Flash Cards For Learning

Category: Editorial

Richard Winfield - editor I was delighted to receive some more suggestions for contra quotes following my last editorial, and I list below the ones that are publishable!

"If it is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." Steve Rock

"Old presenters never die, they just slide away." Ahmad Marzuki Mustafa

"Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." Robert Salter

"When the student is really ready, they become the teacher." Richard Wilkins

My interest this week is in the use of playing card style flash cards for learning. I first came across Robert Anue's Zebu Hypnotic Language Card Game. As more authors publish such packs, I am hearing of coaches who use them as an enrolment gift for clients. According to need, the packs described below will provide perfect self coaching aids to reinforce the learning from a coaching session and provide support between sessions. I suggest that every coach should own a full set for their own use as well as distributing them as learning aids or gifts for their clients.

Zebu is a normal boxed deck of 52 playing cards with 52 extraordinary language patterns taken from the fields of NLP and hypnosis from the work of Milton H. Erickson. Each card in the Zebu deck has a language pattern written at the top and bottom, and a commentary in the centre. An underlined blank in a language pattern indicates a place for an embedded command. The words in italics in the commentaries on the cards are examples of embedded commands. The underlined words in the commentarieare just underlined for emphasis.

Zebu is a tool that you can use to practise and learn important language patterns, and have fun doing it! Before you begin playing Zebu, have all the players agree not to take any of the suggestions made during the game seriously. Then you are free to practise making hypnotic and trance inducing suggestions to the other players without the fear of anyone falling asleep. Of course that makes it fair game to offer mischievous suggestions as well!

Next I was introduced to Jamie Smart's Salad cards. The original set has now grown to a series of three, which can be purchased individually or as a set: -

Irresistible Influence Cards are geared towards winning business, and bringing people around to your way of thinking. They are focused on discovering people's wants, needs and desires and then using language in the most influential way to get them to buy your ideas, products or services.

NLP Coaching Cards are for finding out what's going on in someone else's map of the world, then coaching them to enrich that map. They are fantastic for setting goals, clearing obstacles, and shaking up limiting beliefs. They also include techniques for wiring in the infamous NLP Meta Model, the world's most powerful information-gathering and problem-solving tool.

Ericksonian Hypnosis Cards are for putting people into trance, and guiding them to access the resources that will help them make certain changes. These are great whether you're doing formal hypnosis, public speaking, or just want to tell more engaging stories.

Most recently, John Sproson has launched a set of Confidence Cards, which are designed to help an individual achieve the first class results they are really capable of by boosting confidence and self esteem.

Condensed into these cards are descriptions of 54 proven techniques derived from over 25 years of experience working with people who, although they definitely had the ability, were held back by a lack of confidence.

The cards have been specifically developed to utilise a variety of senses in the learning process, both consciously and unconsciously. You can use them in a fun way – the more you enjoy learning the sooner it gets embedded into your psyche – or use them as a day aide memoire or as a discreet subliminal prompt.

As a preliminary to purchasing the Confidence Cards you can sign up for a free series of email confidence boosting tips.

John Sproson is this week's contributor to Coaching Notes.

If you can be in London on Sunday 5 August I strongly recommend that you consider booking for Akasha at the London Palladium. More than 12 hours of presentation from international experts and big names in entrepreneurship and personal development. We are delighted to be associated with the very first of what will become an annual event. See below.

Richard Winfield is founder of Brefi Group.

He coaches directors and boards in transition:

new and potential directors, effective boards,

mergers and acquisitions, corporate retreats,

change programmes.