NLP: a sobering course for beginning magicians: Identifying vulnerabilities in NLP code

A few words for noobs: what is NLP

Back in 1973, two rebel revolutionaries who did not recognize frameworks and conventions, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, gathered in the United States; gathered in order to make a revolution in the minds of many people, using cybernetic-mathematical models to control the psyche. An absolutely innovative experiment, based on the psychophysiological experiments of Pavlov, the philosophy of Korzybski, the cybernetic concepts of Pribram and George Miller and the works of Maslow, Rogers, Frank Farrelly and other humanistic psychologists, gained enormous popularity and very soon grew into a whole movement called NLP - neuro-linguistic programming . The name, of course, is a little complicated... Here's what one of the founders, Grinder, says about it: “When we wrote the first book, we needed something to call what we do, and we decided to call it “NLP.” We didn’t think that this would be of interest to anyone other than our students and a narrow circle of specialists. When we realized it, it was already too late to change anything.”

Initially, NLP was engaged in identifying constructive and successful features of the work of consciousness and the unconscious of famous and advanced people, reducing them to the level of algorithms, and developing psychotechniques based on these algorithms. The idea is completely revolutionary and deserves thunderous applause, since it has helped many people find harmony, success, moral and physical health, and change their lives for the better. The problem is that, like any popular movement, NLP over time began to acquire myths and implausible stories. Therefore, if you have not yet become a victim of such legends and do not plan to become one, let’s figure out what information to trust and what not to.

NLP for every day. 20 winning rules

On your marks. Attention. March!

First, let's do a little experiment. Take a piece of paper and a pen. Now ask yourself: “Who am I? Who do I think I am? What am I really like? Write down the first word that flashes through your head, no matter how ridiculous and meaningless it may seem to you. And then, after thinking carefully, choose the word that best describes you. Write down the answer that is closest and most acceptable to you.

The definition that came to your mind first is your true attitude towards yourself; that definition that you ultimately wrote down on a piece of paper is what you strive for and who you want to be.

Perhaps the very first answer to this question was completely ridiculous and stupid. For example, having asked yourself: “Who am I?”, you seemed to jokingly answer yourself: “Idiot,” and then, having carefully thought through all the options, you wrote on a piece of paper: “Leader.”

This may seem like nonsense. But this is a really important test. The first answer that comes to your mind usually comes directly from your subconscious. It pops into your head so quickly that your mind doesn't have time to edit it. Thus, the first thought that comes to your mind is likely to be very accurate. So, for now you consider yourself an idiot/bastard/smart guy/master of the universe. Even if you refuse to admit it to yourself. But you strive to become a leader/sage/beauty/winner. Agree, this is an important discovery. At least now we have established our starting point and our destination.

And if today your starting station is “Loser”, “Fool” or “Victim”, then after reading this book you will already be halfway to the station “Winner”, “Lucky”, “Leader”, “Femme Fatale”, etc. .d.

Those lucky ones whose first answer that came to mind coincided with the one written down later can only be heartily congratulated and recommended to read this book to make their own lives easier and improve their communication skills.

So, your true opinion of yourself turned out to be less than flattering? Have you called yourself a fool? Or maybe you seem like an old galosh? Or are we lazy and slobby? The first thing you should learn is that what you think about yourself is in no way what you really are!!!

Our problem is that very often we forget WHO WE REALLY ARE.

. We easily forget about our achievements, ignore the positive aspects of our character, and do not believe other people's compliments. But we perceive criticism addressed to us sensitively and painfully, we concentrate on our failures and for some reason very willingly believe in our powerlessness. Try a simple experiment. Think about your best friend or lover. What epithet would you give this person? Now ask him what he thinks about himself. Do you see? An opinion about oneself can be very different from what others think about a person. And that's okay.

The most popular misconceptions about outstanding people:

— A genius with the level of intelligence of a cretin (about Andy Warhol).

— A man whose mistakes took a whole decade to correct (about Albert Einstein).

- Wonderful person. He has no enemies and is not loved by any of his friends (about Bernard Shaw).

— Maybe Shakespeare would think less if he read more? (about William Shakespeare)

— Jerry is so stupid that he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time (about Gerald Ford, US President).

So, throw away your old ideas about yourself. Especially if they cause you pain and discomfort! After all, Marilyn Monroe herself often felt complex about her own appearance. And Leo Tolstoy considered Shakespeare mediocre. People tend to make mistakes. Our task is to get to know ourselves again with the help of NLP.

