Coaching with the dice

A playful coaching exercise that brings structure and variety to coaching conversations and helps you move towards depth more quickly.

Sometimes a conversation flows naturally. Sometimes it stays stuck in repetition, hesitation, or polite answers that do not really go anywhere. In those moments, it usually does not help to ask more questions or push harder.

Coaching with the Dice is a practical coaching exercise that helps open up conversations in a light and accessible way. The dice gives structure to the conversation, while the questions offer direction. The exercise creates an opening, after which you as a coach can use your own skills to deepen the conversation, reflect, and guide it further.

What is it?

Coaching with the Dice works with a simple ritual: roll and ask one focused question. Each roll opens up a new perspective, helps break the conversation out of familiar patterns, and gives immediate direction without requiring you to push or force.

It is playful without becoming superficial, structured without becoming rigid. That is exactly what makes it so effective in coaching, training, team sessions, and reflection work.

Who is it for?

For coaches, trainers, and facilitators who work one-to-one, with teams, or with groups, and want to support reflection, action, and decision-making in an accessible way.

When do you use it?

• When there is resistance, repetition, or a lack of movement in the conversation
• When you want to increase ownership and involvement among coachees or participants
• When you want to open a conversation without a long explanation or a heavy exercise
• In groups, to engage everyone on equal footing

What does it bring?

• Faster perspective shifts and more variety in your questions
• More ownership through the combination of choice and chance
• Clear structure, with enough freedom for the conversation to unfold naturally
• A better sense of closure through a short debrief and a concrete next step

How does it work in practice?

1. Choose a theme card.
2. Let the coachee or participant roll the die.
3. Ask the matching question.
4. Explore further through follow-up questions.
5. Finish with a short debrief and a next step.

A short example from practice

A coachee rolls the die and lands on a question about values. This is often how the exercise works: a light entrance, followed by a conversation that can gradually deepen.

• Question: What matters to you here, even if you do not always act on it yet
• Coachee: “I think freedom. But I keep saying yes to things I do not really want.”
• Coach: “What makes it harder to choose that freedom in the moment?”
• Coachee: “I do not want to disappoint people.”
• Coach: “So there is a value underneath it, but also a tension. What do you notice now that you say that out loud?”

What do you get? (download)

• Coach guide, 28 pages
• 12 theme cards, each including: purpose, benefits, situations for use, points of attention, 6 dice questions, and debriefing tips
• Printable cards for coachees, 13 pages: 6 questions per theme to print and use
• A sample transcript to give you a feel for how a session can unfold

The 12 themes

• Building confidence
• Identifying needs
• Clarifying a goal
• Moving into action
• Evaluating a situation
• Making a decision
• Handling an emotion
• Exploring values
• Connecting with resources
• Managing time more effectively
• Reviewing a period or project
• Working on professional attitude

Good to know

This is a reflection tool, not a diagnostic tool. You do not need to go through every question. Choose what fits the moment. If a question does not connect, you can easily switch to another question or another theme card.

A simple tool that creates room for real conversation

A conversation does not have to be complete, deep, or remarkable right away. Sometimes a different exercise is enough to create a beginning, with just enough direction to move beyond the point where a conversation might otherwise stay stuck. From that opening, you as a coach can use your own skills to deepen the conversation, reflect, and guide it further. That is exactly what this exercise is designed to do.