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A Brief Introduction to Neuro- Linguistic Programming

The terminology:

Neuro- : dealing with the brain or nervous system.

Linguistic : dealing with the language process or words.

Programming : directing the operation of something or someone.

Therefore, the term Neuro- Linguistic Programming (NLP) refers to the way that the language process or our words can direct the operation of the brain.

The field:

NLP has become an extremely diverse field in spite of its involved name. It has a enormous breadth of subtopics, in the same way that something like Chemistry does. Through Chemistry, many different things are possible. Illnesses can be cured through chemical concoctions: drugs (both allo- and homeopathic). Many of us routinely wear the results of chemistry - synthetic fibers and dyes. We brush our teeth, wash our hair and clothes with the results of applying chemistry. Perfume is a chemical and any of us who has ever gone to a kitchen or campfire and cooked has carried out complex chemical reactions. (Yes, popping corn and roasting marshmallows qualify). So we are all, in some sense, chemists.

So, in the same sense, we are all practitioners of NLP. The discoverers of NLP paid attention to and recorded how successful people communicated, both verbally and non- verbally. Whenever someone sells, manages, parent, does therapy, think or talks with somebody, they are actively engaged in the processes coded by NLP. NLP practitioners have studied and found applications in skiing, reading, performing music, making love and bungee jumping.

The good news is - this is all something you're already good at. We can all think of situations where we knew we were communicating well and we were getting our message across clearly, even though we may not know why.

Conversely, we can also remember times when things weren't working so well (rather like poking a stick through the spokes of a moving bicycle). Through NLP, we can learn how to transfer the things we do when we communicate well to those situations where we need or want to communicate better.

Applying these skills to the process of communicating with our customers is the first step in excellent customer service.

Now is the time to find out how.

Process Vs. Content

How Vs. What

One of the most powerful seductions in interpersonal interactions is to be led off along the tangents of interest that are raised by the content of what the other person is talking about. Dealing at a content level is often indicative of basic therapy interventions.

NLP operates at the process level. The core question at the center of NLP is "How do you do that?"

The Communications Model

Linguistic and Language -> where the "L" in NLP comes from.

NLP began with a great interest in language, observing the way linguistic constructions shape and affect our beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

Words are at best, only labels for experience. They reflect culture.

Inuit have more than 33 words for snow. The type of snow can be crucial, where it so profoundly affects their experience.

A rain forest indian tribe has three words for the entire spectrum of color. Not an important element affecting their experience.

In our culture, problems arise be cause we attach our own meaning to other people's words. We inadvertently attach a different meaning to a label than the speaker intends. Or we don't know and we guess (wrongly).

Sometimes in order to make decisions or to take action, we need to clarify or verify that we are understanding as closely as possible the meaning of a sequence of words intended by another person. This way we can respond more authentically to the person, rather than reacting to their words.

One label can mean two very different things to two different people.

eg. "A good, escapist movie."

To communicate effectively, the first step we need to take is to identify already existing patterns we use to:

Delete information

Distort meaning

Generalize

One thing that's important to realize, is that none of these patterns is "bad", merely that some are radically less effective in certain contexts.

The method we use to clarify these patterns for precision communications is called The Meta Model. Or, if we want to utilize the ambiguity of these patterns, we call it The Milton Model.

Links for more NLP information:

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