How a 0-10 Scale Will Transform Your Communication

Binary questions are easy — and often misleading. In this episode, we break down one of the most powerful (and underused) communication tools in pelvic health, leadership, and life: the 0–10 scale. Instead of asking questions that are heavily influenced by power dynamics, assumptions, or people-pleasing (“Are you okay with this?”), the 0–10 scale opens the door to nuance, curiosity, and honesty. We discuss: Why yes/no questions shut conversations down How a 0–10 scale creates psychological safety and intellectual humility How defining the ends of the scale matters just as much as the number Why the scale naturally leads to better follow-up questions How this tool keeps conversations collaborative instead of adversarial We shares real-world examples of using the scale: Gaining consent for internal vaginal or rectal treatment Asking about comfort with students or shadowing Clarifying goals like returning to running or biking (and whether those are real goals) Interviewing clinicians and understanding true interest in patient populations Navigating employee requests without jumping straight into action This simple shift turns communication into interaction — and helps you gather better information, build trust faster, and avoid unnecessary conflict. 🎓 48-Hour Clinical Course Sale To celebrate this episode, we’re running a 48-hour flash sale on all Pelvic PT Rising clinical courses. This is the only sale like this we’ve done all year If you’ve been thinking about taking one of Nicole’s clinical courses, this is the time. 👉 Learn more and grab your course at www.pelvicptrising.com/clinical About Us Nicole and Jesse Cozean founded Pelvic PT Rising to provide clinical and business resources to physical therapists to change the way we treat pelvic health. PelvicSanity Physical Therapy (www.pelvicsanity.com) together in 2016. It grew quickly into one of the largest cash-based physical therapy practices in the country. Through Pelvic PT Rising, Nicole has created clinical courses (www.pelvicptrising.com/clinical) to help pelvic health providers gain confidence in their skills and provide frameworks to get better patient outcomes. Together, Jesse and Nicole have helped 800+ pelvic practices start and grow through the Pelvic PT Rising Business Programs (www.pelvicptrising.com/business) to build a practice that works for them! Get in Touch! Learn more at www.pelvicptrising.com, follow Nicole @nicolecozeandpt (www.instagram.com/nicolecozeandpt) or reach out via email ([email protected]). Check out our Clinical Courses, Business Resources and learn more about us at Pelvic PT Rising...Let's Continue to Rise!