Should you now invest in an NLP certification program? After all, you have just finished reading a book or went through a set of CDs on how NLP can possibly benefits you as a whole. You are now roaring to go, wanting it so badly to create positive changes in your life.

However, questions like “Is such courses worth it?”, “It is worthwhile to invest my time and money in an NLP certification program?” or “What can I actually stand to gain?” ran through your mind.

So, can attending an NLP certification course really helps you in your life?

Success lies in Application

First and foremost, we need to realize that there’s a big a difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know. Learning about NLP is really only half the battle won- the other side is really about output.

To be an effective NLP practitioner, you must be able to practice what you know. You should possess the skills and competence required to empower both yourself and others.

A good example will be present American President Barack Obama.

This is a man who does not just possess knowledge about NLP, but he’s able to put it to good use, evidently in delivering his speeches. It is his ability to anchor himself on confidence and use powerful language patterns in his presentations that sets him apart from most public speakers.

Although there are many who claim they know about NLP, there are only a minority who will actually be able to apply it.

Prior to attending our NLP Certification courses, some of our graduates had already read up numerous books on NLP. Yet, they were facing difficulty applying what they know.

For instance, they knew what resource anchoring is all about, including even the steps and approach of practicing this technique. Nonetheless, they were not getting the results they desired when attempted to use it.

And as they have claimed, it is through the guidance of a trainer and/or coach that they can truly understand the essence of the various NLP techniques and put them into practice.

Setbacks of other learning methods

DVDs and CD’s are an incredibly effective way of learning NLP.

Learning NLP through books is a good source for getting ideas and understanding the processes.

However, seeing and hearing it being delivered by an effective trainer and presenter will take your skills to a new level.

Certified and effective trainers will tend to use NLP techniques while presenting on it so that the practitioners can see how it is being applied and be able to pick up ideas, techniques and language patterns far quicker.

Reading alone, limits you to understanding exactly how certain commands, tools, anchors or pattern interrupts are being delivered.

Moreover, the problem about learning NLP through CDs and DVDs is that you may be practicing one technique or tool inappropriately and may not be getting the best results you could possibly realize (as compared to learning the tool under the supervision of a certified NLP trainer).

Practice makes Perfect

If you really want to get good at NLP, get practicing.

You will need to find a group that meets up regularly to practice NLP. Moreover it isn’t advisable to experiment NLP on your own. In fact, the more people you work with, the more experience you’ll get.

Joining a NLP certification class allows you to practice it with a large group of people.

Besides, people who join an NLP Certification Program are mostly prepared to deal with their challenges at hand, and are more willing to receive your help and allow you to practice the techniques on them.

This is essential because NLP will not work as effectively for an individual who’s not prepared to change yet. As the old saying goes, “The master will appear when the student is ready!”

Ultimately, NLP is about being flexible with your behaviour, so the more you work with different people, with different backgrounds, the quicker you will develop your skills as an effective NLP practitioner.

Becoming a NLP coach and/or trainer

Ever considered embarking on a career of becoming a NLP certified coach or trainer?

With an increased dissatisfaction of people towards their life in general, constant pain experienced in the society that we are living in, there’s an ever increasing demand for such qualified trainers and coaches all across the globe.

Today, there are already about thousands of NLP Practitioners in the marketplace, and the number is still growing rapidly. You too, could be part of this phenomenal force of good, if only you are prepared to take the necessary actions.

What is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)? How can you apply NLP techniques in your life? In this article, I will discuss all aspects of NLP and how you can benefit from NLP techniques.

What is NLP?

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a behavioural science that was developed in the 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. They had claimed that NLP had theories, principles, practices, methods and techniques of three varied fields – linguistics, computer science and neurology.

So NLP has three main components: neuro, language and programming.

NLP has often been defined as a “modeling excellence”. Modelling is the core activity in NLP and is the process of extricating and replicating the language structure and behavioural patterns of an individual who is excellent at a given activity.

NLP may be described best as “the science of human excellence”!

History of NLP

NLP originated when Richard Bandler, a student at University of California, Santa Cruz, was transcribing taped therapy sessions of the Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls as a project for the psychiatrist Robert Spitzer, who had commissioned Bandler to teach drums to his son.

Soon he was engaged in a different project for Spitzer and transcribed the recorded therapeutic sessions of therapist Fritz Perls. Bandler believed he recognized particular word and sentence structures which facilitated the acceptance of Perls’ positive suggestions. Bandler took this idea to one of his university teachers, John Grinder.

Then Bandler and Grinder together produced the model they named “Meta Model”, a model of what they believed to be influential word structures and how they work.. They also “modelled” the therapeutic sessions of the family therapist Virginia Satir.

