This presentation is an introduction to Clean Language

1. INTRODUCTION TO
CLEAN LANGUAGE
Srinath Ramakrishnan
ramakrishnan.srinath@gmail.com
@rsrinath

2. Origins of Clean Language
q Developed by Counseling Psychologist, David Grove who
worked with trauma victims during the 1980’s and 1990s
q Clean Language has its roots in therapy, but is branching in
a wide range of other fields
https://www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/articles/283/1/Obituary-of-David-Grove-1950-2008/Page1.html
q Clean Language amounts to a new way of thinking about the way people
think, with profound implications and powerful effects
q It has been used by coaches, mentors, consultants, managers, health
professionals, parents, sales people – almost in any field of human endeavor
q Clean Language is useful in one on one situations and in groups, in formal
settings and in casual conversations.
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3. What is Clean Language?
■ Clean Language is a simple set of questions that make use of only the
most basic elements of human perception – space, event, category,
attribution and intention
■ At the most simple level, Clean Language is a set of twelve questions
from which assumptions and metaphors have been “cleansed” as far
as possible.
■ Clean Language can be combined with metaphors a person uses,
creating a bridge between their conscious and unconscious minds.
■ Clean Language is not intended as a tool for manipulating others
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4. What is Clean Language?
■ The practice of
– keeping your advice, opinions and assumptions to yourself
– listening and observing with your full attention on the other person’s
words and non verbal signals is known as “behaving cleanly”
■ Ask a general principle, ask your Clean Language questions about the
positive stuff in the speaker’s landscape – the resources they have
and the outcomes they desire.
■ There are no “wrong questions” in Clean Language – only more or less
useful ones in terms of the kind of information they generate
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5. What does a Clean Language questioner do?
■ A Clean Language questioner
– Listens attentively
– Remembers that your assumptions, opinions and advice are your own
– Ask Clean Language questions to explore a person’s words,
particularly their metaphors
– Listen to their answers and then ask more Clean Language questions
about what they have said
– Parrot phrases - Uses a person’s own words in your question shows
that you have really been listening.
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6. Clean Language Process
Listening
Questions Metaphor
Curiosity
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7. The Clean Language Process
■ Two most commonly used Clean Language questions
– (And) what kind of X (is that X)
– (And) is there anything else about X
X refers to a word or phrase the speaker has used
■ These two questions encourage the person to elaborate on their
experience, to find out more about it.
■ It is recommended that you ask the questions predominantly on the
positive aspects of a person’s experience.
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8. Metaphor
■ Metaphor is at the heart of the Clean way of thinking.
■ The word metaphor comes from Greek “amphora” – a storage
container used for transporting valuable goods
■ “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one
kind of thing in terms of another” - Lakoff and Johnson
■ Very often metaphors say more of the person’s thinking than all their
conceptual words put together.
■ If you can put “It is like …”, “It is as though .. “ or “it is as if …” before
an expression it is metaphorical
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9. Metaphors
■ Whenever we compare one thing to another or when we describe one
thing in terms of another, we are thinking in metaphors.
■ Examples
– Look how far we have come
– We are at crossroads
– We can’t turn back now
– We are stuck
– It’s been a long and bumpy road
– Their marriage is on the rocks
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10. Metaphors and Clean Language
■ By asking Clean Language questions about the metaphors a person uses, we
are helping them to bring the metaphors into their awareness and become
conscious of their underlying metaphoric thought
■ This provides a bridge between the parts of the mind so that the “hidden” is
revealed
■ The relationship between the conscious and the unconscious has been
likened to the relationship between an elephant and the rider
– The rider represents the “controlled” processes of the mind – the rational
mind
– The elephant represents the hundreds of automatic operations we carry out
every second outside of our conscious awareness – the emotional mind
■ When Clean Language is used, the rider is made aware of what is going on
within the elephant, improves his communication with it and finds ways to
change which suit them both
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11. Clean Language Questions
■ There are 12 Clean Language questions which are
combined with words used by the speaker
– Developing Questions
■ Name and Address
■ Asking for a Metaphor
■ Relationship Questions
– Sequence and Source Questions
– Intention Questions
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12. Developing Questions
■ When you use the Developing questions, it is as if you are in an old
fashioned darkroom, developing an image from what looks like a
blank sheet of paper.
