FAQs NLP
Can anyone study NLP?
Yes, Today, NLP is widely used in business to improve management, sales and achievement/performance, inter-personal skills; in education to better understand learning styles, develop rapport with students and parents and to aid in motivation; and of course, NLP is a profound set of tools for personal development.
Some of our students include Salespeople, Business Executives, Managers, Business Owners, Lawyers, Teachers, Trainers, Counselors, Educators, Doctors, Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Consultants, Hypnotherapists, Psychologists, Athletes, Entertainers and Performers. Regardless of profession, the majority of NLP participants are searching, and finding, better and more effective ways to increase their performance and improve their effectiveness.
What is NLP?
Neuro: The nervous system (the mind), through which our experience is processed via five senses:
- Visual
- Auditory
- Kinesthetic
- Olfactory
- Gustatory
Linguistic: Language and other nonverbal communication systems through which our neural representations are coded, ordered and given meaning. Includes
- Pictures
- Sounds
- Feelings
- Tastes
- Smells
- Words (Self Talk)
Programming: The ability to discover and utilize the programs that we run (our communication to ourselves and others) in our neurological systems to achieve our specific and desired outcomes.
In other words, NLP is how to use the language of the mind to consistently achieve our specific and desired outcomes.
Why is NLP so useful in brining about self-empowerment?
All behavior has a content (what a person does specifically), a pattern (when and where the behavior manifests itself), and an internal process that generates this pattern.
Of the three, neuro-linguistic programming is least concerned with content. This sets it apart from self-help approaches that focus on what a person does and why he or she does it.
NLP is far more interested in how a person effects a given behavior. In answering this "how" question, looking at behavior patterns is far more useful than studying the content of the behavior itself. To examine patterns, we ask questions such as these:
- What kinds of stimuli lead to what kinds of behavior?
- What kinds of problems evoke what kinds of response?
- What context is most likely to induce a certain behavior?
Once patterns of behavior are understood, we can identify the starting point and the ending point for the process(es) behind them. At this point we can zero in on the process and modify it. Working at the process level allows us to disrupt counter-productive patterns and enhance patterns that are helpful. This, in turn, gives Neuro-Linguistic Programming great leverage in bringing about self-improvement.
How can NLP be used in business & leadership?
NLP has a myriad of benefits for those who lead businesses and organizations, most notably in such functions as
- generating high-impact communication
- setting goals and casting vision
- creating rapport
- building consensus
- disarming conflict
- monitoring feedback in interpersonal relationships
These benefits result from the focus on mind-body relationships in NLP. According to a key axiom of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, behavior is the most informative indicator of the mind's internal processing. NLP thus equips us to be far more astute in observing what people do and assessing the feedback their behavior gives us.
The value of this skill is immediately apparent. As communicators we can calibrate how others are processing our message. As leaders we can choose language that connects more fully with those we seek to motivate. As managers we can "read" what's going on around us with far greater precision.
In addition, we can be far more purposeful in our own actions and behaviors. We can generate the most appropriate and resourceful internal state for every situation. We can anticipate how our non-verbal language will be received by others. Indeed, one of the greatest benefits of NLP training is the ability to align non-verbal and verbal messages to give our communication maximum clout.
