Neuro Linguistic Programming

256 Part IV: Using Words to Entrance

Finding your own preferred model

To help you understand the differences between the Milton Model and the

Meta Model, try this little role-playing exercise with a willing friend. One of

you acts as the salesperson and the other as the customer:

✓ The salesperson: Imagine that you’re a salesperson and your task is to

sell an object or service to your partner. Your job is to persuade the

customer to buy without giving the person any details of what you’re

really selling – see how interested you can get your partner while you

remain artfully vague in the style of the Milton Model.

✓ The customer: Imagine that you’re a customer and your job is to get

more specific information out of the salesperson who’s trying to sell to

you. Challenge the vague language using tips from Chapter 15 on the

Meta Model patterns to elicit detail from the generalised speech.

Afterwards, ask yourself which role felt most natural to you? Do you prefer

to see and discuss the sweeping big picture or do you feel more comfortable

when you talk about detail?

Understanding the art of vagueness and why it’s important

As you gain familiarity with the Milton Model, you can do what others before

you have done: start to notice some of the language you hear as you listen to

The tale is in the telling

Part of Erickson’s therapy was to create

stories – teaching tales – which helped people

to make sense of their situations in new ways.

Erickson was confined to a wheelchair, and yet he

carried out an extensive therapeutic practice,

travelling widely and teaching and giving

seminars right to the end of his life.

Vast libraries of transcripts of Erickson’s tales

and seminars are available to purchase (see

http://www.tranceworks.com), which make

fascinating reading. Yet, those fortunate

enough to have met Erickson in person point

out that the written word conveys just part of

the man’s intuitive approach to clients. If you

think about the communication equation we

talk about in Chapter 7 on creating rapport, you

may remember that words play only a small part

in any communication – something like 7 per

cent of the effect. Erickson’s smiles, gestures,

the tone of his voice, and his instinctive respect

for and curiosity about his clients are the

missing ingredients in the written stories.