Practising NLP - by Tina Taylor
The definition of the word Practice in the Collins English Dictionary is to do or cause to do repeatedly in order to gain skill; the art of doing something and a Practitioner is a person who practices a profession or art. So practice can be viewed as a repeated activity the purpose of which is to demonstrate, establish, reinforce and improve skills.
Ever since I completed my Practitioner Training almost 10 years ago, I have been practicing NLP my goal to improve my skills and ability to use these techniques. On completion of my first course I was excited about what it could do for me (and those around me) I was hungry for more knowledge, experience and so wanted to improve. I spent all my spare time reading NLP Books (I purchased everything Richard Bandler had ever written and read and re-read them enjoying every moment) going on trainings, watching videos, listening to tapes and CDs.
And when I wasn’t immersed in NLP, I was so keen to improve my skills and to use these techniques magically in every place I could think of, I watched the people around me noticing their meta programs, how they processed information and responded to the ways in which they were spoken to. I began by using my newly found skills on my family and friends, managing to get my daughter to tidy her room, do her homework; I actually got my god son to listen to me. Everyone around me was amazed and people began to ask me how I managed to do this. More was to come, I was working for an Investment Bank in the City and suddenly my rather difficult to get along with MD became so easy to get along with.
As with all practice some things worked better than others, then I joined a Practice group and worked my way through the exercises in my Practitioner and Master Practitioner manuals with others who wanted to improve too. When you’re really excited about something its easier to learn, especially when you’re having fun; and as my confidence begun to grow I started practicing the techniques further with my family and friends, this time openly. A tough first clientele however I knew once I could work with them that I could work with anyone!
A great piece of advice I received on my Practitioner Course was from Michael Breen who suggested that I had a language pattern book. In this book I collect ambiguities that I find in the news; its also a great place to write out various language patterns. Each day I would choose a language pattern for the day and consciously look for that pattern in the conversations that I had throughout the day. Then at the end of the day I would write out as many sentences with that pattern that I could think of. Very soon, I was transcribing Richard Bandlers CDs and identifying the language patterns he used.
NLP is all about people and how they respond and one of the fastest ways to become good at this stuff is to become interested in other people and their responses..
My goal still is to become the best that I can, and today those first tough clients occasionally call and say “Mmmm do you need any more practice cos I really miss our sessions. You made me feel sooooo good”.