The Milton Model in Ericksonian Hypnosis is a wonderful thing.  It’s all about being artfully vague.  Experience shows that saying something that sounds official, but without providing a lot of detail, will cause most people to simply accept it as truth.  Just like experience shows that vitamin C is necessary to prevent scurvy.

I didn’t explain it ahead of time (except for the title of this post), but I used a language pattern there to create influence.  That pattern is to say, “experience shows … (fill in the blank)”.

Who’s experience?  What experience exactly?  How exactly does it show this?  These are all questions that the Meta Model (as taught in NLP ) would teach you to ask. But most people won’t ask those questions.  They’ll accept the statement as truth.

A salesman could say “Experience shows that customers who buy this model of vehicle have the greatest level of satisfaction over the life of the vehicle”.  It’s typically going to be accepted.

This pattern can be used to influence people.  You can use it within a covert hypnosis session, or you can use it in ordinary conversation.  After all, there really is no difference, right?

You can improve your covert hypnosis abilities by getting good at inserting confusion into your communication.  You should get good at this just like you should get good at telling great jokes.  What I mean by this is that you don’t go around telling jokes non-stop.  You’ll look like an idiot of you do.  In the same way, you don’t want to walk around speaking in confusion-laden language all hours of the day.  People will just assume you are a moron.  So use this stuff gracefully.

Confusion principles are a way to overload the conscious mind with language that seems to be tough to understand.  As you do this, the critical faculty (sometimes called critical factor), or “guardian of the gate” of your unconscious mind, is temporarily overwhelmed.  When this happens, you can drop suggestions straight into the unconscious mind.

Here is a way to use the confusion technique in ordinary language.  Read this aloud if you want to get the best impact:

“Yesterday I was at a store and I was trying to decide if I should buy this one particular set of shoes.  They were the last pair that was left, and I wasn’t sure if they weren’t the right size for me.  The first store that I visited was the last store that would close at the mall that night, and there were many stores left for me to visit to determine if the right shoe for me would be avaible in the right size, and I didn’t think it would be right for me to go home with just whatever was left, so I wanted to make sure that the right shoe was what I had in my hands, at the end of the trip.  Sometimes the first pair you pick out are the right ones for you but other times the last ones you find are the only ones that are left and they end up being better than the first pair that you weren’t sure were not right for you “

Now – I hope that you found this whole sequence confusing!  That’s the point.  Right in the thick of the confusion you could simply look at the target and say whatever you like (preferably in the form of an embedded command).

In the example above I layered in several confusing items.  I used the word “right” in the context of right/wrong and also right/left.  I mixed them together. I also threw in a variety of uses of the word first/last in varying ways to add more confusion.  Finally I used double negatives such as “I wasn’t sure if they weren’t the right size for me”.  This double negative use really tends to add to the overall confusion.

Now – I’m not sure that you shouldn’t decide not to forget to use this tool when you’re not yet sure if you’ll want to begin to learn covert hypnosis today, or perhaps you’d just like to listen to some great free CDs to help you get started.

Whether we’re talking about covert hypnosis, stage hypnosis or therapeutic hypnosis, people are always asking, “is hypnosis real of fake”.  It never ceases to amaze me how people will ask this question even when faced with obvious evidence that hypnosis is very real.  My belief is that people will often refuse to acknowledge the power of hypnosis simply because they don’t understand it, or because they think it is something they cannot control and would therefore rather avoid discussing.  It is these people who will say hypnosis is fake, a big show, blah blah blah.

Here is how I know hypnosis is very real:

• When I first saw a stage hypnosis show in the 1990s by one of the best hypnotists in the world, the subject nearly peed his pants because he thought he was on a planet that was about to blow up. The hypnotist had him believing he was on an episode of Star Trek (older Sci-Fi show that was popular at the time). The subject wanted to be “beamed up” (back to the space ship), but “Scotty”, the guy in charge of doing this, was on a coffee break. The hypnotist started counting down to when the planet would blow up. This subject’s voice started quivering in a way that an Oscar-winning actor would have a tough time duplicating. He couldn’t possibly have acted this well (or he’d be a movie star)
• I witnessed a guy getting his memory back after another stage hypnosis show. This time, the post-hypnotic suggestion was that subjects would forget everything from the show, but it would all come flooding back (safely, and enjoyably) when the subject entered a bathroom. What do you think we did with this guy after the show? We told him there was an IMPORTANT meeting in the bathroom. He walked through the bathroom door and just stopped. He blushed uncontrollably and then started laughing. Keep in mind that the blushing is not something you can consciously control. That’s how you know he isn’t faking. You have to think about these things to realize people cannot fake these reactions.
• When my wife was pregnant with our second child the morning sickness was unbearable for her.  We were about to go on a trip.  I took her to a hypnotherapist who was trained by my teacher (it’s often hard to to therapeutic hypnosis on someone you know, better to take them to an “authority”).  After that day my wife had no more morning sickness for the rest of the pregnancy
• I’ve been using self-hypnosis for years now.  I have put myself into some VERY deep trances and had some very wild experiences.  I don’t need any more convincing than this

I could go on and on about hypnosis and how I know with absolute certainty that it is real.  But if you still need convincing then ask yourself if you have ever noticed, while watching a movie, that your entire body was tense during a scary scene, or an action scene.  Why would your body become so tense?  The only explanation is because you are unconsciously reacting to the movie as if you were actually in it.  Your mind sees the movie, gets into a particular state, and then physiologically responds as if you were in that movie.  There is a level of separation, you won’t get the same adrenalin rush as if someone was actually chasing you, but you get a milder version of this response.  That is, in a sense, a form of hypnosis.

Covert hypnosis is simply one method for using hypnotic skills.  You learn the skills and you employ them in regular conversation.  The goal is to induce trance, or to simply cause a state change within another person and implant a particular suggestion.

Some people are naturally skilled at covert hypnosis and they don’t realize it.  If you are one of those people, fantastic.  But if you are not, and you’d like to become a better communicator, then you should consider learning these skills.

You can always get access to 3 free audio CDs about hypnosis by subscribing to my email newsletter.  It’s totally free, you’ll learn useful stuff, and the list is managed by a reputable company (aweber), so you know your info is never shared and you can always unsubscribe with a single click of your mouse if you don’t like what you get.  But you’ll enjoy it.  I have a lot of experience on this topic, and I think you’ll benefit.

If you are more interested in Self Hypnosis then I highly recommend you visit this site and grab the free content.

You don’t always need to use covert hypnosis to get people to do what you want them to do.  Not every interaction has to be about you (the hypnotist) being Mr. Trance.  Sometimes you are just using simple persuasion techniques.

Here is a recent example.  Last night my wife and I had to go out to Home Depot to buy some hardware before our dinner date (having a babysitter once a week is awesome!).  We had a few small items in hand, and were ready to check out but we remembered we wanted to also buy a gift card for a Christmas present.  The gift cards are not sold at the cash, but at the service counter.

We asked the girl at the service counter to sell us a gift card, and let her know we also had to pay for these other items of hardware that we had with us.  She told us that she could sell us the gift card, but that the other hardware would have to be paid for at the regular cash.

We were not in a rush, there were few lineups, and I guess I wasn’t naturally in a mood to get my way.  So I was about to just comply with her answer.  But my wife said to her, “I’ve paid for things here before when I bought gift cards in the past”.  I heard her say this and instantly switched into “persuasion mode”

The girl behind the counter basically said, “We aren’t supposed to do that”.  Now, here is the magic that you must recognize if you want to get good at persuading people.  When someone says, “not supposed to”, or something to that effect, what you should hear is “it’s possible – I can do it but I’m told to say no”.

Here’s the thing:  People will take the lesser of two evils when given a choice.  Naturally, she did not want to allow us to check out at the service counter because it was against policy.  All I needed to do was to make it awkward for her to say no to me.  The possibility of a minor problem with her boss would then be less than the guarantee of awkwardness with me.

So let’s get back to the story.  She had said “I’m not supposed to”.  I calibrated in her what seemed like a small moment of confusion.  I jumped at it.  I immediately smiled, and politely said to her, “Oh, well just check us out for these small items with the gift card because we are in a bit of a rush”.  I then actually handed her the items we had to pay for and pulled out my credit card.

I never gave her the opportunity to say no.  I noticed my moment of opportunity and jumped at it without being rude, or seeming like a jerk.  I was very nice to her and thanked her for the help.  I wished her a nice evening and a great weekend.