We have to find out:

- who are you really?

— what hidden abilities do you have?

- how can your knowledge about yourself help you and make your life easier?

- what is the true limit of your capabilities?

The basics of NLP through the eyes of an outside observer, or a critical analysis of basic points

At one of the points of students-mathematicians-and-programmers-interested-in-psychology, the guys, under the influence of creative inspiration and fateful insights, put forward several assumptions that in the future formed the basis for the creation of NLP:

1. A talented person differs from an untalented person by the presence of unconscious strategies of behavior and reaction to influencing external and internal circumstances;
2. These strategies can be brought to a conscious level by mental health researchers;
3. These strategies can be taught to others and can be used to successfully achieve goals in all areas of life.

In other words, the creators studied the features of intuition and spontaneous reactions of talented and brilliant people, decomposed them into components, translated them into algorithms, and introduce these algorithms into the consciousness of anyone.

The goal is, of course, very noble, innovative and carries elements of genius (could great grandfather Freud have thought that his brainchildren - Id, Ego and Superego - would someday be mercilessly dismembered and algorithmized...?). And it was this attempt that helped, for example, replace standard errors in teaching with more effective strategies for mastering new material. But there are some points in all this that are not as uniquely optimistic as Grinder and Bandler would like. So, let's go through all the assumptions that became the basis for the creation of NLP.

1.A talented person differs from an ordinary person in the presence of unconscious mental strategies. In other words, good intuition, the ability to use the experience that has settled in the unconscious layer of the psyche.

Yes, indeed, feeling helps to achieve success or avoid troubles, and often brilliant discoveries are made intuitively. In general, everyone has intuition; it is an appeal to unconscious experience, bypassing logic; but remember that if you do not have good life experience or, at worst, a firmly rooted theory, then your intuition simply will not have a database from which you get insights or spontaneous decisions that lead to success. On the other hand, each situation is individual - it has its own conditions, characters, states, moods, moral values; and the successful experience of Leonardo da Vinci in a similar, but still different situation can lead to dire consequences. In this sense, someone else’s experience, even an algorithmized one, is unlikely to be better than an unpolished one, but your own... The “advantage” of this approach is that, having previously played the proposed patterns, you will make them your experience, and later they will turn out to be useful.

2. These strategies are not realized by the talents themselves, but can be formalized by researchers. They can, of course they can... But here’s the funny thing:

• Not all geniuses will allow themselves to be used as guinea pigs;
• Even if they allow it, it is not a fact that they will demonstrate all their unconscious (!!!) strategies of thinking and behavior;
• Even if they demonstrate it, it is not a fact that the next time in a similar situation they will not spontaneously come up with a completely different, no less successful strategy. Intuition is, first of all, flexibility (which, by the way, all NLPers strive for), and not a set of templates. Why, for example, does a person with good intuition know who he can approach to get acquainted with, and who he shouldn’t approach?

3. These strategies can be taught to others, and these strategies can be successful in all areas of life. Hmm... This is where NLP contradicts itself. If, following the instructions, we divide humanity into many types: visual, kinesthetic, active-passive, consonant-non-parity, as well as carriers of many other meta-programs and maps of the world, and take into account the combination of each of the parameters within the personality, then each person will turn out differently unique. Moreover, the carrier of such typesetting program code not only perceives the world around him according to his own characteristics, but also reacts and behaves accordingly. Now let’s roughly estimate: what is the probability that the algorithm for the success of a talented person with one set of mental characteristics (for example, an auditory learner, time- and personality-oriented, with an internal reference frame, a rebel, etc.) will ideally fit the set of your mental characteristics (if you are visual, listen to the opinions of others and are prone to conformism)? This applies to personal strategies for success, such as attitude, responsibility, and creativity.

You can object to me: “All these characteristics can be copied and used to adapt to another person in order to... zombify him (see the section “Myths about NLP”).” Let's look at this with an example. Let's say you decide to give a gift to your nervous system and go to the store for a brand new Corsair H70 cooling system, but you only have enough money for an H50. What to do? Of course, ask for a discount. You enter the room and automatically look for the seller. You immediately figure out ways to influence him, analyzing his leading representative system and the way he processes information received from outside. I will say in advance: if he is an iron logician, and you are a creative intuitive (or vice versa), then misunderstandings and a general lack of personal connection may arise, so here adjustment and reflection will come in handy. And already at this stage difficulties may arise: what to do if the seller has enviable logic and does not recognize emotions, and you live by aesthetic sensations, rely on intuition, and have never thought about the difference between “echo” and “print” (and you’ll be cool Is it necessary only to silently brute admin accounts of photo stocks):)? You can, of course, attract him with your natural charm, however, it’s not a fact that it will work. Okay, let's not talk about bad things, after all, you are a hacker, and your logic also deserves admiration.

