The challenge is on to organize what I am taking with me on the forthcoming trip to Japan to run a series of workshops. This will be good practice for the USA, European and other Asian events later in the year. It’s all about size and weight and taking the equipment that is essential to document any events. Also it’s useful to have travelling entertainment and of course some changes of clothes can be handy.
Here’s my stripped down list of essential equipment

For events
• Canon HFS 21 HD Video Camera
• Sony HDR CX520 HD Video Camera
• Sennheiser MKE 400 Shotgun mic
• Sony PCM D1 Audio recorder
• Toshiba Z830 Ultra Book Laptop
• Lumix GX 1 Camera
• Lumix Ultra Wide Angle lens
• Lumix Tele Photo lens
• Spares batteries for everything
• Gorilla Tripod
• Spare SD Cards
• 2 1T hard drives with USB 3 capability + 4 universal plug adaptors for all countries

For Travelling

• Samsung Galaxy Tab
• Etymotic E4 headphones
• Apple Nano iPod

I used to take handouts but that can be seriously heavy, so I always now get these printed in the country I am visiting. The other essential item is a Scottevest which is a waistcoat with endless pockets for travelling items. I have Doug O Brien to thank for informing me about this essential item.

Full schedule of confirmed events - http://www.nickkemptraining.com/calendar.php

I was asked recently about my training in NLP and I was surprised at how many NLP events I have attended and assisted on over the years! So here's Nick Kemp and NLP at a glance!

1999 – 2003

During this period I trained extensively with Richard Bandler in the UK, USA and Ireland. Here are the trainings I attended during those years -

NLP Practitioner
NLP Master Practitioner
NLP Meta Master Practitioner
NLP Trainer Training
Design Human Engineering
Neuro Hypnotic Patterning
Persuasion Engineering
Hypnosis with Richard Bandler

From 2000 – 2008 I assisted on countless Bandler courses in London. These included NLP Practitioner, Master Practitioner and numerous Bandler Hypnosis courses. I also personally interviewed Bandler on a number of occasions and these interviews can be found on www.nlpmp3.com. I especially enjoyed the 2000 - 2003 period.

From 2004 – 2008 I ran NLP courses certificated by Bandler’s Society of NLP. Each year I ran NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner events as well as hosting other international trainers.

In 2006 I was asked to talk about NLP on BBC Radio and appeared for 26 weeks working with phobias. I also began writing articles on NLP for The Middle East Educator, Rapport and other magazines.  Many of these published articles can be found at www.nickkemp.com.
I started to create what then became Provocative Change Works having met Frank Farrelly creator of Provocative Therapy in 2004 and who was cited by Bandler as an influence on his creation of NLP*

In 2008 I was asked and agreed to become an board member for The Association for NLP (ANLP) which promotes standards and ethics in NLP and is not aligned to any commercial NLP training company.  In the same year I was invited to present at Robert Dilts IASH Conference in San Francisco to present the PCW material and return in 2010 to the same event. In 2010 I was also invited by Steve and Connirae Andreas to present the PCW work at The Advanced Mastery Training in Boulder Colorado. I returned in 2011 to present 3 days on PCW as well as 4 days co training with Steve Andreas and Richard Bolstad. In 2010 and 2011 I presented the PCW material to The NLP Conference in London.

* “You know, Farrelly had to be one of the most courageous people on the face of the earth to do the wackiest things he did. It was obvious that he made sure that he made people do new behaviours while they were enjoying it.  That meant when they did them again, they weren’t frightening; they were fun.  If they’d thought about having their problem again, they would laugh.  He was probably the first person to really do neuro-hypnotic repatterning… to tell you the truth.  He didn’t think about it in the formal sense that I did.  To tell you the truth, when Frank Farrelly described to me his theory, he was as wacky as Virginia Satir and as wacky as all the rest of them.  What he did was really great. What I respect about Frank is that he stuck to his guns.  No matter how much they told him therapy should be boring or how much they told him he was over the edge, what he noticed is he made people better. “

(Bandler talking about Frank Farrelly)

I am delighted to report that the new Provocative Change Works site is now live here - http://www.provocativechangeworks.com

Here you can discover why so many people are now requesting PCW events around the globe with workshops scheduled for Japan, USA, India, Hungary, Spain, Poland, Austria as well as the UK.

