Improving Behavior with Varying Levels of NLP Techniques - NLP Article
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I have found myself (and my clients) ;) dramatically enhancing behavior by practicing varying levels of NLP skills in cycles. I'd be interested to know if others have experienced similar things!
By this, I mean, I'll approach an issue that I'd like to resolve (or for which I want to arrive at a unique solution), and instead of only attempting one thing, and stopping when I get one solution, I'll apply cyclically varying levels of knowledge/skill to the issue.
I'll start by addressing my beliefs surrounding the issue and get submodalities, changing belief structures as may be appropriate or desirable through varying tools (just to keep them fresh), for example using a distance-based swish using the submods of differing beliefs.
I'll do some internal time line work to reshape my past behaviors, with new resources.
Then I might "chunk way down" into the more simplistic NLP tools. E.g., I'll do some circles of excellence, getting one or two pure & intense states and applying them through resource triangles. I'll do an internal Kinesthetic Squash. I'll stack anchors and use them through creating new memories.
Then I'll "chunk back up" into the high-level combinatorial tools which make use of all the little ones, and generate/design/use outrageous states to let the solutions fall into place...
Then I might "chunk way down" again to practice the little details of seeing the future differently (and specifically, but flexibly)...
All the while I'm using different NLP language skills & NLP language patterns out loud or internally to help lead myself through the experience.
In addition to ALL that, I'll be paying attention to which logical levels I'm utilizing, and how jumping up or down in levels changes the experience or the effectiveness of the tools...
I find that this meandering approach {less then more then less detail, etc.} to solving something internally:
- Induces a VERY fractionated state: 'confusion with comfort'
- Provides me with lots of practice to keep the tools sharp & quick
- Gives me unique insights rapidly as to what's more effective when & before/after what else
- Gives me MULTIPLE solution paths (usually) to choose from
- Is an effective alternative to the "Drug of Choice" induction!
- Is a great way to spend an hour doing these kinds of things if you suddenly find yourself bored for whatever reason at all...
Comments/replies are invited & appreciated!
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- No matter what skill you want to learn, no matter what fears or concerns or hesitation you may have, there are and will always be a wide range of approaches, to learning that skill. It's important to keep that in mind when making learning choices.
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- Jim RapsonNLP Trainer, Real Estate Investor, Entrepreneur, Houston, TXAttended Course : Speaking Ingeniously
Having taken Charisma Enhancement from Bandler/Lavalle in 2002 in Mexico, I just finished Jonathan's 5-day Speaking Ingeniously course in Orlando FL. (With due respect to Richard Bandler and John LaValle:) Here's why a person should take Speaking Ingeniously instead of Charisma Enhancement. Whether you have extensive public speaking experience but want to refine your skills or are a newbie who wants to stand out from the pack from the start, this course is a must for you. Here are the reasons why I think Holographic Communication is the superior choice: (1) Extensive practice at state chaining. Few skilled established NLP trainers will disagree that state-chaining is an integral part of any well designed training. Unfortunately few trainers will provide enough TIME, PREPARATION and PRACTICE in their training to really master the skillset. Several skills comprise the art of state chaining, including anchoring, state elicitation, use of tonality, etc. Jonathan teaches IT ALL. (2) Material and drills designed to "read" your audience while presenting. Some speakers are more focused on delivering their content, and less so on their audience's response. You need to be focused on BOTH. Few trainers will address this with any real level of detail and most will not set up drills to practice it. Jonathan does BOTH. (3) Preparation and practice with language patterns designed to generate the time distortion effect for learning. This wasn't taught at my Charisma Enhancement. (4) Immediate feedback on demos. FEW TRAINERS will offer you a comprehensive verbal review of your performance DAILY both good and bad. Jonathan does both. (this is not the same as some "green" well intentioned trainer's assistant giving you their "hepfull comments"). (5)Getting your audiences’s ATTENTION. This is a skill in itself- Jonathan coaches and drills students on this everyday thoroughout the training using what he calls developing a HEADLINE. Finally, this is not a complete list of all skills taught by Jonathan and there were other skills that Jonathan presented not directly related to group presentations, in response to our requests during training. He went out of his way to deliver on those.
2007 - Marc CarlinHypnotist, The NYC Hypnotist, New York, NYAttended Course : NLP Sales Wizardry
I just finished up a seminar with Jonathan Altfeld on NLP and Sales. As always I had a great weekend and experiential learning experience. Jonathan is a master at connecting NLP with real world skills and I learned plenty! [...] If you have a chance to train with Jonathan I enthusiastically support his work.
http://www.hypnoticstate.com2010 - Chris ArellanoNorth CarolinaAttended Course : NLP Practitioner Training
Through this experience, I've gathered many things that I did not have before. I am able to see things, and see them from new perspectives. I have learned and am still learning how to improve both myself as well as those with whom I come in contact. Things I have just described are somewhat vague in description yet very profound to me. I owe much of this trance-formation to Jon for providing the tools and facilitating the use of these new tools in a positive direction. Thank you.
