Accessing The Deep Structure of Meaning

In the complex process of communication, understanding words is important and recognising and appreciating the structure which supports the words is also a critical component. Additionally, there is value in recognising the manner in which the words are delivered. Together, these communicative processes give you a level of understanding with regards to the communication offered to you. So why is it that you often misunderstand a communication? How can you be sure that you have the complete structure of meaning?

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The framework of your language is made up of a layered structure, only a small proportion of which is evident externally to self.  There are an infinite number of semantic combinations which make up comprehensible sentences in every language globally and the range of human descriptions of your world and the experiences within it are endless.  The structure of language however, is limited and is governed by sets of rules.  An understanding of structure is the first step to eliciting true meaning.

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You typically use your language in several ways.  Language is your way of moulding a unique representation of your experience to create a model of the world that makes good sense to you.  By distorting, deleting and generalising the information that continuously assaults your neurology, you generate your perception of experience at the unconscious level. You also use your command of language to communicate your model of the world to another person.

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As you communicate through the medium of language, the words you use and their order and structure are rarely selected at the conscious level.  Whilst you fill your world with unconsciously selected language, the process of communication continues to follow a tightly bound structure.  The behaviour of communication is therefore a rule-governed behaviour.  Each speaker in every language spoken globally, intuitively knows if a particular sentence is well formed, is structurally sound, complete and makes good sense.  The words you hear are the 'surface structure' of language.  Behind this surface structure lies a 'deep structure' and the process of transformational linguistics, encapsulated within NLP, has brought this previously hidden aspect of your language to the fore.

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Your unconscious choice of language forms a representation of your deep structure of meaning and by doing so, changes its very nature, without destroying the semantic meaning.  The words which you use and which are heard therefore, are not true representations of your internal model of the world, they are a stripped down approximation.

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What can you do to understand a communication more deeply? In order to understand a communication fully, it becomes necessary for the listener to listen to what is not being said, the deeper structure which is a true representation of a person's experience.  To this end, NLP has gifted the world an invaluable model of language, the Meta Model.

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The Meta Model of transformational linguistics, which is one of the foundational linguistic aspects of NLP, provides a simple and effective questioning framework which unveils the deeper structure of a person’s thinking.  The deep structure can often be lost to the individual, creating conflicted and problematic thinking.  By recovering deep structure for a person, we can eliminate the boundaries which confine problems and easily lead them towards alignment and congruence. The Meta Model teaches you how to challenge surface structure thinking and bring the communication down into a more focussed arrangement, enabling both the speaker and listener to gain more clarity of thought and understanding. To be able to use the Meta Model questioning framework effectively, you must first be a great listener, a skill which is rapidly declining within our highly visual and fast moving society. So how do you really listen?

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You may have heard the term ‘active listening’ at some point in your life. I recall first hearing this terminology during a coaching course I took back in the 2000’s. The accepted definition which was offered to me a that time was, ‘Active listening is hearing what someone says and paraphrasing it back to them to demonstrate your understanding.’ Hmm, not very indicative of deep listening! As a Master Trainer of NLP, I now have the tools to understand the true meaning of listening actively. To hear someone at a deeper level of meaning, you must listen to what hasn’t been said, the deep structure that sits in the silence between the words uttered. To achieve the interpretation of nothing, you must hear the assumptive presuppositions that a person is using to describe their model of the world. Let me offer you an example. When you hear people use simple words like ‘have to’, ‘got to’ and ‘must’, you are hearing what we call in NLP jargon, Modal Operators of Necessity. Without telling you in words, a person using this language is letting you know that they feel they have no choices available to them in the context of the communication. That’s useful information that you can use to step into the deeper waters of understanding that person and the true nature of their communication. Listening between the lines is a skill that you will learn and practice when you attend out Enhanced NLP Coach Practitioner Certification Training.

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The wealth of information present in any language is unsaid and encapsulated within the person's neurology. A simple model of listening, thinking and enquiry is all you need to become an ultimate master of communication.

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