Talk is Cheap: Using NLP to Communicate More Effectively by Johnathan Brooks
I was asked by Watt Works Consultancy to write a guest blog for them. You can read it here on their site http://www.watt-works.com/2013/09/talk-is-cheap-using-nlp-to-communicate-more-effectively-by-johnathan-brooks/ or below.
We are delighted this week to have a guest blog by Johnathan Brooks. Johnathan is a Cognitive-Behavioural Coach and Corporate Coach for AXA PPP Healthcare, who also uses NLP approaches extensively in his work. Johnathan’s Coaching practice is based in Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
“In business, communication is essential, and the more accountability and influence you have in the business, the more important it is that you communicate effectively – to employees, team members, co-workers, supervisors, contractors, clients, leads, and so on. Ordinarily we think of effective communication as a mere balance of speaking and listening. However, from the perspective of NLP, many different factors influence our ability to communicate effectively. Understanding these factors will help you communicate more effectively.
These factors fall into three categories:
1. People – who is doing the communicating
2. Messages – what these people are communicating
3. Medium – how they are communicating
People
As implied by our earlier oversimplification of communication as a matter of speaking and listening, in communication there are (at least) two parties – a speaker, or sender, and a receiver, or listener. Each of these two parties has a certain state of mind in that moment that will influence how they are both speaking and listening (sending and receiving). Then, in relation to each other, there is often a disparity of status, or power, between the two parties; this may fluctuate repeatedly throughout a conversation, or a lifetime. But in any given moment, one party is usually the dominant force and one is usually the submissive force.
Messages
This is of course what we think of most when we think of communicating: what we are saying. But there is far more going on, as you may now be starting to realise, than the mere content of your message. There is always what you are not saying; the larger message you are conveying beneath and beyond the words. This is called a ‘meta-message’ and could be something like, “I am better than you,” or “I feel guilty for something.” As you can see, these hidden ‘meta-messages’ color your intended message.
Medium
Finally there is the question of “how” you communicate, which could be looked at in a number of ways. There is of course, the actual medium of communication – speech, print, picture, body language. But there is also the context of the situation – the time and place, as it were. And there are the constrictions of culture, as different cultures imbue their people with different suppositions, expectations and rules regarding proper and improper communication.
Taking all of these factors into account when you communicate is bound to make you a better speaker, listener, team member, and leader.”
Skills in using NLP to communicate more effectively are taught on our Communication Skills and NLP for Business. These courses are available on an open-access and in-house basis. Contact Us today to find out how we can help you connect better with clients and colleagues.
’til we meet again,
Walk in Beauty;
Walk in Peace.
‘Causing the Miraculous by Spreading Beauty, Truth & Harmony‘
Johnathan Brooks, MAC, PG Dip is a Life and Corporate Coach for AXA PPP Healthcare, who has trained in a wide range of personal development treatment methods including the “Power Therapies” (CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming) and has a Post Graduate Diploma in ‘Coaching and NLP’ which he passed with a ‘Commendation’. And is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
He is a full member of the Association for Coaching (MAC) and is a Gold member of The Professional Guild of NLP.
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