| Our communication with others usually starts with our | | | | our minds, through our five senses (Seeing, hearing, |
| thoughts, resulting in words, tonality and body | | | | feeling, taste and smell) is known as Representational |
| language. There are many ways to define "thoughts", | | | | Systems in Neuro Linguistic Programming, and |
| and one of them is how we use our senses internally. | | | | understanding it makes a significant improvement to |
| All of us use some senses more often, and these are | | | | your interpersonal communication skills. Having |
| usually our dominant ones. Understanding a person's | | | | different preferred representational systems is one |
| dominant senses, or representational systems as | | | | reason why we encounter difficulties in getting our |
| known in NLP, will allow us to effectively | | | | messages across to others sometimes. |
| communicate our messages by speaking in a manner | | | | If you are a visual person whose dominant sense is |
| that will be well received by that person. Our | | | | seeing, you will likely speak in a manner that include |
| communication with others usually starts with our | | | | many pictures and visual words. A kinesthetic person |
| thoughts, resulting in words, tonality and body | | | | on the other hand, will speak with many feeling |
| language. There are many ways to define "thoughts", | | | | words. Also, they will find it easier to relate to feeling |
| and one of them is how we use our senses internally. | | | | words as compared to visual words. |
| We use our senses outwardly to perceive the world, | | | | A point to remember is that representational |
| and inwardly to represent experience to ourselves. | | | | systems are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to |
| When recalling experiences, such as a time you went | | | | recall a scene, and include the sounds and feelings |
| to the beach, what appears in your mind first? | | | | simultaneously, though it is quite rare for all to be |
| Maybe a picture of the beach would appear. Perhaps | | | | used together all the time. Most of us tend to have |
| you hear the sounds of the waves and children | | | | one or two representation systems that we prefer |
| playing, or the feeling of how relaxed you were just | | | | when thinking. |
| sitting by the sea. | | | | Also, it is possible to develop and improve. For |
| When you ask a group of students to describe their | | | | example, a person who is mostly visual might have |
| form teacher, you could get a variety of answers. | | | | difficulty learning music initially. However, with |
| One student might recall the hairstyle and dressing | | | | practice, they can also develop the audio aspect of |
| first, followed by the teacher's voice, and how he or | | | | their representational systems. |
| she feels about the teacher's lessons. Another might | | | | So to conclude, if you want to build rapport with |
| first recall that the teacher has a very deep and | | | | others and get them to understand you easily, take |
| powerful voice, followed by how the teacher always | | | | responsibility for the way you communicate and use |
| makes the class feel interesting, and lastly, how the | | | | words that are suitable for their preferred |
| teacher looks. | | | | representational systems. |
| This method of taking in and storing information in | | | | |