Covert Metaphor

I wrote in an earlier post about finding out how people spatially code ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It is always beneficial to gesture in either direction, depending on your desired outcome. This technique can be used in combination with anchoring certain words to yourself.

Unconscious gesturing seems to be a natural part of conversation. People point to themselves, point into space, move their hands in unison to emphasize words and so on. Most of us probably never make a conscious note of the gestures being used in a conversation, which allows those who are conscious to deliver unconscious messages. Now say that ten times fast.

This works best when you are persuading someone that you are the best choice over someone or something else. This can be anything from convincing a company to hire you over other candidates to showing your date how much more attractive you are.

First, find out roughly where a person’s ‘no’ resides; the left or right side is sufficient. When you speak of anything negative, you will gesture to that side of the person you are talking to. When you speak of something positive, you will point to yourself with your finger around your solar plexus or heart level. It may take some practice until you begin to do this almost without thinking. At that point it will look more natural. When I first started playing with this I would stand in the mirror and use a script corresponding to my objective. It looked very mechanical and unnatural in the beginning, but trust me, keep it up and it will begin to just flow.

To demonstrate the technique I will use a simple interview example.

“How do you know when you find the perfect candidate? You probably have to interview quite a few people, I would imagine, before you finally find the most qualified person for the job…now…When that happens I’m sure you feel totally at ease knowing that you can stop interviewing other people. “

So, you would be obviously pointing to yourself when you say the words in italics and you would point to their ‘no’ direction when you say any words in bold. You may also notice there are embedded commands in there as well.

This can be used for numerous situations. Pick an outcome, write a simple script, and then practice in the mirror for a few days. Once you think you got it down, go and really do it.

By the way, I’ve never had anyone ask why I was gesturing in a certain way. Just make sure you don’t pause too long with each gesture.

admin :: Sep.17.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis :: 2 Comments »

I find that many people who become interested in hypnosis and persuasion will naturally gravitate towards magic, sleight of hand, psychological illusions, and mentalism. There is a good reason for this.

Magic and mentalism rely much on misdirection. They lead your attention to one place so you’ll overlook what they’re really doing. Conversational hypnosis and persuasion, of course, work in a similar way.

Derren Brown caught my attention because he supposedly uses hypnosis, NLP, and other methods of persuasion. Sometimes he will explain what he did at the end of the show, like using embedded commands for example. I wasn’t always convinced. His conversational hypnosis skills are not THAT good from what I’ve gathered, but his skill of misdirection is phenomenal.

It wasn’t until I began to study magic and mentalism that I realized what he was really doing. His misdirection had persuaded me to accept his explanation, but his explanation may not have been what he’d really done at all.

Although it helps, you don’t have to study magic and mentalism to understand and use misdirection in conversational hypnosis and persuasion.

Any type of language pattern that causes a person to go inside themselves can be used for misdirection. Also, misdirection doesn’t necessarily have to be verbal. You can interrupt any kind of physical pattern or routine by simply deviating from it. For example, when you shake a person’s hand you have certain unconscious expectations because you’ve gone through the motions so many times.

When someone shakes your hand in a way you’re not used to or not expecting, it causes you to pause and perhaps start an internal dialogue, “What the hell was that?” Every so often someone comes and shakes your hand with a grip of steel or a hand which feels dead. Although they may not be consciously misdirecting you, the action still causes you to go internal and assess the situation.

So far I’ve covered a few different techniques.

Chaining nominalizations is a wonderful method of losing someone’s attention because they have to think constantly about what you’re really trying to say. They are forced to start applying their own meanings to the words you are using. Chaining nominalizations and using them with double binds actually takes a lot of practice before it really starts to flow, so it isn’t a method I recommend to beginners. For example…

“I can really appreciate your ability to make the excellent decision to commit to this project or the wonderful experience of your realization to accept this opportunity for growth.”

Uh, yeah…what did he just say exactly? Misdirection. There it is.

Or you can embed commands within stories. You’re not telling them to do anything, the characters in the story are.

One of the most simple ways to misdirect is to use an interrupt. Humans are pattern machines. They get into a rhythm and let their conscious minds drift. You can confirm this just by going out to the store or a restaurant. Look for someone who has a job which is routine. I’m always using interrupts to break people out of their trances.

