NLP Glossary | The Key Words of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Neuro-Semantics

The field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has developed a specific vocabulary for more specifically understanding the structure of human consciousness.

In the early 1930’s Alfred Korzybski, the man who coined the terms Neuro-Linguistic programming & Neuro-Semantics in his book ‘Science and Sanity’ began his journey into the structure of human experience. This all began with him wondering why the fields of engineering & physics continued to develop generation after generation in a clear and focused direction but the field of psychology did not do the same.

His conclusion: That engineering and physics had developed a precise language which could continue to be built upon generationally and gain more and more specific understanding of the structures and processes important to their fields.

Below are some of the key words you will need to know to better understand the field of Neuro-Linguistic programming and apply it effectively with yourself and others.

I will continue to update this NLP Glossary and feel free to leave any questions, comments, or requests here.

NLP Glossary:

A

Analog: As opposed to digital, analog refers to changes that can be made along a continuum such as making an internal image brighter/darker, bigger/smaller, closer/farther, etc.

Anchor: A trigger in any of the sensory systems in order to facilitate the re-accessing of state. Similar to the conditioning done in Behaviorism and studied by behaviorists such as Pavlov.

Anchoring: the process of setting an anchor in one or more of the representational systems.

Associated: In traditional NLP this refers to being ‘stepped in’ to a mental movie in the first perceptual position. In Neuro-Semantics this is more simply referred to as being ‘stepped in’.

Axes of Change Model: The Axes of Change is a generative change model, and one of the primary change models used in Neuro-Semantics and Meta-Coaching. This model uses 4 axes to work someone through Generative Change and uses 8 meta-programs.

B

Benchmarking: In Neuro-Semantics we use the Benchmarking Model to measure intangibles. The benchmarking is built on top of the skills from the meta-model of language. This model is powerful for making coaching measurable for the client, as well as to measure the implementation of training programs and the installation of skills.

Break State: A NLP process of interrupting a state, typically used as a ‘palate cleanser’ or as a pattern interruption.

C

Calibration:  The measuring of a present state against a predetermined standard.  This is the NLP tool for reading body language.

Change Pattern: A step by step process to achieve a specific outcome, as guided by a NLP Practitioner. There are hundreds of ‘change patterns’ in NLP as well as hundreds more in the field of Neuro-Semantics.

Chaining Anchors: A process of building a series of anchors step by step to connect a present state and desired state with a large gap. To go from sad to ecstatic one could, for example, chain from sad to accepting, to calm, to happy, to joyful, to ecstatic. When the anchors are fired in sequence the practitioner could guide themselves or someone else from the present state to the desired state.

Cognitive Distortion: In Neuro-Semantics the cognitive distortions were modeled from the work of Beck. Also referred to as ‘childish thinking patterns’ cognitive distortions operate on a continuum just like Meta-Programs, however in cognitive distortions one side is inherently bad and the other side operates as a cognitive solution.

Collapsing Anchors: A NLP techniques where the practitioner sets two contradictory anchors (an unresourceful state anchor and a resource anchor) and fires them simultaneously in order to collapse the charge out of an unresourceful state.

D

De-Framing: The process of taking a linguistic frame, and brining it back to its sensory specific referent. One of the primary ways of doing this is by utilizing the specificity questions of the Meta-Model of Language.

Digital: As opposed to analog, digital refers to changes that are binary such as if someone is stepped in/stepped out of a mental movie.

Disassociated: In traditional NLP this refers to being ‘stepped out‘ of a mental movie in the third perceptual position. In Neuro-Semantics this is more simply referred to as being ‘stepped out’.

Downtime: A state of mind where someone’s awareness is focus inside of their mind. In Neuro-Semantics meta-states would be classified as down time states. Hypnotic states are also classified as downtime states (As opposed to Uptime).

E

Ecology check: A series of questions used to determine how a specific change will effect the larger system around an individual. If someone is fully aligned with a particular change and the consequences of the change we refer to that change as ‘ecological’.

Elicitation Question:  The first step in any ‘change pattern’ will be the elicitation question.   This elicits the content that will be run through the pattern and ultimately transformed.

Eye Accessing Cues:   Eye accessing cues refer to the unconscious movements of the eyes people make while accessing and processing information internally.

F

Framing: A ‘frame’ is word for describing a psychological context. That which is within that context is real or relevant to the person who holds that frame-of-mind, and anything outside of the frame often seems unreal or irrelevant to that individual. There are numerous frames and models for framing in NLP & Neuro-Semantics such as the Mind Lines Model.

Future Pace: A method of ‘installation’ where we have ourself or someone else ‘imagine’ taking a change into their desired future.

G

Generative Change: As opposed to Remedial Change, Generative change focuses on taking something that is performing well and improving upon it. This would be like taking your car to the shop, even thought it is working perfectly well, to install a turbocharger to improve its performance.

Gestalt: When the result is greater than the sum of the parts. While meta-stating layers on top of a primary state sometimes a gestalt will emerge i.e. for courage to emerge you must have fear at the core.

Gustatory: One of the senses, typically referred to as the sense of ‘taste’.

