Heading off to facilitate Day 7 of an NLP Masterprac tomorrow.
It’s time to start integrating skills with the various Filters (Metaprograms) and go more in depth with Sleight of Mouth Patterns.
I have always found the following exercise useful for training with Filters.
Every person writes down a few combinations of 3 Filters on different pieces of paper – an example would be Toward / Global / Others another might be Internal Frame of Reference / Difference / Detail.
You end up with several pieces of paper with these combinations in them. Put them all into a hat. In a two person exercise one person is the NLPer and the other is the ‘client’. The client pulls out a profile – which only they can see – and then engages in conversation using this profile as best as they can. It is up to the NLPer to calibrate this and adjust to it and facilitate it.
It is always best to use easy innocuous topics and scenarios for this – talking about the weather, cars, the football for example. You don’t want to complicate it with demanding situations at this stage of learning.
I find it best to do this in a group situation – two people engaging in the exercise and the rest of us watching on. Just a few minutes is enough. Then everyone gets feedback. The ‘client’ gets feedback on how they presented the profile. The NLPer gets feedback on how they calibrated and facilitated it. We all get feedback on our calibration skills.
This is an excellent process as it also enables the Trainer - me in tomorrow’s situation – to jump in and show real time skills and applications. I love these ‘no place to hide’ moments. You either have the skill and can back it up or you don’t. No safety net of prepared or canned presentations and step by step techniques. It also offers interesting moments to show other applications such as how you would anchor this time, or the opportunity to tease out a metaphor and so on.
A really important aspect to be aware of with this is that it isn’t about getting your facilitation correct as the NLPer. It is about being exposed to a variety of Filters and learning how to become flexible in the moment. If the NLPer can get it facilitated well the combination is probably too close to their own Filters. More value in expanding a skill base than fitting a repertoire.
Another interesting experience for new Master Practitioners is how often they initially calibrate similar filters no matter how many different ones are presented. In other words they are projecting their own onto the presentation. We have all been there with that one.
Ultimately, the real skill I am after for my students is not to be able to dutifully regurgitate a set repertoire of Filters from a list that is now decades old. Rather, I want them to learn how to calibrate the actual presenting Filters in their real life situations and facilitate them. If they do this well these Filters will be uniquely categorized and not be on any list anywhere. They will just adapt anew next time. Learning ‘how to fish’ rather than feeding off the official list provided.
There is more again to show the internal strategies that a good NLPer uses to be able to effortlessly go to these Filters and make it natural and easy to facilitate.
I am looking forward to it. These exercises are always good fun.
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