Neuro-linguistic Programming for Dummies summary

So what exactly is neuro-linguistic programming?

NLP, as it’s commonly referred to, is the study of how we understand and experience the world around us.

Let’s start by looking at what everyone has in common – the five senses that we use to experience the world around us. That world includes our own body, the objects and people around us, as well as everything else that can be touched, heard, seen, tasted and smelled.

This sensory information travels through our neurological system to the brain. Our perspective is unique to us because what we experience gets filtered by a number of things, including our personal values, social and cultural backgrounds, memories of past experiences and so on.

A person's unique set of filters constitutes what's known as that person's internal representation, or IR.

Perhaps you've had this experience, or something similar to it: You and a friend go to a party, at which you talk to the same people, listen to the same music and eat the same food. Afterward, this friend starts talking about how unenjoyable the party was, though you had a fantastic time.

Well, this is a classic example of a difference in IR. Your past experiences and personal proclivities primed you to find the evening enjoyable; your friend's, on the other hand, primed her to dislike the food and be bored by the conversation.

An awareness that everyone lives according to their own set of filters is central to NLP. And with this understanding comes the belief that communication and understanding can be improved.

So the aim of NLP is to help us become better prepared to communicate with, as well as more flexible in our understanding of, others.

Sounds good, right? In the blinks ahead, we’ll be looking at some of the specific ways in which NLP attempts to improve communication, starting with how to establish good rapport.