Basics of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Features of the use of NLP in advertising.

Zombie NLP - what you NEED to know

Ecology of knowledge. Psychology: We are programmable, and this must be recognized. Our brain in this sense is like a mechanism, and its reactions can be predicted and predetermined. Knowing the peculiarities of how our brain works, we can “tell” us what goods to buy, who to recognize as authority, where to work, etc.

We are programmable, and this must be recognized. Our brain in this sense is like a mechanism, and its reactions can be predicted and predetermined. Knowing the peculiarities of how our brain works, we can “tell” us what goods to buy, who to recognize as authority, where to work, etc. This annoys us, scares us, outrages us, just like the 25th advertising frame inserted into the film, a frame that we are not aware of, but which forces us to do certain things.

One of the areas of modern psychology that claims to be a universal medicine is called the mysterious word NLP, or neurolinguistic programming . Even when deciphered, it does not look very clear, however, as befits a universal medicine. Let's try to figure out what it is. But first, let's look at history. The origins of NLP are found in the 70s of the 20th century in the American town of Santa Cruz. Its founders are considered to be mathematician and cybernetics Richard Bandler and linguistics professor John Grinder.

NLP was developed through detailed study of the work of three prominent psychotherapists: Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson. Analyzing tape recordings of their work, Richard Bandler suggested that the success of psychotherapy depends on a certain way of organizing the psychotherapist's speech (use of pauses, certain words, raising or lowering the tone). The question was: if there are psychotherapists who cope with the most complex ailments and find an approach to any patients, is it possible to teach this to others?

Brilliant people (not just psychotherapists) usually rely on their observations and intuition and cannot always understand why they say or act this way and not otherwise. The same intuitive findings can be observed among advertising and insurance agents, company executives and sales managers.

An attempt to imitate the highlighted techniques led to interesting results. Bandler and Grinder decided to figure out how imitation “works.” In fact, they were engaged in what would later be called modeling, that is, analyzing the reasons for success in any field of human activity (be it medicine, psychology, etc.) and building mechanisms for copying this success. And in the end they came to the conclusion that if there is at least one person who does something effectively, all other people can be trained to do it . You just need to understand how.

Therefore, at the beginning, NLP was engaged in the study of the ways in which brilliant people act using system analysis: a sequence of events was compiled, from which unnecessary steps were gradually eliminated. For example, an NLP specialist can present the method of shamanic healing of the evil eye as follows:

1. Wash your hands. 2. Pray to the Sun God. 3. Tell the patient that everything will be fine. 4. Pray to the Sun God. 5. Rotate your hands at a speed of 1 revolution per second, while imagining that the evil eye comes out through the top of the patient’s head in the form of a black flap. 6. Tell the client that everything is ready.

Now you need to throw out some steps of this sequence and check if the method works. For example, if you throw out steps 1 and 2, the method still works. And if you throw out step 3, or 4, or 5, or 6, it doesn’t work.

Therefore, the optimal model in this case is to immediately tell the patient that everything will be fine, pray to the Sun God, move the hands and imagine... and finally tell the patient that everything is ready. Note that the researcher is based on observed phenomena, and not on his own speculation about which of these steps are needed.

There are many myths around NLP, many of which were invented by NLP specialists themselves. Myths allow you to maintain a special atmosphere of mystery, which really makes working with people easier. This is also facilitated by the abundance of English-language terms (pattern, report, presuppositions, etc.), which are not particularly explained. Sometimes it begins to seem that if all this is said differently, more clearly, the system will stop working.

Now NLP is a whole mechanism, including one aimed at making money. This is good business because mastering this method is not cheap. At a relatively low cost for a single seminar, the training program is designed in such a clever way that you either need to complete it all or not start at all.

Books and manuals on NLP are also published in such a way as to bring maximum income to the authors. In America, for example, purely medical applications of NLP are not used very often. The main thing is expensive training for employees of various companies.

So what is NLP? It is believed that, first of all, this is a set of techniques for effective communication, behavior, and manipulation. In particular, NLP teaches such dialogue (both in words and in gestures, in facial expressions) so that the person or group of people with whom you are conducting a dialogue are inclined to seek agreement with you, and not to confrontation.

With the help of NLP tools, you can successfully pass a job interview. You can conduct negotiations competently, or you can interrogate a prisoner in such a way that he himself gets confused in his testimony. You can, being guilty, shift the burden of guilt onto the one who reproaches you...

NLP is a large set of different tools and psychotechniques that work with form, ignoring content . An NLP specialist is not interested in WHY it works this way and not otherwise. His task is only to understand HOW and apply this HOW to the problem he is solving.

The idea is not new. Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the human psyche was compared to a black box in which it is impossible to study any processes and say with certainty what is happening there and according to what laws. But you can observe the stimuli sent to the black box and describe the response options to these stimuli.

This is exactly the path NLP has chosen. Even the theory of reflexes of Academician I.P. was reflected here. Pavlova, allowing NLP specialists to focus their attention on the difference between conditioned and unconditioned reflexes and on the study of external stimuli that trigger this particular reflex.

