Friday 4th July 2008

Choosing the right NLP course

If you have typed "NLP Training" into one of the search engines on the net you will have been bombarded with page after page of training organisations and training programs on NLP, this certainly happened to me, however I was lucky enough to have been given some good advice which has stood me in good stead and which I gladly pass on here, also there weren't as many people offering NLP in my day so it was a little easier to choose :-)

The following is a list of points I believe you should raise with the training company when making enquiries, here at Active Personal Development we fulfil all the required criteria..and more! Of course we would love you to come here to the heart of the inspirational Devon countryside and train with us, but we understand that you may not have the time commitment right now that a full professionally accredited training courses requires, that said, we still want you to have a truly wonderful NLP experience, who ever you train with, because we believe in giving and promoting the highest standards in our field.

What can I do with my course qualification?

If you are planning on working as an NLP coach or practitioner you will need public liability and professional indemnity insurance, no coaching practice, complimentary health centre or business worth it's salt will let you near it's clients without it. Of course you can just go ahead and market yourself without it, but you will be severely limited in the clients you attract not to mention being able to step up your training to Master Practitioner or similar. If you are planning to use NLP to enhance your current profession, in education, training or management you will still be far better served going for a fully accredited qualification. In a nut shell, if you are going to use NLP professionally then take a professionally accredited course.

Who is the trainer and what are their credentials?

If you take a professionally accredited course you should be assured of a highly skilled and competent trainer. If you are taking a short course or non accredited course then the following questions will be useful:

How long have they been training?
What level of NLP experience do they have (they may not be a certified NLP trainer)?
What level of experience do any course assistants have? Ask for testimonials about the course and the trainer from previous students and get in touch with those students personally.
How much formal classroom training and contact time is there? INLPTA/IAAPT requires its certified trainers to provide 130 hours of formal classroom training for Practitioner level and 30 hours of classroom training for Diploma level. Since NLP is primarily about developing skill in using the methods and techniques of NLP, the more direct training contact hours you can get for your money, the better.
Is the program all in one chunk or modular in structure?
What happens if I can't make any of the training days, are there opportunities to catch up and still graduate with my group?
How big are the groups? If the group size is large what is the ratio of assistants to participants. Also will the trainer be able to give you the personal attention you require to achieve the outcomes you set yourself for the course, e.g., if one of your outcomes for the course is to improve your presentation skills, can the trainer guide you to achieving this outcome as the course progresses. In our experience with groups over 25 the trainer has difficulty in giving this personal attention.
What course materials are provided? A comprehensive manual is a must, as is refreshments and a clean airy training environment. In our experience the training environment is crucial, instead of sitting beneath buzzing electric lights and stale air conditioned air we are dedicated to conducting our training programs in natural and inspirational environments offering organic home cooked food, filtered water and a range of natural refreshments (yes we still serve coffee, fair trade of course!
What support will I get to ensure I reach the required level? At Active Personal Development our core approach to training is "There is no failure only feedback". Your trainer should be working with you every step of the way so you reach the required standards, standards set by yourself or by an accrediting body. This process involves you getting feedback from your trainer on what you're doing well and what you can do to make it EVEN BETTER. If your trainer identifies any areas where you are not performing as well as you could, they should give you the opportunity to improve, either through more training, tasking, one to one or home work.

What should I be paying for an NLP course?

Well there's an old saying "you get what you pay for". Unfortunately this doesn't always apply to NLP. NLP has got a lot of fantastic press recently and has as usual attracted some providers trying to cash in on this. If you choose wisely you will get a tremendous return on your investment both personally and professionally, we believe putting your self through a professionally accredited NLP program is one of the best uses of time, energy and money there is.

Courses range between 1000 and 2000 pounds, not cheap but if it's a good course you get a lot of training for your money, and you'll make that money back in no time, either changing career or doing better in your current one, providing that is your course is a recognised one.

Costs out of London tend to be less expensive, and you get to visit some beautiful places (well we would say that being here in beautiful Devon :-) In fact, you can come and take one of our modular certified courses, stay in our wonderful grade 2 listed country house, you'll get organic home cooked food and be well looked after and still have change out of what you'd pay for many courses in the city, plus you can breath fresh air and enjoy the beaches.

I hope the above is of help to you when choosing your course. At Active Personal Development we are constantly striving to improve the standard of our training and deliver competitively priced accessible courses. We meet and exceed the guidelines laid out above, and also those laid down by our accrediting body INLPTA. To see how please visit our why choose active page. Alternatively, If you would like to discuss your requirements further or just make a general enquiry about NLP, we will be delighted to hear from you. Here you can find contact information and an enquiry form.

Have you seen NLP on TV recently, or read about it in the national press? What questions should you be asking your NLP training provider?