They published a book “The Structure of Magic” in 1975 which contained their work. The main subject of the book was that it was possible to analyse and codify the therapeutic methods of Satir and Perl. They said that even the therapy appeared magical, everybody could learn it easily.

British anthropologist Gregory Bateson introduced Bandler and Grinder to Milton Erickson, an American psychiatrist and founding member of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis.

Erickson was well known for his unconventional approach to therapy, for his ability to “utilize” anything about a patient to help them change, including their beliefs, favorite words, cultural background, personal history, or even their neurotic habits. He treated the unconscious mind as creative, solution-generating, and positive medium.

Soon Erickson became the third model for NLP.

Today, NLP is a profitable industry and many variants of the practice are found in seminars, workshops, books and audio programs in the form of exercises and principles that intend to influence behavioral and emotional change in self and others. There is great variation in the depth and breadth of training and standards of practitioners, and some disagreement between those in the field about which patterns are, or are not “NLP.”

NLP Principles

There are 2 important principles of NLP.

1- The Map is Not the Territory. As human beings, we don’t understand the reality, we only understand the perceptions of the reality. We respond to the world around us through our sensory representational systems. It means that it is “neuro-linguistic” map of reality which determines how we behave, but not the reality itself.

2- Life and ‘Mind’ are Systemic Processes. The processes taking place within a human being and between human beings and environment are systematic. It is not possible to isolate the part of the system from the rest of the system.

All NLP techniques and models are based on these 2 principles.

How Can NLP Help YOU?

Training in Neuro Linguistic Programming benefits you in different ways. It mainly helps to maximize your power of communication with others.

NLP is the practice of understanding how people organise their thinking, feeling, language and behaviour to produce the results they do.

NLP also helps to understand and alter unconscious behaviors. NLP teaches how our brain works, how we store the information and the most important, how we can change our behaviors etc.

Many people study NLP to help them become more effective in their chosen field. The patterns can be employed across a wide area of applications ranging from fields as diverse as education, team building, sales, marketing, personal development, leadership and coaching. Wherever there is human interaction and growth potential, NLP can be used to develop and enhance performance.

NLP techniques are widely used in teaching, self help, management and other spheres. NLP is generally taught in an accelerated manner using direct examples and hands-on experimental training. One of the best ways to learn NLP is working with NLP practitioner.

You can also learn it from books, seminars and online home study courses and apply NLP techniques in your life.

There is an NLP toolbox which has a wealth of information about nlp including some of the most sought after secrets in nlp. Many practitioners will recommend that you read as much as possible about nlp in order to increase your knowledge and understanding of the subject.

In order to benefit the most from nlp practitioner training, you should prepare for a change in yourself that will benefit you in all aspects of life. NLP can enable you to reach new heights in any area of your life by understanding how to effectively communicate on an amazing level.

If you are considering NLP practitioner training, then take a look at this. Giacomo Bruno, the President of Autostima, an Italian NLP society, and engineer has released an extremely powerful NLP product that includes his amazing teachings as an NLP trainer. Giacomo has put a ton of information together for anybody to purchase and study from within the comfort of your home and at your own pace. The product includes a set of DVDs to watch that are highly detailed and extremely educational for nlp training.

Reading as much quality information as you can get your hands on is the best way for you to prepare for nlp practitioner training before actually attending the actual course. Don’t be under prepared with knowledge when you are entering the complicated world on NLP, instead equip yourself with teachings from nlp trainers around the world. That is possible now with the use of the internet and sharing information from anywhere and with anyone. Use this to your advantage in your NLP experience.

This Guy Used NLP To Go From a Dropout To Making Millions of Dollars!

How would you like to be a school dropout one day to making millions of dollars another day?

Well now you can learn how one guy, named Adam Khoo, used NLP to take his success to a place that he never thought he would ever be. So if you are interested in taking your life and implementing nlp to become a success, then you must check out his site.

Complete NLP Practitioner Training and Change Your Life

When you complete your nlp practitioner training, you will have completed a huge task in your life that will forever benefit you and everyone around you. NLP is quickly becoming a subject of many discussions and will in time start to become more widely accepted by more people. You have the opportunity to make an impact on many different aspects and levels. You can use your nlp practitioner training to train others who are interested in becoming an nlp practitioner. You can also use your training to implement nlp into areas of your life such as your career or relationships with others. No matter what you decide to do with your nlp practitioner training, it will benefit you in a positive way.

NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming, that magic word what does it conjure up? For many NLP practitioners its technology for the 21st Century, called “The study of human excellence”, but is it really all its cracked up to be?

We have buzz words, modeling, anchoring, sub modalities, maps, but what do they really mean?

