Posts Tagged ‘Presuppositions’

Presuppositions are considered to be one of the most powerful language patterns within NLP. The idea is to presuppose an outcome as if it is guaranteed to happen. When used correctly the person you are talking to will make the connection that this outcome is bound to happen. For example if you are meeting with a new client to discuss a contract you might use the line “Before we finalize the contract, would you like something to drink?”. It sounds like you are giving your client a choice, but in reality the choices having nothing to do with each other. You are steering them towards what you want to happen.

Here you can see that the fact that finalizing the contract has been presupposed within a question about having something to drink. The desired outcome has been presupposed. You can use such presuppositions to control the flow and tempo of the conversation so that you always end up presupposing the outcome you want. Before long these frequent presuppositions and suggestions will stick to your target’s subconscious mind and the outcome won’t be in the question at all. It will be as if you both wanted the same thing from the very get go.