NLP and Canoe and Kayak Coaching – Understanding VAK Language

Introduction

Coaches are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of developing good communication and of many methods that can be utilised to achieve this.  Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is increasingly being used to help us recognise and understand the communication signals of other people, especially when there is a difference between our preferred methods of making sense of communication and theirs.

Rapport

‘Rapport’ is that unspoken understanding we sometimes have, usually with those people we find it easy to ‘get along’ with.  It is the feeling of having ‘something in common’ with them.  Being able to get into rapport with our students is a critical tool for effective coaching, and that includes begin able to get into rapport with people who are quite different to us.

The definition of rapport, ‘to be in a relationship of harmony, conformity, accord or affinity’ highlights the importance of rapport to communication.  Without it, it’s very difficult to engage the other person.  Without rapport our students may lose interest and find it hard to accept what we have to say.

One of the signs that people are in rapport is that they become like each other in some way.  They develop a feeling or insight into the other person’s world and seem in tune with them.  They start to match each other in a variety of ways.  People in rapport may display similar posture and gestures, their balance, voice, and language start to mirror each other and they may even begin to voice similar beliefs.

It is unlikely that we will naturally share many of these basic communication signals with all the people we coach from the outset.  Since rapport is so important it would be useful if we could begin to notice and match some of our students traits as a way to build the feeling of rapport.  As we grow to like other people we naturally begin to develop rapport.  However, we can lay the foundations to kick-start the rapport building process ourselves.  By making a deliberate effort to match our students we show we are willing to see their point of view and we begin to sing from the same song sheet.

The VAK System

It is particularly useful for us to be in rapport with the students preferred method of processing information.  We represent the world to ourselves in a Visual, Auditory or Kinaesthetic way (V, A or K).  These are representational systems.  When we think about something we may make a picture of it in our minds (V), hear something in our heads (A), or associate a feeling, emotion, taste or smell with it (K).  It may be that we use a combination of representational systems depending on the situation.  This Neuro Linguistic Programming notion of the VAK system does not define it as a learning style, but purely the way we process information through our senses.

Acknowledging that there are different ways of processing information is important because if we know how a student is representing their world at a particular time we can develop better rapport with them.

For example, imagine you want to buy a new canoe.  The old one looks tatty and you’d like something that makes you look the part.  You have a certain image of the boat you can see yourself paddling so you go into the canoe shop and ask, “I’m looking for a new canoe.  Can I see some?  There are some nice looking ones in the window”.  The assistant knows which have the best write-ups and which perform better than others.  He tells you the name of the model and he says it sounds amazing.  He talks about the type of tough plastic used, the boats volume and displacement characteristics.  You ask to look at it.  He takes you over and he tells you more about it’s primary and secondary stability, but somehow you’re just not getting excited.  You spot a great looking boat across the room and ask to see it.  He tells you the specification isn’t so good.  You’re confused.  He hasn’t pinpointed your dream boat and you’re unclear about what to buy.  You leave and say you’ll think about it.

In this case the sales assistant is operating in auditory and kinaesthetic mode.  He’s been in the business too long to be influenced primarily by what looks good.  He can easily interpret the performance data that indicates the difference between a good and a bad boat.  You however, are operating in Visual mode and are using lots of visual words.  You say you are ‘looking’ for a new canoe and ask to ‘see’ some.  You are interested in something that will help you ‘look the part’.  If the assistant had taken you to a great looking boat, which he thought had a good enough specification for you, you’d have left happy.  The rapport between you and the sales assistant was poor.

Clues To Detect Which Representational System Students Are Using

From the above example you will notice that people typically use certain words that point towards the representational system they are using.  People processing visually typically use visually descriptive words.  Similarly, auditory processing people use words associated with sounds or voices and kinaesthetically processing people use words associated with feelings, tastes and smells.  If you listen to the words people are using you can match these word types to develop better rapport.

The list below gives some examples of common coaching words people in different VAK modes might use.

