NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming, is a set of communication tools, techniques and methods that can help people improve their performance in nearly any field of endeavor. From improving sales performance, to golf swing, to ending phobias and much more, NLP is popular among self-help professionals such as life coaches, hypnotherapists, sports coaches and therapists.

Given its effectiveness in helping people make rapid, positive change in their lives, it’s no surprise that NLP training is in demand. But with tuition ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, how can you choose an NLP training seminar or instructor that’s right for you?

Here are six tips to help you find an affordable, effective NLP training and certification program that’s right for you.

1. Find out who trained the trainer. NLP was co-created in the 1970s by computer specialist and mathematician Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder. Essentially, they’re the fathers of NLP. When considering a trainer, find out how many “degrees of separation” there are between the trainer and the founders of NLP. You may get better results from a trainer who is “closer to the source.”

2. Look for a trainer licensed by The Society of NLP- Richard Bandler. Dr. Richard Bandler created the Society of NLP to exert quality control over those training programs, services, and materials claiming to represent the model of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Contact The Society of NLP directly at (973)-770-3600 to confirm that a trainer is in good standing with The Society of NLP-Richard Bandler.

3. Ask for references. Experienced NLP trainers should have a list of satisfied clients you can speak to. If the trainer cannot provide references, you may want to move on. That could mean that they’re just starting out (in which case, you’d expect to pay considerably less than you would pay to work with an experienced trainer). Or a lack of references may indicate that the trainer needs NLP training as much as you do!

4. Ask previous students about the training. Once you’ve called the trainer’s references, ask them about the quality of the NLP training they received; the pace of the training (was it too fast? Too slow?); the trainer’s ability to connect with students (was the trainer available after the course to answer questions or give advice on using NLP?) and the trainer’s personality.

5. Look for a guarantee. NLP training can be very valuable—but like anything of value, it can be expensive. When considering an NLP trainer, find out about the trainer’s refund policy. Look for a 100% satisfaction guarantee that lasts the whole length of the training, not just the first day or two.

6. Talk to the NLP trainer. Find out how easy it is to reach the trainer. Do they teach the NLP training themselves, or do assistants do the bulk of the work? Do you “click” with the trainer on the phone? Do you feel rapport? Does the trainer even take your calls? (If the trainer can’t make time for you before the training, how much time will he or she have to support you afterwards?)

NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner Training is an investment that can pay huge dividends in your life, whether you use your NLP skills for self-improvement or in a private practice to help others. And like any investment, it pays to do your research before you spend your hard-earned money. These six tips should help you find an NLP training course and trainer who’s right for you.

About Kevin Cole

Although he learned NLP and hypnosis to improve his own life, Kevin Cole soon realized that helping others with NLP and hypnotherapy was deeply fulfilling. Kevin Cole is a Purposeful Empowerment Guide™, NLP, Life Coaching and Hypnosis Trainer. Kevin has trained with some of the best teachers in the world, including—but not certainly not limited to—NLP co-founder Dr. Richard Bandler, and Gil Boyne, Master Hypnotist and pioneer in the field of Hypnotherapy.

About NLP

NLP was co-created in the 1970’s by computer specialist and mathematician Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder. The two were investigating the work of Virginia Satir, known as the “mother of Family Therapy,” Fritz Perls (founder of Gestalt Therapy), and Milton H Erickson, legendary clinical hypnotherapist, to discover—and attempt to model—what made these three therapists dramatically more effective than other therapists. NLP has grown beyond family therapy to become a popular self-improvement methodology in sales training, behavior modification, sports performance and interpersonal communications, among many other applications.

Contact:

Kevin Cole, C.Ht.

