What’s The Value Of Clean Language Syntax?
When should you use the full Clean Language syntax, and when not? That’s a question I received this week from a reader of Clean Language.
First, let me explain what “full Clean Language syntax” is, and then I’ll answer.
Let’s say you were working as a coach with a client who said: “I want my life to be all sweetness and light.”
A full syntax question could be: “And when ‘all sweetness and light’, what kind of sweetness is that sweetness?”
A short version could be: “What kind of sweetness?”
Get the difference?
I use the short version in all kinds of situations, including casual conversations in the pub, sales conversations etc – places where the full syntax would sound very strange and so would discourage, rather than encourage, rapport.
I also use the short version at the beginning of coaching conversations, when we’re just starting to develop a metaphor, and sometimes in the middle or towards the end of a coaching session as well, to quickly clarify or draw attention to a specific point.
I tend to use full syntax for most questions in a coaching session. It has two advantages:
When used with a gentle, slow rhythm and gentle, curious tone, it can be quite trancey and relaxing, lulling the client into a creative, reflective state of mind which seems to encourage them to go deeper than otherwise, and help things to change
It can be used to guide the client’s attention very specifically to aspects of what they’ve said, even things they said some time ago or in a previous session.
When have you found full syntax helpful? Please comment below.
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