The Uses of NLP in Professional Preparation and Development Pat O’Toole Rose Bruford College Actor and Actor Musician BA (Hons)

NLP What Is It? There is no single definition for NLP NLP is a set of psychological tools for personal change and development. It offers powerful ways to create goals, reach them faster and with greater ease, resolve work or personal issues, reduce stress or accompany change. Started 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in US as an investigation into therapy What it stands for NNeurology The mind and how we think LLinguistic How we use language and how it affects us (senses) P Programming How we sequence our actions to achieve (behaviour)

Some Basic Ideas What we think MANIFESTS (state of mind) It is “The Law of Attraction” Positive thoughts create positive outcomes Having a choice is better than not having a choice (always map the widest number of choices) People work perfectly (sometimes our strategies are wrong) If you want to understand, act (learning is in the doing) We already have all the resources we need or we can create them (there are only un-resourceful states of mind)

Professional Preparation and Development at Rose Bruford A questionnaire is ed to all students and end of second year to complete over summer about career and life ambitions Each student has a 45 minute individual ‘career tutorial’ to explore long and short- term goals and ‘ideas’ in their final year. The aim is to explore and in some cases challenge perceptions and habitual thinking “I’m no good at…” etc A ‘Mind Map’ is created and a copy given to students during tutorial. The map aims to explore all options and look at 8 sections in the wheel of life Student’s C.V. and photo’s are reviewed during tutorial An action Plan is generated which is followed up/reviewed by PATs (Personal Academic Tutor) and reviewed at the end of the year by PPD Coordinator Action plan identifies pathways and specialist areas of interest i.e. teaching, starting own company Tutorials allow us to Identify possible placements and work experience opportunities.

Why Do it? To improve graduate employment Looking at the student as a whole - a holistic perspective Career flexibility long and short term Look at areas of strength and ‘hidden opportunities’ for students to sustain their careers (e.g. coaching, tuition) Identify potential income streams Identify areas of particular interest to the student in their primary chosen field (e.g. physical theatre, recorded media, design) Develop an action plan for both 12 months, 5 and 10 years Early start on business planning and entrepreneur opportunities

Wheel of Life Exercise Career