''Need to Know? NLP'', Carolyn Boyes

Well, it's a strange start; needless to say (I hope), I don't typically spend my evenings studying seemingly shady ways to influence people. However, on the recommendation of my ex-management consultant father (the reason for that description will become clear) I bought a book on Neuro-Linguistic Programming last week and finished it on a plane at the weekend.

The reason for the recommendation was the realisation that the patented Jenny Persuasion System (tm) may not work as well in all walks of life as I might like. The classic debating technique of ''so you see, A = D yes? you don't agree? Ok, well do you agree A = B? and B = C? and C = D? Then ha ha! I have fooled you and you are admitting yourself that I am right!'', is apparently not the most emotionally persuasive. NLP offers an alternative, based on tapping into the unconscious motivations & beliefs of the other person to guide them round to how you would like them to think, (probably) without them knowing it. It's somewhat tricky - a lot relies on being able to very precisely guess what the other person is thinking based mostly on physiological symptoms (breathing, body language etc.) - and the way you influence them is basically akin to hypnosis.

The danger, it seems, is suddenly appearing like Paul McKenna. It's hard to believe that if one adopted these techniques that it wouldn't be noticed - but apparently lots of people use it incognito all the time. For me, the jury's out. A lot of what they suggest you can do personally (setting goals, visualising success etc.) seem credible & achievable, but I suspect I'll be leaving the hypnosis-by-stealth to the experts.