Representational Processing styles in NLP | NLP is Fun

Representational Systems are Modalities in NLP some people believe they are one thing or the other for example some people may say "I am Kinesthetic".

This is not likely that a person is just one thing like Kinesthetic as we process with all modalities interchangeably and at times have a driver which is the one we lead with.
Sometimes it depends on what we are doing for a new sequence in processing to develop.

Here are the Representation systems.

Visual - To See (predicate) Look- See - Picture
Auditory - To Hear (predicate) Hear - Listen -Loud
Kinesthetic - Feelings (predicate) Feel -Touch -Smooth
Olfactory - Smell (predicate)Nose - Smell -Inhale
Gustatory - Taste  (predicate) Taste -Sweet -Spicy

There are also unspecified Predicates and here are a few:
Decide - plan - think - activate

Synesthesia means we can be processing with all of them at the same time instead of sequentially.
You can often notice people making rapid eye patterns and marking things out with their body as they process information.

I do this quite often and wasn't really aware of it until my son brought this to my attention while I was leading a Training class.

These are neurological mechanisms and are beyond our conscious control.
These representation systems activate memories that stimulate behavioral responses during and after we process incoming information. It is like a type of coding that helps the brain sort out how to file the information.
When we look for that information as a resource to communicate it comes out exactly as it was coded.

Which is quite interesting as we just spoke about leading with one rep system.
For example, If the info has been perceived and coded as Kinesthetic we will engage with that rep system each time we access it and will speak in Kinesthetic language (predicates) to describe the experience.

Predicates are just the sensory based language we choose to describe our experience.
As I said earlier, we can also change the system we lead with and if so the majority of our predicates will change too.

One interesting thing about predicates is that communication often breaks down if you are not paying attention to how the person  you are communicating with is processing information.

Mostly we reference V.A.K even though some will lead with O/G. There are usually sensory cues that will help us adjust to this and we can adapt and also lead with O/G to stay in Rapport.
Remember any mismatch of Leading rep systems can cause a problem with understanding each other.

For example there can be MAJOR conflicts in relationships when one person is Auditory and another person is Kinesthetic.

Each person will Feel as if they are not being heard ;)
In other words the kinesthetic Driver will expect the Auditory to respond and code the information back in kinesthetic language and then they will "feel assured" they were understood.

When this doesn't happen the kinesthetic will fill in their own sensory calibration of what just happened based on a distorted perception and recollection of a distorted experience.

They will then take action based on how they have processed and coded this information.

This pattern is a Mind Read - If each person didn't check to find out if they had the right sensory calibration and instead filled in with their own perception and assumed it to be truth we call this a "Mind read".

Often after a conversation in their own head after this, they then feel that because they did this It made me feel like that and react accordingly.

ie: He ignored me and made me mad implying that ALL of the control is outside of themselves
(They were driven too it!)
We call this Cause and Effect.

At the same time the Auditory Driver is doing something quite similar they are not being reassured they were "Heard" and begin to feel ignored.
They react according to the way they have processed this information and formed their own sensory calibration which is based on a previous distorted experience and a distorted conclusion of this experience.

There is quite a bit more about Rep Systems and just how useful they are to notice and work with and we can talk about that another day.

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