Purpose: Add to the impactfulness of your communication by using a wide variety of presuppositional forms. Use presuppositions more artfully to assist others (and yourself) in experiencing their outcomes.
When to Use: In every verbal interaction.
These are examples of the presuppositional forms in the Appendix to Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D., prepared by Tamara Andreas.
Themes
A. You can learn.
B. NLP gets results.
C. You will be confident.
The above three themes (with some variations) are presupposed below with most of the complete presuppositional forms. What's presupposed is in parentheses.
1. Relative Clauses: a noun followed by a phrase beginning with who, which, or that.
A. Are many of the subjects which you can learn interesting to you? (You can learn subjects.)
B. The results that NLP gets are impressive. (NLP gets results.)
C. Might the confidence that you will experience come as a surprise to you? (You will experience confidence.)
2. Subordinate Clauses of Time: clauses identified by the cue words before, after, during, as since, prior, when, while, etc.
A. Before you learn this, do you want to go for a walk? (You will learn this.) B. After NLP has gotten results, many people are amazed. (NLP has gotten results.) C. While you are confident, remember to pace the audience. (You will be confident.) 3. Cleft Sentences: sentences beginning with It was/is noun argument.
A. It's probably your intelligence that enables you to learn. (Something enables you to learn.)
B. It is the elegance and sophistication of NLP that gets results. (Something about NLP gets results.)
C. Will it be your skills that you will be confident about? (You will be confident about something.)
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4. Pseudo-Cleft Sentences: identified by the form What [sentence] is [sentence]
A. What you can learn is how to use presuppositions. (You can learn something.) B. What NLP results in is greater resourcefulness and competence. (NLP results in
something.)
C. Do you think what you will be confident in is your charm and grace? (You will be confident in something.)
5. Stressed sentences: voice stress — use in combination with other presuppositional forms.
A. Perhaps it's MATH that you can learn. (You can learn something.)
B. I'm especially interested in the OUTSTANDING results that NLP has gotten. (NLP has gotten results.)
C. Will you be confident SUDDENLY? (You will be confident.)
6. Complex adjectives: new, old, former, present, previous, etc.
A. What will be the next thing you will learn? (You will learn something. You've already learned something/s.)
B. I hope you noticed the initial results of the NLP work we did. (there have been results.
There are/will be additional results.)
C. Are you happy with your present confidence level? (You have a confidence level. You have had/will have other confidence levels.)
7. Ordinal numerals: first, second, third, fourth, another, etc.
A. Do you want to learn another technique now? (You have learned some technique/s.) B. The fourth result that I experienced with NLP was elimination of a phobia. (I have
experienced at least four results with NLP. I have experienced results with NLP.) C. Do you think that by the fifth time you're confident you'll be used to it? (You will be
confident at least five times. You will be confident.) 8. Comparatives: -er, more, less
A. Do you know someone who learns even faster than you? (You learn quickly.) B. Psychotherapy gets fewer results than NLP does.
OR
Psychotherapy gets more results than NLP does, (either way: NLP gets results.) C. Do you want to become more confident? (You are already confident.)
9. Comparative as: ...as X as ...
A. If anyone else learns as well as you do, they must be smart. (You learn well.) B. What else gets as many results as NLP does? (NLP gets results.)
C. I wonder if anyone else there will be as confident as you. (You will be confident.)
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10. Repetitive Cue Words: too, also, either, again, hack, etc.
A. Are you also learning consciously? (You are learning other-than consciously.) B. So, NLP got results again. (NLP has gotten results in the past.)
C. Are you expecting to be confident today, tool (You have been confident other times.)
11. Repetitive Verbs and Adverbs: verbs and adverbs beginning with re-; e.g.
repeatedly, return, restore, retell, replace, renew, etc.
A. Are you ready to relearn this material now? (You have learned it in the past.) B. I've notice that NLP can repeat its results. (NLP gets results.)
C. Do you want a good way to renew your confident feeling now? (You have had a confident feeling.)
12. Qualifiers: such as only, even, except, just,, etc.
A. Only you can learn the way you do. (You can learn the way you do.)
B. Except for NLP, few approaches to communication really work very well. (NLP really works well.)
C. Even you can become confident! (You can become confident.)
13. Change-of-time Verbs and Adverbs: begin, end, stop, start, continue, proceed, already, yet, still, anymore, etc.
A. Do you want to continue learning? (You have been learning.)
B. NLP still gets as good results as it used to! (NLP has gotten good results.) C. When did you begin feeling confident? (You have been feeling confident.)
14. Change-of-state Verbs: change, transform, turn into, become, etc.
A. I don't think you'd suddenly become a person who couldn't learn easily. (You can learn easily.)
B. No one really believes that NLP could turn into a methodology that isn't effective.
(NLP is a methodology that is effective.)
C. It would be quite a transformation if you changed into a person who isn't confident!
(You are a person who is confident.)
15. Factive Verbs and Adjectives: odd, aware, know, realize, regret, etc.
A. Are you aware of your learning ability? (You have learning ability.) B. It's hard to believe some of the results that NLP gets! (NLP gets results.) C. Are you pleased that you can be confident? (You can be confident.)
16. Commentary Adjectives and Adverbs: lucky, fortunate, far out, out of sight, innocently, happily, necessarily, etc.
A. It's fortunate that you can learn, isn't it? (You can learn.)
B. Do you enjoy the good results NLP gets? (NLP gets good results.) C. Don't you think your confidence is remarkable'} (You have confidence.)
17. Counterfactual Conditional Clauses: verbs having subjunctive tense.
A. If you hadn't been able to learn, you wouldn't be able to drive a car. (Assuming you are able to drive a car, you had been able to learn.)
B. If NLP didn't get good results, I wouldn't be spending my time on it. (Assuming I am spending my time on it, NLP gets good results.)
C. If you weren't able to be confident, you would still be living at home, wouldn't you?
(Assuming you aren't living at home, you are able to be confident.)
18. Contrary-to-expectation Should:
A. If you should happen to not understand, I can explain it to you. (I expect you to understand.)
B. In the unlikely event that a particular NLP pattern wouldn't work, some other NLP pattern can usually get the results. (I expect NLP patterns to work.)
C. If you should temporarily lose your confidence, you can press your own "confidence"
anchor. (I don't expect you to temporarily lose your confidence.) (You have confidence.)
19. Selectional Restrictions: (I skipped this one).
20. Questions:
A. Which part can you learn more easily, verbal or non-verbal skills? (You can learn verbal and non-verbal skills easily.)
B. What results has NLP gotten? (NLP has gotten results.) C. How confident are you? (You are confident.)
21. Negative questions:
A. Weren't you the spelling champion in fourth grade? (I thought you were the spelling champion in fourth grade.)
B. Didn't you see the demo subject eating peanuts, to which she was previously allergic?
(I thought you did see the demo subject eating peanuts.)
C. Haven 7 you had even one time when you were confident? (I thought you had had at least one time when you were confident.)
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NLP Comprehensive Master Practitioner Participant Notes
22. Rhetorical question:
A. What difference does it make if you didn't learn math in the third grade? (It makes no difference.)
B. Who cares if NLP doesn't fix 100% of all phobias in 20 minutes? (No one cares.) C. What good does it do to focus on times when you weren't confident? (It does no good.) 23. Spurious not:
A. I wonder if you're not already learning more than you think. (I think you are learning more than you think.)
B. I wonder whether NLP hasn't already proven itself to be effective. (I think NLP has proven itself to be effective.)
C. I wonder if you're not already able to be confident. (I think you are already able to be confident.)