Episode 74

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Published on:

22nd Jan 2026

Coaching Masters with Brian Galke (Subtle Skills)

In this Coaching Masters episode, we dive into one of my favorite intersections: teaching, mastery, and human connection, through the very specific lens of what your face is saying before you ever open your mouth.

My guest is Brian Galke, known as The Decoding Detective, founder of Subtle Skills: a company that teaches people how to read facial features and nonverbal cues so they can build instant rapport, communicate clearly, and create more powerful connections in business and in life.

If you’ve ever wished you could “read the room” faster, connect with clients more deeply, sell with integrity, or simply feel less awkward as an introvert in an extroverted world, this is your episode.

We talk about:

  1. How Brian went from introverted help-desk tech to regional VP of sales managing a $40M portfolio — largely by decoding faces and adjusting his communication
  2. Why many of the best teachers, speakers, and coaches are introverts or ambiverts, not “natural extroverts”
  3. The link between facial features and how people process information (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)
  4. How eyebrows, lids, ears and even that little line under the lip offer clues into how someone thinks, decides, and feels loved
  5. Why reading faces is not “profiling” or manipulation — but a tool for empathy and understanding
  6. The alarming reality that younger generations are losing basic in-person communication skills (eye contact, presence, interviews)
  7. How to stand out as AI and automation take over “good enough” communication — and why true presence and connection will only become more valuable
  8. The deeper psychological and spiritual need we all share: to feel seen and heard, not just processed and replied to

This is not an episode about tricks or gimmicks. It is an episode about attention as a superpower, and the kind of subtle mastery that separates the top 1–2% of teachers, leaders, and salespeople from everyone else.

https://subtleskills.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Subtle-Skills-4-Page-Cheat-Sheet-Eyebrows-Eyelids-Eye-Angles.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoqVfHMbkAPxXhfgqjuW4dhS4LeRQdqTqlLw-lV--jUxZrhW6k1x

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

  1. How Brian “accidentally” discovered face decoding over dinner and had his own personality read back to him
  2. Why introverts often make the best observers, teachers and coaches — and how to use that to your advantage
  3. How to use facial features to quickly adapt your communication (for clients, partners, teams, and yes, dates)
  4. Why he calls his company Subtle Skills — and how these micro-skills quietly transform your results
  5. How door-to-door sales teams, hiring managers, and even people dating online use his system in real life
  6. A simple way to make people feel truly seen in a world of distraction (and why this alone can change someone’s day)


About Brian Galke

Brian Galke is a speaker, trainer, and founder of Subtle Skills, specializing in decoding facial features to improve communication, sales, and relationships. He has trained sales teams, leaders, and entrepreneurs across multiple industries, helping them create instant rapport and deeper trust by actually understanding the person in front of them.

He’s taken his own journey from introverted help-desk support, to regional VP of sales, to full-time speaker and teacher — building a hyper-focused niche around one big idea: your face is talking long before you speak.

Learn more about Brian & Subtle Skills:

Website:

https://subtleskills.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorqul78Yoekppy7160G6a__byVFcIdtmNYxQAuzDPuXXZsL7rpn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briangalke/?hl=en


If you loved this episode, please subscribe, rate, and share it with someone who cares about mastery, teaching, and the art of truly seeing people.

To learn more about Coach Keren Eldad and With Enthusiasm Coaching, go to: www.KerenEldad.com

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About the Podcast

COACHED with Coach Keren
Coaching mastery, personal transformation, leadership development, spiritual growth, burnout recovery, and business reinvention start here. Welcome to Season 5 of Coached: The Coaching Masters, where the world’s top teachers, coaches, spiritual guides, and conscious entrepreneurs share the real story behind transformation and leadership. Hosted by master coach Keren Eldad, this season explores the full arc of becoming a teacher and leader. Each episode explores coaching at its core, not as a polished highlight reel, but as a soul-centered journey. We go behind the scenes of coaching businesses, leadership breakthroughs, burnout recovery, and conscious entrepreneurship. You’ll discover how teachers turn personal pain into wisdom, purpose, and coaching mastery.

