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NLP GLOSSARY |
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A B C
D E F G
H I J K
L M N O
P Q R S
T U V W
X Y Z
A
Accessing Cues
Subtle behaviours that will both help to trigger and indicate which
representational system a person is using to think with. Typical types of
accessing cues include eye movements, voice tone, tempo, body posture,
gestures, and breathing patterns. People also use accessing cues to "read"
another person's behaviours. We can use this information to develop rapport
by matching the person's behaviour.
Affiliating
The need of human beings to affiliate with each other. One of the Meta
Programs which indicates whether a person prefer to work alone or with a
team.
Ambiguity
The use of language, which is vague, or ambiguous. Language that is
ambiguous is also abstract (as opposed to specific). Ambiguous language can
be used in therapy as a form of mild hypnosis (or in hypnotherapy per se),
during the sales or meeting processes to make your ideas more easily
understood
Analogue
Having shades of meaning, as opposed to Digital, which has discrete (On/off)
meaning. As in an analogue watch (a watch with minute and hour hands).
Anchor
The process of associating an internal response with some external trigger
(similar to classical conditioning) so that the response may be quickly, and
sometimes covertly, re-accessed. Anchoring can be visual (as with specific
hand gestures), auditory (by using specific words and voice tone), and
kinaesthetic (as when touching an arm or laying a hand on someone's
shoulder.) Criteria for anchoring: a) intensity or purity of experience; b)
timing; at peak of experience; c) accuracy of replication of anchor.
Associated
As in a memory, looking through your own eyes, hearing what you heard, and
feeling the feelings as if you were actually there. This is called the
associated state.
Attitude
A collection of values and beliefs around a certain subject.
Auditory
Relating to hearing or the sense of hearing.
Away From
A meta-program - when a person's preference is to move in the opposite
direction from what they want. "I don't want a 9 to 5 job."
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B
Behaviour
The specific physical actions and reactions through which we interact with
the people and environment around us.
Behavioural Flexibility
The ability to vary one's own behaviour in order to elicit or secure a
response from another person. Behavioural Flexibility can refer to the
development of an entire range of responses to any given stimulus as opposed
to having habitual, and therefore limiting, responses which would inhibit
performance potential.
Beliefs
The generalisations we make about ourselves, others and the world and our
operating principles in it. Beliefs act as self-fulfilling prophecies that
influence all our behaviours.
Richard Bandler and John Grinder: Behaviour is organised around beliefs. As
long as you can fit a behaviour into someone's belief system, you can get
him to do anything, or stop him from doing anything. A belief tends to be
much more universal and categorical than an understanding. When you already
have a belief there's no room for a new one unless you weaken the old belief
first.
Break State
When someone 'breaks state', they are suddenly interrupting their current
state, and moving into a different one. Typically, a break state is used to
pull someone out of an un-resourceful state into a neutral one, so that they
are more easily able to do what is required to achieve their outcome.
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C
Calibration
The process of learning to read another person's unconscious, non-verbal
responses in an ongoing interaction by pairing observable behavioural cues
with a specific internal response. A very important first step in most NLP
processes, you calibrate the problem state. That is, how is your client's
body posture, where does the eyes go, how is the breathing, skin colour,
voice tone etc. Knowing how the problem state looks like you have a
reference point for measuring the success of your intervention.
Capability
Mastery over an entire group of behaviours. Capabilities form the
development of a mental map allowing us to select and organise groups of
individual behaviours. In NLP these mental maps take the form of cognitive
strategies and Meta-Programs
Chunking
Organising or breaking down some experience into bigger or smaller pieces.
Chunking up involves moving to a larger, more abstract level of information.
Chunking down involves moving to a more specific and concrete level of
information. Chunking laterally involves finding other examples at the same
level of information.
Congruence
When all of a person's internal beliefs, strategies, and behaviours are
fully in agreement and oriented toward securing a desired outcome. Words,
voice and body language - give the same message.
Conscious Incompetence
The second stage of the learning cycle in which conscious attention is on
the task and the results are variable. This is the stage when the learning
rate is the greatest.
Conscious Competence
The third stage of the learning cycle in which full conscious attention is
still to carry out an activity. The skill is not yet fully integrated and
habitual
Cross Over Mirroring/Matching
Matching a person's body language with a different type of movement, e.g.
tapping your foot in time to their speech rhythm.
