It is also the acronym for a learning style of NLP - Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic.
Following on from my previous blog entitled '"So, what's this all about, then?" I hear you ask.' I'd like to give you some examples of how you can harness the strength of the VAK representational systems to your advantage.
Living and breathing your Goals
When you have a goal that you, or someone else, wants to achieve, in either your personal or professional life, it becomes more real and attainable if you think of what it will really look, sound and feel like as you complete the journey to achieve it. You can imagine every detail of the journey and how it will affect you, in every sense of the word, and when it has been finally reached!
Reach out and touch all of your audiences
When you write text of any description, you can use VAK to reach out to a wider audience. Whether it is an article for a newsletter, a client document, an advertisement or a proposal, you can use a wider vocabulary and cover all the modalities.
Here are some examples of words and phrases that you can use altogether to increase the effectiveness of your communication:
Visual
It appears that......
Show me what you mean......
A glimpse of reality.....
Insight, perspective, vision, clear
Auditory
The important question we are all asking......
Word for word.....
We're on the same wavelength.....
Tell, question, discuss, argue
Kinaesthetic
Driving the organisation....
Take it one step at a time....
Moving through.....
Exciting, touch, solid
Making an impression!
If you are making a presentation, if you are part of a business meeting or training a group of people, you can make the experience more effective by making sure that your delivery connects with every participant by presenting your ideas with a variety of media - pictures for Visuals, hear your message loud and clear with words for Auditory, and experience it with feeling for the Kinaesthetics in the room.
Back to the drawing board
We all take in information and retain it in different ways - Visual learners need to see pictures, wall displays and diagrams; Auditory learners need to listen to the spoken word through discussions, lectures and music; Kinaesthetic learners like role playing and practical sessions. Therefore, it is important when planning a business/personal project or learning a new skill that the provision of a multi-sensory approach is included for all the representational systems.
Chit-Chat
Nowadays, more and more business and even more and more social communication is done over the phone, by e-mail or via social platforms, rather than 'in person'. You may never actually meet the other person you are electronically connecting with and therefore it is a good idea to write down a few of the key words and language that they use - do they use mainly Visual, Auditory or Kinaesthetic words and phrases? (See above for examples). Once you have built up a picture of your 'virtual' correspondent, you can then build your conversation using words that you know they will respond to most. Jot a few words down whilst conversing with them and see what you hear!