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Your first NLP training can be a hugely rewarding experience - if you pick a good trainer. Chris Morris takes an independent look across the field of NLP and offers some practical advice on how to pick well and get value for money.

There are dozens - probably hundreds - of different and competing NLP trainings on offer. They range from a few hours to a few months in length, from a few hundred pounds to several thousand pounds in cost, and many come with all kinds of bells and whistles thrown in. The quality and material covered varies considerably. Since we’re talking about a significant investment of your time and money, you’ll want to be sure you’re getting good value. But how do you know?

This article is to help you make a more informed choice. My intention is to promote NLP training in general and no trainer or training organisation in particular. Although I’m aware that we all inevitably bring our own bias to anything we write, I hope you find this guide impartial - and, more important, that you find it useful.

NLP Training in the 21st Century

First of all, ask yourself a question: what do you want to get from your NLP training? There are plenty of salesmen standing by right now to sell you what they think you should have, and what they can offer you, but what do you actually want?

Take some time to consider your reason for being here on this page. A lot of people get caught up in the “buzz” of NLP and end up distracted. NLP trainers tend to be great at writing dazzling sales pitches to sell their courses. After all, using language to be persuasive is what NLP trainers do! Won’t it be great when you become the person you’ve always wanted to be? What amazing things will you be able to achieve when you can persuade anyone to do anything you want, using these proven techniques? Think of all the fun you’ll have when you know exactly what people are thinking without even asking them! These are just a few of the claims you’ll read if you’re researching NLP courses on the internet. It’s true that NLP offers huge and dramatic potential - and in my experience, it is all possible, and there’s even more too - but I think it’s still worth keeping your wits about you and focussing on what you really want. Don’t get distracted by all the shiny things! It’s easy to spend a lot of money very fast if you don’t have clear objectives in mind. So, what brought you to this page in the first place?

Consider if a training course is actually the best option for you right now. Many people get involved with NLP because there’s something specific they want to change about themselves. There are lots of ways to apply NLP to improve your own life and the lives of people around you. If that’s your main interest, consider how important it is to you, in the grand scheme of things. How much time and money is it worth to get what you want, and how will you know when you’ve got it? Do you need to attend a full training program to achieve your goals, or would a private session with a coach or trainer serve you better? Explore your options and keep your eye on the prize.

There are lots of training courses that specialise in personal development and success. Other courses focus on using NLP professionally. Different trainers specialise in using NLP for business, NLP for therapy, NLP for sales, or NLP for something else. Plan your investment carefully and focus on what you really want to get from your training. It doesn’t make much sense to attend a personal development event if your aim is to work with others, as a coach or therapist but you might be surprised at how many people do exactly that. Plan ahead so you get from the training what you will want to have got by the time you are ready to use what you’ve learnt. Remember that to work professionally in this field you’ll probably want to attend a series of courses, and also allow yourself plenty of time to integrate and practice what you’ve learnt. It’s a good idea to train with different trainers to get a range of perspectives.

There are traditionally three levels of certified NLP training:
- NLP Practitioner
- NLP Master Practitioner
- NLP Advanced Master Practitioner or Meta Master Practitioner
- NLP Trainer

Some training companies also offer introduction programs that come with a diploma or foundation certificate, and some offer advanced programs with certifications above the level of advanced master practitioner.

The people I know who have got the most benefit from their NLP training are the people who went in with specific outcomes in mind, and were also open minded to explore whatever else came up. Having an outcome in mind doesn’t mean you should ignore anything else that isn’t related to your outcome. One of the great things about NLP is how often you can be surprised by what else is possible.

Remember that NLP is an unregulated industry in most parts of the world. Anyone can sell themselves as an NLP trainer and indeed anyone can print out certificates that give you grand-sounding titles. My advice is to forget about certificates and titles - good training is all about what you learn and what you can do after the training that you couldn’t do before. Focus on what you want to learn.

Here are a few other things to consider:

Who will be teaching you? This is possibly the main thing you’ll want to research. How did your trainer learn what they’re proposing to teach you? How many people have they taught before? What is their track record like? What do their own teachers say about them? What do their students say about them? Ask on the NLP Connections forum and see what experiences other people have had with that trainer. Also consider if you’d be more comfortable with a male or female trainer, or doesn’t it matter to you? Do you want someone young and enthusiastic, or older and wiser? Is it important to you that your trainer is successful themselves - and what does success mean to you?