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D
Deep Structure
The sensory maps (both conscious and unconscious) that people use to
organise and guide their behaviour.
Deletion
One of the three universals of human modelling. The process by which
selected portions of the world are excluded from the representation created
by the person modelling. Within language systems, deletion is a
transformational process in which portions of the Deep Structure are removed
and, therefore, do not appear in the Surface Structure representation.
Desired Outcome
This is the end-result or goal that the person is trying to bring about at
any particular time. It could be a large, long-range goal ("rule the
world"), or a smaller, short-term one ("have a 5 minute relaxing break").
Digital
Having a discrete (on / off) meaning, as opposed to Analogue which has
shades of meaning.
Dissociation
As in a memory, for example, looking at your body in the picture from the
outside, so that you do not have the feelings you would have if you were
actually there.
Distortion
One of the three universals of human modelling; the process by which the
relationships which hold among the parts of the model are represented
differently from the relationships which they are supposed to represent. One
of the most common examples of distortion in modelling is the representation
of a process by an event. Within language systems, this is called
normalisation.
Dovetailing Outcomes
The process of fitting together different outcomes, optimising solutions.
The basis of win- win negotiations.
Down-Time
As in having all sensory input channels turned inward so that there are no
chunks of attention available for outward attention.
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E
Ecology
The study of the consequences and effects of individual actions on the
larger system. In an individual, the study of the consequences and effects
of individual components of changework on the bigger picture of the whole
individual. In all NLP processes an ecology check is incorporated assuring
harmony.
Elicitation
The act of discovery and detection of certain internal processes.
Epistemology
The study of how we know what we know.
Eye Accessing Cues
Movements of the eyes in certain directions which indicate visual, auditory
or kinaesthetic thinking. Please note individual variance and that
information readily available is not accessed and thus no detectable eye
movement.
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F
Frame
Set a context or way of perceiving something as in Outcome Frame, Rapport
Frame, Backtrack Frame, Out Frame, etc.
Future Pacing
The process of mentally rehearsing and anchoring changes in oneself in a
future situation in order to help ensure that the desired behaviour will
occur naturally and automatically.
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G
Generalization
One of the three universals of human modelling; the process by which a
specific experience comes to represent the entire category of which it is a
member.
Gestalt
A collection of memories, where the memories are linked together or grouped
together around a certain subject.
Gustatory
Relating to the sense of taste.
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H
Hierarchy
An organisation of things or ideas where the more important ideas are given
a ranking based upon their importance.
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I
Identity
Our sense of who we are. Our sense of identity organises our beliefs,
capabilities, and behaviours into a single system.
Impasse
A smoke screen. When a person draws a blank or gets confused as you are
working on an issue with them.
Incongruence
State of having reservations, not totally committed to an outcome, the
internal conflict will be expressed in the person's behaviour.
Installation
The process of facilitating the acquisition of a new strategy or behaviour.
A new strategy may be installed through any of the NLP? skills or techniques
and/or combination thereof (eg. anchoring, accessing cues, metaphor, and
future pacing.).
Intention
The purpose or desired outcome of any behaviour.
Introjects
Sub-conscious rules that control behaviour.
Intuition
Consistent judgements made by people (typically, without an explanation of
how these judgements are made). Within language systems, the ability of
native speakers of a language to make consistent judgements about the
sentences of their language; for example, their ability to decide which
sentence of words in their language are well-formed.
Internal Representation
Patterns of information we create and store in our minds in combinations of
images, sounds, feelings, smells and tastes. The way we store and encode our
memories.
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J
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K
Kinaesthetic
Relating to body sensations. In NLP? the term kinaesthetic is used to
encompass all kinds of feelings including tactile, visceral, and emotional.
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L
Leading
Changing your own behaviours with enough rapport for the other person to
follow. Pacing and leading is an important part of NLP. You should enter the
client's world, and lead him to reach the appropriate conclusions himself
for achieving the changes desired.
Lead System
The preferred representational system (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) that
finds information to input into consciousness.
Learning
The process of getting knowledge, skills, experience or values by study,
experience or training.
Learning Cycle
Stages of learning to build habitual skills -
1. Unconscious in Competence
2. Conscious Incompetence
3. Conscious Competence
4. Unconscious Competence
Learning Strategies
Sequences of images, sounds and feelings that lead to learning.