The next stage is influencing the subject: you adapt to his representative system and begin an attack with words, or rather, with logical arguments, because these are the ones he will perceive adequately. You need to clearly explain why he should give you the cooling for less than the stated price. Let’s assume that if he liked you (due to adjustments or just as a person), and he doesn’t mind giving you the difference in price, consider it done. But at this stage, snags are also possible: what may be indisputable evidence for you will turn out to be an insignificant fact from your life for him, in other words, he doesn’t care about your map of the world, he has his own. This is a common problem with many persuaders: they forget that each person views the world differently, and in order to leave a dent in their worldview, you need to know in advance the features of this very worldview (or map of the world, if that’s more convenient for you) . Now think: can you immediately navigate and select arguments that influence the seller’s specific beliefs?

But don’t despair – not everything is so hopeless. Firstly, if you adjust successfully, perhaps you will intuitively begin to think like him, and the seeds of your words will fall into the fertile soil of his worldview; secondly, in a dispute, whoever is more confident is right: if you are more confident in your position than he is in his, he will concede. If confidence is at the same level, then how will it work out... A good example is the dialogue between the brothers and the seller (Agotha ​​Kristof’s book “The Thick Notebook”):

“We need these things, but we don’t have the money.” - What? But... you have to pay. “We don’t have money, but we absolutely need these things.” ... We don't say anything else, we look at him. He looks at us too. Sweat beads on his forehead. A minute later he shouts: “Don’t look at me like that!” Get out of here! We say: - In exchange for these things, we are ready to do work for you: water your garden, for example... - I don’t have a garden! I don't need you! And then, can’t you speak normally? - We speak normally. ... He throws our paper, pencils and notebook out the door and yells: “Get out of here!” Take everything and don't come back! We carefully pick up our things and say: “However, we will have to return when the paper runs out and the pencils are full.”

Do you understand? You can wear out the seller, and when he realizes that his peace of mind is worth more than the difference in price, perhaps you will get the discount you want. If you analyze the situation, you will see that the success of the business depends on many factors: careful preparation, partly on luck, your ability to feel and influence feelings (logic), mood, motivation and personal structure of the seller, his willingness to make concessions and the value of the thing, which he is ready to give up. But we are not talking about “zombifying with NLP techniques” here. These techniques can really help you get what you want if the circumstances are favorable, or mitigate these circumstances if they are unfavorable. But you are unlikely to be able to achieve the unlikely with the help of a couple of NLP techniques; Hypnosis is more suitable for this.

NLP Resources

Evgeniy Yakushev We are all reasonable people, Homo Sapiens, so to speak, and that is why we believe that in our agile times it is already difficult to fool anyone.

Although, there is a black mark in the family - there are those who 74 times a day fall for various types of tricks of seasoned swindlers and long-legged blondes, which is especially pleasant. If you compare the process of writing an excellent advertising or PR article with the “work” of a station gypsy or something else cooler, with Barack Obama's speech to his supporters, you will be amazed at the similarity. As you probably guessed, the main task of a scammer, politician or hypnotist is to focus your attention on something distracted in order to achieve a state that will allow you to inspire certain thoughts or actions. You, as the author of advertising texts, should set exactly the same task for yourself. You need to focus the visitor's attention on your advertising text in order to inspire him with the sequence of actions that he must take: make a purchase of the advertised goods and services. And the easiest way to achieve this result is to relax the visitor and encourage him to use his imagination. You are probably thinking, what is needed for this? And here is the most interesting thing... You need to invite him to create an appropriate environment around himself. For example, sit comfortably, turn on slow music, close your eyes for a couple of seconds, etc. The more relaxed the visitor is, the better he will perceive and assimilate everything that you tell him about. But how to turn on a person’s imagination? How to give birth to the images you need in his brilliant professorial head? To do this, you need to use the verb “introduce,” beloved by all pick-up artists and scammers. For example, if you are engaged in proctology, you can use the following phrase: “Imagine for a second that you have already gotten rid of hemorrhoids...”! This simple sentence instantly creates a sequence of images and corresponding thoughts in the reader's mind. And thanks to the emotions that these images evoke, you can easily convince a potential client to make a purchase. In my blog https://yakushevblog.ru you can look in more detail at various methods of influencing the buyer. In general, you don't need to be a balding academic to understand that there are an infinite number of ways to play on the imagination of the readers of your advertising. You can evoke in their minds old memories, warm feelings, positive emotions associated with the future or present events, etc. The presence of positive emotions that you will evoke in them, in comparison with the monstrous picture of the present reality that you will create in their minds, will deal a decisive blow to the enemy. By playing on this difference (between the terrible present and the wonderful future), it will not be difficult for you to persuade a potential client to purchase your goods and services.

