Last week I gave a talk about NLP to a group of ladies. I’ve previously talked on another topic to this group in Wickford, Essex (and very friendly and welcoming they were) – but this time I was talking about NLP coaching, uses and techniques.

The topic of phobias caught their imagination straight away. “Who here has a phobia?” Hands shot up all round the room! You’d have thought I’d asked: Who here would like a ten pound note?! All sorts of phobias appeared: Birds…snakes… mice/rats….flying….lifts.  Pick a phobia, any phobia.  Yes, these were classics – and the ladies shared their stories and we nodded and smiled…and then I told them about other phobias that clients had presented with – fear of buttons, fear of insects, fear of condoms (that was a new one on me at the time), fear of being sick and even fear of blushing.

That last fear manifested in a charming executive who had made a small joke during a board meeting, and found that all the attention he gained, made him blush – making his ears go red, in turn. Someone asked if he was ok, because his ears were red….and that was it – he was mortified and the fear was established. Poor chap; what an unfortunate result. After that, he became quieter and quieter at work, trying not to attract attention…and it was a downward spiral leading to beta-blockers and constant visits to the Gents, to splash water on his face (getting rid of any potential redness).

Anyway, our NLP coaching session together quickly helped this super young man to ‘reframe’ – you know, able to put a new perspective on it all and see it in a different light. Within minutes after that, he was laughing at the incident and able to shrink that mountain back into a mole hill again. Bless!

So hooray for the results of NLP coaching – and thank you to the Wickford ladies for making me so welcome – once more!  In fact, they’ve heard me speak 3 or 4 times in total and have now said that they’re going to start all over again, having me back to give exactly the same talks!