Hear And Now

NLP is a loosely connected set of ideas and techniques drawn from areas such as hypnosis, nonverbal communication, linguistics and general semantics. The term was first used as far back as 1933 by semanticist Alfred Korzybski, but it didn't get much use until the two men who invented NLP, linguist John Grinder and psychotherapist Richard Bandler, used it in their 1975 book for therapists, The Structure of Magic (Science and Behavior Books).

NLP's central premise is that people are programmed to think, act and feel by their thoughts, beliefs, feelings, language and behavior. The idea is that identifying and changing these influences can make us more effective both personally and professionally. NLP teaches trainees to recognize and understand body language, including eye movements, nonverbal communication such as vocal rhythm and tone, and key words that carry extra meaning. These skills are used to identify trainees' or others' changes in emotional state or mood.

NLP uses a grab bag of techniques to accomplish this. Mirroring is the practice of duplicating words and postures exhibited by others as a way to build rapport. Anchoring is the skill of using a word, gesture or even touch to elicit a particular thought, feeling or visual image. And there are numerous other NLP tools, ranging from tricks to induce light hypnotic trances in listeners to methods for deciphering moods by studying eye position. NLP students learn to apply their skills in a variety of contexts, including hiring interviews, sales calls, meeting presentations, teleconferences and even e-mail messages and faxes.

This article was originally published in the December 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Hear And Now.