1998 - Andy PrestonSales Trainer, Outstanding Results, Manchester & LondonAttended Course : Linguistic Wizardry
What a fantastic 3-day event this is! Having been around the fringes of NLP for some time, after doing my Practitioner course, I was looking to further my skills without necessarily going the Master Practitioner route yet. I first met Jonathan Altfeld at an evening he ran in Manchester and heard about the Linguistic Wizadry course, and signed up immediately. Not only did the course look fantastic, but it was being held near Amsterdam - how could I refuse! In 3 days, I learnt more practical NLP (and how and where to apply it!) than with the vast majority of other trainings I've been to. I knew there were NLP trainers in the room, other Practitioners and people who'd not done Prac yet - and I was worried that the material would either be too complex for me to understand, or too simple (for the newbies). After the first hour, all those concerns melted away. Not only did Jonathan make the material simple, easy-to-understand and very practical, but the way he taught ensured everyone in the room (regardless of skill level) was getting massive value. I find I've achieved great command of metaphors, sensory language, storytelling, and much more - to list them here simply would not do the course justice! In my humble opinion this is by far the best value NLP course I've ever done, and having studied with some of the best NLP trainers in the world - I rate Jonathan in the top 1%.
http://www.outstanding-results.co.uk/2006 - Silke ScheidereiterGermanyAttended Course : NLP Skills-Builders (course)
Great, great, great! Thank you so much for helping me to find out more about what I've already been doing well, unconsciously! This was exactly what I needed to take my NLP skills "out there" and to the next level... and beyond! And thank you for opening up a whole new world full of miracles & adventure. Now I'm ready to explore! My main goal in this seminar was to find a way to integrate NLP more into my day-to-day life. In the past I sometimes got frustrated because I felt that I learned something very valuable and never got around to using it - at least not in a way I could verify to myself. It was as if a connection was missing between what I knew theoretically and what I actually DID. That's changed! Not only am I now using my NLP™ skills... I can't even turn it off anymore!! I've become an active player in this game - and I love it! Just the other day I got a glimpse of what really effective communication feels like. I had an appointment with a guy who definetely was in a less-than-positive state and who had no intention of giving me what I wanted -- and I got my way!! I was in the right state, alert, got my language spot on (...did I tell you that I love sleight of mouth?), had the tonality right, paced and then led led led led him to feeling great about my demands... WOW... talking about flow!!! Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing your knowledge! And thank you for blowing my limiting beliefs apart once more...!
1999 - Andrew HolloDirector, Workwell Consulting, Melbourne, AustraliaAttended Course : Speaking Ingeniously
I run training that involves doctors, medical practice managers and nurses - all in the same room. They have vastly different backgrounds, training and models of the world. Getting them to work together - and understand each other - can be a challenge. In 2005 I did Jonathan's Speaking Ingeniously program with the expectation that my key messages would be more concise and, therefore, more easily integrated by participants in my courses. In the six months since Speaking Ingeniously, I've experimented with headlines and with spatial anchors specifically, noticing that it's now much easier to get everyone's attention in the first 5 minutes and, then, easily keep their attention throughout a lengthy training session. Since doing Speaking Ingeniously, I'm better at tracking shifts in participants and, therefore, responding fluidly as we go. I get great feedback from all the groups and I feel I expend less effort and energy. Even people who do my courses twice can't believe that they're experiencing the same material, as they get so involved each time, it's like new learning for them. Thanks Jonathan!
http://www.workwell.com.au/2006 - Michael VanderDonkNLP Trainer & Business Consultant, TOACH, Sydney, AustraliaPersonal :
Michael Vanderdonk here. I'm an NLP trainer licensed by NLPTRB in Australia, trained primarily by Chris & Jules Collingwood and John Grinder, with a wide range of other trainer experiences as well. I also assist at Inspiritive's NLP trainings. Some years ago, I used to be a very highly paid IT consultant, and now I'm using and training NLP and hypnosis in corporate Australia. I've seen some of the best, I've seen incredibly poor training, and I've also seen a wide range in between. I'd like to take a moment and share with you why US-based NLP trainer Jonathan Altfeld is one of my favorite trainers by far, not to mention why he's highly regarded by some of the best and most experienced trainers around the globe. My interest in Jonathan's work after having attended most of his courses in Australia led me to travel all the way to the UK to attend one of his seminars in particular. Jonathan's trained primarily by Richard Bandler, through the Society of NLP. He started training in '97, has trained all over North America and regularly trains in the UK and Australia. Unlike some who've trained with Richard Bandler, Jonathan seems to be able to navagate his way between the different NLP "camps". Jonathan even sports a gracious review from Chris & Jules Collingwood (John Grinder's favorite trainers!), and James Tsakalos in Melbourne. These high quality reviews aren't any surprise to me. When I first met him, over 6 years ago now, was struck immediately with his effort and care that he gave to his students that was far beyond the call of duty. I was surprised he joined and and even encouraged his students to continue on after the seminar, taking the new skills learnt in the classroom and applying them out in the real world. Jonathan, socially, is amazingly memorable. I remember one evening dinner with a small group from the course, and after a small demonstration with our waitress, every other waitress and waiter, and even a chef, came to our table to find out what was happening. Then there was the time he had the bar staff in stitches of laughter, so captivated they ignored the other waiting patrons (which is usually when Jonathan says "go help your customers")! While he does use several tricks to get these results, he's happy to teach these -- and usually does. His ability to communicate powerfully at different levels at the same time is what guarantees his results. His personality is magnetic, and the way he teaches quickly and easily transfers the skills. There was this time in Melbourne where once again I join him for a drink after the event. He's not even been in the country 48 hours, and the barman yells "Jonathan!" as he enters. His communication is memorable, even to those people who only meet him for a few minutes. I immensely enjoy Jonathan's work - If I didn't I would not be writing this, and I would not have attended most of his events in Australia. Nor would I have traveled around the world in May 2004 to see him and a fabulous hypnosis trainer Doug O'Brien co-train together in London. I've attended his NLP Skills-Builders course (an intro course). I've attended his Linguistic Wizardry course twice (language patterns). I've attended Knowledge Engineering (modeling & belief systems). I've attended his Belief Craft course with Doug O'Brien (combining Modeling Belief Systems with Sleight-of-Mouth). He is an outstanding trainer, able to lead a room mixed with 'beginners' and seasoned NLP trainers to a common goal - His village council exercise in Linguistic Wizardry in particular is a great example of this. If you want to train with the absolute best, start interviewing lots of NLP Practitioners, Master Practitioners, and trainers -- and find out who they think continues to be worth training with. There aren't many, but they are out there. And Jonathan is one of those few!