Let me point out one last thing:  The word “because” has magic powers of persuasion.  Notice above that I said to her “well just check us out for these small items BECAUSE …”

The format is important.  There are three parts to the sentence.  Part 1 is a command.  It is not a request such as “would you be able to” or “can you”.  It is a polite order.  “Just do xyz”  Part 2 is the word “because”.  Part 3 is your request.  If you use this tactic the unconscious mind simply hears the word “because” and is programmed to understand that there is a reason.  Any reason will do.

When I first learned this back in 1993 the guy who taught it to me said you could literally use ANY reason after the magic word “because”.  It’s true.   You can almost say anything.  It works very often.

Enjoy!

Here is an easy language technique you can use to slip in an embedded command when you are having a conversation. You may already understand how to use an embedded command by marking out a fragment of a sentence. In case this is new to you, it’s simple. As an example, you could say, “It’s easy for some people to sleep easily at night”. The words “sleep easily at night” would be marked out differently by tone, tempo, or by looking directly in the person’s eyes when saying it. The unconscious understands the marking.

To enhance the power of the technique you can add a word such as “tonight” to the end of the sentence. But, to make it ambiguous, and therefore allow it to slip past the conscious mind even more effectively, you continue with another sentence. The idea is to have the word “tonight” serve as the last word of the first sentence, and the first word of the last sentence.

Full example: “”It’s easy for some people to sleep easily at night … tonight … I am probably going to go to bed early and I look forward to the rest”.

So you can notice how the embedded command is used, followed by the word “tonight”, which bridges the first and second sentence. This is a classic Milton Erickson technique. The conscious mind spends time wondering how to interpret the sentence, while the unconscious mind understands the message.

Check out the free hypnosis CD downloads available by clicking here.

If you are interested in the subject of covert hypnosis, then it’s natural to want to learn covert hypnosis language patterns. I have an awesome deck of playing cards (actually 3 decks) from Jamie Smart.  Jamie is a UK-based expert in NLP and Ericksonian Hypnosis.  The cards were recommended to me by a friend.  I bought them and have kept them with me every day.  They are a fantastic way to learn covert hypnosis language patterns.

If you look up Jamie Smart from Salad Consulting on Google you’ll find them.  They are not really cheap, but they are good quality and come with a nice plastic case.  If you have friends who want to learn hypnosis, then you can easily use these while playing poker, blackjack, or any card game – you can just play with the following rules.  Any time a card is put down, the person to the left must use the language pattern on the card in a sentence.  The play will be slow, but you’ll learn a lot about covert hypnosis language patterns.

Naturally, the fastest way to get good at these language patterns is to actually invest in a proper course such  as The Power of Conversational Hypnosis by Igor Ledochowski.  Here is a link to his fantastic audio course in covert hypnosis.

There is a fine line between covert hypnosis and techniques of influence.  I say this because in my view, covert hypnosis is the art of causing someone to comply with your wishes without the subject putting up any kind of fight.  Furthermore, it applies to situations where the subject would not normally have complied.

Dr. Robert Cialdini is, in my view, a fantastic author on the topic of influence.  He would probably not describe his book as one about covert hypnosis, but I really think it is worth reading, and I think that if you stretch your definition of covert hypnosis, this book fits into the category nicely.

One of my favorite lessons is the power of the word “because”.  Cialdini describes an experiement conducted by Harvard social psychologiest Ellen Langer.  She demonstrated the power of the word “because” by approaching people who were in line to use the copy machine.  She approached the person at the front of the line and said, either:  ”Excuse me, I have five pages.  May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”  Or, she said, “Excuse me, I have five pages.  May I use the Xerox machine?

Notice that there is only one difference between the two questions.  In the first scenario she provides a reason, by saying “because I’m in a rush”.

This “reason” is what I would call covert hypnosis.  Why?  Because when she provided a reason a whopping 94% of people said “sure, no prob … go ahead”.  When she provided no reason onlly 60% of people complied, and the other 40% said, “yeah, right, get to the back of the line”.

I tell you:  ”because” is a magic word.  It causes compliance because it implies that there is a reason for the request.  Human brains tend to accept reasons, even crappy reasons, automatically.  This truly is covert hypnosis at work.

