process). However, this eye movement of looking up and to
the right is a very strong clue that what I am doing at that
moment is creating a visual image I have never seen before.
By being sensitive to the eye movements you know that I am
creating something visually, even though you may not know
the content of what I am doing. This clue can give you the
prompt to ask me something like: “What do you think about
just after you have considered the outcomes?” You could be
more specific and say: “At that moment what are you
picturing?” That could be the prompt for me to realize that I
am creating this visual image. This is one small clue that opens
the door to one of the most significant pieces of my thinking
when I meet a new client.
By learning to be sensitive to body language you can begin
to detect the pieces of the strategies that really make the
difference. And these are the pieces that otherwise lie
undetected. It is the ability to detect body language patterns
in this way that is unique to NLP and makes the process of
modeling so special and important in the way we learn.Our eyes give powerful clues to the way we are thinking. Ask
someone close to you now to spell Mississippi. If there is a
choice, ask someone who claims to be good speller. What are
their eye movements? Watch carefully, because some of the
movements are fleeting. Most good spellers visualize the word
they are spelling by picturing the word as if it were on a screen in
front and slightly above them. They typically look up and to their
left, but some may look up and to their right or straight ahead
with a defocused stare. Each of these eye movements indicates
visual thinking, a key part of a successful spelling strategy.
The way we use our eyes indicates the kind of thinking that
is going on. For example:Eyes up and left (your left)—Visual remembered
This is where we look when we are remembering images we
have seen before, e.g., the face of our partner, the last place
we went on holiday, our workplace, what we did yesterday.62 NLP AT WORK