Remember Yeltsin's 1995 election campaign? Its slogan was: “Vote or lose!” The electorate (how I love this word) was offered a choice without a choice: either to the totalitarian past, or to Ochakov’s bright... future. This is precisely why the main task of any advertising text, including yours, is to change the course of thoughts and emotions of the potential “Vasya” in such a way that he has no choice but to buy what you offer him. And the two most powerful tools for such persuasion are RELAXATION and IMAGINATION. People naturally relax and dream all day, regardless of their desire. You need to create such a mood in them while reading your advertisement. As soon as “the mouse eats the cheese, the mousetrap will slam shut,” you can do whatever you want with it!

Anchor aka Magic Wand

While preparing the article, the editor asked a question: is it possible, using NLP techniques, such as anchoring, to make the most beautiful girl in the world fall in love with you? As one of the most beautiful girls in the world, I will answer: “Ha ha ha!” As the author of an article about NLP, I will say: “Of course.” As a psychologist, I can say: “It is possible, and not necessarily with the help of anchoring or NLP techniques in general.” You already know that anchoring is performed at the peak of emotional experience, and it is believed that at the moment of experiencing positive emotions, positive anchoring occurs, and during negative experiences, negative anchoring occurs. But this division is conditional, and this can be proven using the example of “making a beautiful girl fall in love with you.” At the moment when a person experiences the peak of positive emotions, he is very self-sufficient, he already feels good, and who is nearby - you, someone else or no one at all - is not so important, since he is focused on the source of positivity. Besides, “anchoring” is too fancy a word.

In fact, we are talking about the type of associations, and if at the moment of rainbow experiences you take her wrist, be prepared for the fact that the association may go in the wrong direction, that is, she will notice it and think: “Some kind of strange ... What does he want?”, and the next time you touch your wrist, your thoughts will be something like: “Hmm... what does this remind me of? Ahh, I remembered! This is the same Vasya! What he wanted from me then is strange...”

In moments of despair, a person, on the contrary, loses integrity and needs moral support. Here you have much better chances: to be there at the right moment, to cheer you up or to help solve a problem. Thanks to you, she will restore the lost integrity, and the result will be a formula: she (in tears) + you (and your support) = integrity. If such incidents happen regularly, it will become a habit, and this is what we have: integrity - you (and your support) = her (in tears). Here you even get some kind of dependence, and then it’s not far from falling in love (especially if you’re handsome). To check the effectiveness of the method, after all the adventures, talk about another girl, if you notice something like resentment or jealousy, consider the scheme to have worked. In this case, anchoring is not necessary, nor is adjustment with mirroring. That is, they will not interfere, especially if you are professional in these techniques, but they are not the decisive factors in the process of conquest.

NLP techniques that change lives

NLP contains many wonderful techniques and methods for solving a variety of problems; this article will also present several of the most common and very effective techniques, using which you can change your life for the better. You can use these techniques to your advantage even if you have no idea what neuro-linguistic programming is.

NLP technique #1: Changing beliefs.

Each of us has many limiting beliefs that prevent us from achieving what we would like to achieve, being who we would like to be, and getting what we would like to receive. Limiting beliefs are like a sieve through which you pass your reality - what you believe in passes through this sieve, what you consider impossible gets stuck in it, and does not allow you to live a full life.

Beliefs are formed over time, in repeated situations and circumstances, so by noticing the negative aspects of our lives over and over again, you develop a belief that this is how it should be. By noticing the positive circumstances in your life, you also form beliefs, this time of a positive nature, that allow you to find yourself in positive situations again and again. However, you should remember that situations cannot be bad or good, only you make them so by focusing your attention on one thing.