For example, there are so many stores now that offer some sort of rewards card, be it a book store, grocery store, or coffee store franchise. It is routine to ask the customer if they have the right card or not. The usually expect one of two possible answers, yes or no. If you deviate from this pattern, you will interrupt their trance, and they will briefly go internal to make sense of what you just said. Perfect misdirection, allowing you to throw in whatever you want.

I usually just interrupt people’s patterns, but I don’t take it any further than that.

“Do you have our preferred rewards card?”

“What colors do your cards come in?”

“…” A few seconds pass. “Um, I’m sorry what did you say?”

admin :: Aug.15.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, NLP, advanced language patterns, hypnosis :: 1 Comment »

I’ve covered illusion of choice which can also be referred to as a double bind.

“Do you want the red one or the blue one?”

Adding words that represent the dimension of time in a double bind can be very powerful as well.

“Do you want to go now or in a few minutes?”

“Will you be hiring me today or shall I start next week?”

These questions presuppose your intended outcome and bind the listener to make a choice either now or later.

I wrote yesterday about the autonomous flow of thoughts arising during trance, and this can be used as an advantage in time binds.

“Please let me know when your ready to make a choice. We can proceed as quickly or slowly as you like.”

You strongly imply here that your desired outcome will definitely take place. It is difficult not to presuppose something when using any of these advanced language patterns. Even if there is a gap in time, the unconscious is given a strong psychological implication which it feels it must carry out. So if not today, then certainly later.

I know reading about these patterns day after day can be overwhelming, and it does take time to digest before you can go out and begin using them naturally, which means perhaps you’re beginning to recognize now how you’ll be utilizing this information almost if by magic before the end of this week or the next.

admin :: Aug.06.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns, hypnosis :: No Comments »

A good hypnotist can openly or covertly influence the direction of the autonomous flow of thoughts associated with trance.

In a therapeutic setting, the hypnotist is usually focused on getting the subject to physically relax. They may tell the subject to keep still, stop talking, and close their eyes. These are direct suggestions, but if the subject is already relaxed, they may find the indirect approach easier to accept.

“You don’t have to talk or move or make any sort of effort. You don’t even have to hold your eyes open.”

In a relaxed or trance state the subject is already predisposed not to do anything, so by suggesting they don’t have to do anything, makes it that much easier to accept. You have of course actually suggested they shut up, keep still, and close their eyes.

In terms of persuasion, I haven’t seen that much written or applied using suggestions of not doing or not knowing. I tried thinking of direct suggestions which could be turned into indirect suggestions of “not doing”, but then it occured to me that people use these type of suggestions all the time with each other.

“It’s only 11:00pm. You don’t have to go home just yet.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. It’s only money after all.”

“You can just sleep over here tonight and not worry about driving home tired.”

I’m sure you can think of many other examples.

After some time you’ll begin to see how all these patterns begin to build upon each other.

I don’t know whether you’ll read all of my posts today, tomorrow, or throughout the week or just make frequent visits to this site, because you don’t have to learn this material all at once, which means you can just take your time and read through slowly and enjoy yourself now.

That last sentence consists of an illusion of choice, several presuppositions, cause and effect, not-doing indirect suggestion, conjunctions, and embedded commands. Again, it works better spoken than written. The more you practice writing and talking these out, the easier it gets to construct them on the fly. It’s almost like learning a new language, but once you get it to flow, you’ll be surprised how easy you’ll be able to apply it to any situation.

I hope by now you can begin to appreciate your acceptance of the decision to commit yourself fully to learn conversational hypnosis, metaphor, and persuasion using this site. You’ve come a long way.

admin :: Aug.06.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns, hypnosis :: No Comments »

Recently, a friend and I were discussing the possibility that a few readers may not understand that what I write about are just models to guide one in the right direction. These models of covert hypnosis and persuasion are not one-pill solutions. Each person and every situation is different. What may work on one person may not work on another. Tweak a little here, tweak a little there, and eventually you find the right spot; covertly that is. You have to play with this stuff. You have to actually go out and use it. Reactions may not always be positive, but with experience you’ll be able to divert their conscious attention very quickly, and come in at a different angle.

