Less is More:
An Introduction To Clean Language
A 2-day Introductory/Basic Skills training for Consultants, Facilitators, Coaches, Counsellors, Therapists, Trainers, Managers, Health Practitioners, Parents and Project Leaders (i.e. people who help other people to think).
- Add a powerful communication tool to your toolbox.
- Learn techniques you can use to work more effectively with individuals and groups.
- Find out about the power that metaphor has in our lives.
- Take as a stand-alone course or as the first part of our complete Clean Facilitator Programme.
This two-day workshop includes:
- An overview of the history of Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling and the range of contexts to which it is now being applied
- The basic Clean Language questions and how to ask them for maximum effect
- Demonstrations of the questions being used within various contexts
- Activities to help you to ‘pick out’ and pay attention to the metaphors in peoples’ language
- How to develop individuals’ metaphors, and help them gain new insights, quickly
- Clean-Lite : a powerful model for motivating yourself and others to take action
- Lots of practice and feedback
- Full colour course manual
"Clean Language is an honouring, affirming and facilitatory language."
Lawley, J. & Tompkins, P., "Metaphors in Mind", p.28
"This workshop enabled me to get an appreciation of the potential power of Clean Language and its value in a surprising range of work and home scenarios. It has encouraged me to make the commitment to deepening my knowledge of Clean Language and to deepening my skills in deploying it."
Mary Musselbrook"It was a superb experience, in terms of my personal and professional development. It was exciting, challenging, thought-provoking and informative."
Julie Heavens"I liked the easy-to-follow structure; it was very understandable. I will definitely use Clean Language with my clients."
Jenny Webb
"Research shows that we use, on average, six metaphors a minute in ordinary speech."
Raymond R Gibbs Jr, "Categorisation and Metaphor Understanding"
Psychological Review 99, no 3 (1992)
Pages from the colourful Less is More manualLess is More is a highly experiential, fun event, with a good balance between theory and practice, and some personal development thrown in.
You’ll emerge with a thorough understanding of the principles behind Clean Language and how to ask Clean questions in a way that acknowledges and honours individual perceptions - whilst gently drawing attention to the assumptions that are holding them in place. You will have taken your listening, thinking and questioning skills to a whole new level. And you'll have gained heightened awareness of the role that language - and especially metaphor - plays in forming our perceptions. Plus you’ll meet other interesting, inspiring people doing great work in different fields - members of the global Clean Language community.
"It's the quickest and most effective way of helping to gain clarity of thought that I have come across in 30 years of marketing."
Lizz Clarke, Logical Creative Marketing
What is Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling?
Clean Language was devised by psychotherapist, David Grove, as a way to keep his assumptions out of the interaction, as far as that is possible, so he could work directly with his clients’ perceptions. In practice, it consists of 30 or so Clean Questions, asked in a particular way. David’s use of Clean Language resulted in deep and long-lasting changes for his clients.
A ‘neutral’ tool, Clean Language is very flexible. What started out as (and still is) a therapeutic tool is now used in many contexts, including:
- as an interviewing tool
- for modelling different skills and perceptions
- as a coaching tool…
- in business – for meetings and appraisals
- for team building
- for self-facilitation
Symbolic Modelling is the name given by Penny Tompkins and James Lawley to the model they devised after working with and observing David over several years, to discover what he was doing to achieve his results. They combined David’s ideas with ideas from the fields of cognitive linguistics, systems thinking and NLP to produce a model which could be taught to others to enable them to achieve the same kinds of results as David.
"We define Symbolic Modelling as a process, which uses Clean Language to facilitate people's discovery of how their metaphors express their way of being in the world."
Lawley, J. & Tompkins, P., "Metaphors in Mind", page 22
During Less is More, you’ll learn how to use Clean Language with and without metaphor and you’ll learn some of the basic ‘vectors’ which will enable you to start navigating someone else’s map of the world.
"This training was so well put together. It offered me the opportunity to learn a different way of thinking and reflecting as well as learning the fabulous skills of Clean Language. Marian is a truly trustworthy facilitator."
Janine Clark, Business Consultant"An excellent introduction to Clean and a stimulating self-development experience - left me eager for more, which luckily I have already booked."
John Webber"I travelled from the States to England purposefully for this intro to Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling. It is a brilliant paradigm which will enable me to work more effectively with my psychotherapy clients. I enthusiastically endorse the training from Apricot Island."
Barbara Rosen"I am really glad I gave myself the opportunity to learn more about this process, to practice the questions and to be party to the most amazing metaphors."
Karen West"Great mix of theory and practice. A very well-structured course, run at a good pace. I was made to feel that asking questions was welcomed and I was being helped throughout."
Jackie Fletcher, Life Coach and Coach Supervisor
The two days in detail
Here are the topics we’ll be covering during the two days:
- The history of the field, basic definitions and terminology
- How to generate Clean Language questions,using the Clean Language Question Generator
- How to ask the questions most effectively
- How to recognise metaphors in everyday speech
- The big question: How do you know which question to ask - get many tips and strategies
- Clean-Lite – how to motivate someone in just a few minutes using only their words and a few questions
- Learn the basic vectors – the building blocks for all Clean Language work
- How to help someone to develop a unique and useful resource (plus you’ll go away with one of your own)
- Clean from door to door – how to start and finish a clean session
- How you can apply your new skills in your own field
We take a step-by-step approach, with lots of practice and experiences for you to learn from. And there’ll be plenty of time for your questions. You’ll receive a full colour workbook to support your learning.
"All of us will need better skills in listening, conversing, respecting one another's uniqueness, because these are essential for strong relationships."
Margaret Wheatley, "Leadership and the New Science", page 39
What if none of the training dates work for me?
- Sign up for our newsletter and you’ll receive information about new course dates as they become available.
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Get together with a group of 6 or more others and email charlotte@apricotisland.com or call us on 023 9221 5355 to find a suitable time for Phil or Marian to come to you, and to tailor the course to your needs.
I already have these skills. Is there a more advanced course?
Yes… More to Explore is a 3-day course that takes you through how to work with a client ‘cleanly’ from start to finish, focusing on their desired outcome(s). Following on from that, you can take Pattern Spotting and/or Clean Space.
Do I need any knowledge of Clean Language in order to attend?
This course is for beginners and everyone is welcome. No previous knowledge is necessary.
However, if you wish to find out a bit more about Clean language before you come, we can suggest you:
- Read this excellent article entitled "Less is More... The Art of Clean Language"
- Read Metaphors in Mind by James Lawley and Penny Tompkins - the definitive work on Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling.
- Sign up for our newsletterand receive a free recording of a Clean Language session, along with a transcript. This will give you a good idea of what a Clean Language session is like.
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Or book a coaching session and experience Clean Language for yourself, firsthand.
Do you ever run Less is More and More to Explore together?
Yes. In February 2010 and September 2010 you can attend both:
- February 2010: Less is More - 26-28 Feb, More to Explore - 28 Feb - 3 Mar
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September 2010: Less is More - 24-26 Sep, More to Explore - 26-29 Sep
If you're in the USA, you can take these trainings in Portland, Oregon. Click here for details.
Cost
A place on this Less is More training costs £245.00. Discounts are available if you bring a friend or if you book a place on More to Explore at the same time.
To Book
Please click here to go to our Bookings page
Click here for terms and conditions