Neuro Linguistic Programming changed my life

In 2000 I attended a Neuro Linguisitc Programming (NLP) workshop and it changed my life.

Actually if I apply what I learnt on my NLP practitioner then the more accurate statement should be..... My life changed positively after I'd attended the NLP practitioner and started to apply the NLP tools and techniques.

Ok not something you want to hear about in business but it certainly made my life at work more effective too. I remember an internal stakeholder telling me I was easier to deal with after I'd been NLP'd. Interestingly I also felt that she'd been more open to the recommendations we were making. So I was easier to deal with and my ability to persuade and influence had also improved.

NLP is about our brain (neuro), our language (linguistic) and the habits and beliefs we have (Programming) and how these impact how we move towards what we want to achieve.

In business communication NLP has helped me understand the unique way in which we all prefer to take information in, how we store it in our brain and how we then choose to share it with others. Understanding our own and other's preferences can then improve our ability to communicate with them. That is to choose a style of communication that enables the person we're talking to to understand what we're saying more easily.

After my initial interest was piqued in 2000 I went on to study for more than 150 days on the practitioner, master practitioner and then as a trainer. As it's a tool that I use often in the work I do with purchasing teams, and this week as part of a Managing your Talent 2 day workshop with Rosie from NLP Highland, I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite NLP tools and techniques here in the blog, and first shared with clients in my newsletter in July 2009 (where does time go?), see separate blog posts via the links below:

• The Meaning of the communication is the response that you get
• The Map is not the territory
• Information overload
• Communication Styles
• What gets them out of bed in a morning
• Language to improve understanding
• Language to improve rapport
• Rapport

I'll add more to this list as I write them over coming weeks and months - although here's some recent blogs that also link to NLP without directly mentioning it:

• If it doesn't work the first time - try again
• There's 3 versions of the story - yours, theirs and the truth

If you're interested in finding out more about how NLP tools and techniques can be used to improve your stakeholder engagement, communication and team working please do call me +44 (0)7770 538159.

One book you may also want to consider is Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) Workbook for Dummies . It's very comprehensive without getting too technical. It's often my first point of reference despite having a shelf full of other NLP books - OK - more accurately - despite having shelves full of other NLP books.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for effective communication within and outwith purchasing teams

Picture Source: amazon.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest