Describing a Person Using Metaphors

This is an interesting use of metaphors to get a richer description of a person than what is possible with just using words.

This is how it is done.

First draw lines on a sheet of blank paper to divide it into 9 boxes like this.

Next put a picture of the person you wish to describe in the centre box like this. In this case, it is a young lady named Peach.

In the remaining 8 boxes surrounding the picture of the person, we put in pictures of different chosen categories of objects that we feel best represent that person. The different categories can be of any groups of objects.

Examples of categories are animals, cartoon characters, colours, furniture, fruits, vehicles, food, clothing, famous places, celebrities, popular songs, countries, beverages, sports, weather - the possibilities are literally endless.

Next, in the chosen categories ask yourself the question - If this person were a __________, what would she be like?

In this example, we have chosen the following.

Here we go, describe what comes to your mind about the person using the chosen metaphors.

If Peach were a panda, she would be rare, special, exotic, cute, lovable, adorable, exceptional, charming, friendly, huggable, the center of attention, sought after, precious, well looked after, attractive, intelligent.

If Peach were the cartoon character Lucy, she would be wacky, funny, humourous, intelligent, firm, confident, steady, cool, clever, quick, naughty, unique, sharp, creative, smart, playful, comfortable with herself, brave, sensible, knows what she wants, authentic.

If Peach were the colour yellow, she would be cheerful, cheeky, happy, joyful, bubbly, good company.

If Peach were a sofa, she would be comfortable, steady, approachable, warm, soft, friendly, dependable, reliable, trustworthy, supportive.

If Peach were a peach, she would be wholesome, sweet, radiant, rosy, healthy.

If Peach were a mini Multi-Purpose Vehicle, she would be energetic, dashing, ambitious, curious, flamboyant, cool, fashionable, quick, rugged, tough, steady, adventurous, playful, going places, on the go, has plenty of potential, free spirited, confident, fun loving, sporty, bursting with energy.

If Peach were a bowl of sweet glutinous rice balls, she would be sweet, filled with substance, wholesome, appreciates tradition, generous, family oriented, harmonious, courteous, considerate, respectful, nurturing.

If Peach were a pair of sneakers, she would be stylish, youthful, comfortable with herself, energized, sporty, trendy, practical, sensible.


From this example, it is obvious that using metaphors to describe a person, produces a much deeper insight on her personality than a written description could.

Try it.

You'll be amazed because it is so simple, yet so effective.

Board Breaking

Board breaking was the Grand Finale at the Mind Transformations 12-day NLP practitioner training.

The participants were each provided a wooden board.

On one side, the participant writes a specific desired outcome - an important personal goal that is yet to be accomplished.

On the other side, the participant writes the three main obstacles that must be addressed in order to achieve that desired outcome. These are the three inner demons that stop us or slow us down as we head towards our goal.

The participant then steps forward, prepares herself mentally and physically using the following strategy.

The participant places the board between two columns of cement blocks.

Rehearses the stance and movement.

Get into the mental state of confronting her inner personal demons head on, feeling the tension rising.

Get into position, poised to strike - physically and mentally.

Summon strength and GO! breaking the board neatly in two.

The moment the board is broken, a deep sense of great relief floods the body. A feeling of finally standing up and breaking through against the inner demons that limit our lives fills us with great pride and confidence.

The board breaking exercise is a metaphor for confronting and successfully overcoming our inner personal demons that are preventing us from taking that all-important first step towards achieving our desired outcome.

The exercise puts us in the state of being strongly motivated for ACTION! towards our goals.

My personal reflection of the board breaking exercise.

The wooden board is a deliberately created metaphor of our inner personal demons.

In our lives, there are metaphors of our inner personal demons which are part of us. We cling onto them unconsciously just like Linus holding on to his old blanket.

What are the Linus Blankets in your life?

Linus Blankets come in many shapes and forms. Besides objects, they can be a person, a group of people, a job, or even an idea about yourself.

What do they represent? How and when did they become a part of your life? Why did you need them at that time? Do you really still need them now? Can you let them go? What will you lose, if you do let them go? Can you trade them in for something else that will free you? Open your world? Open your eyes to opportunities that have always been there?

Dumping our Linus Blankets has the same effect as breaking the wooden board.

Please share your thoughts with us.

We love to hear from you.

The Structure of Personality by Michael Hall

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Generative Resource Anchoring

Resource anchoring refers to anchors associated with our positive emotional resources such as being confident, calm, motivated, zealous, purposeful, resolute, gracious, passionate, firm, patient, courageous, composed, alert, positive, and so on.

