As with the NLP Process of Deletion, the ability to distort some of the 10,000,000 bits of information that come into your nervous system via your five senses is very important.

You can also listen to the 5.19 minutes Audio on the NLP Process of Distortion.

Distortion means interpreting information that comes into your neurology as something other than what the majority of other people would agree is reality.
One form of distortion is seeing, hearing and feeling incidents that are not necessarily there.

If you are in a crowd, and you think you see someone you know, and you take a second look, only to realize that that isn’t the person you thought it was, that’s distortion.

When you think you hear, someone say something, when in actual fact they didn’t say that, that’s also a distortion.

If you weren’t able to distort information and you met someone for the first time, you would not recognize that person again if they were to change their clothes, or change their appearance in any way.

As with any form of behavior over which you have control, it can either disempower you, or it can empower you.

Within the concept of language, distortions are examples where you, the owner of the words, have distorted your experience. It may be that you have made inaccurate connections between different parts of the communication or experience.

Distortions within language can be grouped into three categories: blamers, presumptions, and interpretations.

Blamers

• You to make me angry

• You make me happy

• He makes me furious

• She makes me feel so small

When you use this type of statement you have given the responsibility for your state and feelings to someone else.

Using this sort of language shows that you have become dependent on your environment and surrendered your choice to another person or a set of circumstances, of how you want to feel.

Intrinsically, these statements are true as far as the end result is concerned however, you had a choice as to how you decided to feel.

Presumptions

• I know why you did that

• You’re upset, I can tell

• He only he did that to annoy me

These are examples of when you assume to know something about another person without any evidence of this. They are what is called, mind reading.

Picture this scenario:

1. You say: I crossed my arms because I was cold

2. The other person assumes: you crossed your arms because you were angry with someone.

In number one, a fact is explained, in number two, and assumption of that fact is made.

That is distorting in language.

Interpretation

Interpretation is when two statements are linked in such a way that they are taken to mean the same thing, the words are understood, not mentioned.

The words: ‘this means that……’ can be added.

For example, someone says to you: “You have raised your voice, you’re obviously getting angry.”

Just because you raised your voice, doesn’t necessarily mean that you are angry – you may have just got excited; you may have heard more noise, and felt you needed to raise your voice to be heard.

Another example, someone says: ‘’I could tell he wasn’t interested in what I had to say; he kept looking out the window.’’

This does not need to have been the case; he may be looking out the window as a means of concentrating.

Again, this is a form of distortion.

It is always best not to give meaning to a person’s altered behaviour or tonality, but just observe that there has been a change.