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Metaprograms of Movement

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Science tells us that we can read a person’s behavior and use that information to predict what they’ll do. Who’d have thought it?

How Cell Phone Movements Can Assess Your Personality

The researchers who wrote the referenced article correlated cell phone call logs and accelerometer movement logs with Big Five personality assessments of their subjects and found some interesting things. For example, “sensitive or neurotic females often checked their phones or moved with their phones regularly well past midnight. Sensitive or neurotic males did the opposite.”

If you haven’t looked into the Big Five Personality Traits as an addition to the meta-programs you already work with, I’ll suggest looking into them. They are:

  • Openness to new experiences;
  • Conscientiousness;
  • Extraversion;
  • Agreeableness; and
  • Neuroticism.

(See how the first letters spell “OCEAN” to help you remember?)

My intro to them was the book, Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, by Sam Gosling, Ph.D. It’s worth the read.

Written by Michael DeBusk

July 29th, 2019 at 10:00 am

That Guy Looks Fishy To Me

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An early depiction of hypnosis on TV. Original air date September 22, 1959. Based on an allegedly-true story, as all of the episodes of this show were.

Written by Michael DeBusk

July 28th, 2019 at 2:35 pm

Posted in Hypnosis

Know Who You’re Talking To

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…researchers … analyzed the responses of 316 people who completed online questionnaires designed to reveal their personality traits and how easily they might be persuaded.

Personality Traits May Affect Susceptibility to Persuasion

Written by Michael DeBusk

May 28th, 2019 at 4:09 pm

Posted in Persuasion

It’s NOT Failure

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It’s not failure. It’s feedback. And that matters more than you may realize.

Written by Michael DeBusk

May 22nd, 2019 at 10:51 pm

Nine Nonverbal Communication Channels

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Kendra Cherry gives a very nice overview of nine distinct communication channels apart from the words we choose:

Nonverbal communication plays an important role in how we convey meaning and information to others, as well as how we interpret the actions of those around us. The important thing to remember when looking at such nonverbal behaviors is to consider the actions in groups. What a person actually says along with his or her expressions, appearance, and tone of voice might tell you a great deal about what that person is really trying to say.

I love the fine distinctions. Master these and send ten different messages at once.

Types of Nonverbal Communication

Written by Michael DeBusk

February 27th, 2017 at 10:17 pm

Assuming Positive Intent

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The “P” in “NLP” stands for “programming,” as in “computer programming.” I’ve found it very useful to learn basic computer programming and to read what programmers write about what they do.

Programmers work in teams, and “soft skills” are increasingly important in the field. Today I found a reference to one of NLP’s Presuppositions:

I began to realize that nobody–including myself–was really taking the time to understand the motivations of their colleagues. When John presented the situation to me, he thought he understood Gargamel’s motivations, and I didn’t question that understanding. Similarly, Gargamel thought he understood Dr. Claw’s motivations and neither he nor his manager questioned that understanding. But I had met both Gargamel and Dr. Claw. They are both very nice, generous people who don’t resemble their cartoon villain namesakes in the slightest.

What happens when we just assume positive intent?

Written by Michael DeBusk

February 16th, 2017 at 4:50 pm

Advising self

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We do tend to take better care of others than we do ourselves. It’s so much easier to tell someone else how to make a positive change than to come to good conclusions about our own lives.

I’ve used that tendency to my own advantage many times, both in my own life and in my coaching of other people.

When someone comes to me and asks for advice, and I haven’t the slightest idea what to tell them, I ask, “If someone came to you with this same problem, what would you tell them to do?” I love the fact that they almost always come up with a great solution to their own problem.

Think More Rationally by Pretending You’re Giving Advice to Someone Else

Written by Michael DeBusk

February 16th, 2017 at 4:34 pm

Posted in Personal Change

Two new to the blogroll

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After two years of benign neglect of this site, I updated the blogroll. I added two and wanted to draw your attention to them.

Andy Smith’s Practical NLP Podcast is just profoundly good. He explains the fundamentals of NLP in such a way that you can put them to immediate use in your everyday life no matter what your level of training.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree is… difficult to describe. I’ll let you have a look.

Got a favorite blog for NLP, hypnosis, persuasion, or related topics? Let me know in the comments!

Written by Michael DeBusk

June 26th, 2016 at 4:00 pm

Posted in Uncategorized

Reading People

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In one of my favorite blogs, Barking Up The Wrong Tree, we find five “how to read people” secrets backed by research:

  • Don’t make the usual mistakes: Take context, clusters, baseline, and biases into consideration.
  • First impressions are often accurate: With a number of traits you can trust your gut. But know which ones.
  • Trust mimicry and emotional expression: But they have to be sustained and consistent.
  • Awful people have tells: Pay attention to notice them. And look for narcissists in flashy clothing.
  • Deepening voice and touching says “flirting”: True for both men and women.

This Is How To Read People: 5 Secrets Backed By Research

Written by Michael DeBusk

June 26th, 2016 at 3:10 pm

Posted in Calibration,Modeling

Could it really be this simple?

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I received an e-mail today from Tom O’Connor. In it, he mentions research by Shawn Achor, a researcher of happiness. Mr. Achor says that, to be happy, we need only do the following five things every day:

  • Write down three things you’re grateful for
  • Write about one positive experience you had over the last twenty-four hours
  • Do some form of exercise
  • Meditate
  • Do one “random act of kindness” for someone else

I wonder if it’s really so simple. Let’s find out.

Written by Michael DeBusk

June 14th, 2014 at 5:38 pm