Clean Language « Page 5

Can You Unscramble An Egg?

Mar 5th

The metaphors you use in your thinking have a powerful impact on your behaviour.

Recently I’ve been discussing metaphors for exercise with some serious gym bunnies: they tend to use lots of metaphors involving war. For example: “Walking into battle with your own worst enemy, …YOU… whilst eventually realising that you are ultimately your own secret ally… Getting in the trenches with your comrade and fighting takes courage especially if your heart won’t surrender…”

You can guess how they approach their training “regimes”!

I’ve also been thinking about time and entropy, thanks for a fascinating article in Scientific American about why time doesn’t run backwards. You can’t take the milk out of your coffee, and you can’t unscramble an egg.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on an egg-citing project of my own. I’m sorting through what at first seemed like a complete jumble of different kinds of content that I’ve created over the past few years. There are written materials, videos, audio files – and different subject areas.

At first, you might wonder if it was worthwhile, and if it would be better just to create something new. Is it even possible to unscramble the muddle?

But the thing is, I know from years of experience that ideas, More >

Building Bridges With Clean Language

Feb 27th

Posted by Judy in Clean Language

3 comments

Michael Mallows writes:

I worked with some Associate Directors in an architects’ company.

First I met the Head of HR to determine what specifically what was needed.

Asking a lot of Clean questions provided a lot of high value information that made me aware of the fact that architects – highly visual and creative people - spend most of their lives with people in the construction industry – a tougher breed!

Unfortunately, the macho approach to negotiation had seeped (stomped might be a more accurate metaphor) into the architects’ domain, which was proving very costly, not least because some of the more successful and confident were upping sticks.

I did a number of three hour sessions with them, using and coaching them in Clean questions blended with other theories and models of communication. I cannot say that every delegate took whole-heartedly to the Clean philosophy, but all of them understood that Clean questions could make a significant difference to the way they engaged with their demanding clients.

Not least because, it transpires, many a clash occurs as a result of the artistic architects returning with their visual representation of what they thought the client has asked for!

The day after a meeting with a difficult client, which was, apparently, always an More >

What Motivates You? Dreams? Or Problems?

Feb 24th

Posted by Judy in Clean Language

5 comments

One of the most useful things about the coaching technique I use and teach, Clean Language, is its flexibility.

The Clean Language Questions can be used to find out about all kinds of things, from the prosaic (what kind of bread?) to the esoteric (what kind of God?)

When they are used to explore the hidden metaphors which underpin people’s emotions, the questions can go very deep, stirring up profound and powerful emotions.

So, the advice to beginners is to use the Clean Language questions to ask about positive things, things the person likes or wants more of in their lives. That keeps things light and fluffy – and minimises the chances of clients getting upset.

But in certain circumstances, it can be very useful to explore more painful emotions. In sales, for example, received wisdom has it that when a potential customer knows, and feels, that they have a problem, they are more likely to buy than someone experiencing only positive, “I want one of those!” emotions.

Recently I did a little experiment with members of my newsletter list. Thanks to everyone who took part – knowingly or not!

I decided to send out two near-identical emails, linking to two near-identical videos, offering a free skype More >

Are You A Natural Born Hypnotist?

Feb 23rd

Posted by Judy in Clean Language

3 comments

What is the relationship between the coaching style I use – Clean Language – and hypnosis? That’s been a recurring question for me over the last few years.

David Grove was a skilled Ericksonian hypnotist before he created Clean Language. And his technique had a distinctly trancey tone to it, as he guided his clients deep inside their inner worlds.

Nowadays, my friend and colleague James Tripp uses a lot of Clean Language in his “hypnosis without trance” work. And many Clean Language enthusiasts are highly critical of many hypnotists, seeing them as manipulative.

So, how can you judge for yourself?

If you’re already familiar with how it feels to be hypnotised, you could book a skype session with me and compare the two.

Or you could work with metaphors for hypnotists and hypnotism – thanks to a brand-new e-book collated by Adam Eason.

Adam asked a number of hypnotists – including me – to write light-hearted essays about the features of a fantasy “natural born hypnotist”. And the result makes fascinating reading.

Some writers focus on exaggerations of “classic” hypnotism skills, such as the ability to generate a pendulum from their bodily fluids (!)

But far more people mention things which would also be features of a great More >

How Many “You”s Could There Be?

Feb 19th

Posted by Judy in Clean Language

6 comments

I’ve been reading a couple of fascinating books which both draw attention to the idea that “we contain multitudes” – and seem to me to have massive implications for who we think we are.

You’re probably way ahead of me with The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton, already a classic of the personal development world.

“Imagine a population of trillions of individuals living under one roof in a state of perpetual happiness. Such a community exists – it is called the healthy human body.”

But it seems I’m ahead of the curve with Why Everyone Else Is A Hypocrite by Robert Kurzban – so new, it’s not even out in the UK yet.

One of the things I love about this book is that it still makes the point that we contain multitudes, but at a scale I can handle. I can’t really get my head round trillions! But I needed significantly more than the duality of “right brain, left brain” to explain what I was observing in my clients.

Kurzban convincingly argues that the mind can usefully be thought about as being made up of modules, with each module specialising in doing a different job. Its an idea that makes sense: if nature “wants” to get More >