Learning Styles
Different preferred ways of learning. There are many different models,
including different senses, meta programs or concept-structure-use. Some
prefer to see things, others learn best if they read, and some learn best if
they hear someone talk about the material.
Logical Levels
An internal hierarchy in which each level is progressively more
psychologically encompassing and impactful. In order of importance (from
high to low) these levels include:
(1) spiritual,
(2) identity,
(3) beliefs and values,
(4) capabilities,
(5) behaviour, and
(6) environment.
Loop
The inappropriate, usually compulsive repetition of a unit of behaviour.
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M
Map of Reality
(Model of the World) Each person's unique representation of the world built
from his or her individual perceptions and experiences.
Matching
Adopting parts of another person's behaviour for the purpose of enhancing
rapport.
Meta
Derived from Greek, meaning over or beyond.
Meta-Cognition
Knowing about knowing: having a skill, and the knowledge about it to explain
how you do it.
Meta Message
A message about a message. Your non-verbal behaviour is constantly giving
people meta messages about you and the information you are providing.
Meta message is higher level messages about:
1 The type of message being sent.
2 The state/status of the messenger.
3 The state/status of the receiver.
4 The context in which the message is being sent.
Meta Model?
A model developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler that identifies
categories of language patterns that can be problematic or ambiguous.
Meta Program
A level of mental programming that determines how we sort, orient to, and
chunk our experiences. A process by which one sorts through multiple
generalisations simultaneously as such Meta Programs control how and when a
person will engage in any set of strategies in a given context.
Meta Position
The process of separating yourself from a system in order to gain
information. The Fly on the Wall?
Metaphor
The process of thinking about one situation or phenomenon as something else,
i.e. stories, parables, and analogies. Metaphors are often used to
complement the changes that a person is going through during personal
development. A metaphor can also make an idea more easily understood.
Milton Model
The inverse of the Meta Model, using artfully vague language patterns to
pace another person's experience and access unconscious resources. Based on
the language used by Milton H. Erickson M.D.
Mind Reading
In NLP terms, this refers not to the idea of telepathy, but to the
assumptions that one sometimes makes about other people's thoughts or
opinions, without the other person specifying it. Typically, an individual
might say "I know my boss doesn't like me, because..."
Mirroring
Matching portions of another person's behaviour in order to gain rapport. It
is an effect that occurs naturally in everyday communication and can be used
to increase the level of rapport felt between people.
Mismatching
Adopting different patterns of behaviour to another person, breaking rapport
for the purpose of redirecting, interrupting or terminating a meeting or
conversation.
Modal Operator
This is a term from the Net-Model, which refers to those words (in English)
that speak of possibility or necessity, eg. can, should, would, will and
their negatives.
Model
A practical description of how something works, whose purpose is to be
useful.
Model of the World
A person's internal representation about the condition of the world.
Modelling
The act of creating a calculus which describes a given system. The process
of observing and mapping the successful behaviours of other people. In NLP
this involves profiling behaviours/physiology, beliefs and values, internal
states and strategies
Multiple Description
The process of describing the same thing from different viewpoints.
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N
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
The study of the structure of subjective experience and what can be
calculated from that.
A behavioural model and set of explicit skills and techniques founded by
John grinder and Richard Bandler in 1975. Defined as the study of the
structure of subjective experience. NLP studies the patterns or
"programming" created by the interactions among the brain (neuro), language
(linguistic), and the body that produce both effective and ineffective
behaviour. The skills and techniques were derived by observing the patterns
of excellence in experts from diverse fields of professional communication,
including psychotherapy, business, hypnosis, law, and education.
Neuro-Logical Levels
This is a model put forward by Robert Dilts for organising the elements that
make up human psychology. It is hierarchical in nature, where each level
encompasses the lower, and has more impact and influence on our
'personality'. The levels are (from highest to lowest): mission, identity,
beliefs, capabilities, behaviours, and environment
Non-Verbal
Without words. Usually referring to the analogue portion of our behaviour
such as tone of voice or other external behaviour.
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O
Olfactory
Relating to smell or the sense of smell.
Open Frame
An opportunity for anyone to raise any comments or questions about the
material that interests them
Outcomes
Goals or desired states that a person or organisation aspires to achieve.
Out Framing
Setting a frame that excludes possible objections. "I will answer any
question, except questions about the seating arrangements." This is a very
important concept in meetings and presentations.