What kind of training experience will it be? NLP trainings vary considerably. Some are very experiential and you get to try things out, do exercises, play games, watch demonstrations, and so on. Others are like lectures, with a trainer delivering information. Many include lots of storytelling and hypnosis, where you learn unconsciously. Different styles suit different people and there’s no “right” way. Think about other times you’ve learnt well and what style of learning suits you best. Look for trainers that deliver the kind of training you’ll enjoy and learn the most from. If possible, go along to some taster events or watch some videos of the trainer, so you can see what they’re like. Compare a few and trust your intuition - who feels right for you?

How many other people will be there? It’s a completely different experience to be in a workshop with 15 people or a stadium with 5,000. Some trainers won’t teach less than 100 people at a time. Some won’t teach more than 20. Again, there’s no right or wrong way - but what way would suit you best? Consider if you like the high-energy states of big groups, the stage presence of a big-name trainer, or if you prefer the intimacy of small groups and getting one-to-one feedback from your trainer.

How long is the training? The more time you spend developing your skills, the better you’ll get. Practice is essential in developing your NLP skills. Some practitioner and master practitioner courses build in time for people to practice during the event. Others teach the course in an accelerated format and let you practice afterwards. Each option suits different people. How long do you want to be away from home/work? You’ll find that most accelerated formats last around 7-10 days and most traditional formats are around 20 days, sometimes split into chunks (e.g. 10 weekends). If you’re planning to practice after the course, will you really do it? It helps a lot to find a good practice group or practice partner to help keep you motivated. You can find these easily on NLP Connections!

Where is the training? Finding a local course may be important to you but I encourage you to consider travelling, if it’s practical. I’ve found that a few not-very-good trainers still get a lot of students because they’re the only trainer available in their area. It might be better to travel a bit to find a really good trainer - and that will be better value in the long run. You might even consider travelling overseas where you can get more value for your pounds and combine your learning with a holiday.

How much will it cost? The cost of training varies a lot and the more expensive courses aren’t always better. You can usually pay less if you book in advance and/or book online. Often you can pay a deposit and then the rest later on. Ask your trainer what options are available and if you’re short of cash it’s also worth asking if you can help out in return for a lower price. Also check if there are any extras to add in, such as certification fees. Is VAT included? Will you have to spend extra on books or CD sets?

What happens afterwards? Will you get any resources to take away after the course? Is your trainer happy to answer any questions that pop into your head a week or a month after the training? Do they have a practice group for their students? Are there opportunities for you to repeat or assist on future trainings, if you want to?

Of course, NLP Connections is a great place to ask around and find out which trainers have a good reputation. Ask smart questions and you’ll hopefully get revealing answers. Bear in mind that many people have a great time on courses and they’ll simply tell you it was wonderful, life-changing and superb. That’s nice but what specifically did they learn? What could they do after the course that they couldn’t do before? If you want to get really good value, look out for trainers whose students are not only excited and enthusiastic but also skillful. When you meet someone who gets really good results, ask them who taught them.

Different ‘tribes’ of NLP:

NLP has become increasingly fragmented over the years as the original group of developers and their students have drifted apart and independently evolved their own ‘flavours’ of NLP. Richard Bandler and John Grinder began developing what is now called NLP in the early 1970s and together they formed the Society of NLP to promote and manage their creation. The Society of NLP still exists and Bandler strongly recommends that new people train only with Society of NLP approved trainers. Grinder meanwhile has his own organisation called the International Training Academy of NLP (ITANLP) which accredits and recommends different trainers. Other developers and trainers from the early days also have their own organisations, including the American Board of NLP, the International NLP Trainers Association and the NLP University.

In practice, all this ‘internal politics’ means very little for people like you and me who simply want to learn about NLP. Still, it’s useful to be aware that different trainers teach NLP in different ways, and most will tell you their way is best. My advice is to experience different kinds of training for yourself and see what works best for you. Focus on what’s most useful and stay out of the politics!