H

Human Potential Movement: The human potential movement was born in the 1950s through the work of Maslow and Rogers, along with Rollo May, Viktor Frankl, Fritz Perls, Sydney Jourard, Virginia Satir, and many others. The Human Potential Movement became “the third force” in psychology after Psychoanalysis and Behaviorism. In Neuro-Semantics we have launched a second Human Potential Movement — one for the twenty-first century — based in the practical applications of unleashing potential provided by Neuro-Semantic NLP.

I

In-Time: This is one of the main orientations of someone’s timeline. As opposed to “Through-Time” someone with an in-time timeline will typically be better at enjoying the moment, being spontaneous, and getting lost in the ‘eternal now’. In the field of Neuro-Semantics this is more simply referred to as “Primary State Time”. (See Through-Time)

Internal Representations:  The visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory experiences inside of an individual.  We do not respond to the world directly, but we respond to our ‘internal representations’ of the world.

J

K

Kinesthetic: One of the senses, typically referred to as the sense of ‘touch’. Examples of kinesthetics can be external, internal, dealing with balance, etc. Kinesthetics can be primary states or meta-states. In Neuro-Semantics we recognize emotions as meta-kinesthetics. Primary kinesthetics are inputs into a mind-body system e.g. the feel of the wind on our skin. Meta kinesthetics are, at least initially, outputs of a mind-body system e.g. feeling happy about the feeling of the wind on our skin.

L

M

Meta: To transcend and include.   For example, a car would be meta to the steering wheel, or the body would be meta to the heart.    

Meta-Model: A series of linguistic distinctions as well as questions that allow us to gain specificity.  This was the original model of NLP published in the first NLP book “The Structure of Magic”. The Meta-Model was further developed by Dr. Michael Hall in the book “Communication Magic” which added more distinctions from the works of Alfred Korzybski and Gregory Bateson.

Meta-Question: Meta-Questions are questions such as “What do you believe about X”, “What does X mean to you?” or “What do you value about X”, which when used effectively tease out the higher frames of a person (level upon level) so you can discover, explore and model them.

Meaning:  Literally translates to “that which is held in mind”.  In Neuro-Semantics anything that is held in mind can be referred to as meaning.   Examples of ‘meanings’ are beliefs, values, intentions, decisions, mental-movies such as memories and imaginations, etc. A great way to elicit meaning is through asking meta-questions.

Meta-Program:  Meta-Programs focus more on ‘how’ we are thinking as opposed to ‘what’ we are thinking.  These are higher level thought programs that filter the world beyond the primary level strategies.  The Meta-Programs model is the NLP model for personality profiling, and meta-programs are one of the 4 meta-domains of NLP.

Meta-State:  A state upon state structure whereas the higher state governs, organizes, classifies, or modulates the state beneath.   Examples of Meta-States include being calmly curiously, angry at your sadness, or joyfully learning.

Milton Model:  A linguistic model of Neuro-Linguistic programming modeled from hypnotherapist Milton H. Erickson.   The Milton model in many ways is the inverse of the Meta-Model, in that it teaches the user about the structure of using abstract language in order to induce states in oneself and others.

Mind Lines Model: The Mind Lines Model is a reframing model of Neuro-Semantics. It describes the 7 directions a brain can go and numerous language patterns for reframing experience conversationally.

Model:  A model is a representation/pattern that is structurally aligned with the thing being modeled.  A model is not the same as the thing being modeled, or in NLP terms, “the map is not the territory”.  In order to generate a model we must delete, generalize, and distort.

Modeling: In NLP & Neuro-Semantics modeling process of extracting patterns from an exemplary person or product in order to replicate that excellence in yourself or others.\

N

Nominalization: ‘Nominalizations’ are one of the distinctions in the meta-model of language, more specifically a linguistic distortion. A nominalization is a noun which is not a physical thing. The typical nominalization test in NLP when you hear a noun is “Can you put it in a wheelbarrow?”. If not, it is a nominalization e.g. time, change, decision, belief, identity, thought, manifestation, meditation, etc. These ‘nouns’ are actually verbs/processes in disguise e.g. decision = to decide, manifestation = to manifest, belief = to believe, etc. De-nominalizing these nouns typically leaves us with unspecified verbs.

Reframing: Reframing is the act of taking a mental movie and classifying it differently in order to transform how it is experienced. A classic NLP reframe is “there is not such thing as failure, only feedback”.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP): A communication model that describes the structure of human functioning and interpersonal communication.

Neuro-Semantics: An ‘update’ to the traditional NLP model with a focus and emphasis on self-reflexive consciousness consciousness and the higher levels of mind. Neuro-Semantics adds hundreds of patterns and various models to the field of Neuro-Linguistic programming and is most well known for the modeling of effective Coaching, Leadership and Self-Actualization Psychology.

O

Olfactory: One of the senses, typically referred to as the sense of ‘smell’

P

Pattern:  A step by step process that facilitates someone to achieve a specific outcome.  There are hundreds of patterns in the field of NLP, each which achieve their respective outcome, as well as hundreds more patterns in the field of Neuro-Semantics. The first step of a pattern is typically the elicitation question, which elicits the content that will be ran through the process of that specific pattern.  