Anchoring selected positive emotional resources allows us to call on a particular resource or be in the desired state whenever it is needed.

Thus we can set anchors for specific future situations such as:

Positiveness during interviews,
Confidence when making a speech,
Composure when involved in a traffic accident,
Firmness and patience when disciplining a staff member,
Resoluteness during a sports competition.

Preframe and rapport building

"Hi Anne, my intention for this session is to help you anchor a desired state and enrich it with different time frames i.e. past, present and future. This session will take about 30 minutes.

Here is the timeline of past, present, future and the chit chat space."

"Now Anne, as you know the mind and body are one, so be aware of your physiological changes and be ready to respond to my instructions.

So Anne, what is your desired state and in what context is it going to be used in?"

"I would like to feel confident when speaking in front of a large audience. This is a very useful state whenever I have to give a presentation to my supervisors."

Present Time Frame

(Coach and client in the chit chat space)

"Anne, how do you know when you are feeling confident?"

"I know I am feeling confident when I am able to maintain positive eye contact with the audience. I am smiling slightly. My posture is upright. My gestures are open. My speech is clear and loud. Each word is pronounced clearly and properly. The audience is attentive and appreciative. They are smiling and nodding their heads."

"How does your body let you know that you are experiencing confidence?"

"When I am confident my breathing is deep and at a moderate rate. My heart rate is normal."

(Client steps into the present space.)

"Now Anne, in this present space, put your mind and body into the state of confidence.

 Be aware of your breathing (physiological cues), adjust your breathing."

 (Allow time for the client to build up the state. Help client by repeating key words, and cues in the appropriate tonality.)

 (When the desired state is at its peak, calibrate physiological cues, and ask client to apply anchor.)

 "As you feel the state rising, clench your right fist."

 (Allow client to sufficiently experience the state before releasing the anchor and slowly bring the client out of the state.)

 "Allow yourself to immerse in it and when you are ready, bring your awareness back to the room and open your eyes."

 (Break state, chat in chit chat space. Look and listen out for changes and keywords.)

 (Step into the present space, and evoke the anchor.)

 "Now I would like you to go ahead and clench your fist and notice if the confidence comes back to you.

 On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the strength of the state now?"

 "7...."

 (Step out of the present space, go to the chit chat space and break state.)

Past Time Frame

(In the chit chat area, establish a time in the past where the client experienced the desired state. Elicit sensory details and submodalities of the experience.)

 "Anne, can you remember a time in the past where you felt confident?

As you remember that experience were you indoors or outdoors?

Was it day time or night time?

Were you alone or were there people around you?

Briefly describe what you were doing."

(Client steps into the present space, and while slowly stepping back to the past space, client fully relives the experience.)

 "Now Anne, in this past space, put your mind and body into the state of confidence.

Be aware of your breathing (physiological cues), adjust your breathing."

(Allow time for the client to build up the state. Help client by repeating key words, and cues in the appropriate tonality.)

 (When the desired state is at its peak, calibrate physiological cues, and ask client to apply anchor.)

"Anne, as you feel the state rising, clench your right fist."

(Allow client to sufficiently experience the state before releasing the anchor and slowly brining the client out of the state.)

"Allow yourself to immerse in it and when you are ready bring your awareness back to the room and open your eyes."

(Break state, chat in chit chat space. Look and listen out for changes and keywords.)

 (Step into the present space, and evoke the anchor.)

"Now I would like you to go ahead and clench your fist and notice if the confidence comes back to you.

 On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the strength of the state now?"

"8...."

 (Step out of the present space, go to the chit chat space and break state.)

Future Time Frame

(In the chit chat area, establish a future event where the client would like to manifest the desired state. Elicit sensory details and submodalities of the experience.)

"Anne, can you think of a future situation where you need to feel confident?

 In that situation were you indoors or outdoors?

 Is it day time or night time?

Are you alone or were there people around you?

Briefly describe what you are doing."

(Client steps into the present space. Guide the client in creating a picture of the future event. Client sees herself with the desired state in the picture, complete with sensory details and submodalities.)

 "Anne, as you look into the future, seeing yourself in the picture......

Feeling totally confident, notice what you are doing."

(Guide client to walk forward into the future and associate into the picture.)

"Now Anne, as you take a step forward into the future, allow yourself to step into the picture and fully associate yourself into the future event.