How to choose a good NLP training

These mini articles have been contributed by a range of experienced trainers. Each article encourages you to consider some specific things when researching who to train with. Although I don’t personally endorse all the points of emphasis, I’m including all these articles to help you make an informed choice.

Jo Hogg, organiser of the annual NLP Conference:

NLP training is not a small investment so its worth doing the research to make the right choice. Do not sell yourself short. Get personal experience of your trainer before you sign up so that you can make a self referenced decision based on your own experience. I organise the NLP Conference so that people can experience a wide range of NLP Trainers who have good integrated NLP skills but a diversity of presentation styles.

In any NLP training there is an amount of unconscious modelling - check you have values in common with your chosen NLP trainer. Check on your trainer’s own training history and NLP experience. Integrating NLP does not happen in one short training it is a process over time that comes with exposure to different trainers and trainings. How long has you trainer been qualified and how long has their NLP training school been established? How much exposure to NLP have they had themselves and who trained them? You will find that the top trainers have attended and assisted on numerous NLP trainings themselves before setting up to train others.

Choose the length of training and size of group carefully. A seven day training is not the SAME as a 20 day training. Both are valid but they are not the same. Get independent opinions about this.

Good practice of NLP is not about having the knowledge, its about deep integration and operating from the NLP presuppositions. Practice, assisting on trainings and having a great amount of exposure to NLP are key.

John La Valle, president of the Society of NLP:

There are several things to consider for anyone looking for NLP training. Suffice it to say that most people know I co-train with Richard Bandler and run The Society of NLP, and so naturally I would advise anyone to train with Richard, and/or any of his trainers.

Having said that, I’ll put my other hat on and outline what makes for a prudent search. I’ll include what to include and exclude. Important here is that there are many people who will make their choice because of the “location”, and this is not necessarily in their best interest, although they wouldn’t know that.

While I can go onto the direction that we, at the Society of NLP - Richard Bandler with 20,000+ members, have taken over the past years, there is more information regarding this on this page.

One of the best criteria to use is how good are the students that come out of the programs.

More include:

• What is actually taught? If the program includes other disciplines, like Reiki, EFT, etc., then this is not an NLP program. The one thing that’s happened over the years, is that some people have included other disciplines in their NLP programs, rather than keep them distinctly separate from NLP. Hence quite a bit of confusion. Even as some of our own trainers began doing this, we highly recommend they keep them separate from the NLP programs to avoid confusion.
• How up to date is the trainer? I know lots of people claim to keep developing new “models” of NLP, but they are really new, or even old, techniques, not new skills. New techniques are easy, new ideas are refreshing.
• How successful is the trainer himself/herself? Do they run a successful business? Many trainers perform a multitude of services, from private practice to corporate work to teacher training, etc. There are indicators for how successful they are with other areas of their lives, as well.
• What kind of claims are they making? Are they promising never ending happiness and success? Or skills?
• Do they take payment plans? I have written an article on this topic that basically goes to the point that we do not take payment plans and the main reason is that someone who needs a payment plan is already potentially in a position of disadvantage and so we do not encourage that. As with most things, learning NLP is truly an investment, not a survival need. If the individual has life needs, we recommend they get private work first, rather than just attend seminars thinking they can start a whole new career.
• Do they negotiate tuition? We tend to keep tuition constant and often will honor a group rate, as long as the group in made up of “new” people. So, does the trainer “reward” for performance, or give in to make it easy for the individual? Or because the trainer needs the money?
• Is there a refund policy? I’ve also written an article about this. While we have issued a few refunds in the past, we have done so after much consideration, and we have a “no refund” policy ourselves, as do most of the people who promote Richard Bandler. While there are various arguments both for and against, the fact is that a refund policy is seductive and alluring, and takes responsibility away from the learner. We like to cover all areas of the change process.
• Does the trainer bad mouth others in the field, and does so when they are queried about their programs? I have gotten responses through trainers, saying untruths about Richard, myself, and even some of our trainers. There was a time when I didn’t believe these things happen, but when I’ve phones them myself. I’ve been told “Richard doesn’t teach any longer”, “Richard is dead”, “He only teaches old stuff”, and the list goes on. If this is the base of their marketing strength, what else can I say except “Buyer beware”?
• Does the trainer conduct demonstrations? Many people will teach NLP “intellectually” more than “demonstratively”. Do they use NLP when teaching NLP, and do they demonstrate the skills and techniques they are teaching with demonstration subjects in the class? Of course content is necessary, and is more easily learned when the trainer “does” NLP, rather than talk about it. And when talking about it, are they talking about themselves? If someone has already signed up for a program, do they really need more info to convince them they’ve made the right decision? I think people are paying to learn, not to be impressed.
• How accessible is the trainer? Do they make themselves available and how much do they make themselves available to their students? How long does it take them to respond to emails and phone calls? Do they respond personally? We have forever, although I’m not sure the time is coming when our own response time may lengthen just due to the volume of emails.
• Whose signature is on their certificate? We are proud that Richard Bandler still personally signs each and every certificate for our trainers. This is a comment on his continuing commitment to those he has trained and has entrusted to train others.
• Is there an expiration date on the certificate? The reason we have had one is because we want to be sure that the people who have trained with us are keeping their skills updated. This is painless and easy to do.

