Spelling strategy, based on NLP modelling of excellent spellers? Does the notion of that make you sweat, or roll up your sleeves?  This method is for anyone to improving their spelling strategies, not just for former spelling bee finalists who want to peak perform once more, or the dyslexic.

Good spellers almost always seem to go through the same strategies. This means, if we were to use the same strategies they did, we would all be good spellers.

This process describes the strategy for right handed individuals, left handed individuals choose the opposite direction. I.e. if I say a right handed person places an object on the left, the left handed person would place the object on his or her right.

Step 1: Let’s say you have to memorize the spelling of a certain word.  While someone gives or spells the word to you, if you are right handed, look up and put image of the word on your left. If the word is written down, place the page up and to your left.  Now move the page away.

Step 2: Look up and to your left and visualize the word, just let it appear. Visualize in a way most appealing to you, in your favorite color, in a frame perhaps, really big, etc.  Perhaps it is easier to visualize the word exactly as you saw it.

Step 3: As soon as it has appeared look down and to your right.   If there was a feeling of familiarity, look up to the left again. (This step can be skipped if it doesn’t work for you.  Some people have great benefit using this step, others do not.)

Step 4:  Write the word down on paper, check your visual image against the written down word.

Step 5:  Then write the word down spelled backwards, to thoroughly check if your strategy worked. You should be able to do this, if you strictly used the visual process to memorize the word (and you didn’t use sound/phonetics.)

If there was no feeling of familiarity in step 3, then try to re-create the image again. If you can not, repeat step 1.

Emergency measures: What if, step 1 can not be repeated (for instance you no longer have access to the page), and you can really not remember the image. Then look up and to your right this time and try to construct this image as best as you can. Then look down to your right. Is there some feeling of familiarity now? If there still isn’t. Then result to phonetics, spelling the word out loud, and writing it down the best you know how. You could try placing words up to your left, that are not the same as the word that needs to be spelled, but words that sound very similar. Chances are more likely you end up spelling the word right, even though the sound (phonetics) doesn’t correspond to the spelling.

You can vary this technique depending on the situation, for instance in a spelling bee contest, for which you haven’t studied. The most important part is using the visualization of the word, whilst looking up to your left.  Spelling out a visualized word is easier, then trying to spell from phonetically sounding the word out in your head. This is because in a lot of languages (among which the English language), the phonetics of a word is not the same as it is spelled.

I advise you to experiment with this strategy; you could fine tune it to work better for you.

For those whom haven’t taken NLP training before, looking up and to your left ensures that you access that part of the brain that is associated with visual memory, looking down to your

This system as proven to work real well, even with children labeled with the term “dyslexic.” Often these children used their preferred system of just using feeling or sound to spell out words.

I hope you like this NLP spelling strategy.

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