258 Part IV: Using Words to Entrance
NLP has adopted the idea of chunking from the world of IT; the term simply
means breaking things into bits. Illustrated in Figure 16-1, this NLP concept
says that information needs to be in chunks of the right size for you to process
it: tiny details or the bigger picture, whatever is appropriate for the person to
whom you’re speaking. Chapter 15 on the Meta Model, this chapter, and
Chapter 17 on telling stories all explore the different ways in which giving
people information at the right level of detail or chunk size aids communication.
Figure 16-1:
Chunking
up, down,
and across
with
language.
Meta Model Chunk down
to specific
Stories and
Metaphors Chunk across
Milton Model
Chunk up to
general
The Milton Model is a style of communication that moves upwards and
focuses ideas at a highly general level; the Meta Model has a downward
direction, concentrating on very specific details. When you use stories and
metaphors, you’re simply moving sideways – chunking laterally – to match
the same level of detail but using stories to help people make new connections.
Going Deeper into Hypnosis
Hypnosis has existed since the eighteenth century – its original founder is
usually accepted to be Franz Anton Mesmer (whose name is the origin of the
word mesmerise). Hypnosis – or trance – is a natural state of focused attention,
one in which you become en-tranced, where your main focus is on your
internal thoughts and feelings rather than the external world around you.
Thanks to the more recent influence of Milton Erickson (check out the earlier
sidebar ‘Milton H Erickson – the master at work’), NLP views hypnosis and
everyday trance as a safe and valuable route to your unconscious (which in
this context means other than conscious). Your unconscious signifies the
thoughts, feelings, and experiences of which you’re currently unaware.
Erickson said that his patients were having problems because they were out
of rapport with their unconscious minds, suggesting that good mental health
involves a rapport between the conscious and unconscious minds. His style
of hypnosis enlists the help of the unconscious mind to facilitate changes in
patterns of thinking and behaviour, and works by a therapist talking to
somebody in such a way that the person becomes self-reflective. In this
