rather than to fix a paper or assignment, so that as your communication assignments and goals continue to develop you are setting yourself up for future success.

Visit the Self-Guided Resources page for links to resources related to a variety of communication modes and projects.

Visit the Locations page to see where the CxC studios are located on campus and to learn more about the resources available in each space.

If you’re currently in the early planning stages, please bring/upload any notes, outlines, or ideas you have. If you’ve begun developing your project, please bring/upload a working draft. Always include a copy of the assignment details with rubric (where applicable) and bring something to take notes.

Your coach will first work with you to set limited goals for your session. No one can rethink and rework an entire project in 30 minutes, so you will work together to determine a focus and strategies for making your next draft more effective. You are welcome to make follow-up appointments depending on your needs and how far along you are with your project.

You and the coach will discuss the following questions:

• Is this project a part of a school assignment? What guidelines have been provided for you?
• Where are you in the process?
• When does your timeline look like, and what deadlines are you working with?
• What are your concerns?

Each session is customized to your needs and will vary depending on what stage you are in with your writing project. The coach will suggest working first on higher order concerns—content and organization. They may ask these questions to help with content:

• What is your purpose?
• Who is your audience?
• What is your persona as the writer/speaker/designer?
• What tone will be most appropriate and how will you create it?

Once you have a good sense of content and organization, you will be ready to focus on the minor details of your project (such as punctuation and delivery style). If you get to this point, your coach will help you to identify patterns of error or discuss refining stylistic choices.

Our scheduling system is called WCOnline. You can set up an account using your myLSU credentials.

Once you're logged in, you can choose from several options to choose the type of session you need from the main page or by clicking the Schedules dropdown menu. 

On the Schedule page, you can continue to choose options depending on what you need, including the coach you want to meet, the type of coaching you're seeking, and the type of meeting.

Availability is color-coded. White indicates an open appointment slot, red indicates a booked appointment, and dark blue indicates the coach is unavailable. Click the white box for the appointment slot you want to select.

After you choose the time you want to meet, you'll see a pop-up window asking for additional information about your session. This helps us prepare before we meet with you and better understand what you're hoping to achieve. The more information you're able to provide, the better your session will be.

When your session is confirmed, you will receive a follow-up email with details and a Zoom link (if applicable). Unless otherwise noted, all in-person sessions will take place in 151 Coates Hall.

Note: If you have accessibility challenges when scheduling an appointment through WCOnline, please give us a call at 225-578-7656 so we can assist you.

We use Zoom. Each of our coaches has a personal meeting room used for taking appointments, which you can find on WCOnline.

After scheduling your appointment, you should receive a confirmation email that includes the meeting URL for your session. This information is also available in our coaches’ bios in WCOnline. To start your session, you will need to follow that URL and log in using your LSU information. We recommend doing this a few minutes before your session start time so you can download the necessary components.

You are not required to use the camera (though it is encouraged), but we do ask that you enable your audio. You will rely primarily on the screen sharing and audio exchange functions of Zoom.

Please have whatever materials you plan to refer to during the session already open on your device. This includes but is not limited to any sample materials provided by your instructor, rubric, guidelines/prompts, and (of course) the work you have produced and would like to discuss.

Asynchronous means that you upload your project and information about it via the appointment slot that you booked on our Asynchronous Consultations scheduler in WCOnline. After a coach reviews your materials, they will send notes back to you via email. 

• We hold our asynchronous sessions to the same standards as our real-time ones.
• Each submission will be given the standard 30 minutes for review.
• Coach feedback will be given in the form of a comment sheet, which will be attached to your appointment session in WCOnline and emailed to you. No changes or comments will be made to your submission file.
• This is NOT an editing service or grammar check. Our coaches are trained to provide substantive feedback aimed at improving not only the effectiveness of the project you submit but also your communication skills as a whole.

While we make every effort to return feedback within 24 hours, we recommend submitting your document for feedback at least 36 hours before your assignment is due. Forms completed after 3 p.m. on Friday will not be reviewed until the following Monday.

Absolutely! We are committed to ensuring that our online students receive equitable access to our services. Currently, we offer one-on-one appointments via Zoom for written, spoken, visual and technological communication projects. We also offer asynchronous services for students who are unable to attend a real-time session. With this service, you can submit your project draft along with assignment instructions and information about your progress via WCOnline, and a coach will review the materials and return feedback in the form of a comment sheet. For students who prefer to work things out on their own, we also offer a number of self-guided resources.

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