To change limiting beliefs, you need to reframe the situation and collect as many positive facts about that situation as possible, and also work through each negative fact for accuracy. Another way is to repeat a positive statement regularly and often enough, with full concentration on this statement. This is an extremely effective exercise because it allows the repeated belief to settle in the subconscious, but it takes about 30 days for this to happen.

NLP technique No. 2: Anchoring.

Anchoring is one of the main tools of neuro-linguistic programming and is used for many purposes. The essence of anchoring is that you associate a certain action, circumstance, situation or place with some emotional state in order to reproduce it further. The interesting thing is that you can evoke the desired emotional state not only in yourself, but also in other people. The technique is quite simple, you just need to follow these steps:

• 1. Determine the state you want to experience.
• 2. Remember a situation in which you experienced the right feelings.
• 3. As you begin to experience these feelings intensely, scratch your left shoulder. (In fact, this can be any part of your body, and it doesn’t have to be scratching, you can just stroke yourself or pinch yourself).
• 4. Do this several times, touching exactly the same place and in exactly the same way, when you experience the right feeling.
• 5. In any situation when you need to evoke the desired state, simply touch the part of the body to which you attached feelings or emotions in the same manner as you did before.

Working with another person is almost identical, I would say even easier, than working with yourself, because by trying to program yourself, you will know that you are doing it. To work with another person, you will have to either wait for the necessary emotional state to appear, or evoke it yourself by telling a story or anecdote. But, immediately after the touch, you should say something unrelated to the touch so that he does not turn his attention to your actions. If the programming is successful, after a few minutes you can evoke the same feelings with just a touch.

NLP technique #3: Rapport.

Sometimes relationships with a person just don’t go well, there’s nothing you can do about it. But what if you are interested in this relationship? How to build rapport with another person? A powerful NLP technique called Rapport will help you with this. There are at least three ways to create rapport: you can follow the way a person breathes, you can subtly - only on an unconscious level, mirror the person's body language, or use words in your conversation with him that are “similar” to the ones he uses.

Let's take a closer look at the third method.
So your goal is to assess a person's basic sensory perceptions, specifically observing what words they use in their speech. Of the three main senses, his words can rest on visual, auditory, and kinesthetic perception. Visual perception:

• "I can imagine what you mean"
• “I can clearly see the result”
• "Big"
• "Dark"
• "Picturesque"
• "Bright"
• "Brilliant"
• Etc.

Sound perception:

• "I heard you"
• “Lest we fall apart with a bang”
• "Noisy"
• "Loud"
• "Quiet"
• "Rustling"
• Etc.

Kinesthetic perception:

• "I feel like you're right"
• "I have a strange feeling"
• "Soft"
• "Warm"
• "Cold"
• "Wet"
• "Gentle"
• Etc.

The essence of the method is that by trying to use words in your conversation with an emphasis on sensory perception, which dominates the interlocutor’s speech, you become more understandable to him - speak the same language. By the way, references to taste, smell or images present in speech are insignificant, and often disappear into the lexicon without a clear advantage. Much less common are people who organically combine different types of sensory perception. You can learn more about this method in another article in the NLP section.

NLP technique No. 4: Dissociation.

The dissociation method allows you to eliminate a negative reaction to one or another aspect of your life, as a result you will stop reacting to it as before, which will protect you from possible stress or depression. This technique can be used with equal success to treat phobias, since a person sees the situation as an outside observer, which allows him to make an objective assessment and get rid of exaggerations.

To practice this technique, follow the steps:

• 1. Determine what emotion you would like to get rid of?
• 2. See yourself in a problematic situation, but be present there only as a spectator.
• 3. Play this situation in reverse, fast forward, then play it again from the end.
• 4. Reproducing the situation from the end again, add some non-funny music (you can, use your imagination).
• 5. Your next step should be to test the situation in your mind in first person (as if you were actually there). If the emotions you want to eliminate have not gone away, repeat the exercise.

By switching to the mode of viewing a problematic situation from the second person, and also viewing it from the end, you seem to distance yourself from the situation, depriving it of emotional support.

NLP technique #5: Content reframe.

Just as powerful as the previous techniques, content reframing allows you to let go of feelings of helplessness, anger, or any other negative attitude towards a past situation, and gain positive feelings towards it. Your task is to place the situation in a different frame or frame. The method requires partial analysis.