Empowerment Quest International

619-602-3633 (cell)

kevin@empowermentquest.com

San Diego, California

The basis of self help is that everyone has the capacity to improve his or her own life and needs simply to plug in to that power inside of themselves. The first awareness of the self-consciously driven power to help oneself appears in Self Help by Samuel Smiles, published in 1859. In a direct, take charge approach that would become synonymous with the term “self help” in later years, Smiles delivers the opening line of his book: “Heaven helps those that help themselves.” And it seems that, as they say, the rest is history, as self help books seem to be more popular than ever; books such as Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life and Dr. Phil’s line of books stay at the top of the bestsellers’ list often for years at a time. Clearly what people are seeking in these books they are finding, as self help books are an ever popular genre. Marketdata’s research shows that the self help market was worth $8.5 billion in 2003. The self help industry includes a variety of tools and materials including motivational speaking seminars, self help books, self help hypnosis CDs, computer programs, personal coaching, weight and stress management. The first in what has become a huge market of self help books was Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, published in 1936. Carnegie had failed at a series of careers until he wrote his book investigating the role of self-confidence in relationships and its correlation to success. People could relate to Carnegie’s honesty and realness, and bought 50 million copies. Self help books cover a wide spectrum of subjects- a 2008 search on Amazon.com for “self help books” yielded 170,557 results. The highest number of books in any category is for Religion and Spirituality, but there are self help books about romance, photography, cooking, parenting, and virtually any other area where you’d care to help yourself. A popular line of self help books is the “For Dummies” series. These seek to demystify a wide variety of topics by providing an informally written guide about anything from grammar (English Grammar for Dummies) to Catholicism (Catholicism for Dummies), and most any other subject you’d like to know more about. Self help is most definitely a trait reinforced in us from birth… how else would we learn to walk, to read, to make friends? It should come as no surprise that we would want to continue to help ourselves the older we get. And with access to things like self help books and self hypnosis CDs, it seems improbable that we’d ever have a good reason to stop helping ourselves.

Dantalion Jones says in his book “Mind Control 101″ that we constantly try to influence other people for some reason (e.g. in education). The desire to change others’ minds and behaviors is one of the main functions of communication. The neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is used everywhere: e.g.  when motivating a prospect to buy a specific product or service; creating panic to sell a certain stock; instilling trust in the authority that is speaking to you on TV; creating contempt for the competition while establishing greater customer loyalty; bringing in greater revenues; selling an undervalued product for a higher price; causing someone to reevaluate their prior beliefs. There are models of communication and behavior that can help you improve relationships with your clients, and become more effective in all areas of your business.

But how do you use NLP to persuade another person to buy or try your product or service, or change his/her behavior? Ken Hogan answers this question explicitly in his book “Covert Persuasion: Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game”.  His book  provides help in using the powers of NLP in personal and business life. Covert hypnosis or persuasion is the ability to subtly communicate with another person’s subconscious mind by bypassing the critical factor of the mind. As it often takes place in the course of a seemingly regular conversation, it is also known as Conversational Hypnosis.

An amusing example of using covert hypnosis was presented on TV by Derren Brown where he influenced his friend to buy a BMX bike. The bike was never mentioned in the conversation, however it was hidden in the messages, such as “Let me tell you how I buy(K) gifts….by (BIKE) creating the strong feeling of desire …. they BeaM eXcitement for it.” Another amusing example may be presented in education where Derren demonstrates the ineffectiveness of  telling children something that they must not do (such as „Don’t push that red button!”) without giving further instructions and disregarding the fact that our subconscious mind doesn’t  make difference between a negation and a positive statement.

Hogan claims that the central key in using covert persuasion is to find ways to elicit people’s individual processes. These processes may be in the form of beliefs, personal assumptions, tendencies and values, as well as of their strategy for making decisions.  Hogan proposes eight strategies that could be helpful for utilizing covert  persuasion. Firstly you should identify a targeted problem. This is something your prospect no longer wants to experience (e.g. high costs, poverty, debts). “Omega Strategy” is  a persuasion strategy that doesn’t try to improve or enhance the value of a product, but is solely focused on reducing resistance.  Hogan brings a “fear” as a good example on how to influence people effectively because fear is something we are all wired to fight or flee from.  A good example here would be a sales campaign by T. Harv Eker. Eker is very well aware of linguistic programming and he is using it in his program when changing “Your Money Blueprint”.  Eker uses fear scaring people to death when claiming that “If your money blueprint is not set for a high level of success, you will never have a lot of money.  And even if you somehow do, you will most likely lose it!”

