The time had come. I had to make a plan, make some decisions, get the ball rolling. I had already put it off several times and I knew I was only going to create a bigger headache if I left it any longer.

The question – how to deliver NLP Practitioner training in 2020?

Let’s step back a few months. In February I ran Module One of a programme that was intended to carry on to June. In March, I put it on hold. We were in lockdown, it just wasn’t possible. And it was a small group so we needed everyone involved if it was to go on any further. Could we have carried on using virtual technology? With hindsight, maybe we could, but at the time it didn’t seem practical and I was assuming we could resume our ‘in person’ sessions fairly soon.

Four months on, it still wasn’t clear to me whether running workshops at my usual venue was going to be possible. And if it wasn’t, was I willing to adapt NLP Practitioner to be delivered on-line? I had a lot of questions…

Firstly, would the hotel be open? Would it be COVID-secure? Would they be open to conferences and events or just leisure guests?

It turned out that they are open, they are accepting conference bookings and they have very good COVID protocols in place.

Secondly, assuming the hotel could support us would people come to a course?

I rang around a selection of HR Directors and canvassed opinions. They were diverse – predictably. Some said yes, if the venue was safe to open then they’d allow their staff to come to the course. Others said it was academic because their business had suffered financially and they had to ‘tighten their belts’. Others said they were staying in lockdown for now. One had an embargo on all travel.

Thirdly, how easy would it be to deliver NLP using virtual means only?

I’m a Master Trainer of NLP. I can be flexible. Virtual delivery might not be ideal, but it’s way better than nothing. I have a good e-learning platform and some capability with zoom. I’m okay about talking to a camera. How hard can it be?

But still the questions persisted. What I really wanted to do was to deliver the training ‘in person’ at the hotel, the way I usually do. It just didn’t seem that it would work. What if there was a second wave and a second lockdown?What was the fall-back position? Was I just being a Luddite and refusing to accept the inevitable?

I knew I had to commit to a plan so I sat down with a large sheet of paper, my ubiquitous coloured pens and a large mug of tea and started to empty my head. Within 20 minutes the decision was made.

I realised that I had many options about to deliver NLP Practitioner training in 2020. There was only one option that was entirely under my control and gave me the chance to do a really great job for my clients. The virtual option. It’s the only way I can make a plan and know that nothing will get in the way of it.

So here’s the plan:

I’ve fixed the days in the same pattern as the original programme. Module One is three days, Modules Two-Four are five days each and Module Five is the two days for assessment and certification.

However, the days will not be eight-hour marathons on zoom. It will be a ‘blended learning’ approach with some material available for self-study and some done ‘live’ on zoom. I’m still working on the exact programme and it’s going to take a while to get everything in place, but I’m enjoying the challenge. It’s been a while since I‘ve designed a major programme like this and it’s a great opportunity to re-visit the content and re-evaluate the exercises and examples.

If you’d like to join in, you can get the details here: https://www.brilliantminds.co.uk/executive-nlp-practitioner/

You don’t have to commit to the whole programme, you can sign up for Module One and then see how you feel about carrying on to Module Two.

You’ll find the details for Module One here: https://www.brilliantminds.co.uk/module-one/