• 1. Choose a negative situation or circumstance, the attitude towards which you want to change.
• 2. Try to answer the questions: A. What good aspects does this situation have?
• B. What did you gain from this situation?
• Q. Could things have gotten much worse than they were?
• D. What will this situation look like in five or ten years?

Let me give you a simple example: “I was fired from my job” is bad, but: “This is a reason to find something better,” or: “But now I can do what I like.” By continuing to look for the positive aspects of a situation, you clear your mind of negative emotions, which allows you to find better solutions for the future. On the other hand, if you continue to focus on the negative aspects of the situation, this entails the emergence of new problems and failures.

On our website you will find a description of a lot of other neurolinguistic programming techniques that will help you achieve the desired results in your life. All of them are quite interesting and equally effective, however, before you move on to learning other NLP techniques, try to successfully apply these.

Using NLP you can zombify a person or a group of people

The craving for spectacle is to blame for everything. In Soviet times, if you remember, “fabulousness” was sorely lacking; after the collapse of the USSR, a detachment of various hypnotists like Anatoly Kashpirovsky and Alan Chumak appeared, who compensated the frustrated people for all the lack of miracles in the form of miraculous healing, almost reviving the dead (here’s zombification for you). The screens of our black-and-white or poor-color televisions were full of howling and roaring people with their eyes closed, swaying to the beat of the music accompanying the insinuatingly directive speech of the hypnotist. It was at this time that the phenomena of self-hypnosis and the placebo effect broke all records, and gave hope that you can force a person to do what you need with a simple combination of words. And since there were only two Chumakovs and Kashpirovskys, and they were incomparable, then NLP, which proposed to create the same miracles, only without innate talent, came at just the right time. The magical and incomprehensible words “reframing”, “meta-model”, “anchoring”, “submodality”, “calibration” were used as an effective seasoning in creating the “miracle”.

Now about zombification: if you think that with the help of some technique you can completely format the consciousness of another person and install your own programs - perhaps you are right, but only if you are a talented psychotherapist with excellent knowledge of hypnotic techniques, and the future zombie agrees to perform this on himself similar experience. If you have only completed the first or second stage of “NLP Practitioner” (at later stages the goal of “zombifying” is no longer so significant), and your test subject does not want to become a zombie, then most likely you will be faced with a harsh reality.

NLP is a science

Professional psychotherapists grin sarcastically when they hear this statement, based on which, in general, pick-up artists can be called scientific researchers. As I wrote above, elements of various sciences were used as the basis for neurolinguistic programming, but NLP is not officially considered an independent science. Almost all techniques were borrowed either from other psychological movements or from esotericism; the categorical apparatus is also not self-sufficient - if you translate the abstruse terms of NLP into normal language, then “anchoring” will become “association”, “world map” - “worldview”, “reframing” "-"rethinking". In general, scientific research, even if it is based on the theory and practice of other sciences, implies a multifaceted view of the object or phenomenon being studied. NLP is based on the work of, as a rule, one or two scientists from each field (the exception is psychology). That is, the approach is one-sided, so it can be assumed that the creators could have missed a lot of things. Nowadays there are very few people who are really seriously engaged in NLP with a scientific approach; These are mostly self-taught trainers or those who have completed 3-4 levels, teaching everyone who is able to pay for the course. And do not care about the characteristics of the psyche, the scientific approach, side effects and distorted information.

Well, a test to take into account: science deals with patterns, evidence, research, measurements; combinatorics is only a part of some sciences. In popular NLP, not a single technique gives a pure result even 70-80% (by pure result I mean the result that the technique itself gave, and I don’t take into account a successful coincidence of circumstances, influence in other ways, etc.), not to mention about the research side.

Cautions

Perhaps you are an open-minded person, and you understand that everything said above is just my “map of the world.” And in this you are absolutely right. So, if you decide to take up NLP, that’s great, because developing observation skills and memorizing complex words is much better than aimlessly surfing social networking sites. Yes, the techniques are indeed stolen from other scientific and esoteric areas, and despite the fact that they do not always meet the declared results, a positive result is still guaranteed with a competent approach.

And finally, a few words about a competent approach, or how not to fall victim to the other side of the coin.