NLP was invented (or re-invented) by Dr Richard Bandler & John Grindler thirty odd years ago. Bandler, a maverick Doctor of linguistics has a chequered background, an ex cocaine addict, former Hells Angel, he was once arrested on suspicion of murder. In 1988, Bandler was tried and acquitted of murdering a prostitute, Corrine Christensen. She’d been found slumped over a dining table, a bullet in her head, her blood was found sprayed on Bandler’s shirt. And this is a Guy that proclaims he can show you how to run your own life makes you think doesn’t it.

There are a huge number of NLP practitioners worldwide and they attend very brief training courses that are self certified by their own training body, that no-one ever fails, and all are presented with the appropriate certificate at the end which is all included in the fee.

Some of the more cynical among us may be wondering just how much about psychology and human behavior can possibly be learned in a week, or a long weekend. The average length of the new class is anything from a weekend to five or ten days. That is supposedly plenty of time to know all there is to know in order to embark upon on a career as a life/business coach or whatever, that will enable you to deal with a wide range of needs, from deep seated emotional problems to dealing with fears and phobias to increasing your own wealth and the wealth of others (of which I will touch on later). Yes, you too can not only help people to feel better about them selves but more crucially feel better about them handing over their cash to you.

I attended one such seminar last year in a bland hotel near to Victoria station. A charismatic young man entered stage full of so much energy I thought he had overdosed on double espressos. He commenced to get the 200+ crowd of seekers motivated by getting us to massage our neighbor’s shoulders, hug them and generally be over friendly with people that you probably would not want to be in a lift with, never mind have close personal contact with. He then spoke for a mind numbing two hours about how he had changed his life and how he could change ours (for a fee). There was a fifteen minute break for coffee then he bounded again on stage and commenced to get us singing Rule Britannia! After a further two hours of mind programming and suggestion (sorry talking) he demonstrated some feats of positive mind power by getting a few people up on stage to break a pine plank of wood with their bare hands. Most of the audience were very impressed by this display of new found strength (except myself, this is an old trick used by magicians and showman), the close was if you sign up etc for £1500, you to can do this and be in control of your life. All you need to know in just five days and a certificate to prove it!

The country is now awash with amateur psychologists, spouting inexpert, shoddy and unprofessional psychobabble, some are doing irreparable harm, some have unknowingly harmed themselves, and some deserve what they get. What they don’t tell you is, once the students or delegates have completed their chosen course, hardly any practitioners go on to make any real money; the industry standard is that most struggle to make ends meet.

The majority are forced to seek alternative employment and all they receive for there hard earned money is a worthless certificate which is not recognized by any official body, and some interesting information that they could have gleamed from Google in a few hours for free.

The hard facts are that the only people who are making REAL money are the people running the courses, and this brings me on to what NLP really is about. There is a deluge of training courses around at the moment, NLP, EFT ,TFT, Reiki to name a few, which are all run as commercial enterprises.

But let’s not get carried away, back to NLP. “The NLP Trainer certificate is awarded for experience and superior knowledge (or is it second hand knowledge) in the use and application of NLP to the standards set out by Dr Richard Bandler (hmmm him again). There is more “Depending on your level of experience and ability, we may ask that you gain further experience or take additional society of NLP training before full certification is guaranteed.” Which really reads as, pay more money please. Well, what’s another couple of hundred quid? After all I am certified. The people/companies that run NLP courses have in turn received their right to do so by handing over yet more cash to Bandler & Associates, in return for yet more certification as the “official” NLP recognized trainers.

There is no outside regulation, no non- partial governing body and herein lies the problem, the bottom line is if you stump up the cash you get a certificate. Everything you are taught has no scientific legitimacy (before you start sending messages I have researched this extensively and can refer you to numerous scientific protocols and tests of NLP’s ineffectiveness) and is taken on trust. They are just old techniques, ideas and models that are dressed up with gibberish psychobabble to sound new and cutting edge, which they are not. Everything can be learned by doing a little digging into models of psychology, and suggestion. I have books in my library dating from the 18th/19th Century, which contains the basic methods and ideas. The self improvement industry is growing at an alarming rate; the undoubted leader is self proclaimed guru Anthony Robbins, or Tony to his friends. Astonishingly people pay thousands and thousands of pounds believing they will receive some special or secret knowledge that will improve their miserable lives that only a few know about.

So do we need NLP? Is there anything new there that was not discovered Zion’s before? Or does it all boil down to the simple fact that as humans we lack self responsibility and need to be told what to do. Years ago when you were feeling sorry for yourself or anxious you were told to snap out of it and you did! Nowadays we are promised NLP can produce the answer to all our problems, feeling negative, NLP can sort it out, lack motivation, NLP will make you buzz, and want to be wealthy, ahhh now we are getting to the reality. NLP has made SOME people extremely wealthy, I’m talking here about Bandler, and Paul McKenna to name two, whose training company turns out newly qualified NLP practitioners at an alarming rate, I believe 50,000 to date, and other Gurus around the world have jumped onto the NLP gravy train. But do we really need it?