And now something completely different, maybe. I think it was in Bandler and Grinder’s Frogs into Princes, Bandler stated that everything is hypnosis, and Grinder disagreed by saying, “all communication is hypnosis.”

Not all conversations have the same effect, but we’re basically hypnotizing each other every time we speak. Hypnosis is not, as so many people falsely believe, a state where you lose control of your will and start clucking like a chicken. Or as the late Steven Heller says, “There’s no such thing as hypnosis.” because hypnosis is just a word to represent a myriad of different states of consciousness. Maybe I will say something to you that your mother always said, something which made you furious, and presto! You instantly relive that state. Could that be hypnosis?

Ever hear the phrase, “Fake it ’til you make it?” If you pretend something, most people will pretend along with you, but it’s possible you’re the only one who is aware of it. This reminds me of a story Milton Erickson told either Bandler or Grinder, I’m not sure.

“You don’t consider yourself a therapist, but you are a therapist.” And I said, “Well, not really.” He said, “Well, let’s pretend . . . that you’re a therapist who works with people. The most important thing . . . when you’re pretending this . . . is to understand. . . that you are really not . . . You are just pretending . . . And if you pretend really well, the people that you work with will pretend to make changes. And they will forget that they are pretending . . . for the rest of their lives. But don’t you be fooled by it.” And then he looked at me and he said: “Goodbye.”

Think about that one for a bit. When you think you got it, then go ahead and apply this advice to any situation you want to.

This makes me think of an old TV series called The Pretender about a character who could integrate himself into any walk of life.  Some of it may have been a little far fetched, but it is really amazing how far you can go when you pretend, and those surrounding you pretend right along with you.

admin :: Aug.04.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, hypnosis :: 2 Comments »

This is similar to an Illusion of Choice, but instead of only two choices, your subject is given a small range of possibilities. Depending on the objective, each response should fit within your chosen frame.

Perhaps you are interested in using these techniques at work, in your daily conversation, with friends or family, or just to be more persuasive in your intimate relationships.

All the reasons I have just given may have absolutely nothing to do with why you are interested in these techniques, but if you had made any of those choices they would have been acceptable for me.

I have often used a class of responses in past interviews:

Would you need me to begin with project management, the network, perimeter security, or haven’t you made the decision on where I could begin positively supporting your team?

Milton Erickson is famous for using hand levitation:

Shortly your right hand, or it may be your left hand, will begin to lift up, or it may press down, or it may not move at all; but we will wait to see just what happens. Maybe the thumb will be first, or you may feel something happening in your little finger, but the really important thing is not whether your hand lifts up or presses down or just remains still; rather it is your ability to sense fully whatever feelings develop in your hand.

When you are given those range of possibilities for movement, you have to obviously pick on of them, which most likely will lead you deeper into trance.

I don’t know whether you will integrate all of these techniques that I write about, pick only what is relevant to you, or concentrate only on a few of my posts at a time.

admin :: Aug.03.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns :: No Comments »

There are so many ways you can learn conversational hypnosis. People can, you know, visit this site often and have many experiences learning this fascinating subject just by reading the posts. But now I’ve decided to expand on my teaching methods.

I’m currently working on a video using conversational hypnosis and hypnotic induction that will last around 30-40 minutes. I’ll either host it locally or upload it to a site like youtube.com. I will mostly base the patterns off the Milton Model, that is Milton Erickson and his methods of hypnotic induction. By the time I finish this video I should have covered every well-known example of Milton Erickson’s indirect suggestion methods in my posts.

That way, by the time you watch the video, you should be able to follow and recognize what I am doing. I believe this is a very entertaining way to learn conversational hypnosis. If there is interest, I may even make some DVDs. Personally, I don’t find watching little videos on the web all that fun. As you imagine learning this material through crystal clear video and audio… Ah, nevermind.

Anyways, this post is really about Open-Ended Suggestion.

Open-suggestion patterns do nothing more than plant ideas in the conscious and unconscious mind, which may be used instantly or developed at a later time. There are many ways to use open-ended suggestions. You aren’t suggesting anything specific because there are numerous ways to approach an experience. The listener is free to interpret and choose their own actions.

I typically use open-ended suggestions in the beginning of a hypnotic induction, but there are a lot of ways you can integrate this into your everyday speech.

“There are a variety of ways to finish this project.” The wheels begin turning in your desired direction.

