Recently, on social media, an NLP Practitioner asked a question about a client who reported having a phobia, and with whom he used the NLP Fast Phobia Cure, which may have partly worked, but it came back a few days later?
It's Pure FUN to Learn & Use NLP
I've been reviewing my website, and my newsletters, over a period of time... and it's become laughably obvious that I sound way too serious online sometimes.
Oh, I do take the quality of my work and my business presence seriously, but I don't take life too seriously, and I don't take myself too seriously either. Life's too short for that, and by contrast to how it might seem, I tend to bring more than a few rays of sunshine and laughter and fun to just about any and every pursuit or situation. NLP is fun!
So the reason for this NLP article is to share another, playful side of me. Because I don't know if it comes across through my website or my newsletters how much fun I think it is both to learn NLP, and to LIVE it. Fun for me -- fun for my kids -- immense fun for Everyone!
Changing Perceptions is an Enormous amount of fun! It turns the world into your personal sandbox or playground!
Story #1: Fabulous Practical Jokes
So, let me take you back to one of my visits to Melbourne Australia. I've gone out to lunch on Lygon Street during one of my courses, with a large contingent of my student group, accompanied also by my good friend NLP Trainer James Tsakalos. James seems to feel it's an essential Melbourne experience to try this restaurant's "Special Hot Chocolate". I find out later on, that he actually feels it's an essential experience to be the butt of a practical joke!
So, the waiter takes a typical white cylindrical ceramic mug, places it upside down on a saucer plate, puts a teaspoon of hot chocolate on the bottom surface of the mug which is pointing upwards, then paints the top with whipped cream. Sure enough, when I lift it to my mouth, I get a moustache of whipped cream, and no more than a teaspoon of hot chocolate before I realize the mug is mostly empty. What a beautiful illusion! (And a cheap practical joke!).
It seems my life is increasingly filled with such fun moments! Yours could be too! (Just remember, the word "Gullible" is actually NOT listed in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary! Amazing!)
Story #2: How to take 30+ really annoyed people and entertain them with an NLP mirroring process!
This is a fun rant. So I hope you enjoy this Crackberry story just for giggles. For anyone who gets annoyed when strangers talk on their cellphones in front of you in public -- on speakerphone!!
One night about a month ago, I headed out to a favorite spot to grab some Dinner. I sat at the bar and ordered an appetizer. Normally -- a great place to go.
That night, however, the last 5 minutes of my fun was polluted by some guy who apparently wasn't aware of the degree to which he was offending everyone (30+ people) at the bar.
He strolls in with a large cellphone (like a Crackberry; errr, Blackberry, but everyone's so addicted to them I call them Crackberries), and it's on Speakerphone. It's clearly too much work to hold it to his ear, so he holds it to his mouth. And he's speaking LOUDLY. It's an inch from his mouth, the speaker sound is turned way up, and he's speaking loudly. Which is to say, ALL of us can hear his conversation. Not just me -- 2 seats down from him, but I'm watching EVERYONE around a rather large rectangular bar watching him. Listening to him talk to what appears to be a business partner about moving money around from here to there.
After several minutes of utter fascination with his willingness to share this ongoing conversation of his with all of us, I finally decide it's time to do something about it. So I start scanning a range of options, looking at the situation from multiple perceptual positions.
- Do I ask him politely to turn it down? Common sense would indicate that anyone with half a brain would clearly know he was disturbing ALL of us. So I chose not to ask politely.
- Do I get angry and yell at him? Common sense would indicate he's waiting for anyone, ANYONE, to do just that. So I chose not to get angry at him.
Instead, I figure, "when in Rome...." and I decide to explore what mirroring his behavior will do for the entire context. So I take out my cellphone, and I start alternating between pressing two buttons, that cause my phone to beep, incredibly loudly. Too loudly, it seems, for him to stay properly focused on his conversation. LOL. I can hear he & his co-hort beginning to have difficulty communicating.