I personally encourage anyone in the field to learn from Richard Bandler himself, as time ticks on and everyone cannot be around forever.

Michael Carroll, founder of the NLP Academy:

Imagine if in this day and age in the medical, scientific and technological world practitioners and developers were stuck in a world of thirty years ago. While this sounds some what crazy, it’s exactly what many people in NLP are doing, relying on developments of thirty years ago, with trainers reciting old stories rather like an old uncle does. It must be said, the classic code of NLP (Grinder & Bander era) is highly effective, but like anything the long term testing and application of NLP models has led to new developments and fresh ideas- that is the New Code of NLP.

John Grinder originally started to think differently about NLP in the mid 1980s. He recognised he and Bandler had made some mistakes with their first coding of NLP and left some things out. John sought to correct these flaws and create patterns that were faster, more effective and easier to apply. John originally worked with Judith Delozier in developing the New Code and later Carmen Bostic St Clair. The world of New Code NLP since then has continually developed. It could be said as John has evolved and worked with different people, we are now in the new New Code era.

In the classic code the analogy was people could use NLP to reprogram their minds to output different behaviours. In the classic code note the emphasis was on conscious selection of behaviour and a consciously mediated technique. Anyone who was employed classic code patterns will be aware that is not always as simple as choosing a new behaviour and run it through an NLP technique and you will be fixed. Change, in terms of depth and longevity is best mediated through the unconscious mind and that is major distinction in the New Code and Classic Code of NLP. In addition in the New Code the leverage point for change is ‘state’ rather than behaviour.

The New Code is more effective in creating lasting change because a New Code practitioner creates a context where the unconscious mind of client is fully harnessed. One way of doing this is utilising an involuntary signal establishing clear communication with unconscious and negotiating change. Addictions, ingrained behavioural problems, physical issues can be worked through these formats

‘New Code Games’ also harness the power of the unconscious mind. These games have been developed to induce a ‘know nothing state’ or ‘high performance state that when enable powerful change that generalises across contexts. The change is not consciously selected by the client it comes from utilising the client’s natural ability to perform without thinking.

New Code NLP has many other processes; tasking and metaphor, multiple description, state shunts, body sensitivity and trigger points of state. The common feature is making NLP change faster and more effective.

You can visit the International Trainers Academy of NLP to locate a New Code trainer.

Steve and Connirae Andreas, NLP developers, authors and trainers:

Seminars and training are a way to gain many skills, abilities, and attitudes well worth learning. Since training is a significant investment of your time and money, it’s important to know how to identify excellent training as soon as possible, and to spot mediocre training in advance. We suggest being an “active consumer,” and investigate seminar possibilities just as you might carefully investigate the purchase of a home or a car. Some “trainings” merely present ideas, rather than actually train you in new skills and abilities. Since most ideas can be presented as well in a book or article, a training of this kind can be a more expensive and time-consuming way to get the same information. Other seminars provide participants with confidence and motivation, but without the behavioral competence to support it. Some seminars are enjoyable, but participants don’t leave the training with new skills they can use. Like a concert or a party, they can be worthwhile experiences, as long as they aren’t confused with training. How can you be sure you get the most for your training dollars? Here are some of the things we check for when we think about attending a particular training. We hope these guidelines are useful in finding the best training for you.

