Related Reading
Activities are based on Chapter 2, “Sensory Systems,” in Healing with Language.
Representational Systems
Sensory experience (what you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell) is re-presented in your internal, subjective experience. You remember what you have seen, for example, and you can imagine what (or whom) you might see in the future.
Preferred Sensory Modalities
Although the vast majority of people use all five of their senses, most develop a conscious preference for one: visual, auditory, or the kinesthetic cluster (smell, taste, touch, and emotional response).
Eye-Accessing Cues
For more information about eye-accessing cues, see Eye-Accessing Cues and watch the brief video.
Your Preferred Sensory Modality
Most people tend to be more “fluent” in the language of one of the principal sensory systems, with a second system being less well-developed, and a third being virtually ignored.
Discussion Questions
- What are the representational systems, and how do they influence subjective experience?
- In what way to eye movements indicate the structure of unconscious information processing?
- How does language reveal an individual’s conscious preference for sensory modalities?
- What is your preferred sensory modality, and how do you know that you prefer it?
1. Representational systems are the physical senses that we use to interpret our experience (subjective) to input into or create our map of our experience. Our representational systems influence our subjective experience because they dictate what we experience. For example if someone is primarily an auditory processor they might remember a hike in the woods by the sounds of the birds where as a visual processor might remember the contrast between the green leaves and the brown trucks of the trees. Consequently if someone asked the visual processor what they remembered about their hike they would access and speak to the visual picture rather than acknowledging anything about the birds.
2. Eye movements indicate the structure of unconscious processing because the person you are speaking too will show you how he/she is accessing the information you are requesting. They will present both their primary system verbally and then show you via the eye cues where they are storing the unconscious part of the memory or construction. The eye movements will show you the depth of the information (how much internal processing is going on) as well as the associated senses.
3. Language reveals an individual’s conscious processing through the types of words they use. If they primarily use visual words (see, saw, appeared, looks, zoom in, checking out (her)) then they process their information through the visual modality.
4. I am a visual processor. Primarily I know it because I can easily remember something I’ve seen or written down and struggle to remember something I heard. When I am remembering an event I clearly see the picture and then input the sound and/or emotion. Often I see these memories as disassociated so I actually see myself in the memory rather than through my eyes.
Hey, Melody, it’s OK to leave a space between paragraphs.
Representational systems are based on our physical senses. We “re” present the information based on sensory experience.
Note that you are saying different things in your points (2) and (3). Language shows CONSCIOUS processing. Eye-accessing cues show UNCONSCIOUS processing. The unconscious processing may be completely out of consciousness.
Below is reformatted answers based on how I would relate the answer/information to a sales person who doesn’t know anything about NLP.
1. For the sales person: Representational systems are our senses (see, hear, touch, taste and feel (Kinesthetic)). We use them to interpret situations/events. Each person utilizes their senses to different levels. The sense that you consciously prefer to use is your lead system. This means if you have an auditory preference once you heard the sound of a piano you would recall what it looks like. Despite that each of us has a lead system we still utilize all of our systems to interpret our life. However, the lead system is the one in which we are most aware and the others have greater persuasion over our actions and behaviors. This is the difference between conscious and unconscious processing. Whatever goes on beneath our conscious has greater sway over us because we are unaware and thus behave more out of instinct or natural unchanged behavior.
2. For the sales person: In order to help you interpret how people are processing their life experience (the customer) you can use eye accessing cues. The eye accessing cues are how a person shifts their eyes as they process the information they are relating. Most people will present their lead system verbally and then shift their eyes and focus as they access the systems that are below their level of consciousness. Structure basically is how something is built, so once you understand the verbal system they are presenting and then you can interpret the eye accessing cues you can then understand the structure of the information and how they process information allowing you to be more in-tune with the customer and thus create more comfort and rapport.
3. For the sales person: As you have a conversation with someone (or yourself) you will begin to notice that they use descriptive words to tell you about their experience. These words tend to be associated with one sense or another. If they are visual they will use words like: see, focus, look, picture etc, if they are an auditory processor they will use words like: sound, talk, hear, etc and if they are Kinesthetic the will use words like: feel, impact, pick up, etc. So the language that a person uses will help tell you the primary sense that they conciously use to interpret information.
You seem to be confusing the PRIMARY system and the LEAD system. The primary system is the one a person uses the most during conscious processing. It comes out in the language—sense-based vocabulary.
The lead system is the one that comes first. To have access to the smell of a rose, I need to “see” it first. I may not be aware that the visual came first. I may be aware only of the sense of smell.
Otherwise, this is good. And I like the way you are thinking in terms of explaining it to someone in sales. I am not sure what (exactly) you sell, but I would be curious to know what words and expressions you might use for selling something you actually do sell to/for someone who is primarily visual, primarily auditory, and primarily kinesthetic.
Its difficult for me to isolate what I say (expressions) to each of the senses. I usually work on matching the words and expressions that they use rather than focus on coming up with other phrases. Now that I am more aware of this I think it will be easier to integrate. However if I have a client that is primary visual then I bring in a lot of POS and samples, if I have an auditory person I talk more about the product, if someone is kinestetic then I talk about the their customers might feel once they eat the product that I’m selling.
To answer your question my sales team sells food to restaurants. I have 7 people on my team and the interact with the owners and workers in the restaurant industry. Our company provides everything that they need to operate their business (food, cleaning chemicals, disposables, etc)
So basicilly in the words of Bandler: I sell feelings! LOL Actually the customer puts their entire business in our hands as they cannot serve food without having it first..
Yes, you’re selling feelings—the sensory systems provide access to the feelings that serve as the “exit” for the buying TOTE. Those who are primarily visual, need to “see” it to believe it. Those who are primarily auditory, need reasons—the “rhyme and reason”—before they can exit the TOTE.
If you haven’t yet read about the buying TOTE, you might want to take a look at that part. See pp. 51-56.
Those on your sales team need to know this stuff, too.