Rating Corner: The Voice That Remains
Skydivers must make decisions in seconds. The body may act automatically while the mind faces an intensity few situations demand. In those critical moments—once the jump begins—the student no longer has access to a conversation with their instructor. But they do have access to the voice the instructor left behind.
That voice can be clear or confusing, empowering or limiting, confident or fearful. Though invisible, it is the voice that follows the skydiver through their most decisive moments. And sometimes, that voice even comes with the instructor’s face and gestures. Instructors play an essential, invisible role: shaping the way students talk to themselves, think under pressure and respond to the unexpected. Instructors not only teach students how to fly, but also how to face stress, uncertainty and rapid decision-making.
The Pedagogy of Tone: Beyond the Technical
Most instructor training focuses on procedures, checklists, emergency protocols and rules. It doesn’t always include guidance on the emotional and verbal side of how to communicate—and that is exactly where you plant the most powerful seeds.
When you tell a student: “You can’t afford to get this wrong!”—that phrase stays. When you say: “Trust your training. You’ve got this. If something happens, you know what to do.”—that also stays. The voice that stays can be empowering or paralyzing, steady or anxious. It becomes part of the student’s internal dialogue when they’re alone in the air.
The Pedagogy of the Body: The Message That Needs No Words
As an instructor you carefully refine your language, yet it is easy to forget that your body teaches, too. Your posture, gaze, gestures and physical tone communicate just as much as your verbal instructions.
When you stand in front of a student with tension, crossed arms and a stern look, you send a clear message: “You’re being evaluated. Don’t mess up.” But when your body communicates calm, openness and presence—when your posture says, “I’m with you, not against you”—that also stays.
Students don’t just learn from the content—they learn from how they feel in your presence. And that feeling builds a form of emotional muscle memory that can empower or restrict them when they’re alone—at the door, in freefall or under canopy.
Under Stress, the Brain Repeats
In moments of fear, acceleration or surprise, the brain replays. It will replay what it has heard consistently, especially from authority figures. The example you set and the voice you use become your student’s internal script, one that can be the difference between:
• panicking or executing emergency procedures
• freezing or responding in time at deployment
• having a bad jump and learning from it or self-blaming for weeks
What Can You Do as an Instructor?
1| Speak with Positive Emotional Intent
Use language that promotes safety, presence, responsibility and calm, and align it with a posture that reinforces the message. If you say “trust yourself” with tense shoulders and no eye contact, the message won’t land. Congruence between what you say and how you embody it is key for internalization.
2| Model Emotional Self-Regulation
Students remember your body language, tone, breathing and energy just as vividly as your words. Your breathing is contagious. A steady inhale before giving an instruction can help soothe a dysregulated nervous system. You teach regulation simply by being regulated.
3| Remember That Posture Teaches, Too
A body that is available—not invasive, but present—creates a space where students can treat mistakes as learning opportunities, not threats. Students remember that feeling far beyond the technical steps of the exercise.
4| Be as Mindful of the “How” as You Are of the “What”
It’s not just the procedure that stays—it’s the tone, the rhythm and the respect you showed while teaching it. Your posture, your gaze and your gestures must communicate stability and trust. A grounded, open body regulates the student’s nervous system just as much as a well-spoken phrase.
Professionalizing skydiving instruction means more than technical excellence; it also means developing a conscious emotional pedagogy. A good instructor teaches procedures. A great instructor also teaches emotional regulation, safety, autonomy and resilience. The difference begins with how you speak to your students.
What voice are you leaving behind? Each class, briefing and debriefing plants a seed. The question is not only, “What technique did I teach today?” but “What voice did I plant in my student?” Because that is the voice that will remain when you are no longer there.
Maria Ospina D-37910
AFF and Coach Examiner
Owner, Skydive Colombia in Flandes, Tolimo