One of the most easily applicable ideas in NLP is the ideal of the sensory modalities – or the preferred representational systems (PRS). Based on the way the human mind uses the senses to process the world and create meaning we can use the following categories to aid communication and learning:
Visual:
- Learn by looking at things and forming mental images
- Tend to be neat, well groomed and orderly
- Interested in the way things look.
- Use words like: “look, see, picture, imagine, notice, appears”
Auditory:
- Talk to themselves and are distracted by noise
- Learn by listening and memorise by steps, procedures and sequence.
- Respond to certain word and tone of voice.
- Use words like: Listen, Talk to, Said, Speak, Hear, and Sounds like.
Kinesthetic:
- Access feelings and emotions to get a feel for what they’re doing.
- Respond to physical rewards and touching.
- Often physically oriented people such as atheletes.
- Memorise by doing or walking through something.
- They use words like: Feelings, Get in touch, Hold, Grasp, and Handle.
Auditory Digital (AD):
- Not related to the senses – AD people want things to “make sense”
- Will have conversations in their head.
- Rarely spontaneous as they like to think things through
- Decisions based on logic and facts and figures.
- Say things like: correct, logical, makes sense,
Although we use all of these modes of operation, most of us will have a system we prefer (PRS) which is the easiest way for us to communicate and learn.
Its also possible to tell which system a person is accessing by watching their eyes:
By simply understanding that everyone processes the world in a different way empowers us to teach our children, sell our products, relate to our partners and learn faster and easier.
To learn what modalities you use most and more about them try this quick test:
http://www.transformdestiny.com/nlp-guide/nlp-representational-systems-preference-test.asp