After about 30 seconds of this, I look over at him, pretending to be dumbfounded, WHILE I continue pressing the buttons, and say, LOUDLY, "OH.... I'M SORRY... IS THIS DISTURBING YOUR CALL? I APOLOGIZE, I GUESS I FAILED TO ASK EVERYONE AT THE BAR IF THESE LOUD BEEPS WOULD OFFEND ANY OF YOU." And then I looked across the bar at several other groups who were already laughing at my antics, and I asked "IS MY PHONE PISSING YOU OFF??? GEE I'M SORRY... I CAN'T HELP IT.. MY FINGERS DON'T WANT TO STOP!!! CAN YOU PUT UP WITH IT FOR ANOTHER HOUR OR SO? PLEASE?"
Meanwhile the guy with the Crackberry looks over at me while his buddy's saying (on speaker) "what's going on?" And he looks at his Crackberry, pauses for a while, and ultimately says "Let me call you later."
He ends the call, and a massive round of applause erupts -- followed by not less than 3 people offering to buy me a beer loudly enough for Crackberry-guy to hear it. Meanwhile the bartenders are all "high-fiving" me.
He then chooses to save face by apologizing, and while nobody wants to hear it, I immediately ease up on my nonverbal communication and accept his apology with grace. Unfortunately none of the others at the bar really wanted to converse with him, which was their own choice to make. Finally Crackberry-guy got up and left.
I'm not quite sure how I lucked into this, but I managed to avoid an argument, prevent 30 people from lynching a guy, stop someone from disturbing me and others, get a standing ovation, get 3 free beers (turned 2 of them down!) and 4 high-fives, get him to decide to leave without further aggression.
Not a bad night, come to think about it. LOL! I see this as just an example of being able to assess a situation, consider the dynamics of the situation from multiple perspectives, and creatively find an ideal way of engaging with the scene in an optimal way, for optimal outcomes. NLP gives us so much in the way of a fabulous (and often fun) tool belt for these purposes!
Living the Life... and the NLP Attitude!
Making every situation a ripe opportunity to live life with a sense of light-heartedness and best intentions for the most possible number of people... is an immensely fun way of life. I believe that every workshop & training opportunity NEEDS to be equally fun and enjoyable. I do believe in rigorous efforts, but I believe in wrapping them with fabulous experiences whenever possible!
If you think about it... (and I know you will!)... don't you agree with me? What a great way to move through the world!
I'm often asked how I seemingly effortlessly come up with such creative angles to handling or resolving unique problem situations. I think the way in which I approach running courses encourages this sense of play and exploration, not only in terms of book knowledge but in terms of real-world behavioral situations. In other words, I think I make that sense of fun with NLP... not only contagious and adventurous, but also still as high a quality training experience as you can get anywhere!
Might you want more of a sense of adventurous fun in your own life -- while also learning how to help yourself & others to a richer, more rewarding life experience? I don't know too many people who wouldn't benefit from more of this!
[ Back to Top ] [ Back to Articles Index ]
Inbox Insights
- Knowledge Engineering (& Belief Craft) have evolved, into GeniusMapping™
- As of September 2020, we're in the process of moving from Tampa, Florida, to the Youngstown Ohio area. Currently, during the Coronavirus era, we're mostly focusing on Zoom-based Coaching, and aligning resources to run online courses.
- How "Civil Engineering" totally reframes the word "Stress," redefines the phrase "Stress Management," and leads us to embrace Stress!
- Many NLP Practitioners are more sloppy with their thinking patterns, than they'd like to admit, or... would even notice.
- Watch NLP Co-Founder Richard Bandler use NLP to eliminate Michael Strahan's phobic response to snakes -- in minutes (with Kelly Ripa bringing over a BIG snake at the end to test Michael's response). Spoiler alert: It worked ridiculously well.
- 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.
- Many more famous people have been trained in Ericksonian (indirect) Hypnosis and NLP than you might guess. There are certainly far more who have strong interests here than have publically admitted so.
- On January 1, 2015, Jonathan Altfeld and 20 other co-authors released a digital book entitled "Creating Business Growth."
- What are the Four Stages of Learning?
