CLEAN LANGUAGE

“Language is more than just a means of communication, it is an organ of

perception.” Julian Jaynes

Clean language is a remarkable way of having more impact by doing less. It was originally
developed by David Grove, who worked with traumatised war veterans.

Oftentimes, when talking to someone who is struggling, people will try and give solutions
or their thoughts on how they might respond in that situation. We say, ‘why don’t you do
this?’ Or… ‘what about trying that?’ People often impose their perspective onto someone
else’s present state or challenge. We use our language rather than their language.

Clean language is a very different, unique and powerful approach to helping people get
unstuck. David Grove discovered that by working with the veterans at a metaphorical level
and avoiding ‘polluting’ his client’s thinking (or internal representation) with his own
language, it would create remarkable results.

The principle behind Clean Language is that we put as little of ‘our own stuff’ into the other
person’s world as possible, when we talk to them. We don’t ‘contaminate’ their experience
(or their internal representation) with our own beliefs, language and ‘filters’.

Instead we can use ‘clean language’ which enables others to access their unconscious
and create profound change easily.

WWW.TRISTANSOAMES.COM

Be Do & Have Anything [un] Ltd. Company No. 06932910 Registered Office - Frith & Co.
Moorgate House, 7 Station Road West, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 9EE
How do we do this?

Essentially, we repeat back some of their words, and then ask very simple, but specific
questions. As an example:

Very simple, but specific questions… in what way?

Very simple, but specific questions… and what happens next?

And what kind of very simple but specific questions?

WWW.TRISTANSOAMES.COM

Be Do & Have Anything [un] Ltd. Company No. 06932910 Registered Office - Frith & Co.
Moorgate House, 7 Station Road West, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 9EE
To give another example, if you’re talking to someone who’s stuck in their thinking or
‘present state’, you could respond by being curious. So if they say “I’m feeling stuck”, you
could ask them, ‘You’re feeling stuck, in what way?’ or, ‘What kind of feeling stuck?’ or,
another example could be ‘Is there anything else about being stuck?’ or, ‘Whereabouts is
that stuck’?

All these questions invite them to go deeper into their experience, so that you can unpack
and elicit the deeper structure of their experience. And within that deep structure, you’ll find
treasures and insights; what’s ‘beneath the surface’, which can then help them to shift into
their ‘desired state’.

Similarly, if we’re to take a desired state frame - talking to someone who’s really inspired or
excited by something - you could ask them, ‘Inspired in what way?’ or, ‘Excited in what
way?’ And they’ll then reveal more of that desired state, which gives them even more
access to what inspires or excites them. In this way we are accessing the almost limitless
pool of resources available in that person’s unconscious by digging beneath the surface of
what they are saying.

The key idea behind Clean Language is that we respect the other person’s ‘internal mental
maps and models of the world.’ By staying ‘clean’, we allow them to explore and navigate
their internal world without distorting, deleting or generalising it from – or with – our own
perspective.

You might imagine that the person we are conversing with or coaching is navigating a
computer game: they can’t see the full map of the game. In real world terms, they can’t see
the full spectrum of their potential experience. Essentially, they’re just finding their way
through their experience as best they can.

WWW.TRISTANSOAMES.COM

Be Do & Have Anything [un] Ltd. Company No. 06932910 Registered Office - Frith & Co.
Moorgate House, 7 Station Road West, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 9EE
With Clean Language we can ask a question based on their ‘map’ or experience, but which
takes them in different and unexplored directions within their own internal world. This can
be deeply revealing and incredibly enriching for the person we are talking with. It can be
profoundly liberating and transformational. And, it’s remarkably simple!

WWW.TRISTANSOAMES.COM

Be Do & Have Anything [un] Ltd. Company No. 06932910 Registered Office - Frith & Co.
Moorgate House, 7 Station Road West, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 9EE