1. In pursuit of rapid efficiency, modern trainers forget that NLP is working with the psyche, your own and others. And the whole danger is that metaprogramming teaches how to work with the subconscious, but does not pay enough attention to how the subconscious itself works and its pitfalls. It is very rare among NLP fans to find real psychologists who have graduated from at least a university, not to mention classical professional practice. But it is practice in the field (and not at trainings) that gives an understanding of the basics. By the way, a similar problem is now in Gestalt psychology (a direction that attributes to the psyche the perception of the surrounding world as an integral structure, and not individual elements): one institute produces “specialists” - a person comes to personal therapy, goes for a year and a half, decides (or not solves) his problem, after which he receives a diploma and the right to “treat” others. After such hairdressers, salespeople, accountants who have received a “one-year” diploma as a Gestalt therapist, professional psychologists are “drowning” in clients with a crippled psyche...

2. Obsessed with the desire to zombify everyone, many “future” NLPers do not notice how they themselves are turning into zombies: everything said by a charismatic trainer is taken on faith, without even trying to critically analyze what they hear. And often an attempt to influence the consciousness of other people turns into self-deception, which, with a long-term impact on the psyche of the practitioner himself, threatens with various mental disorders (depending on temperament and personality characteristics).

3. When choosing a teacher or institute, be careful and attentive: now there are very few people who are truly advanced in NLP. As a rule, 90% of trainers are the same people as you, who have only completed 2-3 levels, and most of them are driven not by interest and a thirst for learning, but by a thirst for profit. Therefore, as soon as they finish the course, they immediately recruit new recruits and enthusiastically retell to them the notes they wrote down a couple of months ago. Perhaps, thanks to such instances, NLP has moved from the category of a hypothetically possible science to the category of sect-like MLM (multi-level marketing).

To sum up everything that has been written, we can say that it is not the wonderful acronym NLP, but individual feeling, understanding and experience that give success and effectiveness.

What NLP methods are used in copywriting?

We adapt to potential clients

Before starting to compose the text, the copywriter must have an idea of ​​his target audience. The term "target audience" is widely used in marketing and advertising and refers to a group of people who are united by a common goal. For example, these are people who wear glasses or mothers of infants, that is, these are people who are likely to purchase the advertised product.

Having determined the target audience, the copywriter studies what traits are typical of a typical representative of this target audience. He must “get into character” and show that he is one of its representatives, a like-minded person who already possesses this product and is in a hurry to share the secrets of its benefits with others.

Don't forget about the law of cause and effect

This law states that “everything in our Universe has a cause. There is no cause without an effect, and every effect comes from a cause. In its scope, the effect is equal to the cause that gave rise to it.” By correctly using the “cause-effect” technique and vice versa, a copywriter can subtly convince the reader what benefits he will receive if he follows the advice and uses the proposed product or service.

A simple example: “Due to the dry indoor air, your skin has lost its elasticity and your hair has become brittle and dull, but if you use thermal water “C”, which works wonders, your hair and skin will thank you!” When using this method, you should not get carried away and put too much pressure on the emotions of readers, as well as distort the facts.

To convince the client to make a purchase, we set a condition for him

Probably, each of us has had to receive SMS or email notifications like: “Congratulations - our company conducted an advertising campaign, as a result of which you won an iPhone.” Such notifications are aimed at a specific target audience - gullible people who want to get something for free. What is required of them? Just pay for delivery and transfer money somewhere. But such a request may not have the desired effect, therefore, for greater persuasiveness, a condition is put forward: “If you do not pay for delivery within 24 hours, then we will choose another winner by drawing lots again.” As a rule, this technique works, the client falls for the bait and decides to pay for delivery. Moreover, the amounts are usually insignificant.

The method when decision making is limited by temporary conditions is very popular. We are told: “You will miss the chance to buy 20% cheaper if you don’t make a purchase today!”, or “Discounts are only valid for two days!” etc.

We repeat

One of the rules of copywriting: the main idea must be repeated three times: in the headline, in the middle of the advertising text and at the end, so that it is imprinted in the reader’s mind as truth. The main thing is not to “overdo it” and not to do it too obviously and intrusively.

We provide the opportunity

This technique is aimed at combating the client's doubts. In this case, the copywriter does not prove anything, he simply advises and refers to the fact that many people have already followed this advice and were satisfied with their choice. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize that a unique opportunity is being provided right now; it will not be available in the future. Advice will work more effectively if it is presented confidentially, in the form of revealing a secret.

