Bandler and Grinder claimed that matching and responding to the representational systems people use to think is generally beneficial for enhancing rapport and influence in communication. They proposed several models for this purpose including eye accessing cues and sensory predicates.

The direction of eye accesses was considered an indicator of the type of internal mental process (see the eye accessing cue chart).

The sensory predicates, breathing posture and gestures were also considered important. In the sensory predicate model, if someone said:

• "that rings true for me", rings predicates auditory processing.
• "that's clearer now", the sensory predicates clearer indicates some internal visual representation.
• "I can see a bright future for myself", the sensory predicates see and bright indicates some internal visual processing.
• "I can grasp a hold of the concept", the sensory predicates grasp and hold indicates primarily kinesthetic processing

These verbal cues are often coupled with posture changes, eye movements, skin color, or breathing shifts. Essentially, it was claimed that the practitioner could ascertain the current sensory mode of thinking from external cues such as the direction of eye movements, posture, breathing, tone of voice, and the use of sensory-based predicates.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.