This is a multi-Part series of articles on How You Do What You Do.In NLP jargon, this is called “Strategy Elicitation”, and this is # 2 of 3 parts. If there is something you don’t understand, then go back and re-read the first article and this one. Or you could look at the Glossary of NLP . If you’re still not sure, then call the office nearest you and talk to a coach. We are here to help and make NLP more useable.
How You Do What You Do
So first, before we use the strategy to motivate someone, we need to discover the strategy; we need to first talk about discovering the strategy. We need to discover how you do what you do.
Strategies are a very important part of the NLP Coaching Practitioner Training because they allow us to find out and then use our client’s strategies for Motivation, Decision Making, being Convinced and being Reassured. If you have been doing any coaching or consulting, you know how important it is to be able to motivate your client to do the right thing. After that, have him decide to do it, and to then be reassured he did the right thing.
Here is the basic principle
People do inside their heads what they’re talking about outside to you. People do 6 things inside their heads: they make Pictures, hear Sounds, have Feelings, remember Tastes and Smells and they Talk to Themselves.
So, the components of a strategy are going to be those 6 things (or some of them) in a certain order or sequence which we call steps, and that makes a Strategy.
So they will demonstrate verbally (in their words) and non-verbally (by their actions or body language) the strategies used to get into their experiences and make sense of what is happening. So, for example, as someone talks about a past decision, they will probably also run through the strategy steps of that decision in their mind. They will actually go right through the steps in the strategy like an instant replay. Have you ever watched a sports show on TV and you saw an instant replay? Just like that.
Keeping it simple, there are two ways to elicit strategies, and it is easy to do it whichever way you choose. The first we call “formal”, the second is called “informal”. So, if you just ask someone informally, “How do you do that,” and if you listen, they’ll tell you.
Of course, you need to know what to listen to. Most people hear but don’t really listen. That’s one of the secrets we teach in our NLP Trainings.
More often than not, they’ll also tell you in a way that includes the steps that they use in dealing with that information. They will tell you their Strategy.
Many times a Strategy will come out spontaneously and naturally during a conversation and won’t have to be elicited formally. Informal strategy elicitation can be as simple as someone saying to you, “Gee, every time I see that particular sight, I get motivated.” And you say, “So, how do you know to get motivated? What is it about that sight?”
Strategies can also be elicited formally with a formal script. If you are not sure of what you are seeing in the informal method, it makes it a little easier to use an organized formal method of elicitation. When you have the person’s cooperation, and you are in the early stages of your learning strategy elicitation, it may be a little easier to just read the script.
Using the script in formal strategy elicitation, you can go over and over the steps of the strategy until you get it. My suggestion is to learn how to do both formal and informal elicitation so that you can do both as needed. If you’re a doing formal elicitation, just follow this script:
Text for Formal NLP Strategy Elicitation
Can you recall a time when you were totally X’d? (IE Motivated)
Can you recall a specific time?
As you go back to that time now…
What was the very first thing that caused you to be totally X’d?
Was it something you saw (or the way someone looked at you?),
Was it something you heard (or someone’s tone of voice?), or
Was it the touch of someone or something?
What was the very first thing that caused you to be totally X’d?
After you (saw, heard, felt) that, what was the very next thing that happened as you were totally X’d?
(Continue until complete.)
A Formal Elicitation Demonstration
Let’s do that now. Bill, can we talk? How are you doing? “Great”. Can you recall a time when you were particularly motivated?
“Yes”.
Can you recall a time when you were totally motivated?
Thinking … “Yes”.
Can you recall a specific time? (He nods.)
As you go back to that time now …
What was the very first thing that happened that caused you to be totally motivated? (Without pausing.) Was it something you saw or the way someone looked at you? Was it something you heard or someone’s tone of voice? Or, was it the touch of someone or something? What was the very first thing that caused you to be totally motivated?
“It was something I saw”.
Good. After you saw what you saw, what was the very next thing that happened as you were totally motivated? Did you picture something in your mind? Did you say something to yourself, or have a certain feeling or emotion? What was the next thing that happened as you were totally motivated?
“I made a picture in my mind”.
Great. After you made a picture in your mind, did you know that you were totally motivated or did you say something to yourself, or have a certain feeling or emotion?
“I said something to myself”.
Good, after you made a picture in your mind, and said something to yourself, did you know that you were totally motivated or did you make a picture in your mind, say something to yourself, or have a certain feeling or emotion? What was the next thing that happened as you were totally motivated?
“Well, I was just feeling motivated, that’s all.”
Good, so you felt motivated?
“Yes, that’s right.”
Now, we know that Bill’s motivation strategy is:
So the strategy is Visual external, Visual internal, Auditory Digital (Self Talk) and that leads to Motivation.
We can use that strategy to Motivate Bill, but more about that later in this series. In our next article we will look at the finer distinctions of the strategy and how they can be used to Motivate Bill.
We have used Strategies in selling for 29 years now, and it works. Clients are happier and more motivated and the results are better. Strategy elicitation, which is very important in selling, in management and in communicating your ideas, is taught regularly at the NLP Coaching Practitioner Training. Our NLP Practitioners learn and master using Strategies. If you have questions about any of these articles call the office nearest to you and one of our coaches will be happy to help.