Covert Metaphor

The following is a stream of consciousness which I wrote sitting at a café one morning. I was thinking about things which disturb me, and this is what came out. Read it carefully because there are a few key components of persuasion and manipulation sprinkled about.

What do I find disgusting and revolting? Now as I attempt to produce an answer I can’t think of much that really gets to me. Where some people might tend to resist the image of blood and guts, I think what makes me cringe the most is the effects of successful persuasion and manipulation which break all ethical boundaries; those insidious techniques used against people to ruin lives.

Even slightly more mild examples make my skin crawl. I can’t stand watching small children parrot every commercial they see, or spew forth religious dogma on cue like trained puppies, their parents smiling so proud. Vomit.

I see it everyday when someone manipulates their partner using emotional techniques of give and take. The willing victims are those who don’t analyze their own actions, question their own beliefs, and accept everything at face value. Is an unexamined life really worth living?

It is a disturbing thought to think humans may be nothing more than organic vessels carrying loads of useless memes around, infecting each other at every opportunity.

If there is such a thing as absolute truth, I have only seen glimpses of it indirectly. That is through pure intuition, devoid of any symbols, stories, language or thought.

It is possible to translate this experience into language and art, but you are still left with only symbols which represent the experience. This is the reason language will always fail to give that which it promises.

It may seem perplexing to some that I study and teach techniques of persuasion and manipulation when I find many of its effects revolting.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, life does not work without it. We are all manipulators. Every child manipulates its parents, every lover their partner. It is inescapable.

Of course not all outcomes of persuasion and manipulation are negative. Wouldn’t you try to persuade a friend who might be walking down a path of self-destruction? It all depends on the context doesn’t it? Context is everything in this game.

There are some recent ads targeted at teenagers against the use of methamphetamine (speed). I’ll take two of these ads to clarify the point I am trying to make. The first billboard shows a young man with lesions on his skin, dark circles under his eyes, and a caption reads, “Actually, doing meth won’t make it easier to hook up.”

Imagine if we changed the context and put him in a completely different environment. For example, change the background and put him underneath a tropical sun standing before a beautiful pool, surrounded by a group of skimpily clad bikini models. The caption remains the same, but the story changes completely.

The second billboard is a picture of a filthy toilet stall and a caption that reads, “No one thinks they’ll lose their virginity here. Meth will change that.” Now keep this caption but instead of a filthy toilet stall, replace it with an image of a beautiful room, a large ornate bed with silk sheets and a young attractive half-naked man with muscles. The effects will obviously be different. The context tells an entirely different story. Context is being used to control the masses on a daily basis.

Also, recognize the type of appeal being made in these ads. They are targeted at teenagers who tend to be more susceptible to emotional appeals rather than rational appeals. Ads using rational appeals are declining because of an increase of less-educated people.

Speaking of stories…

Humans are hardwired for stories it would seem. Depending on your own stories is what determines your life outcome. The stories you consistently tell yourself determines your own reality. Is yours a story of frustration, sadness, and failure, or one of success, happiness, and health? Do you hate your job? Well, that’s a story too.

Perceive what is behind the language, symbols, and metaphor. Recognize the context and write your own story.

admin :: Dec.23.2007 :: metaphor, persuasion, psychology, storytelling, symbology, propaganda, deception :: No Comments »

I find it unfortunate that myths are no longer an important part of modern culture. Mythology has become a class you take at the University, a subsection of the sociology section in the corner of a bookstore, and a bedtime story you read to your kids.

Mythology used to shape the minds of whole cities, and even countries. Many people seek out destruction, either of themselves or others, often because a person’s pain and suffering has no relevance to any story they could use as a guide to help them solve their inner conflict.

All the old myths we now take for granted were created out of our collective unconscious. This may be a bold statement, but I am truly convinced that there are a set of universal myths that transcend religous, cultural, political and social boundaries. A little research will soon reveal this common thread without question.

