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NLP –Magic, Mastery
or Manipulation?
The
following article by Ian Chapman was triggered by a
Facebook message I sent to one of my groups. It appeared
in his blog and generated a reaction from other Facebook
notables – Heather Olson, Jacqui Tillyard, Ifat Ben
Yosef and Bob Crawford – all of which are reproduced
below
The eagle
eyed among you may spot that this is a slimmed down,
edited version of the original. In the interests of
independence I asked Ian to do the editing himself and –
kind soul that he is – he agreed.
NLP: Mastering
Manipulative Magic – Email Persuasion at its best
by Ian Chapman
 I
got a letter recently from Martin Allsop. As I skimmed
over it I realised the powerful language patterns that
he had used. It was extremely well crafted.
It is clear
to me from looking at this email that Martin is using
his NLP skills to best advantage and most people don't
even realise it.
Subject:
"Unlock the secret formula for Web 2.0 success.”
Can you
remember a time when all sorts of exciting possibilities
seemed to be available to you? And how that felt?
You may not
fully realize it yet – as there may be many things
undreamed of that await your discovery – but such a time
is upon us now.
As more and
more people are beginning to appreciate – Web 2.0
presents us all with amazing opportunities.
In the
second edition of my e-magazine (e-zine) which is due
out shortly I unlock the secret formula for Web 2.0
success. And there’s lots of other interesting stuff!
If you go
to:
www.martinallsop.com
now you can
sign up for the e-zine which is absolutely free.
You will
then be one of the first to get access to the second
edition – and you’ll also be able to read the first
edition.
You’re
intelligent enough to understand the value of this, so I
hope you go to
www.martinallsop.com sign up now and enjoy all the
benefits.
Warm regards
Martin
_______________________________________
Hidden
Hypnotic Commands
As you read
this letter it just looks like an ordinary email you
might not notice anything untoward or devious about it.
What you may not realise is that it's filled with
hypnotic commands to get you to make a certain response.
Remembering
The Past
"Can you
remember a time when all sorts of exciting possibilities
seemed to be available to you? And how that felt?"
This is
asking you to look into your own memory and try to
remember a time when you were excited about the future
and the options that are open to you. He uses ambiguous
language patterns so you can fill in the blanks. This
type of ambiguous open structure makes it universally
applicable to everyone.
The second
sentence is getting you to connect that memory to an
actual feeling. For many people who think in pictures,
going to the feeling level amplifies the experience and
also brings it into to the present moment.
"You may not
fully realize it yet – as there may be many things
undreamed of that await your discovery – but such a time
is upon us now."
Feel
Excitement Now
This third
sentence is telling you that you need to feel the
excitement now. This is also confirming that you might
not realise that you are getting excited and also acts
as a way to pace and get rapport.
These types
of sentences talk straight to the unconscious mind. They
have no real meaning. Thinking about something undreamed
of that you have to wait to discover doesn't make sense.
So the
conscious mind ignores it and the other embedded command
is delivered. "Such a time is upon us now", which links
back to the first 2 sentences which were all about a
feeling in the past and that feeling is being brought
into the present moment reinforcing the effects.
So now you
have a feeling of excitement and curiosity and you are
"waiting to discover" something new.
"As more and
more people are beginning to appreciate – Web 2.0
presents us all with amazing opportunities." "In the
second edition of my e-magazine (e-zine) which is due
out shortly I unlock the secret formula for Web 2.0
success."
Anticipation
Now Martin
introduces the amazing opportunities that are available
in the world of WEB 2.0 and links this to his new e-zine,
where he promises to unlock the secrets. You are being
forced to wait again, he won't tell you right now.
What he has
done is created a very real sense of desire. Secrets are
enticing, you want to know what the secret formula to
success is and that secret is only exposed in his e-zine
So now you
have even more excitement and curiosity and
anticipation.
Direct
Commands
Martin now
offers a way to fulfil your need to know, just go and
sign up
"If you go
to:
www.martinallsop.com
now you can
sign up for the e-zine which is absolutely free."
He uses
"if you" implying that you have a choice whether to
go or not and then gives the link and below the first
word is "now". When you take away the fluff this is a
direct command and reads
"go to
www.martinallsop.com now"
It looks so
sweet and innocent but is an extremely powerful way to
get someone to click on a link and you don't even feel
that you have been directly commanded. It all happens at
the unconscious level - which is the real power of NLP.
"You’re
intelligent enough to understand the value of this, so I
hope you go to http://www.martinallsop.com/ sign up now
and enjoy all the benefits."
Martin
finishes off with another direct command embedded in the
sentence, can you spot it?
"go to sign
up now"
You miss it
consciously because of the URL and because it is placed
carefully between two lines and within a larger sentence
that has another meaning – ‘be intelligent and enjoy all
the benefits’.
The Real
Meaning
So below the
surface you are being told directly to -
Feel excited
anticipation about discovering the web 2.0 secret
formula that Martin will reveal in his e-zine - go to
www.martinallsop.com now and sign up now.
Manipulation and Ethics
Some people
think that using NLP techniques in this way is unethical
or manipulative. One of my favourite trainers
Chris Howard addresses this issue and says that
you must always create Win Win situations.
As with any
powerful tool there is a danger that it can be abused.
It is up to you to make the right choices because your
reputation and long term success depend on this.
_______________________________________
Author bio:
Ian Chapman is a Personal Development Consultant,
Internet Marketer and Aspiring Copywriter. He writes
about Social Media Strategies and Integrating Spiritual
Principles into Business Practice. You can follow him on
Twitter
www.twitter.com/ian_chapman
________________________________________
4 comments:
 Thank
you for the inspiring articles. They invoked me to think
and to act in some new ways.
I’m also
working with NLP, and as I go deeper into the NLP
learnings, I ask myself how can I use NLP in every day
life - in an ethical way.
Your article
answered a part of this questioning. You wrote about
creating win-win situations, and that settles some parts
of my ethical views.
The question
that now arising in me is, how can I distinguish between
what I view as a win-win situation for the other person
and what the other person view as a win-win situation -
for himself. (Every person has his own map of the
world).
Thank you
again, Ifat Ben Yosef
 I've
studied NLP for nearly 25 yrs now and it can be a
powerful tool. I believe if we come from a genuine
intent to serve and offer tremendous value to our
clients/customers, we needn't worry about manipulation
as a negative.
NLP works
with raising kids, working through conflict and
everywhere in our lives that we connect with others. By
keeping ourselves connected to source and being of
service we will be fine.
Thank you
for connecting, Heather Olson
 I
am also an NLP Master/trainer and have to say NLP is an
incredibly powerful tool. I think you will find the
majority of people using it are doing it with integrity,
like Martin (and myself).
Well trained
NLP practitioners who write sales messages, take the
stance that NLP should be used ecologically i.e. doing
no harm to self, others and the planet.
Also in NLP
we talk about being at cause or effect, if you are at
cause you take responsibility for your own actions,
whether hypnotic language is aimed at you or not! If at
effect however, you blame others for what happens to you
and give away your power. I know which side I would
rather be.
To some
extent all adverts, sales pieces use persuasion tactics
and whether you use NLP or not, if you are out there
communicating you will be trying out your powers of
persuasion to engage with others.
Interesting
topic!
Jacqui
Tillyard
www.jacquitillyard.co.uk
 Very
insightful! This type of marketing will prove to be the
tool that drives my success.
Thanks.
Peace, Bob
Crawford
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