Visual		Auditory		Kinaesthetic
Angle	Inspect	Accent	Relate	Active	Hold
Appear	Level	Alarm bells	Ring	Carry	Impact
Aspect	Look	Ask	Say	Charge	Motion
Clarify	Notice	Click	Shout	Cold	Pressure
Clear	Observe	Chord	Sing	Crash	Sensitive
Demonstrate	Perceive	Compose	Sound	Feel	Shift
Depict	Picture	Divulge	Speak	Firm	Smash
Dream	Pinpoint	Grate	Speechless	Fish for	Smooth
Examine	Present	Harmony	Talk	Flow	Solid
Feature	See	Hear	Tone	Foundation	Sticky
Focus	Show	Listen	Tune	Grab	Stroke
Glimpse	Sketch out	Loud	Utter	Grasp	Tap
Idea	View	Mention	Voice	Handle	Throw
Illustrate	Visualise	Noise	Wavelength	Hard	Tickle

If one group of words seem particularly obvious, in tune or comfortable to you now, you may be able to work out the representational system you are currently using.

Although you can learn to keep constant track of the types of words students are using, often their preferred system becomes more apparent when they are experiencing extremes.  If they are unable to achieve a particular task and come to you for more information they might say-

“I can’t see how to do this, can you show me again?” (V).

“That didn’t ring any bells, can you explain again?”  (A).

“I can’t get to grips with this, can we start from scratch?”  (K).

If you pick up these clues correctly, you can respond in the appropriate way.  This might be a demonstration for V, a further explanation for A and physically moving K’s arms/paddle.  As you go through the technique again the visual learner may be watching intently, the auditory learner may be concentrating on what you are saying and the kinaesthetic learner may be ‘going through the motions’ and moving their body as they rehearse what they will be doing.

Matching and Leading

Matching these behaviours will further develop your rapport.  If you match your students’ posture, speaking patterns and breathing you will both be using the same representational system and it will seem as if you have both entered into the same, shared outlook on the world.

Matching is one method of building rapport.  By ‘matching’ your students VAK words, speech patterns and physiology you can accelerate the rapport building process.  When you have rapport you have developed a bond.  Your student will unconsciously want to maintain this bond because rapport is a two way process and they are now also in rapport with you.  This means that if you introduce changes to the VAK words you use and, changes to your physiology your student will want to maintain rapport and will change with you.  This gradual change from one VAK system to another is called ‘leading’.

‘Leading’ can be used by a coach in a variety of ways.  Where our student is putting their attention at a particular time may have a major effect of how they perform in a given situation.  As a coach, if you would like them to work on their performance by feeling the effect of the water flow on the balance of the boat through their knees as they edge the boat (K), but they are focussing on looking at the direction of the moving water and the angle of the boat in relation to it (V) you are not in rapport.  By listening to their language patterns and observing their eye accessing cues and physiology you may establish they are processing visually.  By initially using visual language and matching their physiology you can develop rapport with them.  Once you have rapport you will then find it easier to lead them to a different, perhaps more useful system.  Learning to be aware of where the students attention is focussed and channelling it in the direction we would like it to go, improves the communication between the coach and student and moves the relationship closer to the agreed objectives.

Another reason to lead our students to a different system is that some systems are more effective in some circumstances than others.

For example, the visual system is good for holding information and generating choices but is not so good for making decisions.  The Auditory system is good for making decisions and putting things into order or sequence, and for quantifying things.  The kinaesthetic system is good for learning physical movements and sport, and for getting in touch with our emotions.

You will notice that people use different systems at different times and in different circumstances.  People may also switch systems quickly while thinking.  For example, when asked a question some people might follow the following thought sequence-

1. Say to themselves, “Ok, what do I need to find our here?”  (A)

1. Then make up a picture of their answer (V)

1. Then check their feelings to make sure they’re happy with their answer (K)

1. Then put the answer into words for their reply (A).

This illustrates how people use all the systems and why it is important not to label someone as using only one (i.e. “he’s a visual person”).  This is one of the flaws of using just a questionnaire to discover ‘someone’s system’ – people use all three systems, so the VAK system is useful not for categorising your students, but for communicating with them effectively using the system they are using right now.

Putting it all into Practice

1.  Rapport

The first thing to remember is that we are all already good at getting into rapport with people. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t have many friends.  So learning to use this information in practice is simply a matter of paying conscious attention to something our unconscious mind already does.  We are already good at this because one of our many skills as a coach is to bring to our conscious mind aspects of canoeing we do unconsciously.  This skill already enables us to pass the refined (automatic for us) points of a skill or technique onto our students.