Hogan claims that the key factor of persuasion is giving instructions or steps when directing or influencing behavior. Simply telling someone  to do something “Don’t push that red button!”  or “If your money blueprint is not set on a high level of success, you are doomed!”  is destined to fail because it doesn’t  include instructions. However, if people have heard those phrases thousands of times already (like “Smoking will kill you!”), they are vaccinated against it, and they will not pay attention this petition any more.  Hogan claims that at first we must scare people to hell and then give them specific instructions to follow. Therefore,  Harv Eker  gives us instructions such as “The good news is that you can actually reset your money blueprint to create natural and automatic success”. You can attend Millionaire Mind Intensive Seminar and set your money blueprint on the high level of success.

Hogan advises that if you are going to use fear in a communication in order to encourage someone to buy your product   or service, you must also include step-by-step instructions in you message in order  to be successful.  Thus, based on neuro linguistic programming, Eker states that it is insanity doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.  According to Ken Strong  the NLP assumes that what appears to be “wrong” with someone is actually the perfect response to their current map of their world or your so-called “money blueprint”. By changing your map or blueprint (that is, how you think about the world and your place in it), you can change your behavior. Hogan brings an example from a research where 69 percent from those told to imagine their car being vandalized, said they would return to the car to check if the doors were locked. Where people experience anticipated regret  they tend to take action to prevent the regret.

Professional hypnosis secrets from the pioneer of modern hypnotherapy. Gil Boyne has over 55 years of hypnotherapy experience and has trained 12,000 hypnotists worldwide. Inc previously unseen material for high conversions. gilboyneonline.com/affiliates
Hypnosis with the Legendary Gil Boyne

The common dream of most people, stated or not, is to become financial independent. Most everybody would like to tell their boss off, and take a permanent vacation. Yet wealth, money, a consistent stream of income that leads to financial independence seem to be out of reach for more people.

So why so much lack? Why so much poverty and want? I have a friend who does repairs on homes. Homes that have fallen into foreclosure, and he has been hired to fix them up so they can be resold at a profit. The number one item left behind? Books and self study programs on how to become financially independent.

There is one secret that can get you to financial freedom and independence quicker than any other method, scheme or secret pyramid club. Unleashing your massive subconscious mind power. Your subconscious mind power has long been known throughout the ages as the fast secret to creating income regardless of your station in life. And you are about to learn how.

Unless you uncover your hidden blocks to wealth, no matter how many books you read or seminars you attend, you’ll never achieve the success you deserve. That sounds harsh, but it’s true. The good news is that with some simple self directed mind control and self hypnosis, you’ll easily attract to you the riches and financial security to you that you desire. The good news is that is rather simple.

First, create a powerful, positive, emotional filled statement, in the present tense, describing your ideal financial situation. Positive means saying something like “I enjoy my multiple streams of income,” instead of “I don’t have any more debt.” Present tense simply means to say it as if it were true now, and some vague time in the future. Powerful means that you fill it with the emotions of gratitude and appreciation. Once you tap your subconscious mind power, wealth is only a few meditation sessions away.

Now that you’ve got your statement worked out, it’s time to say it to yourself. Get in a quiet, relaxed position. Slowly count down from ten, down to one, taking a deep breath. This will help to decrease your brainwaves, the collective electrical activity in your brain. Our brainwaves are normally in the beta, or excited state. By relaxing and counting down from ten, you’ll lower your brainwaves from beta to alpha. In the alpha state, your mind is much more open to suggestions.

Keep repeating our mantra to yourself a few times. Create as much feeling as you can. Do this two or three times a day. It may seem a bit basic and simple, but don’t underestimate how much subconscious mind power you have. It controls all. Your memories, your heartbeat, the blood pulsing through your veins. By slowly convincing it that you are indeed rich, it will come to pass.