1) Before Committing to a Training:

• Sensory-based evidence: Find a way to get a first-hand experience of the training before you commit to spending a lot of money. Rely on your own experience of the training. A live experience, such as a free preview, is best. A videotape is next best. If that’s not available, an audiotape will give you at least an auditory experience of the trainer. If you can’t get any of these, at the very least ask for the names and phone numbers of several people who have completed the training you are considering. If they liked the training, ask “What specifically did you like?” and “What specifically can you do now as a result of the training that you couldn’t do before?” Some trainers act like an expert or make you feel good in the seminar, but do not teach you skills or abilities that you can apply immediately and automatically in your life.
• Trainers: When you consider a program, check, who the trainers are, and for how many days. Some trainings are advertised without any names, or with the name of a well-known trainer. It may turn out that the “big name” will only teach a small portion of the training, and less-skilled trainers or apprentices will teach the rest.
• Recommendations: Trust your own impressions of a trainer first, and recommendations from people you know who have experience with the trainer next. Be cautious about brochure quotes, even from famous people. Some sponsors and trainers make up quotes from other people and/or use quotes without permission or quotes that are outdated. Occasionally “big names” give endorsements based on a monetary relationship, rather than on the trainer’s skill.
• Degrees and Certificates: Trust your own experience of the trainer over a certificate or degree. The meaning of a certification or degree varies as widely as the grantor. A degree may be a good measure of academic record (the ability to take tests and do homework), but usually has little to do with training ability.

2) What to check for when you’re in a training:

We’ve emphasized the importance of getting an experience of the trainer. When you attend a free preview or short seminar, how can you determine whether this seminar trainer is delivering maximum value for you?

• Demonstrations versus Information: Do you get live demonstrations of the methods being taught, or do you only get a long string of words, a “core-dump” of information that would be much cheaper to read in a book? Research repeatedly demonstrates that over 80% of the impact of communication is nonverbal. This means you’ll get a much more complete understanding of any method if you observe a demonstration than if the trainer only tells you what to do. We once went to an expensive training taught by a well-known author who essentially read his book aloud to the audience (for a fee of $6,000 per day!). There are many ways in which the trainer can demonstrate methods to you. The trainer can ask for a volunteer from the audience with whom to demonstrate or role-play. The trainer can bring in a “naive client” or can invite the entire group to participate in an experiential process that provides a demonstration of what she is teaching.
• Exercises: After demonstrating, does the trainer provide ways for you to make the new skills a part of your behavior? It’s usually easiest to learn skills when the trainer sets up a series of carefully-designed supervised exercises or tasks that allow you to practice new skills in a comfortable and safe manner. A good training begins by training you in smaller component skills, and then assists you in easily putting these skills together to work for maximum impact in a real context. Understanding alone won’t get you results in your life. You should leave a good seminar able to do more than when you walked in.
• Evidence: After attending the seminar and learning new communication (or other) skills, do you know what specific evidence you can use to verify whether what you have learned is working? Is it getting you better results than you would have gotten anyway? In a good training, you’ll know what kind of evidence to check for. Make sure you experience the kinds of results you want. Some trainers are flashy and charismatic, but don’t train you in a way that gives you results.
• Nonverbal presuppositions: What beliefs or attitudes are presupposed in the trainer’s nonverbal behavior; and are they the ones you want? Does the trainer talk about the importance of flexibility, but respond rigidly? Does he communicate that he wants you to learn, or that he just wants to razzle-dazzle you? Does the trainer treat you as a peer who can learn the same skills the trainer has, or does the trainer act like a superior “guru” whom you can admire but can’t hope to emulate? A good trainer will presuppose that anyone can learn–it’s a matter of finding a way for each person to learn most easily.
• Questions: A good trainer will welcome questions, and will respond to questions and challenges by demonstrating a greater depth of understanding of the material. Does the trainer respond respectfully, or nonverbally discourage or eliminate questions, provide weak answers or a “smokescreen,” or promise to “get to it later” and then fail to do so?
• Response to nonverbal cues: Since nonverbal communication is so important, a good trainer will notice nonverbal cues from the audience or the demonstration subject, and vary her behavior accordingly. Does the trainer notice what this group needs, and vary the training plan in response? Is he aware when the audience is getting restless and needs a break?
• Self-accolades: Does the trainer spend lots of time (which you are paying for) telling you about the miraculous things he has done? When a trainer is effective, he doesn’t need to tell you how wonderful he is, he can demonstrate it. If he gives you examples of his previous successes, does he tell you how he got the results, so that you can learn to get the same results, or does he just say, “I achieved X, Y and Z” in order to impress you?
• Quality Control: Does the trainer provide ways to verify that participants are actually learning the skills he is teaching? Capable assistants, closely-supervised exercises, and individual task assignments can all serve this function.
• Promises: A good trainer will follow through on what he promises to deliver.
• Excuses: Since every training can be improved, a good trainer can easily admit a mistake, and will welcome suggestions to improve the training. Does the trainer try to cover up his lack of ability or a poorly-organized training, or does he blame participants when things don’t go well?
• Humor: The best single aid to learning is humor–the kind that is infectious, laughing with others, or at the human condition, but not at anyone’s expense. If you find a trainer who has this, along with the other qualities we’ve listed, you’ve found someone you’re likely to be pleased with.

