Training NLP important guidline

This is by no means a full programme – NLP is usually taught in a formal order of training and development, called Foundation, Practitioner, Master Practitioner and Trainer (or variations thereof)

These courses usually share similar topics and a common syllabus, but bear in mind it changes from Company to Company, so ask for a break down. There is no real governing body, nor any real compliance regulations. Some courses centre around therapy, some business, some selling and influencing. Make sure that the focus is one you want to focus on.

Foundation courses are usually between 2 and 4 days, and cover the basics of one are such as Rapport, or Language. These aren’t full Practitioner certifications but certainly give you a taste of the real thing. Good because they’re short and you can do it in a weekend. Bad in that there’s usually no recognised qualification at the end.

Most Practitioner courses are similar in content. Master Practitioner courses vary more in terms of subjects and applications, and a Trainer Training even more so. Again, ask for a syllabus or brochure and make sure you can tick off the areas you want to get good at.

The Association of NLP, which is a UK based non-profit organisation set up in order to promote NLP, recommend 125 “contact hours” with an NLP Trainer, spread over 20+ days, to become an NLP Practitioner. This is the amount of actual time spent with an NLP Trainer which they feel best covers everything to a level where the student is confident they know the syllabus. The American Board of NLP recommend 120 hours.

Assuming an 8 hour day and allowing for lunch & tea breaks, that’s about six and a half hours of “class time” per day. Therefore most NLP Practitioner courses take somewhere around 7 - 25 days to complete.

That’s often done in a modular format, say one weekend a month, for the best part of a year. So this month might be an introduction to NLP weekend, next month they’ll cover Rapport and Rep Systems, month three will be Language Patterns, and so on. So you come in and out of class each month and gradually piece it together. That’s a good way to do it if you have lots of family or work commitments, cos you can spread it out over time. However, it takes longer time and you need to be sure that you’re going to stick to the programme and attend every module. Companies often offer you the chance to repeat ones you missed because they know people often do drop out.

There are distance learning packages available but there is no live training to attend. So maybe you’d get a workbook, a video, some audiotapes or a CD Rom and written exercises to complete. This is a great way to get into the basics and you can work at your own pace. Problem is there’s no face to face contact, and NLP is an experiential technology, which means you really need to work with other people and experience the interaction between you to really get the learning’s. It is “Neuro Linguistics” after all.

Some courses are built up in chunks, covering different parts of the syllabus, so you might do the core Presuppositions of NLP in the first part, then Presenting skills later. You can even design your own “menu” with some companies, putting together the chunks you want to do in the order you want to do them in. Good in that you tailor make it. Downside is that for most people that’s too much like hard work.

Overall, you need to balance work commitments, personal life and your preferred way of digesting all that you’ve learned.