In last week’s post we gave you some sample statements and asked you to have a go at identifying the presuppositions in them, then gave you the answers to check against.
This week’s examples are a little harder, because we’re not providing the answers so you have to make your own judgments!
I should warn you that just as in real life, some of these not as straightforward as they might appear at first sight.
Here’s the first one: “I don’t see why I can’t do it. All my colleagues are doing it!”
Which of the following interpretations would be jumping to conclusions, and which are presupposed in the statement?
a) She feels that management is treating her unfairly.
b) She wants to be accepted by her colleagues.
c) Her colleagues do something she is not currently doing.
d) Because her colleagues are doing it, she wants to do it too.
What do you think?
And here’s another statement to analyse: “If I don’t learn how to assert myself, I won’t get promoted.”
a) He blames himself for his lack of promotion.
b) He doesn’t know how to communicate with his superiors.
c) He wants to learn new behaviours.
d) His salary is connected to his communication skills.
How confident are you in your answers?
If you’d like more NLP training activities (either as a professional trainer or to try out in an NLP practice group), get The Trainer’s Pack of NLP Exercises or download 15 free sample activities here.
© 2023, Andy Smith. All rights reserved.