“There are so many ways you can wear this dress.” Let them think of the possibilities, not you.

“There are so many experiences a family can have with this Hawaiian vacation and travel package.” Oh, the beach, the restaurants, tours. So many possibilities.

You can be resourceful in so many ways when you use open-ended suggestions.

By the way, I will continue the Myth and Metaphor posts later this week.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment, now.

admin :: Aug.01.2007 :: covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns :: 2 Comments »

I wasn’t sure if I should write about cause and effect linkages, because using these kind of advanced language patterns can make you very persuasive.

The use of cause and effect in pacing and leading statements can be very powerful. One of the reasons it is so powerful is that many people already speak like this naturally.

The pacing statement begins with an undeniable truth:

“As you sit here…”

“This could be the most important book you will ever read…”

“There are a variety of ways to respond to a situation…”

“You are interviewing more than one candidate for this job…”

“Your desire to make more money…”

Undeniable truths are not always necessarily physical facts. Many beginners, when they learn leading and pacing statements, get hung up on including only facts which are only visually obvious. This works well in conversational hypnosis and indirect suggestion within a therapeutic setting, but persuasion settings can require more flexibility. For example, “As you breath in and out…”, “As you sit in that chair…”, and “Having your arms folded…” are very obvious undeniable truths.

Using words like “perhaps”, “may”, “can”, “could” and so on, still makes the statement an undeniable truth because it can go either way. In my second example I state that this could be the most important book you will ever read. Well, it could be, couldn’t it? You can also use their own language in a pacing statment as in my last example. If you ask a customer, “What exactly about this product interests you?” and they answer, “Well, I want to know if it can make me more money.”, then that has become an undeniable truth which you can use.

Cause and effect words include “make”, “require”, “have to”, “must”, and “cause”, but you may include any verb really, which matches the situation. Notice the following examples include presuppositions, making them even more powerful:

“you find yourself beginning to relax quickly and easily.”

“because it will cause you to make decisions leading to wonderful changes in your life.”

“which means you may have to choose between red or blue.”

“means you will be required to make a choice, and hire the right candidate.” (points to self, marks off embedded command with change in tonality)

“tells me you must absolutely recognize the power of this software.”

Now put the first and second examples together to see the full cause and effect linkages in action.

I shouldn’t have to tell you now that I’ve been using cause and effect statements throughout this post, because then you may have to read this post again to see if I’m lying.

admin :: Jul.25.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns :: 3 Comments »

I could say that it’s very easy to go into trance, but it may take you some time and a few more visits to this blog before you know it to be true. People can, you know, go into trance quickly and easily and they don’t have to say anything or make any conscious effort at all. You don’t even have to really concentrate on what I write here because your unconscious mind will understand all of it clearly.

As you read this, there is nothing to do now, nothing you have to think about or respond to. You don’t even have to expect anything in particular in this post because you don’t know how your unconscious mind is responding to my words. And after reading all of the material within this blog, you don’t even have to concern yourself at all about how you’re going to integrate this material.

We need a lot of skills to get along in this world. Everybody knows the importance of doing some practicing. Perhaps it’s been a long time since you remember being interested in something. I’m not really sure though. Each person is different. And you’re probably wondering how you’ll ever get turned on by this stuff.

I don’t know if you’ll ever want to actually use this information now or maybe just find yourself using it later on. How would life be different as an excellent conversational hypnotist, capable of weaving covert metaphors like a master story-teller? People have different ways of learning this material.

Some, of course, are interested in learning everything, but others pick and choose. It might only be one little thing that you will find of interest here, one or two subjects in their entirety, just a little part of each, and some of my material may not really be your cup of tea.

Which of this material is easiest for you - Advanced Language Patterns, Metaphor, NLP, Conversational Hypnosis or Storytelling? Which one of these do you have the least chance of giving up on?

What do you want to do after you master all these skills you read about at covertmetaphor.com?

admin :: Jul.24.2007 :: metaphor, persuasion, covert hypnosis, NLP, advanced language patterns, hypnosis :: 2 Comments »

A master at work.

Make sure and turn up the volume. The sound quality is low.

admin :: Jul.20.2007 :: persuasion, covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns, hypnosis :: 1 Comment »