
By Bernie Wimbush
I did my first Communication Course way back in 1959. I really didn’t understand what I was doing or why, but it was the forerunner to the co-audit which I wanted to do.
I did TRs in 1961 on the HPA course and again at StHill in 1964. As a student instructor I got a better insight into how it was done and what could be done with it. Today, I think about it very differently.
In my view it is vital that students understand what they are doing and why. I have seen a group of real estate agents storm out of a room because ‘sitting opposite someone staring” didn’t make sense.
I think of it this way. We are on a stage acting to some degree. If we are uncomfortable, or fidgeting, we draw attention to ourselves and lose the other’s confidence. If we can hold our position then we will have a presence that inspires confidence. It is so rare to meet someone who can just ‘be there’ that it makes one stand out and enables you to handle all sorts of situations.
The whole aim is to create smooth comfortable communication. If others notice your TRs, they are not being done right. For instance, if they are devoid of ARC, it is not natural and not real TRs.
We have sent students out to use TR0. At a busy shop, confront the assistant and just be there. It is surprising how quickly you get noticed. Do it walking down the street and people will look at you and smile. And it is OK to smile back, that’s natural.
I explain TR1 by getting the student to see that we get in situations where we need to give orders or ask difficult questions. If we can do that smoothly and naturally you will be more effective. And so we give you all these nonsensical words to practice on. When you come to say normal things you will be able to do it much more with confidence.
And TR2. Letting the other know you heard them, or to control the communication. It is often said that a good listener is a good communicator. Doesn’t a good communicator create ARC and thus understanding? Talk about winning friends and influencing people. An essential skill if you ever want to run meetings.
Then TR3. The ability to persist over all odds. And all done nicely and smoothly so the person doesn’t notice they are being controlled.
TR4 is interesting. Handling originations (objections). After many years of trying different things, I have concluded that this is best done using questions. We are using 2WC to audit out objections are we not? No evaluation, just questions. And where can that be used In life? Anywhere you want something to happen.
Want to move a mountain? Communication with the right person is the first step.
And that is where I leave it. I don’t normally do the Upper Indocs, though I did have a dog handler cognite on the “Shouting” (not) at ash trays” drill that this is a drill he could use in puppy training classes. It is intention, he said. Shout and the dog knows you have lost it. Raise the intention and the dog knows you mean it and obeys.
This even works with cats, but I am convinced it is harder.
In Steven’s Creek Mission, we started with an OCA evaluation and then the Communication course. We found that students needed to attend at least 3 sessions per week. The course consisted of TRs 0-4 for half the 2 ½ hour session. The other half was spent going through the principles in Problems of Work. This gave them a good grounding in the subject, and we sold books at every opportunity. At some point they were sold the Life Repair Intensive of 25 hours for $2500.
Pricing was interesting. It started as a giveaway $10 course, but we found that this attracted people who had no money and so couldn’t go up the Bridge. They would often ask for their money back. The other class was those who couldn’t read. They needed to do one of the many courses designed to teach people to read and write. Not our public. So we hiked the price to $100 in 1981.
We also had people who went door to door getting people to fill in OCA sheets. They were then called in by the Public Reg and evaluated and sold onto the course.
When I was declared and returned to Perth we started to duplicate it all, but found we could sell Life Repair straight to the public using what we had learnt about the application of TRs. Unfortunately, in those days we didn’t have access to books (no internet) so our clients didn’t understand the subject and we found that they would get a big win but not go on.
We experimented with running it as a 2 day weekend workshop with a fee of $1600 and it made incredible differences to people. One company put all its franchisees through and raved about how much better they were than those who came later and hadn’t done the course. We find some people want to do it again, and we can always get previous participants to help as Student Instructors. How to fit it all in is the trick.
We even met a man who had done the course with Kingsley when he came back from StHill. It was 30 years earlier, but he raved about it and said it had given him the ability to go into business on his own.
The Communication Course is so easy to run and you don’t have to have much training as the drills are so powerful, and communication is such a key to life that a little increase in skill makes a huge difference.
For anyone looking for a simple and rewarding project – start a Communication Course!
Bernie
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“As the only crime in the universe seems to be to communicate, and as the only saving grace of an awareness of awareness unit is to communicate, we can readily understand that an entanglement of communication is certain to result. What we should understand – and much more happily – is that it can now be resolved.”
L. Ron Hubbard
Dianetics 55!, Chapter Nine
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Comments
Your suggestion to get the Comm Course IN,IN,IN, is just so vital right now, as it has been ever since it's first inception!
ML,Calvin
In short, my personal universe changed in profound and wonderful ways. I became much, much freer, able, and aware as a person. It was as close to heaven as I've ever been, this lifetime.
Thanks for the great write-up, Bernie.
I do need though, to express my gratitude to all that visit this site, and especially Lana, and her team that continue to make this such a welcoming place to drop in, just for a chat, or to contribute, or merely for those who are not inclined to do either, but just read for it's theta value.
ML, Calvin.
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