In a recent training I talked about the importance of choosing the right name for a business. I have previously blogged about how some companies in seeking to be clever can unwittingly create an unhelpful and incongruent impression in what they want to communicate. A good example in recent times is “Confused.com” which is a company that supposedly seeks to provide choices for its customers! The constant repetition of the term “confused” of course creates the exact opposite impression.
 The golden rule in marketing is “difference dictates”. If your company doesn’t stand out from the crown in “being different” then your company is seen as just the same as everyone else. Smart companies know the importance of creating a memorable business name and the very best examples are where the business names then become part of everyday language. At one time there were no mp3 players and I remember a vice Ceo from Silicon Valley tell me in the 1990s about this mew mp3 technology where you could carry your whole album collection on a hard drive to play while driving! Now most people talk about “iPods”, even when referring to generic mp3 players. Apple essentially created a new business name that is now part of everyday language and of course the iPad and iPhone are extensions of the business identity. Another consideration is that some business names may not create the best impression internationally. For example “Lag Guitars” doesn’t in my opinion sound that desirable and or course there is the unforgettable “Dick Stick” brand.

I have noticed that when people choose names for a new business there can be a tendency to copy other businesses. In the world of personal change I have previously blogged about the endless references to “excellence” “agents for change” “quantum” “Meta”, “Excellence”,“Transformation” and other such stereotypical terms. There’s nothing essentially wrong with these terms, (hey I even ran a company once called “Tranceforming NLP”) but they don’t suggest a great deal of new creative thinking and are not “different” to everything else in the marketplace. The difficulty with many such terms is that they can quickly go out of fashion and that’s never great for marketing. I always suggest that a good starting point is to consider the impression that you want to create, before deciding upon the actual term to describe it. Otherwise the actual name of the business can be emotionally disconnected to the business and in some worst case examples the names are totally forgettable!

My advice is once you have a short list of possible names to then ask individuals who would be potential customers their views. Sometimes the results can be surprising and of course it’s useful to have more than just two possibilities, but I would suggest less than ten on any potential list. Also its common sense to check that nobody else has the same or a similar identity and you can secure the top level domain names (.com, .net are essential) for what you decide upon to avoid potential customer confusion. The most recognizable brand names include the following – Coca Cola, Apple, Disney, McDonalds and American Express. Each of these companies are instantly recognizable. Of course the name is not the brand, but just one of the elements that helps create the brand. Often the name is accompanied by a carefully constructed logo and businesses like EBay are a good example of this combination of name and logo.  It’s always nest to get a professional designer to create a log and not to simply outsource this to the cheapest bidder.

The most successful companies create “the cool factor” and when this occurs customers advertise the brand by displaying the brand name and logo on items of clothing. Essentially the company is creating a fan base in the same way that rock bands create a fan following. Apple is generally perceived to be a cool brand and people are happy to display the business logo and associate with the company name. In contrast I can’t image many folks wearing Dell T Shirts as Dell don’t personify “the cool factor”, well not so far anyway...

During this X Mas break I have had the time to watch some TV programmes I would not normally have time to see. On Watch HD I noticed that there were a series of programmes by the magician Dynamo who lives locally, so was able to see some of his shows for the first time. He is without doubt an excellent magician and highly skilled reminding me of Derren Brown at his best. I liked these Dynamo shows, especially because he is very laid back in his approach a far cry from Derren’s often quite manic mannerisms! It was good entertainment and that’s high praise from me as usually I’m not a great fan of street magic.  I do however have the greatest respect for performing artists and especially those who have really taken the time to develop their craft.  I have always noticed that talented comedians and other skilled performers spend years developing and refining skills, always noticing what works best. A common saying in the entertainment industry is that “it takes ten years to become an overnight success”

