British Council-Neuro linguistic programming

Transcript of the podcast

?Interviewer: What do you understand by NLP

Trainer: Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a methodology based on the belief that all behaviour can be modelled, learned and changed. It’s also about dealing with phobias. For example, if someone has a phobia about flying they probably have catastrophic images of planes crashing in their heads when someone talks about flying. Using NLP you can control these catastrophic images and change them into something more pleasant

Interviewer: Why did you go on the course? Was it a personal choice or something imposed on you by your work

Trainer: I was interested in the theory behind NLP and how it could be used within my job as a trainer. I had already attended a course where some elements of NLP had been introduced, this sparked my interest and one of the delegates from that course told me about McKenna, Bandler & Breen. Luckily my work was willing to pay for me to attend

?Interviewer: How did it benefit you personally

Trainer: Personally I found it fascinating although I wouldn’t say that it changed my life. However, other people on the course were there to become more confident, get over personal phobias, that sort of thing

?Interviewer: And professionally

Trainer: Professionally I’ve been able to put some of the theory into practice when designing my own training courses. Sometimes it’s as simple as the language you use like using positives and negatives to your advantage

?Interviewer: What did you most enjoy doing at the conference

Trainer: The most memorable and enjoyable parts of the conference were ‘stories’ told to us by Richard Bandler. Everyday we listened to Richard talk for about 2 hours and whereas normally I’d become fidgety and distracted, Richard held our attention effortlessly. He was using NLP techniques to teach us about NLP. He told fascinating stories and they’re easy to recall

Interviewer: Did you believe in NLP before the conference? Do you believe in it having been to the conference

Trainer: Parts of NLP are just common sense like with replacing scary images with friendly ones to become less upset by spiders, say. The use of positive visualisation with sports also seems to be quite effective. But as always it depends on the person on the receiving end as to how effective NLP can be; if someone believes enough, sometimes anything is possible. Before I attended the course I was a little sceptical and after the course I am probably still a little sceptical about the more excessive claims, but there were some things that just seem to make sense

Interviewer: What message would you give to people who know nothing about NLP from what you have learnt

Trainer: NLP has some interesting ideas to offer and if you’re interested in how the mind works, I would recommend the course wholeheartedly but be prepared to keep an open mind

Answers