Coaching with NLP For Dummies®

Starting with NLP

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) is defined as the study of the structure of subjective experience, or more simply, as an everyday form of psychology. The indication that it's a great fit with coaching begins with the name Neuro-linguistic Programming in which:

• Neuro refers to thought processes.
• Linguistic examines language structure.
• Programming addresses patterns and sequences of actions.

In short, NLP is about thoughts, words and action – all absolutely essential aspects to consider in any coaching session or programme!

When you begin exploring NLP, you acquire new perspectives on everyday experiences. NLP gives you much more than a set of tools; it gives you a whole new way of thinking that shapes your behaviour on a day-to-day basis.

For example, you separate out the content of what is happening from the structure. This distinction is invaluable as a coach, enabling you to reach beyond and beneath the words in a coaching conversation.

Consider Max. He's been asked to give the best man's speech at his old school friend's wedding and has been putting off working on it. A conventional starting point addresses the content of what Max is going to say from start to finish, writing the script, creating some visuals and practising his most embarrassing jokes. By contrast, the NLP approach is interested in the structure of how the best man and wedding party may ...