http://www.toach.net - Byron WoodsonPhiladelphia, PABought Audio : Knowledge Engineering
Jon Altfeld's Knowledge Engineering Home study course is the best money on NLP I've ever spent. I've read all of the early NLP books, and most of the books in their bibliographies. I've also been to one 14-day training. To date, most NLP has been 'intellectual' and 'peicemeal' for me. Since listening to Jon's seminar and reading the transcript, I've been able move from 'knowing about' to 'knowing' how to model other people's experiences and belief systems, and with way less effort. Jon expanded on Dilts' Normalized Belief Structure. The way Jon builds and weaves this structure enabled me to understand clearly how it worked. His course indirectly set up the "NBS" as a lynchpin, integrating other aspects of NLP for me. Most of the stuff I've exposed myself to in NLP focuses on either the sensory systems or the language. This KE course has enabled me to understand how sensory-systems are integrated into language. This has me tracking people's experiences and languaging not like a 1-2-3 beginner dance instruction, but rather like keeping up with a good salsa tune! And with a partner to boot! Through the course, he leads you to using this tool in simple and dynamic ways. Using the "NBS" has enabled me to attend to, understand and track the experience of anyone I talk to. It has also enabled me to deal with people more powerfully. Two days after finishing the course, using this tool, I both defused one, and prevented another almost-guaranteed argument with my girlfriend, in the same night! This is the first NLP product that I've read and/or experienced that enables me to easily attend to, track and deal with another person's belief systems in real-time/uptime. This home study course actually puts the 'programming' in NLP.
2004 - Todd BaumgartnerSystems Administrator, Cincinnati, OHAttended Course : NLP Skills-Builders (course)
After attending an NLP seminar with Jonathan Altfeld, I can only use one word to describe it: amazing! Throughout the weekend, I went through a metamorphosis, leaving the cocoon of my former limited self and now knowing that I can accomplish anything I desire. My only limit now is time. I was amazed to have seen some of my limiting beliefs just fade away and snap like delicate threads. Not only did these changes take place during the seminar, but I now have the tools necessary to make other changes to any aspect of my life. I now understand that the only thing holding me back was myself! Seeing Jonathan using the skills he was teaching in real life was also a major plus. He uses everything that he is teaching all of the time. He doesn't give stop until he knows that everyone has learned what they need to know. In the past few days, since the seminar, I have developed more rapport with my family and co-workers. In the past, I would have been in a situation where meeting new people would have scared me immensely, and now, I can't wait to meet new people. My only regret is that I didn't do this sooner. If you are not living life to the fullest, then you owe it to yourself to go to one of his seminars.
1997 - Nick KempLeeds UKBought Video : “Building Hypnotic Rapport”
A great introduction to the many facets of building rapport. Jonathan is extremely fluid in his presentation of this subject perfectly pacing the assembled delegates with his relaxed and fun approach to the material. His explanations of rhythm, mismatching, non verbal communication and frames of learning are excellent and its clear from watching that Jonathan has genuine enthusiasm in presenting seminars and is fully aware of how each of the delegates is responding both consciously and unconsciously as well as the dynamics of the group as a whole. As someone who avidly collects all kinds of NLP and hypnosis materials, (in CD, video and DVD formats), what I really liked about this DVD set is that Jonathan breaks the subject down into logical sections, which makes it extremely engaging and memorable for the viewer. His use of metaphors demonstrates someone who is in my opinion a natural presenter and I consider this DVD set invaluable and great value for money for anyone training in NLP, hypnosis or simply interested in improving their communication skills! In fact, I am sufficiently impressed by the quality of this set that I am going to seek out the other DVDs in Jonathan's "Skill-Builders Series".
2005