Myths can give meaning to our lives in the same way that dreams can. They both draw from the same well of powerful symbolism. Realizing this I began to mix myths, conversational hypnosis, and advanced metaphor techniques to create truly powerful stories that would affect people on multiple levels. I’m still experimenting with this idea, but I see a lot of potential. Currently I am working on a set of stories based on the Norse myths which I will record for CD or MP3 in the future.

As I develop these stories and refine them, I’ll will post all material during the process and the techniques I employ, so you can do the same with your own stories if you choose. From the rough beginning of a simple story to a persuasive and powerful metaphor. Please follow along.

The first step is to choose which problem we will create a solution for, the type of new abilities we will develop, and our desired outcome. The first phase is basically a simple formula. Once we have the foundation of the story, then we will need to tweak it quite a bit and transform it into a covert metaphor.

So, again we start with:

1. Address a problem. (example: insecure and self-doubting)
2. List new abilities. (example: developing new skills and teaching others)
3. Offer desired outcome. (example: self-confident and secure)

I’ll develop this further tomorrow…

admin :: Jul.29.2007 :: metaphor, storytelling, myth :: 1 Comment »

A frame is how we perceive our experiences. Everyone experiences a specific event in their own unique way. One person may see an event as a crisis, and another will see it as positive change.

Reframing allows us to change the meaning of an event. It is human nature to equate our limitations with security. Unexpected events are usually perceived as negative. Our car may suddenly get a flat tire, we may lose our job, or a relationship may fall apart. And yet within crises their are always opportunities. At the bottom we have so many possibilities. There is not much elbow room if you are only inches from the top.

I sat down to write my post a few hours ago, but was rudely interrupted by a severe thunderstorm outside. It took the power out. I waited a few minutes for the lights to come back on. Nothing happened and I was left in the dark, unfairly cursing the power company for not dealing with the problem fast enough.

My wife and I searched for candles, and it reminded me of those times as a child when the power went out…

The sound of the rain beat against the glass of my bedroom window. It wasn’t quite bedtime, my light was still on, and I was trying to persuade my parents to let me stay up just a little bit longer. I sat on my cozy bed in my familiar house, reading Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. It must of been my third or fourth time I’d read that book cover to cover.

I longed for adventure like most children. Why didn’t the adults around me understand all possibilities, all the magic just waiting for them around the corner?

Suddenly, a loud piece of thunder echoed loudly across the sky. The lights were out in an instant, and lightning was flashing menacingly through my window. My heart leaped out of my chest. I was maybe eight years old. Perhaps I had experienced the power going out in a storm before, but I did not remember it.

I could hear my parents cursing downstairs. They were searching for candles, matches, and a flashlight. It was an unfortunate event for them. Another pain in the ass, as they so eloquently put it.

It was a magical time for me. There was uncertainty. There were unseen energies involved and so many possibilities.

I watched the candles flicker and cast shadows of unmistakable outlines of mysterious creatures. The sound of the TV was absent, replaced by a peaceful ambience.

My parents were obviously not enjoying themselves as much as I was. Their demand for the power to come on immediately, was spoiling this magical moment. They weren’t open to the wonderful opportunities being offered. Their refusal to accept what life brings only made things worse.

I couldn’t change their attitude, and so I continued to watch the candle light make shadows dance and listen to the howling wind whisper secrets only I could hear.

So, the power outage tonight had given me the opportunity to bring up a memory and turn it into a metaphorical story. I created positive from the negative. I found new options.

Do you have any stories for reframing unexpected changes?

admin :: Jul.20.2007 :: metaphor, storytelling :: No Comments »

When I was a child I noticed that adults drifted into trance during a conversation numerous times. I did not know what this state was called at the time of course, but I definitely could recognize the signs. I watched many grown-ups space out or become deeply absorbed in their activities. It was not long before I realized they did not hear everything I was saying to them. This was extremely amusing to me and when I noticed my parents, for example, spacing out during their conversations, I would slip in a nonsensical sentence between whatever I was saying. One particular phrase I can remember using often was, “Mickey Mouse in his underwear.” This went on for days before it was consciously recognized by any of my victims.

