NLP and Anchoring

Anchoring is probably one of the best-known NLP terms, and a very useful technique originally developed by Bandler and Grinder.

It’s a way of tapping into the powerful unconscious desires of other people to elicit the response you’re trying to get.

Anchoring works by associating a memory or feeling with something else — that is, you’re anchoring the two together. For instance, when you think of something fun you did often when you were a child, feelings of pleasure come to you. Those feelings are anchored to that memory.

Anchoring, in the NLP sense, is going on inside and outside us all the time. Most of the time we are not aware that it is happening, which makes it all that much more powerful over us.

Novelists and filmmakers consciously use anchoring. Think back to your favorite movie and how cues like music, lighting, action, and suspense produced various psychological states in you as you watched.

When you heard the signature music in “Jaws” that signaled the shark’s approach, how did you react? A little nervous, perhaps?

Did you even need to actually see the shark on the screen for these reactions to take place?

In the same way that the shark’s theme music is used over and over in the film to keep stimulating the same response, many pieces of music and literature also use recurring themes for the same purpose.

When dealing with other people, we often use anchoring without realizing it. The outcome of these encounters often is a result of the anchoring that takes place among the participating parties, so it would be helpful to become conscious of what is happening.

When we build up a strong emotional association with another person, we tend to re-enact that emotion automatically and unconsciously whenever we are in their presence.

NLP techniques can help you become aware of the reactions that you are anchoring in other people and in ourselves. Once you know this, you can control the anchoring so that it best serves you and your goals.