NLP: How to Identify Primary Representational Systems from the Words People Use

This article follows ‘A Quick Introduction to Representational Systems‘, ‘Do you have a preferred representational system?‘, and ‘Characteristics of Primary Rep Systems‘ so read those first if you’re not familiar with the concept of rep systems in NLP.

The representational systems we are using to think with at any given moment show up in the words that we use. These are often referred to as ‘predicates’ in the NLP jargon, using ‘predicate’ in the sense of implying something, in this case that a particular representational system is in use.

You can listen out for the dominant sensory words in what a person is saying and use words from the same representational system when you reply. If you use visual words to a ‘visual’ person – by which I mean ‘a person with a strong preference for the visual representational system’, it’s easier for them to understand because they don’t have to translate from another system. This is another way to gain rapport, because you will sound more like the other person.

Where two people are using different rep systems, there’s an extra obstacle to communication, because each person has to unconsciously translate what the other person is saying into their own preferred rep system in order to process it. And like any translation, information can get lost. Here’s a consultant meeting a client:

Consultant: Well first I feel I need to say thanks for inviting me. Now I understand the business has hit a sticky patch – maybe you can lay out for me what the problems are?

Client: Yes, we’re hoping you can shed some light on it for us. We’re seeing storm clouds gathering on the horizon and we can’t see our way past them at the moment.

Consultant: Well, as soon as I can get a grasp of the situation, we’ll knock together some plans that you can carry out as soon as we get them to where they feel workable.

Client: Let me outline it for you – we just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Consultant: Yes, that must be very stressful for you. I’ll feel a lot better if you just help me get a handle on it.

Client: (impatient) I’m trying to show you the big picture here…

The client is thinking: I thought consultants were supposed to be bright, but this one seems really dim.  What do I have to do, draw him a diagram?

The consultant is thinking: Hmm, the client is resistant. Tough sell…

So what rep systems was each one using? Can you get a handle on the consultant’s rep system? And the client’s rep system should be blindingly obvious as well…

If you were the consultant, what could you have done that would have made that communication go better? I’m pretty sure you were saying vary your rep system to match the clients. And if you weren’t saying it, I know you were thinking it (that’s called a mind read in the Meta Model, by the way – we’ll get to that in a later article).

If you are talking to a group of people, or writing a report which may be read by many people, the chances are that your audience will contain people with different preferred representation systems. So what could you do to achieve greater rapport in that situation? And… I’m guessing that you said ‘use words from all the rep systems in your presentation’. It’s a good idea anyway – it will make your presentations more interesting to listen to. And especially if you yourself have a strong preference for one rep system – which we’re about to find out – use a variety of representational systems in your communication.

This is not just about words, because there are other ways of communicating. You can appeal to the visual sense through the use of pictures, and using channels or environments for your communication that look nice. This can make a huge difference to customer experience, especially in the retail market and online.

In 2006, Myspace was the most popular online social networking site. At its peak in 2007, it was valued at $12 billion. And then it started losing members to Facebook, in huge numbers.  When you compare the design of the two sites as they were then, it’s not surprising. Because Myspace users could customise their profile pages any way they wanted, most of them looked hideously cluttered, with loud colours and horrible fonts. The clean, uncluttered layout of the Facebook site was much easier on the eye.

In 2011, with declining user numbers, Myspace was finally sold for $35m. And the only group it’s still popular with – is musicians – although it’s now relaunched with a cleaner interface at a time when Facebook is annoying a lot of its users, so who knows what the future will bring?

If you are holding an important meeting or training course, you might want to consider the room from the point of view of each rep system in turn. Does the room look good? Any litter, shabbiness or untidiness will glare out to strongly visual people. Natural light is good, and if you have some fresh flowers in the room, you will also appeal to the olfactory channel.

Is the room quiet? If you’re using music to enhance the mood, or bear in mind that for auditory people it can get in the way of what you’re saying. If you’re using it on a training course, as some Accelerated Learning enthusiasts like to do, it may or may not enhance learning as is claimed, but it could definitely interfere with the thought processes of auditory thinkers.

And consider the room from a kinaesthetic point of view. Is it comfortable? Is it too warm or too cold? And does it feel welcoming and pleasant.

Finally, give some consideration to putting yourself in the shoes of the classic “Auditory Digital” processor (the person who thinks in words and numbers rather than feelings, sounds or images, and is who thinks logically and systematically). What they are going to care about is: does your presentation make sense?

Visual	Auditory	Kinaesthetic
Across the spectrum All shiny and new All will be revealed Birds-eye view Blue sky thinking Bright-eyed Dark corners Dawned on him Enlightened leader Flash of inspiration Flashes through my mind From my viewpoint Get a visual on Get it into perspective Green around the gills Green shoots In contrast In the dark In the shadow of Lightbulb came on Lightning fast Lit up like a Christmas tree Look where you’re going Paint me a picture Rainbow alliance Scintillating wit Self-regard Showing me up Sparkling conversation Starry-eyed Steely glint	Barking up the wrong tree Booming economy Call of nature Chorus of approval Cracking night out Deafening silence Dropped a clanger Echoes of the past Find my rhythm Go out with a bang Harmonise procedures Hearing voices Howling with laughter In tune with Listen to your heart Making a splash Murmurs of discontent On that note Patter of tiny feet Peals of laughter Pop the question Ringing alarm bells Silent partner Something inside me says Sounding off Speaking of which Squeaked it in Talk it through Tell-tale That joke backfired Thinking aloud	Best served cold Bit of rough Emotional whack Comfort factor Dizzying heights Falling into disrepair Feeling rattled Filled with determination Flow state Get a grip Getting into a scrape Gooey sentiment Grab hold of Heavy heart Hold fast to It’s a stretch Itchy feet Kick in the butt Laid back Leaning in Light on her feet Number-crunching Pulling together Razor-sharp wit Ruffled some feathers Scratch that Skating on thin ice Slapped down Stick in the mud Tapping into something Too hot to handle

 

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