Common Trance States

Common trance states with a little practice are very easy to recognize. We drift in and out of trance all day long when we, for example, read a book, watch TV or drive a car. We become so absorbed in our internal experience, that it causes notable external changes to our bodies. Our breathing may change, our pupils can dilate, and the hue of our skin may alternate between different shades. Simply observe others when they engage in any activity that requires a focused awareness and you will soon learn to recognize most signs of trance.

Embedded Commands

Dr. Milton H. Erickson, considered the father of modern hypnotherapy, and his wife Elizabeth Erickson, were pioneers in the art of embedded commands. It was during the 60’s that this husband and wife team began to teach these techniques, but only to professionals with advanced degrees in medicine, psychiatry and psychology. Some years later in the early 70’s, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) was created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. At this point, other individuals who were not necessarily therapists, began learning and teaching embedded commands.

It was not until the 80’s that embedded commands were used in the context of persuasion. Embedded commands were the privileged black arts of elite underground sales groups. How else could they sell a Delorian?

In 1990 the book Unlimited Selling Power: How to Master Hypnotic Selling Skills by Donald Moine and Kenneth Lloyd was published, helping many people already in marketing and sales to learn conversational hypnosis and hypnotic selling skills.

Embedded commands are suggestions which circumvent the conscious mind and slip unseen into the unconscious mind. Embedded commands can be found naturally in many people’s everyday speech. For example, when parents tell their children, “Make sure you don’t drop that glass.” What usually happens? The child imagines that very experience which they want to avoid, only to watch juice spill everywhere moments later.

Traditional embedded commands usually employ a transitive verb to identify the beginning of the suggestion in combination with a change in tonality or physical gesture. Embedded commands must be marked off consistently in a conversation in order for the listener’s unconscious mind to pick out the patterns.

Tell a Story

Causing distraction by using a nonsensical sentence within a story can cause someone to temporarily go internal and experience a sort of mini-trance, giving the conversational hypnotist ample time to embed a suggestion. If the listener is already obviously absorbed in their own thoughts, this makes the task that much easier.

For example, “Those shoes you are trying on remind me of a friend of mine. He is very attractive and has a keen eye for nice clothes. Although, every time I go out with him it can get quite annoying. Women constantly flirt with him, smile and say hello. I wonder where those women studied watercolor. Move forward and buy those shoes. My friend also had great taste in coats. Are you looking for a coat as well?”

Many beginners learning these techniques are apprehensive and fear they might get caught immediately. In my experience, it is very rare that anyone ever recognizes nonsensical phrases just before an embedded command is used. Even friends and family will be at the mercy of your story.

admin :: Jul.17.2007 :: metaphor, persuasion, covert hypnosis, advanced language patterns, psychology, storytelling :: 7 Comments »

I thought I might share a story that I use in my interviews so you can pick out some of the elements I’ve been writing about here.

The story comes from my experience in my first “real job” if you know what I mean. It was for a leading company in Silicon Valley in the early 90’s. I won’t mention any names, but I will say they’re known for manufacturing most of the hardware that pushes packets across the Internet. I use a similar story when I am asked about what I did there. Little do they know how much power a simple story holds.

Ignore the technical jargon; it isn’t important. Look for the message.

Anyways here it is…

” When I first began to work for this company I started out as a field tech. Each field tech had their own building of software developers and engineers to support. We mostly dealt with problems concerning UNIX desktops, local networking closets, and server farms. Engineers and developers worked all hours of the night, so I was always on call. This didn’t bother me because I was learning so many new things. If I was called at 3am I was more than ready to come in.”

“Since I often stayed late, I would always try and give a hand to the senior network engineers, as well as the senior UNIX administrators whenever I wasn’t too busy with my own work. After a few months I could do many of their tasks without any help, so I would pick up a lot of the slack on my team. As this was noticed and I was soon promoted to a technical lead which means I was managing a team of field techs because I had the experience to teach these skills well.”