Overlap
Using one representational system to gain access to another, for example,
picturing a scene and then hearing the sounds in it.
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P
Pacing
A method used by communicators to quickly establish rapport by matching
certain aspects of their behaviour to those of the person with whom they are
communicating - matching or mirroring of behaviour.
Perceptual Filters
The unique ideas, experiences, beliefs and language that shape our model of
the world.
Perceptual Position
A particular perspective or point of view. In NLP there are three basic
positions one can take in perceiving a particular experience. First position
involves experiencing something through our own eyes associated in a first
person point of view. Second position involves experiencing something as if
we were in another person's shoes. Third position involves standing back and
perceiving the relationship between out selves and others from a dissociated
perspective. Along with the idea of perceptual positions is the idea that we
learn more when we are able to consider the same situation from different
positions.
Physiology
To do with the physical part of a person.
Polarity
The mind compares sensory information to stored models or ideas of how
reality has been previously experienced and organised. Upon receiving a
sensory impression the mind matches the impression to the stored images. If
the individual initially notices the aspects that match the image, this is
called a positive responder. If the person notices the mismatch initially,
this is called a negative or polarity response. (There is also the
possibility of a neutral response if the stimulus has no kinaesthetic value
to the person.) Polarity responders tend to be called reactive,
argumentative, or negative personalities if the predominant pattern is to
initially notice what is wrong in comparison to their ideal images. These
three patterns are learned and can be changed from any one of the three to
another mode according to the desired effect.
Predicates
Process words (like verbs, adverbs, and adjectives) that a person selects to
describe a subject. Predicates are used in NLP? to identify which
representational system a person is using to process information (eg.I see
what you mean?, That rings a bell?).
Preferred (Primary) System
The representational system that an individual typically uses most to think
consciously and organise his or her experience.
Presupposition
A basic underlying assumption which is necessary for a representation to
make sense. Within language systems, a sentence which must be true for some
other sentence to make sense. Mastery of presuppositions is one of the keys
to NLP excellence.
Process and Content
Content is what is done, whereas process is about how it is done. What you
say is content and how you say it is process. For example the Swish Pattern
works with smoking, over-eating, nail-biting, and a host of other habits,
because it works not with the behaviour itself but with the way in which an
individual is compelled to do the behaviour.
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Q
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R
Rapport
The presence of trust, harmony, and co-operation in a relationship. A
relationship or state of having trust and mutual responsiveness with others.
Rapport happens naturally, and one of the benefits of NLP is learning how to
develop it with consciousness and deliberation, quickly and easily. Breaking
rapport can also b useful in some circumstances. Rapport can be easily seen
when two people?s behaviours match each other ? this is often accompanied by
an internal sense of mutual liking and sympathy/understanding.
Reframing
A process used in NLP through which a problematic behaviour is separated
from the positive intention of the internal program or "part" that is
responsible for the behaviour. New choices or behaviour are established that
satisfy the same positive intention but don't have the problematic
by-products
Representational Systems
The five senses: seeing, hearing, touching (feeling), smelling and tasting.
Representational System Primacy
The systematic use of one sense over the others to process and organise in a
given context. Primary representational system will determine many
personality traits as well as learning capabilities.
Requisite Variety
Flexibility of thought and behaviour. Can make changes on the way to an
outcome / goal. This term originates from the Law of Requisite Variety,
which originated in cybernetics and systems thinking. In summary, it means
that whomever has the greatest flexibility in behaviour will have the
greatest influence over any situation they are in.
Resources
Any means that can be brought to bear to achieve an outcome: physiology,
states, thought, strategies, experiences, people, events or possessions.
Resourceful State
The total neurological and physiological experience when a person feels
resourceful.
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S
Secondary Gain
Where some seemingly negative or problematic behaviour actually carries out
some positive function at some other level. For example, smoking may help a
person to relax or help them fit a particular self-image. Not purely an NLP
term, this refers to the situation where some apparently negative or
problematic behaviour results in some positive end result in some way. This
makes the problematic behaviour more likely to continue.
Sensory Acuity
The process of learning to make finer and more useful distinctions about the
sense information we get from the world. One of the benefits that come from
studying NLP is the realisation that so much more is going on out there than
we are normally aware of.
Sensory-Based Description
Information that is directly observable and verifiable by the senses. It is
the difference between "The lips are pulled taut, some parts of her teeth
are showing and the edges of her mouth are higher than the main line of her
mouth" and "She's happy" - which is an interpretation.