It is interesting that when working with a client, the activity of the person himself as a driving force and one of the necessary or even main parts of the change process is not taken into account at all. The concept of the soul is considered only from the point of view of which stimuli are more pleasant to it and allow it to change a person. Almost all NLP techniques are designed for use in situations where the client is not aware of the changes being made in him. Some methods are focused exclusively on working with the unconscious, when neither the client nor the consultant knows what is happening.

The first books on NLP began with a phrase addressed to a psychologist who would practice NLP: “The client must be sure that you know exactly what is happening to him and will happen. But God forbid you believe it yourself.”

The results of NLP work described in books and magazines are impressive. Those who were afraid of even the thought of public speaking become successful speakers. People whom no one could help cope with their stuttering speak without hesitation after two to three months of work. The list of possible consultations from NLP specialists includes improving family relationships, overcoming fears, and learning languages. NLP also tries to solve the problems of artists and writers who complain about a lack of inspiration, by strengthening the conditioned reflex to a creative state.

There are very few techniques with such fast, effective and ambiguous results . In advertisements for NLP seminars they promise that you will learn to speak with everyone in their own language, see, hear and feel what other people do not notice, become “one of your own” for any person, etc. And this is attractive. Who doesn’t want to be effective in their business and find a common language with everyone!

But psychotechnics, even the most advanced ones, can only relieve symptoms. They do not touch the roots of the problems, moreover, they do not even try to work with them, programming our brain to ignore certain signals and forming the habit of responding to certain circumstances in a successful, according to NLP, way.

Many people buy into the speed and external effectiveness of NLP. But anyone who turns to this technique needs to know exactly what result he wants to achieve. If the desires are unrealistic, then the person will be reoriented, and he will not even notice that it turned out differently. If a person does not clearly know what he wants to get, it will seem to him that the result is what it should be. But whether this is really so, neither you nor I will ever know.

If someone decides to turn to NLP in search of freedom, wanting not to depend on other people, to overcome his complexes, then he will not find real freedom. Yes, NLP gives a person who dreams of freedom a certain, and sometimes significant, advantage over other people.

But this is also unsafe for the person himself, because he becomes hostage to certain behavioral stereotypes, beliefs and imperceptibly loses the freedom that he so strived for. Many lose their original goal, obeying only the “linguistic” assurances of specialists.

In addition, it is no secret that any psychopractice is a form of destruction of one’s own mental health. The multi-stage NLP training system, the strong influence of the trainer on group members, and the use of trance states lead to the fact that people who do not have solid ground under their feet really begin to resemble zombies.

Among technologies of influence and persuasion, NLP occupies one of the main places. Those who use biting expressions call NLP an effective way of zombification. Indeed, NLP methods are used by sects, using them for the purpose of mind control, to subjugate people and manipulate them.

In classical NLP, ideology, as well as ethics, were not provided for. NLP was created as a method. Who, how and for what purposes will use it depends only on who will have this method at its disposal. Therefore, NLP is actively used for both creative and destructive purposes. But at the same time, one cannot help but worry about the question: who is responsible for the knowledge that NLP gives to its listeners?

Specialists at NLP centers answer this question simply: any knowledge and any tool can be used for good or harm. And how a person uses the acquired knowledge depends on the values ​​with which he comes to NLP.

It turns out that a not entirely morally healthy person can come to any seminar, learn how to manipulate people, and turn around to the fullest, without having basic criteria - what is good and what is bad. The seminar does not end with the Hippocratic oath, nor does the elementary ethical code of a psychologist sign. Do what you want, no one limits you in anything - after all, NLP does not form its own ethical values.

Great difficulties arise when people who have completed NLP courses try to immediately apply their knowledge in treating others. No one can give an answer to what this or that psychotechnics can ultimately lead to, how it will affect a person.

We begin to think about this when these questions concern ourselves and our loved ones, when the need arises to “unprogram” and we finally understand how dangerous this is. For example, I am close to the idea that knowledge is transferred to a person only when he has clear criteria for good and evil. But this is not provided for in the NLP system.

It is known that solving problems can be approached in different ways. You can look for a pill that will relieve symptoms, or you can try to learn how to deal with problems and overcome them. So NLP gives pills. One of the first popular books on neuro-linguistic programming was called “From Frogs to Princes.” She talked about the strategy of the winners, described when and how to speak, think, and act. Each reader, applying the described techniques step by step, could become familiar with the strategies for victory.

One thing was not taken into account: you can program a person to win, but his inner essence will not change. Everything will happen as in the fairy tale “The Frog Princess”: the calmed Ivan Tsarevich burns the frog skin and... loses everything, finding himself faced with the need to go the whole way on his own, trample three pairs of iron boots, etc. At the end of the path he becomes wiser and really changes internally. After all, only in this case is a real meeting with the Frog Princess - aka Vasilisa the Beautiful - possible.