In this age of the quick fix NLP is up at the top of the list, instant phobia cures, weight control, headaches, emotions you name it, it does it, and it really is a wonderful tool!
I have spent over twenty five years in personal development and read and learnt about every new technique going; EFT, TFT PMT, and do you know what I think? It’s all over hyped. NLP has a habit of using exotic language to describe very old ideas; it offers the newly qualified practitioner a way to practice pseudo-psychology without going to university. Attendees of courses never fail. NLP claims to help an almost limitless list of problems and even has its own language to baffle non NLP’s; here are a few examples;

oSub-modalities- means picturing yourself getting healthier, fitter, and more positive. If you think back to the 19th century didn’t the famous French therapist Emile Coue say; “Everyday in everyway I am getting better and better”.

oThe Meta Model- in NLP speak this means deletion, distortion and generalisation in our speech. As humans we often have difficulty vocalising our thoughts and what we say is often not what we mean due to the above. Meta Model terminology says be precise and clear in conversation to achieve a particular result. I always thought this was called having a two way conversation and listening to the others views and achieving a compromise, commonly called negotiation in business circles.

oPerceptual Positions- follows on from the Meta model, simply put as my mum used to say “put yourself in their shoes and see from their point of view”.

oSensory Preferences- much has been made in NLP of body language and eye access clues. Its said you can spot if someone is a liar by the way his eyes point, Derren Brown is a master of this and claims he uses NLP in his TV show to read minds (trust me as an ex professional magician, he doesn’t'). People tend to look down when they are lying or don’t make eye contact, or their eyelids will flicker at the moment of the lie. Perhaps they were looking down because your fly button was undone, and they didn’t make eye contact because they could not stand the sight of you!

A question for you, If NLP is so miraculous why don’t the police use it when interviewing suspects? All they would have to do is look at the shifty eyes and body language and know for certain the suspect was guilty and jail him! Freeing up police resources and saving the taxpayer at the same time. There are many more examples of this double speak, that for the sake of keeping this article relatively short I will ignore. The problem with our society is we want a quick fix, we don’t want to accept responsibility for the mistakes we make or of our screwed up lives and it’s easier to pay some one else to fix our problems. We have become so blind to reality that we really seem to have forgotten everything, even our past and who we are. We can’t see the truth because we choose to be blind to it very much like the emperor that has no clothes on.

NLP is a mish mash of tired, old ideas, thoughts and techniques that has been packaged, marketed and sold and we believe it. All we have to do is look inwardly to ourselves for the answers, and if we choose to face up to our responsibilities and accept who we are and where we are because of the decisions we have made, and if we really want to change we can.

There was some sunshine this weekend while I was writing this! At least here on the sunny south coast of England there was. I went out walking along the sea front with my partner Sara on Saturday morning and it was wonderful; the feeling of sunshine on my face, the smell of the air, the sites of other people out and about and happy, the local land train was shuttling people and their excited children back and forth from Bournemouth pier to Boscombe Pier and my senses were filled – a major event for human neurophysiology (mine anyway!)

The funny thing is, later on that evening when my friends were joking about my pink coloured forehead, I told them that I was really looking forward to summer and as I spoke, I felt the sun on me, imagined the fun I was going to have on the beach, remembered the smell, the amazing feeling of joy that I get from being there, just by anticipating it all.

A natural phenomenon we can replicate with NLP techniques. NLP stands for neuro-linguistic programming, which is just a methodology for helping make changes. We shorten it to NLP for easy understanding.

Without realising it, the time I had spent on the sea front earlier that day had acted as an anchor for the wonderful experience which immediately followed it. The next time I saw & heard the experience, albeit in my mind, my neurology went “I know what happens now” and started to produce the intense physical responses that it ‘knew’ were coming next.

In the field of NLP, an anchor is any representation in the human nervous system that triggers any other representation. For instance, the word ’sex’ will immediately trigger images, sounds etc associated with that word. The word ‘chocolate’ will trigger different associations. I am not too sure which of those will create the most intense feelings though! These words are anchors. Anchors do not have to be words, they can be a wide range of things.

With NLP, we identify that anchors can operate in any representational system (ie. sight, sound, feeling, smell, taste.) Let me give you some examples;

Tonal: By that, I mean for example, the special way a certain person has of saying your name, like when a friend or family member says it. My mother shouting my name from the depths of my home when I was a child often signalled the fact that she had discovered something that I had done that meant trouble for me! “Adam!” often made me feel what I was in store for.

