Neuro-linguistic programming techniques study how a person’s thoughts affect their behavior. It focuses on our brains interpret the signals they receive and how these interpretations affect what we do.
There are over 200 patterns of NLP techniques that one can utilize. Since NLP techniques focus on making behavioral changes, they can be used for various goals. NLP techniques are helpful for building skills like public speaking, sales and negotiation, team building, and leadership.
NLP techniques are action-oriented and focus on the ‘how such as;.’
- How to react in a different way to your thoughts and emotions?
- How to adjust your communication style to the condition?
- How do you alter your mindset so that life is happening for you, not you?
Here are a few NLP techniques:
Reframing: Reframing in NLP involves confirming positive intentions behind the behaviors you seek to change (usually an undesirable behavior trait).
It is changing the context or representation of a problem.
Imagery Training: Mental rehearsal is an NLP technique based on visualization. You must create a highly detailed scene of yourself successfully performing an action. Picture your body language, your confidence, and the energy around you.
NLP Swish: This is a more advanced technique. It is kind of similar to the first technique. Here you picture something you do not want; make it big and bright. But this technique goes a step further by saying create an intense picture of what you want to switch it with, making it small and dull, and then reverse them, turn the image you don’t wish to into gray and colorless. At the same time, you will turn what you want into a brighter, more colorful picture. This way, you will amplify positives and weaken negatives.
Modeling: Modeling is based on the law of attraction. To grow, you need to surround yourself with people who have gotten the success you want and focus on modeling their behaviors.
Final Thoughts: How many NLP techniques do I need to know, and how do I use them?
The truth is you’ll never know all of these techniques. The most important part of the NLP program is understanding how to have an NLP mindset, so you know how to think and listen so you can hear other people’s patterns and language.
Only then, when you can ask good questions and understand what people are telling you, will you figure out where these patterns will be most effective.
The problem I have seen with many NLP practitioners is that they take these patterns and strategies like a cookbook and through them at all different types of issues. Of course, if you use NLP techniques and practices that way, you won’t have a lot of effectiveness.
Richard Bandler was famous for saying NLP is an attitude, a mentality, and a system that leaves behind it a trail of techniques (paraphrasing!). So, in doing the work with people, it makes sense to make certain techniques in this way to develop these patterns to get that work to be practical and stick based upon the information that people were giving him and whoever was developing any of these patterns.