 Be aware of your breathing (physiological cues), adjust your breathing."

(Allow time for the client to build up the state. Help client by repeating key words, and cues in the appropriate tonality.)

(When the desired state is at its peak, calibrate physiological cues, and ask client to apply anchor.)

 "Anne, as you feel the state rising, clench your right fist."

(Allow client to sufficiently experience the state before releasing the anchor and slowly brining the client out of the state.)

Allow yourself to immerse in it and when you are ready bring your awareness back to the room and open your eyes.

(Break state, chat in chit chat space. Look and listen out for changes and keywords.)

(Step into the present space, and evoke the anchor.)

Now I would like you to go ahead and clench your fist and notice if the confidence comes back to you.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the strength of the state now?

"10...."

(Step out of the present space, go to the chit chat space and break state.)

Script for Swish Pattern

Preframe and rapport building

Hi Anne, my intention for this session is to use the swish! technique to help you install a desired state or behaviour to replace an undesired state or behaviour.

Swish! is a fast and effective technique to replace problem behaviours or toxic states with productive behaviours or resourceful states.

The swish! technique creates momentum towards a compelling future through creative visualisation.

Whenever the trigger appears, swish! instantly directs your mind to the productive behaviour or resourceful state.

This session will take about 20 minutes.

Elicit the undesired state or behaviour and create a picture

Now Anne, how do you know that it is time to feel nervous?

I feel nervous whenever I have to speak in front of a large audience.

I know I am nervous when my body feels cold, my palms sweat, my breathing is fast and shallow, my heart is racing, my speech is stuttering as if I have lost control of my mouth. I will grit my teeth and bite my lips.

When you think of feeling nervous, do you have a picture?

See this picture through your own eyes, hear with your own ears. Make what you see bigger, clearer, brighter, turn up the volume of the sounds your hear.

Freeze this picture in your mind and we will call this the Undesired Picture.

Break state

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

Elicit the desired picture and create a picture of the type of person the client would like to be. 

Now Anne, how would you like to feel instead when you have to speak in front of a large audience, in the absence of feeling nervous.

I would like to feel confident.

When you think of feeling confident, do you have a picture?

When you have the picture, nod your head.

See yourself inside this picture and feel that you are now more confident.

With your hands, tell me the size of this picture. Step out of the picture and see your body in the picture.

Enjoy the picture and lock it in as the Desired Picture.

Break state

What will you be having dinner tonight?

The hand demonstration preframe

In a moment, I would be asking you to bring up the Undesired Picture.

You would place a postage stamp sized version of the Desired Picture in bottom left hand corner.

When I say swish! simultaneously have the Desired Picture explode up, big and bright in full technicolour into full view so that it covers the entire Undesired Picture.

Have the Undesired Picture shrink to postage stamp size or disappear as quickly as possible.

Swish!

Now Anne, when you are ready, bring back the Undesired Picture.

In the lower left corner insert a small, dark picture of the Desired Picture.

Ensure that the pictures are ready and in place.

Swish!

Clear the screen.

Now Anne, when you are ready, bring back the Undesired Picture.

In the lower left corner insert a small, dark picture of the Desired Picture.

Ensure that the pictures are ready and in place.

Swish!

Clear the screen.

Now Anne, when you are ready, bring back the Undesired Picture.

In the lower left corner insert a small, dark picture of the Desired Picture.

Ensure that the pictures are ready and in place.

Swish!

Clear the screen.

(Repeat the swish! pattern until it is impossible for the client to bring back the Undesired Picture. This could take 7 to 14 repetitions.)

Test and future pace

Anne, think of the next time you are required to speak in front of a large audience. The image of a confident you should instantly flood the picture.

When you have completed the swish! pattern successfully, your mind will automatically recall your perfect image of yourself whenever the trigger appears

This memory will motivate you to stop the problem behavior and replace it with a productive one.

(Otherwise repeat the swish! manoeuvre another 7 times.)

We have all the internal resources we need to succeed

New Behaviour Generator Script

Preframe and rapport building

“Good morning Anne, the purpose of this session is to help you create a new, more productive behaviour, by rehearsing this desired behaviour a number of times in your mind.

So, Anne, can you tell me what would be a new behaviour that you would like to have?”

“I would like to be able to speak confidently and eloquently in front of a large audience.”

“Yes Anne, you are right that public speaking is an important life skill that anyone would like to have.

Calibrate eye accessing cues

When was the last time you had to speak in front of a large audience?”