You may have additional criteria for trainings that meet your professional needs and personal desires. With so much to be gained from a good training or seminar, we think you’ll find it worthwhile to sift carefully through the available trainers to find the ones who provide what you need and want. You can learn skills that help you to be more successful in your professional life; you can also learn how to get more of what you want in your personal relationships while making those around you happy. By attending high quality trainings, you can also expose yourself to wonderful models, an important next step to getting where you want to go in your life.

Alistair Horscroft, NLP Trainer

So you want to find an NLP training that is best for you - you ask around, you look online and all of a sudden you are hit by massive sales pitches, free stuff, intro evenings and opt in mailing lists - you then get to the second stage and start making a few calls - they all say the same thing - they are the best, the others don’t offer this or don’t offer that. They are not accredited this way, not accredited that way, they don’t offer time -line stuff, they do offer time -line stuff but by another name - Holy Cow !! What on earth are you going to do?

Well, let’s start with a basic NLP question to get you started “What do you want?” or perhaps “What specifically are you looking for from NLP?”

Only 2 real answers to this one 1. Don’t know 2. Do know (Not sure, or kind of know - fall into the don’t know category)

Either way you still have more work to do. Let’s take a look at the options:

1. Seminar vs Training

In my opinion a seminar is a large format ‘event’ with between 30 - 5,000 people in attendance, the main aim of which is to ’sell the dream’ and give you a few take home techniques and strategies to help you on your way. These events are heavy on back of room sales, normally have some kind of personality cult/guru worship going on, they promise the world and normally have their own unique 3 letter anagram or unique technology on top of NLP to set themselves apart from the rest.

The pro’s of these events are they can be great fun, contain lot’s of great sound bites of info, can offer some profound insight and are normally highly motivating. The downside is that you rarely get any good at NLP and spend the next few years wondering why things didn’t work out how the guru said while beating yourself up endlessly while proclaiming the ‘fake it till you make it” slogan but feeling very much the fake and not really making it.

A training is a smaller event with appropriate student to trainer levels. The trainer believes the importance of having the student fully understand all facets of NLP and it’s techniques and strategies and although assists the students to ‘get it’ at the unconscious level also ensures that they fully understand things consciously as well. The training actually concentrates on developing NLP skill not just the results of NLP (success, money, sex appeal, charisma etc).

The benefits are that you will likely get good at NLP (if the trainer is good), you will actually understand what you are on about rather than just bollocking on with no real idea and you will actually be able to help yourself and others make positive change. The down side is that you might always feel you are missing something that the seminar gurus are providing and will end up at one anyway!

