Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a tool that would allow you to easily identify the preferred communication style of another person so you can use their preferences with them? We guarantee it’s a game changer!
Each of us has our distinct preference for how we absorb and make sense of the world around us – through the filters that make up our model of the world. Additionally, we have a way to disseminate information too.
Often what happens when we communicate with others is that we use our own preferred communication style with others, in hopes that they will understand us fully and completely in the way we understand ourselves. That, unfortunately, doesn’t always happen and the other person needs to translate what you’ve said into their preferences – and things get lost in translation.
In NLP we look at a variety of factors which make up a person’s communication style. One of these factors includes the preferential order for processing information through their senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, internal dialogue). While some schools of thought teach that you have A preferred communication sense, NLP says you have all of them – in a preferred order!
Another factor is chunk size – does a person communicate in detail or big picture? This is important information. Give a small chunk sized person (detail) too big of a picture, and you’ll lose them completely!
The way a person sorts for information is also important – are communicating about the benefits or consequences? If you tell a consequences person about the benefits of something, it may not even compute!
There are other factors too that NLP looks at, and when you are able to identify these aspects of how a person communicates, you can match their style and preferences and you’ll be communicating with them with their filters – no unconscious translation required!
Dr. Heidi Heron PsyD International NLP Master Trainer, Worldwide Institutes of NLP