Tactile: The effect of a certain type of handshake for example, or the sensation of a reassuring hug compared to a loving cuddle. Rekindles all kinds of wonderful feelings.

Visual: The way people respond to certain items of clothing. I recently had lunch with a group of my friends from the town where I grew up and several of them commented on the jacket I was wearing. Now, whenever they see it, it reminds them of those comments and makes them smile.

Olfactory: Like when you smell a certain kind of food being cooked can suddenly have you remembering a time when you were in the school cafeteria.

Gustatory: The taste of your favourite food or the way certain foods can make you remember how you felt when you had it before. Maybe like when you were given soup and a big helping of love and sympathy when you were young and off school because you were poorly. I know every time I eat Heinz Tomato soup it reminds me of just that.

Once again, in the field of NLP, an anchor is any representation in the human nervous system that triggers any other representation. It is conceptually similar to Pavlovian conditioning (ie. bells and salivating dogs; some of Pavlovs findings feature in the field of NLP.

While the anchor I created for the sea front was unintentional, it is possible for you to use this NLP tecnique to anchor yourself intentionally. Have a go at this and learn this NLP technique for yourself……

Fistly, think of an occasion when you had a highly pleasurable, positive or enjoyable experience. See what you saw then (looking out through your own eyes), hear what you heard and feel what you felt. As you feel the sensations increase in intensity, squeeze the thumb & forefinger of your left hand gently together for a few moments, then release them. Now ‘break your state’ (Eg. by remembering what you had for lunch yesterday.) Squeeze your thumb & forefinger together again, gently pulsing them. The state will return.

To make the most of anchoring with NLP, it is important to really engage in the experience and make it wonderfully vivid in your mind and to then also put effort into recalling it when you first activate your NLP anchor for a few times. Imagine how powerful this can be when you want to feel wonderful if you are home, feeling gloomy. Instead of reaching for the chocolate, you can start to activate your “feel good” anchor.

Every time you want to get motivated to exercise, just activate your enthusiasm anchor. It is a really simple technique of NLP.

This is a simple but powerful NLP technique that can enable you to have access to the states and resources you want, when you want them. The use of thumb & forefinger is an example of a tactile anchor, but you can use any representation to anchor something for yourself or someone else.

Guidelines for setting anchors with NLP;

In order to get a ’strong’ anchor for an experience, it is important to

a) Ensure that you have a powerful example of the experience to work with.

b) Anchor in as many representational systems as possible (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, etc).

c) Set the anchor just before the experience peaks.

d) When you activate the anchor, do it accurately. Be precise!

e) With tactile (kinaesthetic) anchors, pulsing the anchor can help to maintain the experience

One of the people who came on one of my NLP training courses was particularly taken with the idea of anchoring. Shortly after the NLP training, one morning his wife offered to make him a cup of tea, and as she did so, he gently tapped the side of his cup with his ring. He repeated this the next few times she made him a cup of tea. After a while, all he had to do was tap the side of his cup subtly with his ring & she would spontaneously offer to get him a cup of tea!! Very Naughty use of NLP, Eh?! Just by creating a sensory representation (tapping the cup) that coincided with her making tea, he was soon able to use that representation as a trigger for what he wanted. He did eventually share his NLP anchoring experience with his wife and you can be sure he makes a lot more tea than she does now!

Now I know that by now some of you may be thinking “But isn’t that manipulative?!?” One answer is “Yes, so use it for doing good stuff!”
Another answer is “no.” It is no more manipulative than making yourself look good and smell nice when you go out. In those situations you are trying to get people to think the best of you and have a good response to you, a response that you are attempting to anchor through your choice of clothing, grooming and smelly perfume.

Here are some of the sorts of things that I go out of my way to use NLP to anchor whenever I see them or experience them:

- Smiles.

- Laughter.

- Excitement

- Confidence

- Good feelings

- Good performance (especially by waiters & waitresses!)

- Anything that looks good, useful or fun; Achievement and success are especially useful for stopping smoking, reducing weight or growing in confidence.

It’s happening all the time anyway:

As I said at the beginning, anchoring with NLP is a naturally occurring phenomenon anyway. You are exposed to it all the time in everything you do. Everyone is doing this stuff all the time, often without really knowing it. All I am inviting you to do is to become conscious of the anchors that you and others are setting (maybe using NLP), and to start using them purposefully to get good results, rather than randomly to get whatever you get. Use NLP with mindfulness.

