2. Judy Rees
• Passionate about connecting minds and
bodies via metaphor, to catalyse change
• Co-author of Clean Language: Revealing
Metaphors and Opening Minds
• International coach and trainer
3. Asking About Metaphor
• When you are listening at your best, you are
like... what? (Starter question only)
• What kind of X (is that X)?
• Is there anything else about X?
5. Listening Benefits
• Brings you clarity about what people mean
• Reduces misunderstandings and conflict
• Helps listenees to think precisely
• Builds rapport and trust
• Conceals your ignorance!
11. Parrot Phrasing
1.Person A talks about something
important to them
2.Person B encourages them by
repeating selected words and phrases
3.Person C listens for metaphors and
makes some notes for later
12. A waitress increased her tips by 70%
simply by repeating the customer’s order
back to them in their own words, rather
than saying “okay” or “coming right up”
University of Nijmegen, 2005
19. Metaphors In Mind
• Categorising
• Creating
• Interpreting
• Deciding
• Learning
20. Coins Activity
• Take a handful of coins
• Arrange them to represent either:
• you and your family, or
• you and your colleagues
21. Metaphor In Language
• Six metaphors per minute
• Side-effect of metaphoric thought
• Can be used to connect with the
unconscious mind
22. Metaphor in Thought
• Change in metaphor in language can lead to
change in thought
• Change in metaphor in thought “rearranges
neurology” - everything changes
29. Clean Language Questions
• Precision tools for working with people’s
thoughts and directing attention
• Designed to minimise content input
• Include as few presuppositions and
metaphors as possible
30. • Use only the given question, with one or
more of the person’s own words
• “And when...” with a parrot-phrase is used
as a connector
Clean Language Questions
32. Clean Language
• Created by David Grove for therapy
• Modelled/codified by Penny Tompkins and
James Lawley
• Now ideas applied in multiple contexts -
management, coaching, marketing etc
• Increasingly supported by academic
research
43. Discovering A Metaphor
• Listen for, and notice, natural metaphors
• Or ask:“And that’s... like... what?”
• Ask very slowly, with long pauses
• Metaphors are personal
• Ask Clean Language questions - the details
are always different
44.
45.
46.
47. Handling The Dark Side
• Notice - is this a metaphor for a problem
or an outcome?
• If it’s a problem, take care! Either:
• Use Power Switch immediately or
• Ask up to two LJQs before asking for a
metaphor, then use the Power Switch
48. Exploring A Metaphor
• Start with “What would you like to have
happen?”
• Explore that outcome with Clean Language
questions
• Listen for, and explore, metaphors
• If drifting into problem, use Power Switch
49. The Power Switch
• And when <problem>, what would you like
to have happen?
50. The Power Switch Uses
• Changing focus from negative to positive
• Changing mood/state
• Unsticking
• Persuasion, influence, sales
• Conflict resolution
51. Power Switch Practice
• Start by stating a minor problem
• “And when <problem>, what would you
like to have happen?”
52. Power Switch Practice
• This time, start with a metaphor for a minor
problem
• And <problem> is like... what?>
53. Practice
• Person A talks about something/someone
they love (or a metaphor for that)
• What kind of X?
• Is there anything else about X?
• “And when <problem>, what would you
like to have happen?”
54. Feeling to Metaphor
• Person A mentions a feeling
• What kind of X?
• Is there anything else about X?
• Where/whereabouts is X?
• And that’s like... what?
56. Coaching With Clean
• Get a “towards” outcome
• Get a metaphor for that outcome
• Develop the metaphor until chimes
• No fixing! Elicitation is the intervention
57. Coaching With Clean
• What would you like to have happen (as a
result of this module)?
• What kind of X?
• Is there anything else about X?
• Where/whereabouts is X?
• And that’s like... what?