Category: Frames

The “As If” Frame is the pretending that some event has happened. Thinking “as if” it had occurred, encourages creative problem solving by mentally going beyond apparent obstacles to desired solutions. Ask “What would it be like if I could?”

Positive framing is the process of taking a negative or neutral experience and extracting the beneficial outcomes that resulted from the experience.

The Blame Frame uses contrasting examples as a way to assist others to understand the significance of new concepts. The blame frame poses a series of questions that are problem oriented and lead to experiences of limitation and lack of choice. These questions demand explanations of why a person doesn’t have what they want based […]

The Outcome Frame is a process to find out what people want, and then to discover what resources they have and how to use those resources to get them what they want. The outcome frame is a set of questions that orient a persons thinking in such a way as to maximize the possibility of getting what they […]

An Open Frame provides an opportunity for anyone to raise any comments or questions about the material that interests them.  This frame can promote inclusion and therefore build rapport with participants and can be applied in various situations, such as in a training environment or in a meeting. 

The Backtrack Frame can be used to check agreement and understanding during and at the conclusion of a meeting, to update a new arrival or to restart a discussion. Backtracking is accomplished by reviewing the available information using the keywords and tonality of those who brought the information forward at the beginning. Each person filters information […]

A Contrast Frame is a comparison between two separate thoughts or ideas. It is used to make a comparison in which the opposite comparison has not been recognized. An example is; “What if I told you that we charge $1,000 per day… Yet we aren’t going to charge you that, we’re only going to charge you […]

The What-If frame is based on the premise of ‘pretending’ to believe something different. The What-If frame, also know as the As-If frame, is used to assist a person to consider more ideas, options and possibilities, that they may not have otherwise considered. The intention is that by facilitating that person in trying on those different […]

The Purpose Frame provides a way to satisfy the purpose of a person’s request without necessarily giving them what they actually ask for. Below is a demonstration on how to apply the Purpose Frame using  two imaginary individuals – Tom and Jerry. For our example, Jerry will be using the purpose frame to address a request made by Tom. […]

This style of framing is designed to determine a person’s “Evidence Procedures” — the observable evidence that a person uses to define whether or not a goal has been successfully achieved. This is obtained from sensory specific language that describes what will be seen, heard and felt when the desired outcome is achieved. By asking […]