- 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 - Richard StokesLondon, UKAttended Course : “Irresistible Voice”seminar
I attended Jonathan Altfeld's Irresistible Voice workshop about a year ago. I was extremely impressed at the time, but didn't want to post a review until I'd had a chance to experience the difference that it made in practice. [...] The starting point of the transformation was the use of various pieces of electronic amplification equipment. What this does is allow you to hear yourself as others hear you, in real time. ... Using the PA equipment is the first step to revealing our true voice. The result for me was a revelation - I have a good voice, but I'd just never heard it before. The workshop was interspersed with the opportunity to try out specific drills, a bit like circuit training, in groups of 2 or 3 people. Speaking to a rhythmic click track, speaking lying on the floor with books balanced on the belly, and a laptop with a speech analyser. All ways of generating feedback based on external indications, which we could then experiment with. For me, this was the magic of the workshop, the bringing to the surface of what was previously been hidden, where it could be experimented with. Another great feature of the workshop was the regular coaching by Jonathan, in front of the group. I wanted to be able to project my voice without shouting, so as to reach someone sitting 20 rows back. Jonathan made small adjustments to the way I held my head, a tilt of maybe half an inch or so, and the effect was noticeable and immediate. All of Jonathan's coaching and interventions were directed to specific outcomes that each person wanted. Shortly afterwards, I joined a public speaking club in order to be able to put into practice what I'd learned, speaking to groups of 30-40 people. The feedback I got right from the start was consistently that I have a great speaking voice, and that it was clear that I was an experienced speaker. I'd highly recommend this course.
2007 - Kevin HillNorwich, UKBought Audio : Metaphor Machine CDs
The material is presented clearly and cleanly, the technique is deceptively simple. It seems easy to start using the technique to create useful metaphors immediately, with the exciting prospect that with practice and imagination the same technique is capable of delivering really masterful results. It is completely focused on this one technique, there is no waffle and no distraction from the desired outcome. Jonathan gives the unconscious mind a clear step by step process to understand and then works at embedding the learning unconsciously, and for me this seems to work brilliantly. It seems that when I use the step by step process (the conscious bit) the results at each step "just come to me" (the unconscious bit) and the end result just seems to work. ... Overall, I'm delighted with "The Metaphor Machine". I've got plenty of NLP stuff on my MP3 player that helps me access positive states but this material is sharply focused on one sophisticated and powerful techique and it delivers practical results immediately. By far the best example of NLP training on disc that I've come across so far.
2008 - Erol ThompsonLondon, UKAttended Course : Linguistic Wizardry
As someone relatively new to the subject of NLP I greatly appreciated the mix and range of experience available to me on the linguistic wizardry seminar. Knowledge sharing wasn't just encouraged by Jonathon, but expected as a pre-requisite to getting the most out of the course. As a result this added to the whole seminar experience from day one. Perhaps of greatest benefit to me was the way that Jonathon ensured that we learned as much during lunch breaks and evening conversations as we had learned during the day. By joining us Jonathon showed how the material could be usefully integrated in the real world - achieving shop discounts ethically, was another great bonus. During the course, the practical sessions and brain gym exercises were highly enjoyable - I've already used one or two as handy exercises to occupy the attention of boisterous nephews and nieces. It seems NLP really is 'child's play'. In general, I would like to have played around with more examples of 'state-chaining' through story telling. The Village Council sessions allowed me to see for myself how I'd benefited from the course. Personal benefits for me since the course have been in my professional and social interactions - for instance I now find it easier to model the behaviours of colleagues who have enviable influencing styles; I now see interactions as an opportunity to share stories in a more exciting way; and the quality of my presentations (and joke telling) have improved. For this I believe Jonathon should take some credit.