Second Position
Seeing the world from another person?s point of view and so understanding
their reality.
Softeners
Lessen the impact of a direct question by softening voice tone or preamble
such as "Would you be willing to tell me ....?
Spatial Anchoring
This is a term referring to the way of using physical location as an anchor.
For example, an individual might associate a particular state with a
particular location. Later, when they want to instantly access that state,
they can make it much easier and more effective by stepping into that
location. Spatial anchoring is often used to cleanly separate different
states, so that the individual can more effectively deal with each state as
a distinct entity. Also called psycho-geography.
State
The total ongoing mental and physical conditions from which a person is
acting. The state we are in affects our capabilities and interpretation of
experience. The individual will respond to stimuli differently, depending
upon the state they are in at a particular time. Also, the information that
the person receives from the outside world will be filtered according to the
state they are in, resulting in a different perception of what is happening.
This difference can be empowering or disempowering.
Stimulus Response
An association between an experience and a subsequent so-called reaction;
the natural learning process Ivan P. Pavlov demonstrated when he correlated
the ringing of a bell to the secretion of saliva in dogs.
Strategy
A set of explicit mental and behavioural steps used to achieve a specific
outcome. In NLP, the most important aspect of a strategy is the
representational systems used to carry out the specific steps.
Sub-Modalities
The special sensory qualities perceived by each of the five senses. For
example, visual sub-modalities include colour, shape, movement, brightness,
depth, etc., auditory submodalities include volume, pitch, tempo, etc., and
kinaesthetic sub-modalities include pressure, temperature, texture,
location, etc. Submodalities are used in a large number of techniques in NLP
- by changing the submodalities of a memory or thought, we can change the
effect they have on us.
Surface Structure
An utterance. The words or language used to describe or stand for the actual
primary sensory representations stored in the brain.
Swish Pattern
A generative NLP sub-modality process that programs your brain to go in a
new direction. Is very effective in changing habits or unwanted behaviours
into new constructive ways.
Synesthesia
The process of overlap between representational systems, characterised by
phenomena like see-feel circuits, in which a person derives feelings from
what they see, and hear-feel circuits, in which a person gets feelings from
what they hear.
Systemic
To do with systems, looking at relationships and consequences over time and
space rather than linear cause and effect.
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T
Third Position
When you observe yourself and others.
Timeline
The way we store pictures, sounds, and feelings of our past, present and
future. This refers to the unconscious method we have for storing our
memories, and our plans or goals for the future. The assumption is made that
if we can differentiate between today, last Thursday, and our next birthday,
then we must have some way of sorting time in our minds; the only question
is how?
Trance
An altered state with an inward focus of attention on a few stimuli.
Transderivational Search
The act of locating meaning(s) which may not be explicit or implicit in a
surface structure. When a person is asked to 'go inside and think of a time
when ...', they will typically do a transderivational search, i.e., search
their memories/beliefs/wishes, etc for an event which matches the meaning of
that phrase.
Translating
Connecting the meaning of one representation to the same meaning in another
representation.
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U
Uptime
This is the opposite of 'downtime', and means where the individual is paying
attention to what is going on external to them, in their environment, and
not to their internal processes.
Utilisation
A technique or approach in which a person's specific strategy or pattern of
behaviour is paced or matched in order to influence the person's response.
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V
Values
Values are the things that are important to you - not objects or people, but
experiences/feelings such as learning, health, wisdom, respect. They are
non-physical qualities that we seek to have more of in our life.
Visual
Relating to sight or the sense of sight.
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W
Well-Formedness Conditions
In NLP a particular outcome is well-formed when it is: (1) stated in
positives, (2) initiated and maintained by the individual, (3) ecological -
maintains the quality of all rapport systems, and (4) testable in experience
- sensory based.
Well-Formed Outcome
A well-formed outcome is an outcome which meets the following criteria:
Positive ensure that the goal is what you want, not what you don't want
Own-Part ensure that the goal can be achieved and maintained by you, without
any necessary intervention by others or by luck.
Specific ensure goal is as specific as possible. What? Where? How? How?
When?
Evidence define how you will know when you have achieved your goal, in terms
of what you will see, hear, feel, smell or taste when it is completed.
Ecology ensure that the goal will maintain the positive by-products of your
current situation, and will not create any unwanted by-products
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