Any technique is a double-edged sword . It relieves symptoms, but who knows how you will behave if the problem comes from an unexpected direction. You will not be ready for her arrival. One of the participants in the electronic conference put it well:

Recently I was struck by an announcement about one of the NLP trainings called “New Year's Chest”, which promised the person who came to it memories of the best New Years, a return, in a sense, to his childhood. I felt sorry for those people who cannot stop and remember all this on their own. After all, you don’t need to know methods and techniques for this. And if a person has all these memories inside, then who, if not he, can restore them!

Or maybe you really shouldn’t rely on special methods or techniques to, for example, program inspiration? The creative state is always preceded by something - an overflow of impressions, a desire to share with others, to express the beauty seen... If you manage to recreate such a state in yourself, your hand will automatically reach for the easel or pen.

But if you have nothing to say and nothing to share, then no techniques will help . And if the result is a pleasant (or at least original or shocking) form that does not express any idea, then it can hardly be called art.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the famous psychologist and psychotherapist Carl Jung wrote that the main thing in working on yourself is to look for and strive to find your core, your “self . Existential psychology advises turning to the search for meaning: why do I want to solve this problem or why do I want and can change. This is what helps change, gives it vitality.

We have the power to help ourselves, and often we don’t even notice how we can do it. When, trying not to upset our loved ones, we make an effort and smile through our tears, we notice that we have actually calmed down and are ready to find a solution to a difficult situation, and most importantly, we find this solution. When in difficult moments we remember something really dear, sacred to us, and this evokes special feelings, states that allow us to reverse the problem, cope with our complexes and shortcomings.

Every person has the ability to collect sacred moments of his life in order to turn to them in moments of loneliness, sadness, and confusion . To address and revive in memory pure and beautiful states and relationships that raise our consciousness above ourselves, above our problems. This is very important for a person, because such things give strength - the strength to live and overcome difficulties, the strength to change. published

Author: Yulia Lyuts

PS And remember, just by changing your consumption, we are changing the world together! © econet

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Special trainings help in running a business

Almost anyone can master NLP skills. He won't necessarily be a businessman. The practices can be applied in everyday life. At the first levels of training, you learn special skills to perceive the world around you. And also the ability to apply the acquired knowledge in real life.

For more in-depth study, technologies are used that will allow you to become a master in this matter. The most advanced levels allow you to become teachers in this field. Once you have mastered at least the initial level, you will already know a lot. Therefore, every advertiser who wants to become successful must go through at least the first levels of NLP.

What advertising to offer to each user group

The first group responds well to visual images. It is very important for them that the images are presented in the form of pictures, photographs, images. They react to graphs and bright videos.

Advertising aimed at this group of people should also contain sentences using the words: look, you will see, we will show you, rate the image, etc.

Those who perceive information better by ear need to compose audio messages. Radio advertising will be the best way to present information. A variety of sounds that reflect the quality of the product offered are very important here. Not only words will do, but also the sounds of nature, engines, and advertised equipment.

Another group of the population perceives data through kinesthetic sensations. For this category it is very important to feel what is offered to them. These people react little to images and sounds. They need tactile sensations. Therefore, they need to carry out promotions in which the products can be felt, touched, touched. You can also use words that evoke feelings. For example, phrases that awaken feelings work well: “light as a feather”, “delicate as velvet”, “warm like fresh milk”

A combination of all images is the best perception

To reach audiences with different ways of perceiving, it is important to create advertising messages that will influence the majority of the audience. It is important to support text messages with pictures, photographs, images. Voice over videos or publish radio messages.

Design showcases, organize presentations where you can touch the products with your hands. Try to check the functions of the products yourself. Try on the clothes on offer, touch the materials from which they are made.

Watch an example of a video presentation of clothing. Notice how the audience's attention is focused on the seller's touches on the details of the clothing:

By the way, this is one of the reasons that part of the population never buys goods via the Internet. The fact is that it is very important for these people to touch the thing themselves. They are not too lazy to come to a regular store to verify the quality of the product using tactile sensations.

Products in online stores are purchased more often than others by visual people. What they want is to see, so make sure each product has high-quality photographs.

General concepts

The scope of NLP use is quite wide - from ordinary advertisements to commercials. An important component is attracting involuntary attention. For this, 3 main components are used - subtext, thoughtful mixing of information, positive emotions (humor is welcome). Professional NLP advertising is the use of all channels of perception. To better understand the algorithm of actions, let’s consider the main components using the simplest example of advertising a tutor’s services:

• providing an opportunity to understand the situation - successful passing of the Unified State Exam opens the way to a prestigious university;

• even a hopeless situation can be corrected - intensive lessons with a tutor will help you catch up on lost time and get the required score;

• highlighting the advantages of the proposal - creative methods, individual approach, use of non-standard approaches to practical tasks;

• an impetus for thinking - reviews from grateful students who have successfully overcome difficult challenges;

• incentive to make a decision - contact details, an invitation to call, the opportunity to try for free.