Cialdini’s book can be viewed at Amazon.com here (click on the picture).  I’ve read it 3 times, given it out as a gift several times, and loaned out my own dog-eared copy to many people.  Get this book!

One of the best covert hypnosis tools you can learn to master is called “embedded commands”.  Quite simply, an embedded command is a sentence fragment that, when stripped out of the sentence, represents its own stand-alone command.  For example “need to scratch your nose” could be the command you want to embed within a sentence.  Or even simpler, you could just embed, “scratch your nose”.

To embed the command, you would simply use a sentence including the command.  You could simply say, “Some people think that it is not polite to scratch your nose in public”.

When embedding a command in covert hypnosis, it is important to make sure that you mark out the command with something unique.  Often people use a different tone of voice, or a slower tempo.  Some people prefer to shift their gaze directly into the other person’s eyes to use direct eye contact as the marker.  Whatever you do, just make sure that it is congruent!

There are just so many great tools in covert hypnosis.  It’s easy to find yourself interested in learning more, isn’t it?

If you are interested in learning covert hypnosis then you absolutely must master the art of pacing and leading in regular conversation.  When I talk about pacing and leading in this article I’m specifically referring to the use of language, as opposed to the body pacing (mirroring/matching) that you lean in NLP.  I’m talking about pacing current experience. 

When you make statements that pace somebody’s current experience you create rapport, and you create unconscious agreement.  Here’s an example of pacing YOUR current experience:  You are reading an article about covert hypnosis.  The font size is suitable for many people, but some people like it larger and some people prefer smaller fonts. 

All I did was to give you a statement that was true.  That is pacing.  Now let’s talk about leading.  When you think about covert hypnosis, you are probably interested in knowing how to lead people. After the end of this post come back and re-read that sentence.  You’ll see I used leading right there.

Leading is where you make a statement that you want the other person to assume is true.  You want them to associate it to the previous pacing statement in an unconscious way.  You want their brain to think in terms of a cause and effect relationship between the pacing statements and the leading statements. 

Here’s a complete example: You are reading an article about covert hypnosis.  You’ve read several paragraphs now, so I know that this topic is quite interesting to you.  It’s interesting to a lot of people.  As you continue reading this blog, you’ll begin to notice that you can learn a lot from me.  You might start to look for ways that you can accelerate your learning of covert hypnosis through books.  Or even better, you might look for audio courses that you can purchase online.

I hope you see the beauty of this technique.  The first two statements in the above paragraph are truths.  The third statement is an assumption based on the two truths, and it will be deemed true by most readers.  The rest of the statements are leading statements.  The brain will unconsciously associate the leading statements to the pacing statements and this will cause them to be true in the readers’ mind.  

To use this tool you must start by understanding where you want to lead your subject.  Once you know the answer, you must simply pace their current experience and morph the verbal comments that you make into leading statements.  We’ve almost come to the end of this article.  The tool is very simple.  As you think about the simplity of the tool, and realize that it can be incorporated into everyday language, you can wonder where you’ll try it out in your own life.  The astute readers noticed that the last sentence was anothe pace and lead.

Covert hypnosis can be a lot of fun and the tools are simple, but require plenty of practise.  Stay the course.  Have fun.  Start using this stuff.

When you think about stage hypnosis I bet you don’t think that it has anything at all to do with covert hypnosis, do you?

One of the best hypnotists on the planet is Dr. Mike Mandel out of Toronto, Canada.  Currently in Toronto there is a big event on called the Canadian National Exhibition.  Dr. Mike Mandel does daily stage hypnosis shows at this event.  If you have ever seen him, and if you have any skill in covert hypnosis, then you’d realize immediately he is using covert hypnosis even before he gets anybody up on stage.

I encourage you to watch an excellent stage hypnotist such as Dr. Mandel.  Pay close attention to everything that he says and does prior to getting anybody up on stage at all.  You’ll notice that in a very conversational manner, he is getting people to enter a state of wanting to be up on stage.  He is embedding commands such as “want to come up on stage”.  Then, once the participants are actually up on stage he continues to talk to them in a very casual way.  As far as they understand, the hypnosis has not yet begun!  But it has … and it is all covert hypnosis.

Stage hypnosis can be so much fun to watch … and for me it’s all the pre-show stuff that is most interesting.