2.  Plan

The second thing is to do what all the best communicators do – they plan their communication.  This means you can structure your communication to make it appealing to the processing system preferred by your student.

When coaching several students you can plan your delivery to suit all three system types.  You may have noticed that good coaches say the same thing in several ways.  This helps them make their communication loud, clear and easy to grasp.  In other words, students see, hear and feel what the coach means.

When using coaching acronym ‘IDEAS’, the Introduction is auditory, the Demonstration is visual, and the Explanation is auditory.  We then ask our students to go and try out the new skill in the Activity.  We then give an auditory Summary.  Notice that no new information is given to those using the kinaesthetic system.  By using IDEAS in the purest sense we are expecting those in kinaesthetic mode to change system.  This may be alright if you are in rapport and can lead them to a different system, but if not it means they have to translate the visual and auditory information you give them into the kinaesthetic system they are paying attention to.  This is an extra step they have to do before they can use the information you have shared with them.

Planning your communication may therefore mean adding an extra step into IDEAS for the kinaesthetic processor.  You can either physically move their body and paddle so they go ‘through the motions’ or you can use a metaphor.  A metaphor is a way of linking new information to something already known.  The metaphor should be planned carefully to focus on the kinaesthetic aspects of the skill.  To do this you can come up with a sentence that uses the words “feels like” in it.  For example, “Trunk rotation feels like winding up a spring”, or “a sculling draw feels like spreading butter along the side of your boat with your blade”.  The important point is that you are associating the new task with a kinaesthetic experience they are already familiar with.  This metaphor could be planned as part of your explanation.  By physically moving your student or using a metaphor you are adding a ‘K’ for ‘kinaesthetic’ and now using the coaching model ‘IDEKAS’.

3.  Language Patterns

Thirdly, notice the language patterns people use. Are they visual, auditory or kinaesthetic?  Notice when people shift from one system to another.  A good way to develop this skill is when listening to the radio or watching television.  You can set yourself targets during one day to notice when people are using the language of one system.  Set a target for another system the next day and the final system on the third day.  Although you may have to do this consciously initially you will realise now that you can keep track of the types of words people use and the meaning of the words too.

4.  Become Familiar With Your Own Preferences

Fifth, become more aware of the representational systems you use.  Practice shifting from one to another by first noticing the number of colours around you (V).  Concentrate on the different shades you see, and the number of shapes in view.  Then count the number of sounds you can hear (A).  Tune in to internal voices in your head, the sounds of your breathing, sounds close to you and further away or outside.  Next, think in terms of feelings (K).  Notice any sensations of touch or temperature.  Feel any movement and also any tastes, smells and emotions you might have.  Use your own eye access cues while you do these exercises.  Moving your eyes in the directions shown in Figure 1 when you are noticing each system will make this easier (remember Figure 1 is a mirror image).  Notice the language you use most freely.  Then change your language patterns and use a different system for each day.  This can seem strange at first – almost like learning a new language as you start to use auditory words when you might usually have used visual or kinaesthetic ones.  This practice is important so you can learn to communicate effectively by switching to and from the visual, auditory or kinaesthetic system at will.

In Summary

Developing good rapport is essential for good communication and trust between student and coach.  Matching our students VAK information processing system will develop rapport.  Once matched and rapport is at a suitable level, we can start to lead our students into other processing systems.  Leading can be used to ensure our students are concentrating on the most appropriate part of the environmental information that is available to them.

Practical use of the VAK system is a valuable skill for coaches to possess.  Like other skills it can be learned and this process may be made easier by using some of the exercises given above.  As this skill develops the coach will find it becomes autonomous and part of his or her coaching repertoire.

By learning to use the VAK system to consciously build rapport, a coach can speed up and enhance the bonding process with students.  By literally ‘speaking the same language’ the coach and student develop a deeper understanding of each other.  They are better able to share their aims, objectives, thoughts and experiences.  This can lead to better communication and a closer bond between coach and student.  Above all, it gives you an insight into your students preferred method of processing information and allows you to structure your coaching to tap directly into it.

As an NLP Trainer, I run and ‘NLP for Sporting Excellence Programme’.  Contact me for details of these trainings.

For details of canoe and kayak training, BCU courses and canoe coaching or kayak coaching contact Kim Bull.  Training courses run throughout the North East, Cumbria and the borders of Scotland.

Email – kim@kimbull.co.uk