2006 - Andy PrestonSales Trainer, Outstanding Results, Manchester & LondonAttended Course : Speaking Ingeniously
As someone who already has public speaking and training experience, I had been looking for a course that would help me further develop my skills for a long time. Most courses either only cater for the absolute beginner, or focus on the less important aspects of speaking - where to hold your hands, how to use Powerpoint for example. Jonathan Altfeld's Speaking Ingeniously course however is different. Right from day 1, I realised I was in for something special. The massive growth both myself and other attendees experienced in our speaking skills would be hard to believe if we didn't have the DVD evidence! Jonathan's ability to train a mixed ability group is unrivaled, and on this course there were already-confident public speakers like myself, right down to people who had never spoken in public before, and even one who had a fear of public speaking! The way Jonathan trains means that everyone, regardless of their current skill level, gets massive benefits from his courses. He has mastered the hard-to-master art of training different skill levels at one time, without anyone feeling he's going too fast or too slow and it's the most effortless learning I've experienced (and among the most powerful). Who would I recommend this course to? Anyone that wants to improve their speaking skills - whether they want to speak in public or just improve their position at work (and believe me, you'll be able to negotiate more money after this course!). In my opinion, this is THE best course on speaking skills, and having researched lots of courses before I chose this one, I can guarantee you won't find the majority of this material (or have this sort of experience) anywhere else. If you want a 10 out of 10 experience, I wholeheartedly recommend Jonathan Altfeld and this course over any other.
http://www.outstanding-results.co.uk/2006 - Michael BealeNLP Trainer, PPI, Milton Keynes, UKAttended Course : Knowledge Engineering
I can throroughly recommend this course for anyone who is interested in developing their skills in modelling excellent performance, developing opportunities or solving problems. The skills apply equally well to concepts at work as well as to personal issues. In addition the relatively small numbers helped create an exceptionally positive atmosphere and enabled excellent individual feedback.
http://www.ppimk.com2000 - Michael DeBuskNLP Master Practitioner, MarylandAttended Course : NLP Skills-Builders (course)
Jonathan, I absolutely loved spending the weekend training with you in DC. As a Licensed Master Practitioner, I was delighted to find myself learning new ways to further refine my skills and discovering new parts of my brain. That fingertip exercise you demonstrated--the one that increases interhemispherical communication in the brain--I use it daily and am impressed with the results. And I'm noticing that I have an even greater ability with language patterns. My favorite part of the weekend, though, was watching the personal transformations made by other members of the class, specifically the skeptics. These folks went from "show me" to "show me more!" in an incredibly short period of time. You've helped them begin the process of dramatically improving their lives, and it was an honor to observe and take part in it. Thanks, too, for spending extra time with the class... running longer than scheduled so you could share "just one more cool thing" with us, even having meals with us "out in the real world." We all got much more than we paid for. I'm very glad I trained with you and Mastery InSight, and I'll very likely do so again in the future. Thanks again.
http://nlphilia.net/1998 - Alex DeeInvestor Relations Consultant, London, UKAttended Course : Belief Craft MP3 Set
"Belief Craft opens your eyes to what you already know, but didn't know how you know, as well as teaching excellent skills/tools in tracking beliefs and [SoM] persuasion techniques."
2005 - Brian TracySpeaker, Author, World-Renowned Business Expert, Brian Tracy International,Bought Audio : Finding Your Irresistible Voice
"This is a wonderful program that will give you a powerful, authoritative voice. It can change your life."
http://briantracy.com/2000 - Michael RoachCoach, London, UKAttended Course : Belief Craft MP3 Set
"Jonathan & Doug together make a winning team putting a new & exciting spin on how to be successful using sleight of mouth. You'll find in just a few days, your abilities & understandings of how you can use the language patterns of sleight of mouth confidently & covertly in everyday communication increasing by leaps & bounds. Even more you'll be able to target with precision your communication to achieve the outcomes you want. Take the next steps in enhancing your influence & persuasion skills now, attend Belief Craft. I was thoroughly entertained & entranced by the dynamic duo of Jonathan & Doug, both masters in their ability to train, & check that we as delegates were mastering the skills, & able to put into use the ability to craft other people beliefs, & even better we got to update our own. I thoroughly recommend this training for anyone who wants to be more successful in elegantly using the the patterns of Sleight of Mouth & knowing the appropriate contexts to use them in."
http://michaelwilliamroach.com/2005