Taking this a step further;

Recently, I was working with a team of related staff members with regards to doing some NLP consulting with them. I asked them how they would know that the two days had been a great success. One of them said it would have a ‘feel good factor’ and simultaneously made a gesture with both hands towards his tummy. When I repeated the words ‘feel good factor’ to him, he nodded in confirmation. Later on, I referred to the feel good factor, and simultaneously used his gesture. Instead of a nod of confirmation, I got a full physiological response, including skin colour changes, posture and energy changes…the full works. His words had been a good anchor, but the words plus the gesture were far more complete. When I used both, I got a full response. I continued to use the anchor throughout the consultation. At no time was he aware that I was using NLP & his anchors – he just had the experience of being really well understood.

You can use NLP anchors to capture and re-use positive experiences for yourself & others. Now have a go at doing this NLP exercise too…

1) Think of an occasion when you had a highly pleasurable, positive or enjoyable experience. See what you saw then (looking out through your own eyes), hear what you heard and feel what you felt. As you feel the sensations increase in intensity, squeeze the thumb & forefinger of your left hand gently together for a few moments, then release them. Now ‘break your state’ (Eg. by remembering what shoe you put on first today.) Squeeze your thumb & forefinger together again, gently pulsing them. The state will return.

2) Identify something that someone you know already does, and create a subtle anchor. Set the anchor while they are doing the activity. Later, fire your NLP anchor and see what happens. If they do the thing you anchored, then it worked!

3) When you (or someone you are with) are experiencing something you want to have more of, anchor it.

As usual, remember that this stuff is powerful so use your NLP skills wisely. As well, allow yourself to start becoming aware of when it is being used on you. Advertisers, politicians and stand-up comedians all know the power of NLP anchors and use them with great cunning (and to great effect.) Awareness with NLP is the key – have fun.

The simple answer to the above is, “both”! It depends on a number of things. Perhaps the first thing to explore is your reaction to seeing those three letters put together? If someone tells you they are an NLP practitioner do you search for your cross and garlic cloves? Do you welcome them and want to know more?

In this article I want to cover four key aspects:

• Why knowing more about NLP and its uses might be useful for you and others in your organisation.
• What NLP is and some of the key principles.
• How it has been used in some organisations.
• What you might be able to do with it in the future.

Although I have been involved with NLP, and using it in work and other parts of my life for over 10 years I am not one of the evangelists nor do I believe it is a panacea! I am not aiming to defend NLP. I have my own views about what it is and how it can work for those who want to learn more about it – but I can offer no empirical evidence for these and do not intend to. Over that time I have realised that it can help most people, and in many different ways. Whether improving the communication and influencing skills of individuals; enabling managers and leaders to operate more effectively; giving sales and customer service people more options when dealing with the wide range of prospects and clients, helping teams to work together, providing tools to address problems or providing everyone with a better understanding of themselves – the list is not limited to particular disciplines or groups.

One of the biggest problems with NLP is its name!! Neuro Linguistic Programming is hardly the branding of a smart marketing team! Apart from being somewhat “user-unfriendly” the last word often carries negative impressions for many. Without giving the whole history, suffice to say that the original developers of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, were involved in mathematics and linguistics. Much of what they identified and developed was based on the work of well-known linguistics experts – one of whom (Alfred Korzybski) had already used the term neuro-linguistic in his work. The principle is that the “neuro” is to understand how we process and think about things, the “linguistics” is to consider the words we use and the clues within those, and finally, the “programming” is how we have generated the patterns within ourselves and keep running the programmes. (As in computing – even if the instructions within the programme to do not appear to be relevant or make sense.) The key is within this last part and the following definition builds from it: NLP is a set of guiding principles, attitudes and techniques that enable you to change behaviour patterns as you wish.”

A fundamental premise of the early work done by Bandler and Grinder was that they wanted to study people who were excellent and to identify what the specifically they did to achieve this. They wanted to be able to break this down and identify the specific elements – and then teach or impart these to others in order to improve their performance. (Hence, a simpler definition which stated that NLP was “the study of excellence”.) From this early work a number of tools and techniques were created, some were adapted from different disciplines, and others have been developed by people such is Robert Dilts.

Many of these tools and techniques can be very powerful. This, in turn, can lead to the accusations of NLP being “manipulative”. First question – how do you define the difference between manipulation and influence? Second point, is a chisel a murder weapon when in the hands of Michelangelo and he is sculpting “David” or “The Pieta”? Yes, in the wrong hands, NLP has a lot of manipulative tools, especially when you see some of the websites and others about “Mastering the Art of Seduction” etc!! It has to do with the integrity, and intention, of the user.

For me, one of the most powerful applications of NLP was using it on myself. It helped me to know me even better, to recognise that I could develop even more flexibility in my actions and interactions and to take more responsibility for my own thoughts and actions. There is a particular model used within NLP called the Neurological Levels of Alignment (or Logical Levels) which can help in a wide variety of ways, and I have found of great benefit for me – and with individuals and groups within clients. (Get in touch to ask for a diagram.) Although some analysts happily take it apart and disprove it – in my experience it works! Basically, make the changes closer to the centre and they will be more long-lasting.