2. The Trainer

Well, to me this is obvious - go to one with at least 5 or more years of experience. Go to someone who has proven themselves, go to someone who has trained with more than just one training provider, go to someone who actually seems to be happy and go to someone whose personality you will enjoy for 7 days or more. Personally I would also only go to someone who is willing to talk to me personally on the phone before I take the training. If they want my $3000 + they speak to me directly. Simple.

3. Accreditation

There is the short answer and the short answer - which do you want? All NLP accreditation is make believe. Any one who tells you differently is simply lying. The only truth is that certain people have created certain associations and have outlined certain standards that you need to meet to be a member. Unfortunately most of these associations are self serving and currently no association has any legal authority within the field whatsoever. Any one who says different is lying. As a practitioner you want to find an association that serves you, find one that has training groups, support networks and a nice sense of community. Make the associations prove that they are worthy of having you!

OK, so back to the Do know and Don’t know answers - if you do know then great, just make sure that you go in with your eyes wide open - I hope what I have said will help. If you don’t know then simply ask yourself - “do I want to dip my toe in or do I want to immerse myself?”. Seminars are better for toe dippers, training’s are better for immersion. Remember, at the end of the day - you want NLP skills not a new idol to worship. It’s about you getting good at NLP and using it in your life - not getting caught up in the shinny light of someone else, and just for the record to get good at NLP you have to put the time and effort in, lot’s of time and lot’s of effort. NLP can be magical but don’t let it be make believe.

Michael Hall, trainer of NLP and Neuro Semantics

If you are new to NLP and considering training, then to make a good choice you probably want to know some of the key criteria for excellence in NLP training. So what is it? My recommendation is that you call potential trainers and ask questions in the following areas.

1) Is the training experiential? NLP is experiential by its very nature, it is a practical, hands-on set of processes that incorporate the skills for precision communication, emotional intelligence, state management, etc. That’s why NLP training cannot be done by correspondence course. The bottom line after reading the books and watching the videos is to experience it via hands-on practice.

2) Is the training conscious? Does the trainer encourage conscious understanding of the theory, premises, and processes? If not, then beware of trainers who promise to “install the learnings unconsciously”, who disdain conscious understanding, and who think that they know better than you about what you need! Not good.

3) What is the trainer’s focus? The best NLP trainers have niches - business, therapy, coaching, personal development, something. Beware of generalists who claim expertise in all areas! And choose the trainer whose focus corresponds to what you want. Beware of the trainer who refuses to refer, that’s a sign of an unprofessional.

4) Is the trainer congruent? The best NLP is delivered by those who practice NLP and apply it to themselves. So check them out. Do they use NLP on themselves or are they experts on using NLP on others? A congruent trainer will be open and forthright and talk about what he or her is still working on. Those who aren’t will be know-it-alls and act as if they are complete in terms of human development. Run from them as fast as you can!

5) Do you have a synopsis of the training? Ask for a synopsis. Ask to see a detailed daily schedule of what will be covered in the training. In that way you can check on the times and length of presentations, demonstrations, and practices. Those who do not or will not provide such either have not created a structure for the training or will not follow it. I’d suggest, avoid them.

6) Will the training enable me to reach my goals? If so, how? NLP is about creating well-formed outcomes and then making them happen. If a trainer talked about him or herself instead of facilitating you to understand your goals and out to reach them, their “ego” is probably in the way. Do they give credit to others? Do they acknowledge sources? Or do they present their training as “the best”, “the only real NLP”, the “pure” stuff, etc.? Beware of them. Professional trainers acknowledge sources and give credit to “the giants upon whose shoulders they stand”.

High quality NLP training will be life changing, transformational, and an enrichment of your life in ways that you would never imagine. So choose well and enjoy. To your highest and best!

Sue Knight, NLP trainer and author of NLP at work

Follow your heart, your nose, your instinct - this is my overall advice. What you feel drawn to is probably what will suit you best. By all means consider numbers on the programmes, amount of personal supervision, values of the lead trainers, support materials, references, back up accrediting organisations, typical delegates, length of the programme, the quality of the place in which the training will be held (both the rooms and the geographical place), experience and background of the trainer, bias of the training, principles supporting the training and then when and if you do all that – note which one has that inexplicable pull … That pull was all I had to go on when I enrolled in a training 25 years ago. Thank God I did!

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