Using truisms

The term “truism” comes from the English true - correct, correct. And they use it when they talk about banality and well-known truth. Almost everyone agrees with the truism statement, therefore, with its help they influence the human psyche without causing resistance in him. After all, truisms are so obvious that they do not require reflection, so they immediately fall into a person’s subconscious, bypassing any conscious filters.

One of the sales techniques is three “yes”. The reader is asked three questions. The first two are truisms to which he cannot help but answer “yes.” But the main one is the third one. Having answered yes to the first two questions, a person subconsciously answers “yes” to the third. To enhance the effect, truisms can be supplemented with questions: “Isn’t it true?”, “Do you agree?” "Is not it?" etc.

Reminder of duty

The text uses instructions on what needs to be done. However, they should not be direct, but veiled, delicate. Their goal is to position the reader in order to “lure” him deeper into the text. For example, “To achieve this effect, you must...”, or “For this to happen, you need...”.

Let's argue

The information we provide must not be unfounded. It must be supported by examples, facts, and arguments. This could be an expert’s opinion, information from the company’s experience or personal experience, etc.

We refer to the opinion of the “lost author”

Many people have probably noticed that some articles are accompanied by a reference to some person or group of people whose opinion is unusually authoritative. But no one knows what kind of face or faces this is. These are the “lost authors.” Their names, as a rule, are not named, and if they are named, only someone very meticulous can check whether they really exist. But this is not important, because the majority of readers will take the information on faith and draw the conclusions that this article was aimed at.

Professional copywriters try to avoid such cliches. However, many people use them, and they work. For example: “Numerous studies have shown...”, “Experts strongly recommend...”, etc.

We use consent by inertia

This method involves asking the reader to perform simple actions like “imagine...”, “remember that you are...”, “imagine that you are...”. Having responded to these simple requests for the first time, the reader, by inertia, will follow further, fulfilling more complex ones. Thus, the copywriter will control the reader, keeping the initiative in his hands.

Let's summarize

A person lives in society and follows its laws, subconsciously agreeing with certain rules and principles. His actions are often subordinated to the so-called herd instinct. No one wants to appear less informed and knowledgeable than others. This weakness is actively used by copywriters to control the emotions of readers. For example, they use the following expressions: “Everyone knows that...”, “Everyone knows that...”, “A well-known rule says...”, etc.

We evaluate

The copywriter must evaluate the proposed product. It should be “the best”, “the highest quality”, “the fastest”, “the most reliable and accessible”, etc.

Playing on weaknesses

Each representative of a particular target audience has his own weaknesses. For example, businessmen want to get ahead of their competitors, older women want to look younger, parents want their child to be the smartest. By studying the fears, weaknesses and ambitions of the target audience, the copywriter can interest the reader with his proposal. For example: “We offer you a new way to emphasize your femininity, and no one knows about it yet!”

Hero or rebel?

It is not interesting to retell the dry biography of Richard Bandler. Much more interesting is the fact that one of the creators of NLP was a “tear it off and throw it away” person: at the age of 10, he made his first attempt to kill his stepfather by connecting an electric wire to a wet rug; As a youth, he was a rebel, starting his “career” with the hippie protest movement. He always had his own opinion on everything and fiercely defended it, even if it was about the smallest details, which drove the teachers to despair. If it was possible to break the rules, he definitely took this opportunity.

Richard generally liked to use various antisocial opportunities: alcohol, cocaine, physical violence against his wife, ridiculous threats against his NLP colleagues (he promised to hire the mafia, eccentric :)). Just look at the trials associated with the murder of a prostitute (see sidebar “The Case of Corina Kristen”) and winning the right to be called the intellectual owner of NLP... Studying the biography of this brilliant and terribly unconventional person, you come to the conclusion that the motivation for the discovery of something then there may be not only interest in what is new, but also a wild desire to resist accepted social norms.

Corina Kristen case

In 1986, in the city of Santa Cruz, prostitute Corina Kristen was shot with a pistol in Bandler's house, and her blood was found on Richard's T-shirt. It would seem like a total mess... But it was not for nothing that Bandler was born a genius - he immediately turned all the arrows on the lover of the unfortunate woman - James Morino. The trial lasted three months: during this time, Bandler made fun of the jury heartily, completely copying Morino's speech, posture, behavior, facial expressions and voice. As a result, he so confused the assessors that they, without hesitation, acquitted both of them and tried to forget forever the “strange double vision.” By the way, it is possible that this is another myth (okay, an embellished story) about the wonders of NLP.