Applications in the workplace

“NLP could be the most important synthesis of knowledge about human communication to emerge since the sixties” Science Digest

There is no limit to where NLP, or parts of it, can be applied. From writing advertising copy to customer service people handling phone calls, managers motivating their people or sales people developing their skills to win over more customers, the limits are within the mind of the users.

Although NLP has many “direct” business applications, I believe that its most powerful use is for individuals to improve their self-awareness and to develop greater skills in their self-management, communication and interpersonal dealings. It can help improve their Emotional Intelligence. The 5 Pillars of NLP (expanded from 4!) give a good indication of what it is. Outcome thinking, sensory acuity, flexibility, rapport and state management, cover what the key elements are – and offer a caveat about the potential for jargon! Taking each of these:

Outcome thinking: – being clear about what you want to achieve, the aims or goals that you want. This can cover long, medium and short-term outcomes. Fundamentally, it is about doing things for a reason.

Sensory acuity: – paying attention to what is happening and the signals you are receiving. The better you can become at this, noticing changes in voice tone, small shifts in body language, the actual words people are using or even eye movements, the more you can understand the other person and how tune into them. (Those of you who are familiar with the concept of “eye accessing cues” and “representational systems” may like to know that in strict research terms they do not score highly as predictors. However, it does pay to improve our ability to pay attention to others!)

Flexibility: – “If you continue to do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got”. If something is not working – do anything else! We can become creatures of habit, yet good communicators and influencers are those who have developed more habits so that are not stuck in particular ways of operating.

Rapport: – the ability to develop a sense of mutual understanding, to tune into the other person and they feel as though you are on their wavelength. This does not have to equate to liking each other.

State management: – taking control of your own emotions, responses and attitudes. The start point for this is to accept responsibility for these, and then to recognise what you can do to generate the “state” you want for the context.

By using a number of the tools within each of these, we can find ways to enhance our own skills in working with others or shift our attitudes within ourselves. For me, this is the start point for using NLP and not just acquiring some tools and techniques to use on others!

Management and leadership

Many organisations use SMART as their approach to setting goals and objectives. How effectively does this work? There is a technique within NLP which is referred to as “chunking” or “stepping up and down” which can be very useful – and does not have to be mutually exclusive to SMART. For many people the SMART goal is not compelling or motivating in itself for various reasons. It may seem too big or far away and all they can see are potential problems. It could be that it is not giving enough of a challenge or payoff. By “moving” the goal it is possible to both make it compelling and to create an action plan for getting started and working towards it. The fundamental process is shown in the figure and might look very simple. It is, and it is also very powerful, especially when the manager resists the temptation to make suggestions.

There are many aspects of NLP which are very useful for dealing with others. For managers and leaders, these can be beneficial when coaching their team members, getting teams to work together, creating and communicating the way forward and enabling them to be more motivated. Going beyond those for a change, there are some really useful tools for handling problem-solving challenges or managing change. The good thing with these, is that they can be used alongside more conventional management tools and add strength to a manager’s skills-set. Combining these with attention to the specific words and language can lead to insights for moving forward or overcoming problems. An example would be to use an approach called “SCORE “. It is worth adding here, that many NLP approaches work more effectively when “experiential” rather than conceptual. In this case, putting bits of paper on the floor and moving around them encourages different thinking, despite moving some managers outside their comfort zones!

SCORE is not highly complex – and goes through:

• S – ymptoms What is happening right now which we want/need to change?
• C – auses What are the reasons for this? Which are the key ones?
• O – outcomes What do we want to have instead of the present situation?
• R – esources What do we have available (people, skills, or whatever)?
• E – cology Will the outcomes, and using the resources, fit our culture?

(Sorry, there had to be some jargon for it to be an NLP approach!)

Sales and negotiation

This is probably an area where many organisations feel that NLP can make a difference and, indeed it can. Certainly the range of communication and interpersonal tools can be very beneficial when added to a seller’s armoury. Mind you, many top sellers are probably using these without even knowing that they are NLP! Do remember, the majority of NLP tools are not novel. They have been developed by breaking down what excellent people do and presenting it back as stand-alone tools or techniques.

The obvious start with sales development is to widen people’s ability to get into rapport quickly, especially with the more “difficult” prospects. This can be achieved in a number of ways. The fundamental idea of matching and pacing (ie, being like the other) is an area which does encourage the “manipulative” label. It is something we all do naturally when we feel in rapport with another – just look around you at work or outside. How many people do you notice who appear to be mirroring each other or moving as though choreographed? However, it is useful to be aware of how you can use this, especially when you sense that you are “out of synch” with someone. Care is needed though, as clumsy matching and mirroring will come across as insincere.

