Month: October 2010

NLP Techniques: Submodalities and subjective measure

It appears that some people have a belief that submodality work is actually based on an objective score. It isn’t. In reality, to be able to measure your submodalities requires one to have the ability to manage that expectation. Your subjective measure is based on your perceptions. So, for example, you may have the opinion that one room is bright and the other is dark. In reality, if we used actual measurements, you may discover that the latter room is actually brighter. But it doesn’t matter! What matters is that your perception tells you that the former room is brighter.

Your mind codes experiences based on perception, not based on reality. Submodalities opens up your awareness of this. In addition, don’t expect everyone to be able to use submodalities. There are a few people who need to take more time getting used to it because they have never played with their mental representations before. I’ve encountered people who are less sensitive to visual submodalities, but have a better olfactory sense for instance. They can “smell” things that create mental pictures. Thus, for such people, submodality elicitation will take a different form instead of the regular submodality checklist.

NLP Practitioner: Basic Modeling

In being an NLP Practitioner, basic modeling questions are required. You may default to the standard Meta Model. However, the process is important to recognize as well.

  1. Always break down the topic area into its various parts. A question like “what are important components of this skill” would be very helpful.
  2. Always target nominalizations. Nominalizations carry a high level of deletion and the deep structure of such words can reveal important processes.
  3. Convert all processes (especially verb forms) into a tangible TOTE.
  4. Sequencing is essential. Processes must be clarified for the purpose of structure and sequence.
  5. Play the sequence in your mind. To ensure transfer, the best way is to demonstrate it to your model.

Example:

You want to model public speaking. Great! Now, find a model.

After you’ve found the model, you have to go and identify all the parts of public speaking. These may include verifying the different types of public speaking.

So, if the model tells you it includes the following:

  • preparation
  • rehearsal
  • story-telling
  • humor

Notice all these are nominalizations. Once you find out the processes, you will be better able to explore the “unseen” elements.

Let’s suppose you want to focus on “preparation”. Preparation may include other sub-components. Chunk down on that and you might find the following:

  • Identifying an outcome
  • Setting up the introduction
  • Crafting the conclusion
  • Making a list of possible points to make
  • transitions between one point to the other

Notice that this now enables you to dive even deeper into the model’s inner strategy. Now you can focus on the unspecified verbs and the other nominalizations that the model has offered.

For more information about modeling, you can register for notification when I decide to conduct an NLP Practitioner training.