“It was just last Sunday.”

“Where were you? Who were in the audience?”

“Oh, I was at the Toastmasters meeting at my club. I was making a speech to fellow Toastmasters and visitors to my club.”

“How did the speech went?”

“I was a nervous wreck and could hardly remember anything that I wanted to say. It was so embarrassing.”

State desired behaviour in positive form

“Anne, I am here to help you become a confident and eloquent public speaker. Now, follow my instructions

Help client visualize achieving desired behaviour

Anne, Close your eyes, look down on the left and ask yourself:

If I am already able to speak confidently and eloquently in public, what would I look like?

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes to your top right corner and picture yourself speaking confidently and eloquently in public.

Notice the size and colour of the picture. The expression on the audience’s faces. The effect that your speech has on the audience.

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes down to the bottom, right hand corner. Experience the feeling of being yourself in the picture, speaking confidently and eloquently to the audience. Slowly step into your own skin. Feel what you feel. Hear what you hear. See what you see.

Scale

Now, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most intense feeling, how do you rate your new behaviour now?”

“8….”

Adding resources from client’s past experience

Close your eyes, look down on the left and ask yourself:

That time when I was able to speak confidently and eloquently in public, what did I looked like?

Keeping your eyes closed, now move your eyes to your top left corner. Recall the occasion where you were speaking confidently and eloquently to an audience.

When you are able to see yourself in the picture, nod you head.”

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes to your top right corner and picture yourself speaking confidently and eloquently in public.

Notice the size and colour of the picture. The expression on the audience’s faces. The effect that your speech has on the audience.

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes down to the bottom, right hand corner. Experience the feeling of being yourself in the picture, speaking confidently and eloquently to the audience. Slowly step into your own skin. Feel what you feel. Hear what you hear. See what you see.

Scale

Now, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most intense feeling, how do you rate new behaviour now?”

“9….”

Adding resources from client’s role model of desired behaviour

Close your eyes, look down on the left and ask yourself:

When I am able to speak confidently and eloquently in public like President Barack Obama, what would I look like?

Keeping your eyes closed, now move your eyes to your top left corner. Picture President Barack Obama speaking confidently and eloquently to an audience.

When you are able to see the picture, nod you head.”

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes to your top right corner and picture yourself speaking confidently and eloquently in public just like President Barack Obama.

Notice the size and colour of the picture. The expression on the audience’s faces. The effect that your speech has on the audience.

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes down to the bottom, right hand corner. Experience the feeling of being yourself in the picture, speaking confidently and eloquently to the audience like President Barack Obama. Slowly step into your own skin. Feel what you feel. Hear what you hear. See what you see.

Scale

Now, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most intense feeling, how do you rate new behaviour now?”

“9….”

Future Pace - Client visualize achieving desired behaviour

Close your eyes, look down on the left, think of a time in the future where you want to be able to speak confidently and eloquently. Ask yourself:

If I am able to speak confidently and eloquently in public in my next Toastmasters meeting, what would I look like?

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes to your top right corner and picture yourself speaking confidently and eloquently at your next Toastmasters meeting.

Notice the size and colour of the picture. The expression on the club members and guests’ faces. The effect that your speech has on the audience.

Keeping your eyes closed, move your eyes down to the bottom, right hand corner. Experience the feeling of being yourself in the picture, speaking confidently and eloquently to the audience in the next Toastmasters meeting. Slowly step into your own skin. Feel what you feel. Hear what you hear. See what you see.

Scale

Now, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most intense feeling, how do you rate new behaviour now?”

“10….”

“Congratulations!

When you want to speak confidently and eloquently in the future, recall the picture in your mind and mentally rehearse seeing yourself speaking confidently and eloquently in front of a rapt audience.

Try it because you will be amazed at the results.

The User's Manual for the Brain (Vol 1)

To get this NLP classic, click on this link The User's Manual for the Brain (Vol 1).

Mind-lines: Lines For Changing Minds

To get this NLP classic, click on this link Mind-lines: Lines For Changing Minds.

Figuring Out People: Reading People Using Meta-Programs

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Virginia Satir: the Patterns of Her Magic

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RESPECT OTHERS' MAP OF THE WORLD

The Wild Days of NLP 1972-1981

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GENUINE UNDERSTANDING COMES ONLY WITH EXPERIENCE

Heart of the Mind: Engaging Your Inner Power to Change With Neuro-Linguistic Programming

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