What Is NLP?

An apparently simple question, so why has it proved notoriously difficult to answer in a simple sentence?

You Could Say:

NLP is about the study of excellence.

NLP enables us to understand how we think and behave, so that we can change
the things that haven’t worked and improve the things that have.

NLP provides us with a ‘User’s manual for the Brain'.

NLP is about the art of effective communication.

NLP encourages us to ask the question, ‘How do you do that?’, and provides us with the tools to start finding some answers.

NLP is a powerful tool for change.

All Of This Has Been Said About NLP

You’ve probably already read it, more than once! The difficulty with these descriptions is that one of the real benefits of NLP is that it offers practical strategies and you learn practical strategies by doing them, not reading about them. Any written definition of NLP will therefore be inadequate: you need to experience it, or at least hear from people who have and hear what it has meant for them in practice.

“This NLP stuff really touches every aspect of your life doesn’t it? Not that I always get it right, but so often after doing something that patently hasn't worked (or usually midway) a bolt of inspiration and understanding hits and I think, ‘No wonder …if you say/behave like that …. Then you’re going to get that response – Next time I’ll ….’ It’s great!!”
D.W. SEN Teacher

“ With all the ‘tips’ I sailed through the promotion board and even came really near the top of the selection list. I am now just waiting for my ‘Inspector’ station and feel extremely relieved. I know that I have developed coping mechanisms that will serve me well in the future.”
J.L. Devon Constabulary

“I’m more specific in setting outcomes and more confident that I can achieve whatever I want. I’m also more sensitive to changes in other people’s states which means I have the confidence to put things right when rapport goes wrong!”
B.H International Training Director (Pharmaceuticals)

Or To Put It Another Way...

You have booked a much-needed holiday to the Bahamas. During the flight you imagine soaking up the sun, gazing out across the aquamarine sea, listening to the gentle sound of the waves kissing the shore; you can almost feel the sand between your toes. When the plane finally touches down, you gather your hand-luggage together and move towards the door,ready to disembark, to discover that the auto-pilot had been incorrectly programmed and that you have landed in Norway ….and you hate pickled herring! You feel justified in being aggrieved. "What was the pilot doing, did he sleep through the whole journey? Why didn’t somebody notice the mistake and take appropriate action? Your holiday is in ruins and it’s “all their fault!!”

The same is often true of our thoughts and behaviours. They run on ‘automatic pilot’, which is fine most of the time, until there is an inappropriate programme. Then the first evidence we have is an unwanted outcome. NLP puts the ‘pilot’ back in control …to be aware of the most effective and appropriate thoughts and behaviours; the ones designed to achieve the best outcomes for ourselves and others. Then it provides the tools to make the design a reality.