■ These questions encourage a person to be more specific, to become
clear about what’s true for them
■ It is often worth asking these questions about a single word or short
phrase they have used
■ Split into 3 groups
– Name and Address
– Asking for a metaphor
– Relationship questions
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13. Name and Address questions
■ After looking at “what kind of X is that X” and “Is there anything else about that X”
– (And) where is X? (And) whereabouts it X? - you get a name and address
using Clean Language questions
■ The name and address questions encourage a person to elaborate about the thing
they have mentioned to give more details.
■ These questions clarify what the person is thinking about and where it is
■ Help a person to get specific about what they are thinking and talking about.
■ Useful when exploring emotions
■ Have you noticed that when you feel an emotion, you tend to feel it somewhere in
and around the body.
■ Helping some one become aware of the location of an emotion enables them to
become aware of any other information that the emotion holds for them.
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14. The “Asking for a Metaphor” question
■ Once you have identified some symbols and locations, the coachee
might spontaneously offer a metaphor – “It’s like …”
■ If not, you could use a Clean Language question
(And) that X is like what?”
■ Ask the question very slowly – giving the person’s imagination a
chance to work
■ Note the question is “(And) that X is like what?” and now “And what’s
that like” - the first one will most likely get a metaphor as an answer
■ When you are working at your best, you are like …. What?
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15. Relationship Questions
■ Once you have two symbols, you can find out if, and how, they relate to
each other.
■ Finding out the relationship between symbols is as important as
finding out the symbols themselves.
– (And) is there a relationship between X and Y?
– (And) when X, what happens to Y?
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16. Sequence Questions
■ Typically we structure our thinking breaking the continual flow of time into
separate events
■ The Sequence Questions are also used to help a person decide where an event
starts and where it finishes.
■ Whatever event the person is focusing on, there will always be something that
happened before it and something that happens after it
■ By asking Sequence questions – it increases their awareness of the moments
where they might have a chance to do something different in future.
■ Asking Sequence Questions helps the speaker fill in information that they may
not have realized was missing.
■ Also helps a person to decide when an event starts and where it finishes.
– (And) then what happens? Or (And) what happens next?
– (And) what happens just before X?
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17. Source Question
■ This is one of the least used Clean Language questions
■ This is different from other Clean Language questions because it
generates several different kinds of source information – any of which
you can then ask a further question about
■ You could also ask this question to get a sense of perspective, or to
unjumble a complex situation or experience.
(And) where could X come from?
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18. Intention Questions
■ These are great questions in any sort of coaching context where the
person involved has a desire for something to be different
■ Simply finding out more about our desired outcomes is often enough
for us to work out how to achieve them
■ Also it is about talking and thinking about what you want in positive
terms and have you focused on the goal
■ Asking this question will hold the speaker’s attention on the answer
and encourage them to mentally rehearse their desired behavior so
that when the time comes to put into practice they are ready
(And) what would X like to have happen?
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19. Necessary Conditions Questions
■ These questions explore causality and possible obstacles
■ Invites consideration of what conditions need to be in place or need to
be met for a particular desired outcome to be achieved.
■ It is usual to ask layers of these questions, first finding out all, or most
of the conditions that need to be in place for the desired outcome to
be achieved and then checking if each of the conditions can be met.
(And) what needs to happen for X?
(And) can X (happen)?
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20. Basic Clean Language Questions
■ Developing Questions
– (And) what kind of X is that X?
– (And) is there anything else about X?
– (And) where is X? (And) whereabouts is X?
– (And) that X is like what?
– (And) is there a relationship between X and Y?
– (And) when X, what happens to Y?
■ Sequence and Source Questions
– (And) then what happens? (And) what happens next?
– (And) what happens just before X?
– (And) where could X come from?
■ Intention Questions
– (And) what would X like to have happen?
– (And) what needs to happen for X?
– (And) can X (happen)
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21. Benefits of Clean Language
■ Using Clean Language can
– Help people to make changes they would like in their lives
– Provide both you and them with valuable information about the way
they think and how they do things
– Improve communication, understanding and rapport
– Encourage people to take responsibility for themselves
– Enables you to talk another person’s language, so they feel
acknowledged and heard
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22. References
http://www.cleanchange.co.uk/cleanlanguage/articles/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phw3N6pj2-E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCX8VpPgs2A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MAQf3CAd2Y
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23. Thank you
Srinath Ramakrishnan
ramakrishnan.srinath@gmail.com
@rsrinath
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