Perceptual Position: Perceptual positions are different perspectives that can be taken on the same situation. There are 4 primary perceptual positions in the field of NLP. First position is looking through your own eyes as through you were reliving the event, Second is looking through the eyes of another person, Third is stepped out as a neutral observer and fourth is looking at the situation from the perspective of the larger system.

Power Zone: In Neuro-Semantics the term power zone refers to the state of taking ownership over the four things that are in your control: Your thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors. The power zone pattern is one of the foundational Neuro-Semantic patterns and establishes proper responsibility.

Primary State: Primary states, as opposed to meta-states, are in response to a real-world sensory-based trigger. Examples of primary states would be being sad because of the rain, frustrated with the traffic, enjoying the breeze, etc. (See meta-State)

R

Remedial Change: As opposed to Generative Change remedial change focuses on fixing more urgent and present problems. This is like taking your car to the shop because something broke down and it is not driving properly (see generative change).

S

Self-Actualization:  The psychology which governs the field of coaching.   Self-Actualization is a factor of meaning and performance and describes the process of unleashing potentials.   Abraham Maslow, the father of Self-Actualization psychology is quoted as saying the “I think of the self-actualizing man not as an ordinary man with something added, but rather as the ordinary man with nothing taken away.”

Sensory Acuity:   The level of detail one is able to take in via the various sense modalities.   In NLP we aim to increase our sensory acuity in all of our senses to better read people (see calibration) and respond to our environment.

Stacking Anchors: A NLP process of anchoring ‘similar’ resourceful states on the same location, typically kinesthetically. Anchors can be stacked to increase the power of the anchor in order to blow out strong unresoureful states.

State:  In NLP ‘State’ refers to the state of a mind-body-emotion system.   States are usually named by the emotion so someone can be in a calm state, energized state, happy state, curious state, energized state, etc. One of the Core NLP Skills is State Elicitation.

Strategy: A series of representational steps taken in someone’s mind in between a stimulus and a response.  Strategies are typically named by their outcome, e.g. a decision strategy, a learning strategy, a creativity strategy, etc.

Submodality:  Submodalities, referred to as ‘cinematic features’ or ‘meta-modalities’ in Neuro-Semantics, are the more specific codings of our internal representations.  All sensory modalities (VAKOG) have ‘cinematic features’ and we can alter submodlities in order to alter one’s experience as well as model submodalities to replicate experiences.

SWISH: A pattern in NLP used to shift unresoureful habits, typically with a visual trigger e.g. biting nails, buying impulse items, drinking alcohol, eating cake, etc. by swishing the mind from an associated trigger image to an image of their desired self before breaking state.

T

Threshold: A threshold may occur when you push an analog (see above) past a tipping point where the typical structure of the pattern breaks or reverses. Threshold will patterns typically get worse before they get better, however sometimes a NLP Practitioner may push a threshold to get better before it gets worse.

Through-Time: This is one of the main orientations of someone’s timeline. As opposed to “In-Time” someone with a through-time timeline will typically be better at scheduling, planning, and being non-emotional when reflecting on the past or planning the future. In the field of Neuro-Semantics this is more simply referred to as “Meta to Time”. (See In-Time)

Timeline: In NLP a timeline refers to someones internal construction of their concept of ‘time’. Because ‘time’ is best represented by analog sub-modalities such as distance and location our internal orientations to time are typically organized in a line, however not always. The two primary time line orientations are traditionally referred to as ‘in time’ and ‘through time’.

TOTE: TOTE stands for ‘test, operate, test, exit’ and was brought into the field of NLP from the works of Miller, Pribram, and Galanter in their book “Plans and the Structure of Behavior”. That book began the ‘cognitive revolution of psychology building on Behaviorism.  A TOTE refers to a strategy that has reached unconscious status.

U

Utilization: One of the hypnotic language patterns from the Milton Model of NLP. Utilization is where the practitioner recognizes something, typically unexpected, occurring in the environment or person being communicated to, and then ‘utilizes’ it to facilitate one toward their desired outcome.

Unspecified Verbs:  Verbs which can not be ‘representationally tracked’ directly into a sensory based movie e.g. believe, decide, hurt, create.   If I say “someone ‘hurt’ me” you can not make a mental movie directly of what happened to me without either hallucinating in the details or asking me for more specificity.   Did they hit me, insult me, forget to return my call, etc.? In the Meta-Model of Language we would need to ask questions to specify what actually happened in order to understand without imposing.

Uptime: A state of mind where someone’s awareness is focus outside to a present state sensory awareness In Neuro-Semantics primary-states would be classified as uptime states. Uptime states de-hypnotize (As opposed to Downtime States).

V

VAK(OG): Stands for visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory.

W

Why: A questions that is NOT utilized in the meta-model of language. In Neuro-Semantics we recognize the ‘why’ question can be quite useful for eliciting someone’s frame of mind as well as for eliciting meaningfulness and intentionality.

I will continue to update this NLP Glossary and feel free to leave any questions, comments, or requests here.

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