Another thing that can be very useful for sellers is to use the “alignment” model mentioned earlier. I have found that helping people to make sure their “identity” fits with the job empowers them. From here, a significant aspect is to address people’s beliefs and to bring out any limiting beliefs they may have. It is difficult to sell with integrity if you have limiting beliefs about your product or service, or the organisation – or if you are being asked to do anything which conflicts with your values. When using this with a group of potential sellers in a bank in Saudi Arabia we were able to help some change their beliefs and become very successful whilst one or two who did not want to and felt their values were being challenged were better suited to being moved to other roles.

When these areas are aligned, the sellers can also be helped by learning to manage their state. They have to be able to be handle themselves in a variety of situations and often operate in a relatively isolated way. Knowing how to reconnect to a positive or confident state (or whatever they need) is a great asset.

Understanding how to put yourself into another’s shoes can be another plus for sellers, or negotiators. Not only does it reinforce rapport, it can help when putting together the sales case and making sure that your offer matches their requirements. Learning something about language and language patterns can be useful. It can improve questioning skills and, as you get the answers, it will increase your understanding of their real issues, concerns and wants. There is even the option of learning to be “artfully vague” and starting to use hypnotic language and suggestion, although the ethics around this might be questionable!!

Most sellers are familiar with the idea of finding buying motives and hot buttons and suchlike. Well, NLP has another approach that can give you an even more powerful way of doing this. You can even find out things about the way prospects make buying decisions that they don’t even know! From this, you can present your sales case using the appropriate language to increase your chances of success. There is a whole area around “meta-programmes” which can benefit you here. A commonly used way of working with these is from Language and Behaviour Profiling. For example, in conversation you can establish whether someone prefers to make buying decisions for themselves or do they seek reassurance from others. Think about how that can help with the presentation. (The question is “How do you know when you have made a good buying decision?”)

For sellers and negotiators learning to “reframe” can be important in many situations. Handling objections or blocks can be made easier with this. Another time it is useful can be dealing with internal functions and their own bosses!

Customer Service

Whether people are handling customers on the phone or face to face, they are often having to deal with varying degrees of irritation or anger.

Learning

to manage their own state can be really important! Also, developing the ability to not only look at things from the customers’ situation but also from a more objective, dispassionate view can help to smooth things over and to focus on solutions.

Getting rapport quickly is key for this role. If training people on the phone, getting them to learn to match voice tone, volume and speed can be a great asset. They can diffuse anger and complaints quickly. Developing their listening skills to calibrate the changes in tone or pitch, or to pick up specific words can not only help them resolve issues more quickly, it can also improve their enjoyment of the job.

Using good questioning to change the state of the customer can help. Shifting them from a complaint frame to focusing on the outcome they want can benefit everyone and take the heat out of things. There are various options to achieve this and good customer service people are practising many of them anyway!

Summary

This has only scratched the surface of where NLP can help in the business world. There are so many examples of where it has helped. Encouraging top teams to work together more efficiently and creating a clear vision for the organisation. Doctors have been known to use certain language patterns to help their patients recover more quickly and with less need for medication. As a personal effectiveness tool, learning to change or adapt limiting beliefs can help you manage your time more effectively. Recognising what are your own values and their priorities can help you to handle pressure better and be more resistant to stress. Understanding your own language preferences can help you to become more flexible in presenting your messages, formally or informally, to appeal to a wider audience more of the time.

I can go on and on. There are ways NLP can harm your business too. The saying, “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” springs to mind”! Just being familiar with one or two concepts can do more harm than good. On the other hand you do not have to have everyone becoming Practitioners or beyond. What does make NLP useful is when it becomes part of everyday life and work – and not just a toolkit to delve into. As with anything in life, whatever aspects or tools are implemented will be most useful when used with “unconscious competence” – and this means learning the fundamentals, practising them and sticking in there until they just happen.

Yes, there are charlatans out there. Some will promise to train your organisation, your sales team, your trainers or whoever in a couple of days. Hmmm, beware! They can give a flavour only. In my opinion, NLP is a great thing when used with integrity and becomes a part of the way you operate. It is not an answer for every circumstance, nor can it be forced upon anyone. It can be fun to learn more. It can help your business or organisation in more ways than you can imagine. It can help to change your own life – and improve it, if that is what you want.

Suggested reading:

• Words that Change Minds – Shelle Rose Charvet, ISBN: 0-7872-3479-6
• NLP Business Masterclass – David Molden, ISBN: 0- 273- 650165