The Milton Model is, in my opinion, the most important NLP element a human being can ever learn. It constitutes the ability to communicate with people at a level deeper than the conscious, and being aware of its effects.
The Milton model was developed by Bandler and Grinder after observing Milton Erickson’s language patterns. The basis of the Milton Model is the use of presuppositions in language. Instead of asking “will you meet me” you ask “what time are you meeting me”, and you’ll knowtice that the second statement is “loaded” with a certain assumption.
Many of the best counselors, therapists and coaches I know are people who are able to use langauge effectively. However, not everyone knows the impact of language, so I’ll expound on this idea for a moment here.
Language has a surface structure and a deep structure. The surface structure is basically what we know as “syntax” or the rules of sentence formation. However, the deep structure of our experience is neither rule-based nor structured. If I said “Tall, tanned women purr seductively” we can make some sense out of it, and we can say that this is a properly well structured sentence. There’s a lot of meaning in there too!
