Qualified Hypnotherapist

Although I had already taken hypnosis as part of my Master Practitioner of NLP course,I took another course last week which spent more time investigating the use of language.

However, one of my ambitions is to write and tell stories, and I want to be able to do it in such a way that is entertaining and provides a strong message as well. In order to do that the language that you use, and the way you use it, are vitally important.

I have learnt a great deal more about communicating that I had never really appreciated, as well as bedding down some of that which I had already covered last year.

For instance, did you realise that the way you describe things must cater for everyone's preferences? Each one of us takes in our world through our 5 senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. And that the reason we sometimes struggle to understand what is being communicated to us, is nothing more than a mismatch? That is, the language the other person is using may be their own preference, which is different to ours, and therefore, harder to identify with.

This is particularly useful in personal relationships, where it is possible to begin to experience frustration and other negative feelings when we do not understand what is being said to us.

A large proportion of the population is visual, so using words such "I see", "I get the picture", refering to colour, patterns and descibing the objects around, will capture most people's imaginations.

However, in order to capture those who are primarily auditory, words such as "I like the sound of that", "that rings a bell" or "it resonates with me" will make all the difference.

People who are primarily kinaesthetic (or feeling) using language such as "I feel that", "it is warm/cold" or "it was prickly" will engage this audience's attention.

Interestingly, even the order that you use language can make a difference. It is best to appeal to the Kinaesthetics first, as they quickly make decisions on whether something feels right.

Not only have I come out with a great qualification, I now have more skills around language that will most definitely benefit my business life, but also my ambition to write a novel - the sketch of which is in progress as we speak!

If you would like to find out more about how to communicate more effectively with those around you, then get in touch with us here at Relish, we would be delighted to be able to help.