Presuppositions for Empowered Living: People Perceive, Process and Learn Information, Week 2

NLP is all about discovering how people perceive, process, and learn information. One of the presuppositions of NLP states that each person will learn in the way that is best for them. Mastering this concept empowers you to place yourself at cause for your own learning.

This is significant for your personal growth, for it allows you to become consciously aware of how you gain skills. With this awareness comes an increased ability to enhance your talents. It also enables you to work better with others. When you have the sensory acuity to observe the way a person learns most effectively, you can adjust your own language to accommodate their learning process.

Every second of the day we are experiencing life using our five senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. These senses are essential to processing information and making sense of our world. In NLP, we refer to these as “modalities” and “representational systems.” This means that each modality (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory) is a system for how we represent incoming information and apply meaning.

NLP recognizes that most people have a natural inclination toward one of these modalities.This is the favored representational system, or the primary way each person perceives the world around them. Visual people will naturally be attracted to seeing how something is done and need it to “look good.” Auditory people need to know that it “sounds right.” Kinesthetic people want to know that the idea “fits” or feels good.

Being able to recognize a person’s favored representational system is an incredible tool. As you progress, you will find it very easy to fluctuate your own language and behavior to meet the needs of any situation you encounter.