This blog is about understanding the different senses (representational systems) we communicate with, how we can tap into all of them to increase our learning experiences beyond our current thinking strategy and how, as an observer, you can notice eye movements in other people and what they actually mean!
Like our personal body language, which can reveal to others what we are seeing (Visual), hearing (Auditory) and/or feeling (Kinaesthetic) about others, the NLP founders, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, observed that people move their eyes in systematic directions depending on which representational system (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic – VAK for short) they are accessing. These movements are called eye accessing cues. This means that when people move their eyes to reply to a question you have asked them, you will have a pretty good idea knowing whether they are accessing pictures, sounds or feelings.
Firstly, let’s understand more about our senses. Everyone of us, in our day-to-day lives, will access all of our VAK senses. However, we all have a natural tendency towards one of the VAK representational systems. Some ‘see’ sights and pictures and will have dominance in the Visual dimension, some ‘hear’ the sounds and will have a stronger Auditory dimension, whilst others will ‘touch’ or ‘grasp’ the emotional aspects of a situation and will have a leaning to the Kinaesthetic dimension. There are also the Olfactory [sense of smell] and the Gustatory [sense of taste] dimensions – VAKOG. Even the everyday words or phrases we use can pinpoint our dominant sense – “clear as a bell”, “I’ve got a feeling about it”, “I heard it from his own mouth” etc. More on this later on!
The deeper you understand how these sense dimensions can singularly impact on your thinking patterns, there is more of an opportunity for you to increase your sensitivity to all of them, thereby increasing your ability to deal with a number of situations from all angles! For example, you may have been thinking about decorating a room in your house……if you are predominantly a Visual person, you probably would have been thinking about what paint colours to choose or patterns you want to include in your design scheme; if you then also embrace the Auditory dimension, you may also then start to think about the sounds of objects in the room – like the empty, hard sound of a stone floor as you walk across it with stiletto heels, the sound of squeaky wooden floorboards, or whether or not you will need to replace the double glazing to keep the busy traffic noise out. Lastly, you could then draw on your Kinaesthetic or Olfactory dimension and think about the textures and smells that you want to include in the decor. You may decide on a thick-pile soft carpet, velvet curtains, smooth plaster wall finish or a heavily textured wallpaper. You may want to fill the room with fresh flowers or scented oil to further evoke your Olfactory dimension. In this way, by using all of the senses, you can create a much wider personal ‘mood’ board and have a stronger ‘vision’ in which to achieve your project.
Additionally, by embracing all of the representational systems, you can also gain more effective ways in learning new skills. For example, you may want to learn a new language and have only thought about listening to a podcast – because you steer towards the Auditory dimension. However, if you also then think about watching a foreign film in the language you are studying, you will open up your Visual and Auditory senses. You can further increase the level of your experience by going to have a meal that serves the food of that country and widen your experience to the Gustatory and Olfactory senses. A much better experience all round!
Now for the tell-tale eye movements!
Depending on which preferred representational system the owner of the eyes already veers towards, you will be able to also ascertain how they are accessing their memory and will then have a much better idea of knowing, before they even respond to you, what dominant representational system they utilise. This will be to your advantage since then you will know how you can communicate with them in a way that will make them respond more positively to you, i.e. whether or not you choose to use Visual, Auditory or kinaesthetic favoured words to match their representational system.
Here is a diagram detailing the Accessing Cues:
Sample of language that will trigger the eye movements:
Visual (Constructed) – top right : “Think of a tall building made of wood, painted yellow and red.
Visual (Remembered) – top left : “Think of your partner’s face”
Visual – straight ahead : “See what’s important”
Auditory (Constructed) – centre right : “Listen to the sound of your name backwards.”
Auditory (Remembered) – centre left : “Hear your own mobile phone ringtone ring.”
Auditory (internal dialogue) bottom left : “Ask yourself what you want.”
Kinaesthetic – bottom right : “Think about how you felt when you woke up this morning.”
N.B. For 50% of left-handers, and a small percentage of the population, the eye movement directions are reversed.
This is what the eye positions look like in action!
By tuning your sensory awareness on all levels, you can become more knowledgeable about what people may be thinking. Once you have established this, you can use vocabulary that will steer them towards acting in a positive way, thereby also building rapport whether it be in a business or personal environment.
More ideas on making the VAK system work for you in my next blog!
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