In the world of NLP and personal change there is often a tendency to confuse what is essentially entertainment with actual therapeutic change. Yes trainings can be “entertaining”, but it’s important to remember that “the frame” for any demonstration and for any magical trick is the key to its success. As I have often pointed out in my blogs, demonstrations in workshops are very different to working with actual members of the public who have not had “training” Often a demo subject will have been primed to comply to a trainer’s suggestions simply from having booked onto the event and from being the subject of numerous hypnotic trances prior to any demonstration! This does not make the demo invalid, but it is important to remember these additional factors that contribute to the outcome. Also it’s useful to remember that on the large courses the trainer literally has an army of willing assistants who are there to create a fun atmosphere. Again there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s another factor in creating the experience and often resulting in attendees returning for many trainings treating them like “holidays” and “boosts” to everyday life. Prior to running NLP trainings Paul McKenna was known for running stage magic shows and of course prior to selecting any member from the audience he would check on individual’s susceptibility to his own suggestions. This made for what many considered great entertainment, but it’s important to remember there was a definite selection process to create the final effect. Similarly on NLP and other training courses demo subjects are carefully selected often for the same reason…

One of the most impressive Dynamo presentations was his demonstration of apparently walking on water across the Thames. It was a wonderfully understated performance which allowed those watching to create the buzz without any obvious fanfare from Dynamo himself. Anybody then either believes that he can walk on water (unlikely in my view!) or the event has been created so that we “believe” that this is possible. Of course this demonstration is unashamedly for effect as Dynamo is not training people to be able to walk on water for therapeutic, sporting or any other reason! In recent years I have noticed a number of people interested in NLP, become very interested in street magic and such presentations. Studying skilled performance artists is in my view extremely worthwhile but I also think it’s important to differentiate between therapeutic skills and pure entertainment. This confusion between entertainment and education is quite common and unfortunately NLP and some other approaches have become more focused on what they imagine to be “instant” results and “wow factors” rather than substantive change. Terms like “outrageous” and “revealed secrets” often appear in ad copy to get bums on seats. This can result in creating unrealistic expectations for both practitioner and potential clients. I would love to see some NLP trainers model Dynamo and replicate his weight lifting demonstration, but I would advise having suitable first aiders close by for any such challenge! NLP is an excellent toolbox, but developing any kind of skill takes time and application and many practitioners and trainers simply don’t have the willingness or patience to make this possible. I say “most” but there are of course exceptions and those individuals tend to create their own work that extends far beyond merely copying what they originally witnessed in training courses.

Students in workshop situations often suspend disbelief in the same way as those watching magic shows. Of course total suspension of discrimination is not advised and at the other extreme questioning everything in minute detail is equally unhelpful! Somewhere in between these two extremes audience members can find a healthy balance. Entertainment shows are not considered generally to be “trainings” but rather one off events to create a memorable experience. Trainings are usually viewed as learning opportunities where attendees can replicate what they learn and then apply it in future situations. Of course it’s sensible to set realistic expectations about what is possible from such trainings, but this is often not the case! I have lost track of the number of clients who have seen NLP practitioners and were promised “a total cure within an hour” without even being asked to volunteer any information about their problem! A few years ago a client approached me who had worked on a one to one basis with one of the co creators of NLP without success. I was told in no uncertain terms by an NLP Master Trainer (let’s remember this is an honorary title in this instance) that “If trainer X can’t help him, NOBODY can!” This of course tells us a great deal about the person with the certificate and their own beliefs! I have seen the same trainer spectacularly fail to cure a basic phobia in a workshop situation and the same trainer clearly fail to cure a flying phobic on a video clip. However the response online to the clip clearly suggests that those fans of the trainer believe that this is a great piece of work!

NLP in particular has been presented in so many different ways that there’s no such thing as “pure nlp” but rather a collection of a range of different techniques and approaches. Many NLPers insist Derren Brown “does NLP” and forums are full of postings that suggest that Brown is using some highly skilled NLP approaches which of course he repeatedly denies. I have yet to see NLPers claim that Dynamo is “using NLP” but surely it can only be a matter of time! There are many therapeutic approaches and graining styles that are not to my personal liking, but if they genuinely help others or provoke useful discussion then I’m in favour. Anyone genuinely interested in developing their skills realises that they never stop learning. Those who insist that there is just one way to do anything and that everyone else is “well meaning but on the wrong track” have in my view already stopped learning, but don’t yet realise this and probably never will!