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This post will give you a good introduction about NLP Mind Reading. First we will explain you what Mind Reading is and how to use it. Next we provide you some examples of Mind Reading. Last but not least, give you an exercise with NLP Mind Reading. Put a smile on your face and enjoy the read!

In NLP Mind Reading is when you assume you know what another person thinks or feels in a given situation. And I know what you are thinking right now! Because you never completely or fully do, even if you think they or feel is a close representation of what another person thinks or feels. So, by its definition, any assumption about another person’s feelings or thoughts is mind-reading. NLP Mind Reading.

Mind-reading gets us all into trouble! The trick to avoiding mind-reading is to stick as closely as possible to sensory-verifiable experience in our thoughts. The moment we begin to assume we know what someone is thinking, we often ignore that such a thought came from inside our minds, instead of from outside us, in real life experience. NLP Mind Reading.

Most of us at some time attribute intention to other people’s behavior or absence of behavior. We think we know that someone is interested in us, doesn’t like us or that person tries to hurt us. We easily forget that one of the presuppositions of NLP is that “The map is not the territory.” We are masterful at taking a small cue such as a raised eyebrow, a lack of eye contact or a failure to do something we expected and believing we know what it means. Especially relevant is that we all jump to conclusions about other people’s behaviors at some time. We usually judge other’s behavior by the effect on us and judge our own behavior by our intentions. NLP Mind Reading.

We also expect other people to be able to read our minds. Since we think someone should know we are pleased or annoyed with him or her. Consequently we expect others to realize we are overwhelmed, open to suggestion or distracted.

So mind reading is assuming you know what the other person is thinking or feeling without checking it. This pattern causes a great deal of interpersonal difficulties and is another of the important Meta Model problem-solving tool in your strategies toolbox. NLP Mind Reading.

An example you can take: “When you like that, I know you were not telling the truth.” Assuming you know the truth and you know when someone is telling the truth, you walk into a mind-read here. To challenge such a statement, you can ask: “What evidence do you have for a statement like that?”

Last but not least: Some exercise with NLP Mind Reading

As an exercise for today, write down 20 mind-read patterns. I already know you started, didn’t you? In NLP Mind Reading is part of the higher chunk called Distortion which is part of the Meta Model. Remind yourself to maintain Rapport, read Eye-accessing cues and body language and most of all to have Fun!

Mind Tools provides NLP Practitioner and NLP Master Practitioner Trainings and Certifications. We educate you according to the renowned, latest and highest standards set by the Society of NLP. We will train you thoroughly in all the corners of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and some extras we learned from Dr. Richard Bandler directly.

This article about NLP Mind Reading answers these questions:

What is “Mind Reading” in NLP?

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Mind Reading is assuming you know what another person is thinking or feeling in a given situation without actually checking with them. Even if you believe your guess is a very close representation of the truth, any unverified assumptions about another person’s internal state is defined as a mind-read.

It depends. According to NLP, mind-reading gets us into interpersonal trouble. When we assume we know what someone is thinking, we often forget that the thought originated inside our own heads , rather than coming from an objective, real-life experience outside of us.

People generally fall into this pattern in two ways:

  • Attributing intentions to others: Taking a small visual cue (a raised eyebrow, a lack of eye contact, or someone failing to do something) and inventing a story about what it means—such as “they don’t like me” or “they are trying to hurt me.”
  • Expecting others to read our minds: Assuming people should just “know” when we are annoyed, pleased, overwhelmed, or distracted without us explicitly telling them.

The document highlights two psychological traps:

  • We forget the core NLP presupposition that “The map is not the territory” (meaning our personal perception of a situation is not the actual reality of it).
  • We operate on a double standard: we judge other people’s behavior by the effect it has on us, but we judge our own behavior by our intentions.
The trick to avoiding it is to stick as closely as possible to “sensory-verifiable experience.” This means relying strictly on what you can objectively see and hear, rather than the unverified meanings your brain attaches to those sights and sounds.
  • The Statement: “When you look like that, I know you were not telling the truth.”
  • The Mind-Read: You are assuming you possess the ability to know internal “truth” based purely on someone’s outward physical appearance.
  • The Challenge: You can break this pattern by asking: “What evidence do you have for a statement like that?”
In NLP, Mind Reading is categorized under a higher chunk called Distortion , which is a key component of the Meta Model (a foundational problem-solving tool used to unpack vague or problematic language).
Try this exercise: Write down 20 mind-read patterns you catch yourself or others using. While doing this, practice maintaining Rapport, observing eye-accessing cues and body language, and most importantly—have fun with it!

This information comes from Mind Tools , an organization that provides Licensed NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner Certifications. Their curriculum is educated to the standards set by the Society of NLP and includes direct teachings from NLP co-founder Dr. Richard Bandler.

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