Hear And Now An innovative listening technique may be the key to improving communication.

Stuart Kirk used to rely on facts, logic and reason when he wastalking to someone. That's understandable--he's a trainedmathematician and statistician, and worked as a corporateinformation technology director before founding Taconic WoodsConsulting, a one-person Yorktown Heights, New York, leadership andcommunications training firm.

But Kirk says of his former ways, "I don't think itworked very well at all." Now when he sits down to speak witha client or business associate, he thinks less about facts andlogic and more about hypnotic language and using words or gesturesas anchors. This works a lot better, he says, especially when itcomes to creating a sympathetic mood with others. And, says Kirk,"the ability to sit down with somebody and establish rapportquickly and easily makes a tremendous difference to your presencein a meeting."

Kirk's new techniques--and the arcane terminology used todescribe them--came from a self-improvement and communicationdiscipline called neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP. The conceptwas developed 25 years ago to help psychotherapists. Since then,it's been applied as an agent of personal change, most notablyby motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Now, however, NLP isfiltering into business, where it's presented as a solution tomany managerial problems.

NLP's promise that it can help people improve their rapportwith others is especially attractive to salespeople, who are amongits biggest fans. But NLP also helps people better interview jobcandidates, negotiate contracts, run meetings and motivateemployees, says John Emerick Jr., a former NLP trainer and authorof Be the Person You Want to Be: Harness the Power ofNeuro-Linguistic Programming to Reach Your Potential(Prima).

Companies such as Reuters, American Express and Sony havetrained salespeople, customer service representatives and others inNLP, according to Rachel Hott, co-director of the NLP Center of NewYork in New York City. "That's one of the great thingsabout NLP," she says. "It's very easy to apply in [abusiness environment]."

Mark Henricks is an Austin, Texas, writer specializing inbusiness topics.

The Basics

NLP is a loosely connected set of ideas and techniques drawnfrom areas such as hypnosis, nonverbal communication, linguisticsand general semantics. The term was first used as far back as 1933by semanticist Alfred Korzybski, but it didn't get much useuntil the two men who invented NLP, linguist John Grinder andpsychotherapist Richard Bandler, used it in their 1975 book fortherapists, The Structure of Magic (Science and BehaviorBooks).

NLP's central premise is that people are programmed tothink, act and feel by their thoughts, beliefs, feelings, languageand behavior. The idea is that identifying and changing theseinfluences can make us more effective both personally andprofessionally. NLP teaches trainees to recognize and understandbody language, including eye movements, nonverbal communicationsuch as vocal rhythm and tone, and key words that carry extrameaning. These skills are used to identify trainees' orothers' changes in emotional state or mood.

NLP uses a grab bag of techniques to accomplish this. Mirroringis the practice of duplicating words and postures exhibited byothers as a way to build rapport. Anchoring is the skill of using aword, gesture or even touch to elicit a particular thought, feelingor visual image. And there are numerous other NLP tools, rangingfrom tricks to induce light hypnotic trances in listeners tomethods for deciphering moods by studying eye position. NLPstudents 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.

Know The Limits

NLP is clearly a complex topic; its trainers have producednumerous books, videotapes and audiotapes explaining it. Most ofthese products, however, are of limited use, experts say. The bestway to learn about NLP is through personal training, which can beexpensive and time-consuming. The basic NLP course costs about$2,500, takes from two to four weeks, and may require travel sincethere are only a few hundred trainers nationwide. More advancedcourses require additional commitments of time and money.

Less extensive training can be helpful, says Hott, who was firstexposed to NLP at a three-day introductory seminar. "That[training] lasted me a year," she says. "I was able toapply those things right away, and it's a good way for peopleto start."

Some students, like Kirk, have found NLP more difficult."It requires a ton of hard work to master," Kirksays.

NLP also has image problems. It isn't widely accepted bypsychologists, partly because of the controversial professional andpersonal style of co-founder Richard Bandler. And it's suspectamong businesspeople, in part because of the hyperactive promotionof practitioners like Tony Robbins.

But NLP's biggest image problem is that it's perceivedas manipulative, a trick to get other people to do what you want.NLP fans counter that while it can be used to influence others,it's no worse than any other method people use to makethemselves more attractive, popular or influential. "The toolitself is neutral," says Kirk. "It's how you use itthat's important."

The negative perception remains, however, to the extent thatKirk recommends NLP practitioners use their craft discreetly."In a lot of situations, it's probably not wise to talkabout what you're doing because people react negatively toit," Kirk says.

To become more popular in the business environment, Emericksays, NLP must lose its manipulative image. He stresses the need totake a win-win attitude toward its application, using thetechniques to identify and fulfill both your goals and the goals ofothers. That's not as easy as it may sound, however. NLP wasdeveloped to aid therapists in dealing with profoundly troubledpatients. When applied to the relatively superficial concerns ofbusiness, it's not always a good fit. "NLP hasn't yetmade the full transition from the context it was designed for tothe corporate context," Emerick says.

That's where entrepreneurs come in. Many entrepreneursstarted their own companies to escape the political infighting andcomplex communication issues of big corporations, Emerick notes.For them, NLP may be a way to help deal with similar issues thatarise as their own companies grow and prosper. "It makesinterpersonal skills [seem] more like a science than an art,"says Emerick. "And that's desperately needed by a greatmany people."

Entrepreneurs like Kirk who have embraced NLP are few and farbetween. If its relevance is widely accepted, that will likelychange. Meanwhile, says Emerick, "NLP has a tremendous amountto offer people in business. And it's only going to getbetter."

Contact Sources

NLP Center of New York, (800) 422-8657, http://www.nlptraining.com

Taconic Woods Consulting, (914) 245-5783, http://www.taconicwoods.com