This season features transformative conversations with master teachers, bestselling authors and podcasters such as Byron Katie, founder of The Work, revealing how to break free from suffering. Dr. Kristin Neff, global authority on self-compassion, shares the truth behind inner kindness. Jessica Zweig opens up on collapse, rebirth, and her platform: The Spiritual Hustler. Danielle LaPorte speaks on softness, strength, and heart-centered leadership. Craig Siegel shares insights on business reinvention, financial success and transformation. Kurtis Lee Thomas dives into breathwork, burnout recovery, and becoming a true vessel for change.

What listeners will walk away with: personal transformation, leadership growth, spiritual insight, business breakthroughs — and all of the above. You’ll gain insight into your own journey through these role models. Reframe coaching leadership as a soulful, grounded path. Receive spiritual wisdom from teachers who embody what they teach. Discover business breakthroughs rooted in alignment, not hustle. And gain permission to evolve, unravel, and rebuild again and again.

In this season of Coached: The Coaching Masters, we explore emotional resilience, energetic alignment, spiritual awakening, business reinvention, leadership development, coaching business growth, and personal transformation. These honest conversations reveal the real work behind building coaching mastery and conscious entrepreneurship with integrity. Whether you're a coach, leader, entrepreneur, or in a season of reinvention, this podcast is your guide. You’ll gain insights from role models who’ve lived it, leadership development rooted in alignment, business reinvention strategies with purpose, spiritual growth grounded in wisdom, and burnout recovery guidance for rebuilding with intention.

Keren Eldad brings mastery, heart, and wisdom to each conversation, helping you evolve personally, spiritually, and professionally. If you are searching for coaching mastery, personal transformation, spiritual growth, leadership development, burnout recovery, business reinvention, coaching business growth, and conscious entrepreneurship, this season will be your essential companion. Join us for earned wisdom, deep transformation, and coaching that changes lives. Subscribe now to Coached: The Coaching Masters and begin your journey of conscious leadership, soulful business reinvention, and personal mastery.

About the Host: Keren Eldad (“Coach Keren”) is a top executive coach helping Founders, Olympic athletes and Fortune 500 leaders reach success. As the bestselling author of GILDED, she empowers individuals to redefine success and unlock their full potential. Recognized as a Top Ten Executive Coach by the ICF, Real Leaders, and Goop, Keren holds advanced degrees from The London School of Economics and the University of Jerusalem. With 500,000+ TEDx views and a global presence, her insights inspire leaders worldwide.


Resources
Website: https://www.kereneldad.com
Email: keren@kereneldad.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/coachkeren
Facebook: www.facebook.com/livewithenthusiasm

About your host

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Keren Eldad

A thought leader in the coaching world, Keren Eldad (“Coach Keren”) specializes in taking high achievers out of the futility of constant pursuit and into the greatest levels of success and fulfillment. Her coaching clients include Olympic athletes, politicians, Hollywood stars, supermodels, Special Forces operatives and serial entrepreneurs, as well as renowned global organizations such as Estée Lauder, J.P. Morgan, and Nike… She is also the founder of THE CLUB, a community of leaders, entrepreneurs and coaches who encourage and support each other to reach their fullest potential and make their greatest contribution.
Recognized as a Top Ten Executive Coach by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Real Leaders Magazine, & Goop, Keren maintains gold-standard coaching credentials on top of her advanced academic degrees from The London School of Economics and the University of Jerusalem. She is also a former C-suite executive, who has lived and worked in 17 countries and on four continents, and now coaches leaders all around the globe in four languages: English, Spanish, Hebrew and French. With half a million views on her TEDx talks, and speaking engagements all over the world, Keren’s message seems to transcend borders. She hopes it resonates with you.
Coach Keren resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Ryan, and many beloved pets.
For booking and coaching consultations, contact: Lee@KerenEldad.com