That Extra Piece of Magic: Steve Crabb's Corporate Training - by Matthew Wingett

There's a good reason why Steve Crabb is Richard Bandler's Head Assistant in the UK.  Steve's mastery of his craft, his relaxed delivery and his deep wellspring of humour make him second to none in the NLP Corporate Training field.  And coming from a business background himself, he understands exactly what it takes to build the best courses, giving Corporate clients precisely what they need in their everyday work, and in their relationships generally.

 

It is for this reason that NLP LIFE TRAINING's Corporate Training Course (of which I am about to attend the final two days) has proven so popular with delegates. Drawing its intake from a wide range of organisations and interests, including the Scottish Government, the business world and academia, as well as health and marketing sectors, the course is being held in the heart of the City of London at the Grange City Hotel, Cooper's Row.  

 

The first thing I notice on my arrival is how enrapt everyone is at the techniques being shown.  I join the lesson as Steve is talking about Time Distortion for use in public speaking.  The technique is designed to enable you to gain more control over your thoughts, thereby giving you more time to think when you are up on that stage, making your presentation.  By marshalling and ordering your thoughts effectively, you seem able to "slow time" around you, meaning that your presentations are relaxed, comfortable and accomplished, rather than those nerve-wracking affairs they can so often become.

 

Throughout the day, Steve teaches technique upon technique that will enable the delegates to take more control over their own minds and emotional states during presentations.  I see each delegate's body language growing more relaxed as the day progresses - even though we are moving nearer to the day's culmination: an unprepared and improvised talk on a subject they will be given at the last minute. For many in the room, being asked to perform such a task before this training would have been the stuff of nightmares - yet as I watch, each rises to the task with the calm self-assurance of one who is comfortable with the eyes of others upon them.

 

At the day's end, I speak with Dr Jennifer Steedman of the Scottish Government's Economic Strategy Directorate about what she has gained from the course thus far. She enthusiastically replies:

 

"I think it's really valuable. It gives you something really different from the usual corporate training courses, because it gives you a new way of thinking about challenges. It provides really valuable insights into more effective ways of working. And what's impressive is that there is a layering of techniques and insights as the days go by, so that you find you have an increasingly powerful set of responses to draw on as the course progresses."  

 

She looks thoughtful for a moment, and then adds:

 

 

The layering effect Dr Steedman mentions is one that Steve Crabb has deliberately designed into the NLP Life Corporate Training Course.  While the daily modules give participants the opportunity to vastly improve their skills in specific areas, delegates experience a cumulative effect from learning NLP day in and day out for a week.  The week's five modules are: Foundation Skills of NLP, Emotional Management, Persuasion and Influence, Powerful Presentations and Maximising Potentials.  In combination, the modules take you on a journey of discovery that teaches you how people think, how you can get the best out of yourself and others, and how to operate in professional environments with highly raised levels of skill and effectiveness.

 

The Foundation Skills of NLP Course on Day One is the only required element of the course, and acts as a launch pad into the rest of the week.  When you enrol on any part of NLP LIFE's Corporate Training, you will need to attend this day to ensure that you are well-versed in the basics of NLP.  The rest of the course relies on this day, which teaches you how to run your brain and change your thinking and behaviours easily and effortlessly. 

 

Day Two is dedicated to Emotional Management.  This vital element of business is too often overlooked in the modern workplace. Yet, when your team or an individual you work with is low in morale, demotivated, angry - or simply in a bad mood - it is very easy for you to lose your focus while dealing with - or not dealing with - their energy-sapping emotional state. For those who have worked with a person who is seriously out of control of their emotions, you will know that their state affects those around them, disrupts others' productivity and makes everyone's workday far less enjoyable. Learning to manage your own and others' emotions gives you the choice to experience a far better work environment - and enjoy a better quality of life in general. Hence, the focus on this day is on managing stress and anger in ways that are essential for maintaining a healthy workplace. And equally importantly, it is dedicated to teaching you how to achieve optimum performance states whenever you need them.

 

Day Three is a fascinating and vital element for all of those involved in business.  This is the Persuasion and Influence day. You will be taught the grammar of persuasion, and shown how to use presuppositions and embedded commands to get more of what you want. You will also be shown the less useful presuppositions with which you and others may currently unwittingly enter into negotiations, and how to change them. You will also be shown how to work out how others think so that you can improve your effectiveness as a communicator. By working with a positive emotional state, getting control of your language, and using techniques of rapport-building with the person you intend to persuade and influence, you will find that you achieve more successful outcomes in negotiations. The subtlety of the Persuasion and Influence module is a highly useful key skill for anyone involved in business and commerce. Indeed, it is useful for eliciting agreement from anyone whom you might need to influence. 

 

Day Four is all about how you can make Powerful Presentations - to one person, or to thousands. In this module Steve Crabb will show you how to directly approach one of the elements of modern business which causes many people a high degree of stress. By the end of the day, you will have learned how to make memorable presentations effortlessly - while enjoying them, too! The difference in your skills and demeanour by the end of the day will be dramatic.

 

Day Five is given over to Maximising Potentials. In this final module of the course, Steve will show you how to generate more confidence and direction in your life, so that by the end of the day you will be able to manage your time more effectively, know how to build a positive attitude to life, and take away with you very specific techniques to enable you to go for whatever you want. 

 

Speaking with Steve after the event, I learn what an amazing skill-set he brings to the course. Before moving into NLP, Steve Crabb ran several successful multi-million pound businesses, and because of his experience, has coached many successful entrepreneurs. He understands exactly the requirements of business people, and tailors his courses to fit his clients' needs. "The highly valuable skills I teach on the NLP LIFE Corporate Training Course are exactly what will give business people the edge over their competitors," he says. "In this time of economic uncertainty, it's that extra piece of magic that helps my clients' businesses to succeed."

 

And that magic certainly worked its charm throughout the week.  Speaking with the delegates after Day Five, I hear a similar story from each of them:

 

Tom Kirby is a lecturer from the University of Central Lancashire, working in telephone sales team management.  He speaks with a degree of humour about the difference between what he expected of the course and what he got:

 

"When I go to corporate trainings, on day one  I am used to thinking: okay, there are three more days of this, oh boy…  That really isn't the case with this course at all. With this one, I'm sad to go. It has been a really powerful and useful experience."

 

Seiam Alfadhi, a researcher from Loughborough University is also keen to sing the course's praises: "Even though I've done the Master Practitioner Course with Richard Bandler, I still got a lot out of this training. I had a lot of questions when I came here, and I have had all of them answered. I have learned a lot on this course to do with directly applying NLP in the business context. It gives a completely different view on NLP - and it will act as a useful addition to my NLP skills. This course is definitely a must - regardless of what level of NLP you have already done."

 

Seiam has put his finger on something special about the NLP LIFE Corporate Training Course: the skills taught in it also complement those taught in the Practitioner Course - making the sum of your NLP skills even stronger when you complete both courses. For that reason, when you complete this course and you complete the Licensed Practitioner Course with Richard Bandler, you will be certificated as a Licensed Business Practioner of NLP. 

 

But the final word on the course I will leave to Roberto Lopez, an olive oil importer based in Spain. An enthusiastic and very humorous man who became known affectionately by the group as "The Oil Baron", he was extremely excited by what he had learned:

 

"I'm telling you - they don't know what they've done - they've unleashed a beast.  I can use this for motivation, managing, negotiating, delegating, manipulating, persuading, influencing... sleeping and even eating. It's great! I feel like I've learned psychological martial arts!"

 

So, look out world, The Oil Baron is coming!