Stay away from short NLP Practitioner programs

Staying away from 4-5 day NLP Practitioner programs is wise if you value the knowledge, experience, learning, authenticity, rigour, process, and the essence of NLP.  Also, to stay away from short NLP Practitioner programs is wise, if you are serious about getting the real value from NLP. Here is why these short courses may look tempting to attend, would have bold promises, glitter on the NLP Practitioner program landing pages, and yet might not give you the complete, transformative experience that NLP promises:

1. A Crash Course or a Crashed Course in NLP?

Imagine cramming all the nice juicy content of a full world class 7-8 day NLP Practitioner course into 4-5 days. You might be getting a flavour of NLP, basically getting the greatest hits album preview, but missing all the deep tracks that make it truly meaningful. In these short courses, trainers rush through concepts like they are on a mission to catch the last airplane home. They throw NLP techniques at the participants like they are tossing spaghetti at a wall, hoping *something* sticks. Also as a participant you might leave with a few cool phrases like “sub-modalities” and “anchoring,” or some fancy psychology words, but good luck figuring out what they actually mean or, heaven forbid, how to apply them with clients or during a Coaching, Couseling or a Therapy session!  If you are serious about learning NLP in an NLP Practitioner course in India, then invest your time to research who is the best NLP trainer, and make sure to stay away from short NLP Practitioner programs to ensure that you get maximum value for your money, and become a good NLP professional.

2. Trainer Commitment Issues—They’re Just Not That Into You

A lot of these trainers treat NLP like a speed dating session. It is edutainment for them. There will be few giggles, some energy boosters, some talk, some magic demonstrations (hopefully not planted participants like in a magic show), and that’s about it.  They are there to make a quick impression, maybe even drop a fancy word or two, and then *poof* they are gone, off to the next batch of unsuspecting learners, where sales pitches will promise something magical. You won’t have a Community Learning support, you won’t know the applicability of NLP in a deeper sense, and would also be clueless about how to move ahead in the NLP profession, or how to deepen your learning. Either they don’t know the material well enough, or they would rather be anywhere but spending a full week teaching. And so, you get the “NLP-lite” version—a watered-down, calorie-free NLP experience that leaves you feeling more confused than enlightened.  Make sure to do your research and find out who delivers real value during the program, and who ensures that there is a Community to support after the program as well.  People who do their research well, and want to actually learn stay away from short NLP Practitioner programs, and what comprises of a short NLP Practitioner program would be 4-5 days experience, worst case 3 days NLP Practitioner program.  That should be documented somewhere as a crime!

3. The Great History (and Mystery) of NLP and NLP Practitioners

NLP has a rich history—founders, co-developers, all the groundbreaking stuff that makes NLP what it is today. But let us be honest, most of thetrainers who are known to do short NLP Practitioner programs, know pretty much nothing about the history of NLP.  Most of these short NLP Practitioner programs can’t explain why NLP works, why NLP is not just about NLP techniques, or how NLP itself has transformed over these 50 years.  These trainers skim over the origins (if they know, or whatever they know), skip the evolution, and ignore the developments that give NLP its backbone. It is like teaching Shakespeare but leaving out all the tragic parts, the fun parts, the resilience parts, the adventurous parts, the grit parts.  You end up missing out on the real heart of NLP, and the essence of Real NLP if you fall for short NLP Practitioner programs, or don’t invest your time to learn Real NLP Practitioner content. If you are not sure what to do, where to do it from, least you can do is stay away from short NLP Practitioner programs until you find time to invest in a proper NLP Practitioner program, which is for a week, and extends beyond that classroom week of learning.

4. Practice Makes Perfect…Unless You Have No Time to Practice

NLP is like baking bread. It is one thing to read the recipe; it is another to actually knead the dough, let it rise, and wait for it to bake. In a rushed short 4-5 day NLP Practitioner programs, you are given a recipe, maybe even a quick demo, but you are never really shown how to “knead the dough” yourself. Longer courses let you practice under the watchful eye of a trainer, helping you avoid rookie mistakes. In a short course, they give you the ingredients and say, “Good luck; don’t burn it!” Spoiler: you’ll probably burn it, worse case scenario you don’t know where to start and what to do.  Some short 4-5 day NLP Practitioner programs are even worse than other short NLP programs, because the time is not spent on NLP, the time is spent on discussing what will happen in the next level program, why basic program is not enough, how some participants experienced magic, and what they were able to do, etc.  Well, simply you didn’t pay money to come to a sales seminar about Level 2 program.  You paid money to attend NLP Practitioner program, and to develop some skills.  Unfortunately, most people end up in programs where they don’t get to learn NLP, but get to see, hear, and feel everything else.  NLP is a powerful methodology used for ICF Certification and coaching.

5. NLP Masters vs. “NLP—Sort Of” Practitioners

Look, if you are going to learn NLP, you want a teacher who has been through the grind, has invested time to learn from the founders, co-developers, continues to invest time in modelling using NLP, is considered a thought leader, and delivers value in a NLP Practitioner level itself, and then more value in NLP Master Practitioner, and NLP Trainer level programs—a real NLP Master Trainer. Ideally, they would have studied with the founders or at least the early pioneers and are not just learning their NLP from YouTube. The difference is like being taught to cook by a Michelin-star chef versus someone who just finished watching all 13 seasons of *MasterChef.* A qualified NLP Master Trainer brings depth, experience, and, most importantly, practical applications that make NLP real for you.Most NLP Master Trainers will be Master Coaches with renowned coaching accreditation bodies (International Coaching Federation-ICF) as well, as well, and the NLP programs would lead to ICF Level 1 ACC or Level 2 PCC level certification as well.  Make sure that you find these aspects as well, about the NLP Master Trainer who is going to facilitate the program.

So make sure that you are wise enough to stay away from short NLP Practitioner programs, and invest in a week long NLP Practitioner level program; investing in a full, rigorous NLP course is like buying a high-quality pair of shoes—they fit, they last, and they make walking through life way more comfortable. A 4-5 day program? That’s like buying flip-flops in a snowstorm: sure, they’re fast, but let’s be real—they won’t get you far in your NLP Coaching Career, or applying NLP in real life.