Terms and Definitions

An outcome that is specific, achievable and verifiable.

To do with the sense of sight. A major sensory modality in NLP.

One's sense of balance.

Shorthand for Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic representational systems.

In a state with your attention focused outwards.

Verbs that are not clear or have the adverb or object deleted. E.g."think" or "do".

Nouns that do not clearly state who or what they refer to.E.g.they, or those who.

Everything not currently in one's present moment awareness.

Making meaning of general words by searching one's own experience.

An altered state resulting in a temporary fixed, narrow and inward focus of attention.

A flow chart model consisting of Test, Operate, Test, Exit. NLP uses representational Systems in conjunction with TOTE to monitor progress toward the desired outcome.

A mode of NLP intervention that emphasizes associating into problems in the past or future, and then dissociating from those problems before the problems in the past, or after the problems in the future.

A subjective line that connects one's past with one's future, running through one's present moment awareness.The way we store pictures, sounds and feelings about the past, present and future.

Perceiving the world from the viewpoint of a detached observer.

An ambiguous sentence with a verb ending in "ing" (a gerund), which can be either an adjective or a verb. For example: Leading people can be interesting.

The visible form of thought patterns derived from the deep structure by deletion, distortion and generalization. Deep Structure is manifested as surface structure by the words that are actually spoken.

Fine distinctions we make within each representational system. The qualities of our internal representations. The smallest building blocks of our thoughts and experiences.

Repeatable sequences of thought and behavior, which consistently produce a particular outcome.

The sum of one's thoughts, feelings, emotions, physical and mental energy.

The level of experience where one is most oneself, and one feels most connected with others. Spirituality is one of the Neurological Levels.

Using subtle word patterns to tactfully shift the frame of reference of a subject. E.g.in response to "you are terrible", "yes, but I'm great where it counts!"

The process of learning to make finer and more useful distinctions from the sensory information one gets from the world.

The constant talk in one's head.

Modelling one's own states of excellence as resources.

Experiencing the world from another's point of view and so understanding their reality to some extent.

Shorthand for Representational System.

Anything that can help one achieve an outcome. E.g. physiology, states, thoughts, beliefs, strategies, experiences, people, events, possessions, places, stories, etc.

Flexibility in thinking, emoting, speaking, behaving. The law of requisite variety implies that the person with the most flexibility of behavior controls the action.

Different sensory channels whereby external information is re-presented internally.

A relationship of trust and and responsiveness with oneself and others.