“As many of the senior network engineers and UNIX administrators willingly became my mentors because I had taken the time to help them out by doing their grunt work and solve their problems quickly which means eventually I worked my way up to their level. A friend of mine and senior member of my team told me, he met with the boss who said ‘It’s time to make a decision‘ and I was soon promoted to a senior network engineer because all my hard work paid off and As you sit here, listening to me, you might already have started to think about how I can apply those skills and experience to your team. It was a great experience I’ll never forget.”

admin :: Jul.15.2007 :: metaphor, persuasion, covert hypnosis, storytelling :: 2 Comments »

How should they perceive you?

Before your next meeting, date, presentation or interview do you know how you want to be perceived? If you do not decide beforehand then they will be forced to make their own decisions about you.

This lack of preparedness can of course be detrimental because their decision most likely will be based on their own past experiences. Your choice of vocabulary, body language, and tonality may trigger certain negative memories which can have permanent consequences. So, know exactly how you want to be perceived before you engage an individual or a group.

Pick A Key Quality.

The simplest method of deciding how you want to be perceived is to make a list of key qualities that relate to your outcome for a specific situation. If you have an interview for example, you will want to choose qualities such as hard working, dependable, and responsible. If you are on a date you might choose qualities like lovable, honesty, and trustworthy.

Each situation will usually require multiple qualities. Choose between three and five, but usually keep it small because you will need to memorize short stories which convey those qualities. One story can of course include multiple qualities if they are similar. Hard working and lovable may not fit well together. It is up to you to experiment with what works and what does not.

Remember your past successes.

After you have a short list of the qualities you would like to convey, dig deep into your past. Everyone has a few success stories. If you have made it this far in your life it is not because of sheer luck.

Perhaps you were there for a friend when they really needed you. Maybe you put in a little extra at work in order to get a project finished on time. The more you practice this, the easier it will be to match a particular memory to your intended quality.

Once you have your stories, make sure they give the correct message and your chosen quality is clearly communicated.

Write It Out.

Your memories may be crisp, but you will want to tell a well-honed story. This requires you to write it down so it flows nicely. Use powerful persuasive words and phrases. Create powerful metaphors that elicit images and emotions. When you are happy with how it looks on paper, read it out loud a few times. The story should not be any longer than a few minutes. Give each sentence a purpose. Leave anything out that does not relate to your chosen quality.

Practice a little and then practice some more.

A two to three minute story does not actually take that much time to memorize. It might be helpful to write out your key qualities on a stack of index cards. Take five to ten minutes a day and choose a random card to practice. Remember, once you have a short personal story of influence mastered, you can use it for years to come.

admin :: Jul.14.2007 :: metaphor, persuasion, storytelling :: 3 Comments »

Just as in learning any skill, successful storytelling
requires consistent practice. Stories can effectively be
used in persuasion, healing, therapy, or together with
hypnotic inductions and NLP techniques.

Each chosen story you intend to memorize needs to be
considered from all sensory angles. The story can be
memorized using all major representational systems
including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (VAK) methods.

Repeat the following steps as many times as necessary
until the story becomes a part of you. I recommend choosing
healing or positive goal-oriented metaphors and stories
which will affect your listeners by helping them to discover their latent
capabilities. In addition, the following exercises will
embed the story deeply into the unconscious mind
transforming the storyteller as well.

1. Write it out.

After reading the story several times you should have a good
feeling of what kind of theme or moral the author is trying
to convey. Start by writing the story down on paper while
considering each word. Say every word out loud as you write
it. Think of different reasons the author may have chosen
that particular word and why. Perhaps you would have said
it differently?

2. Sing the story.

Sing a few sentences at a time. Apply any familiar melody
you can think of to it. The more absurd the melody is, the
easier it will stick. Sing in a high voice, and then sing
in a low voice. Repeat two or three sets of words over and
over until you memorize the full sentence and move on.
Do not be embarrassed. After all, no one is watching you,
right? Just belt it out.

3. Alter tonality and accent.

Use different tonalities as you read through the story out
loud. Slow down your voice and then speed it up. Play with
pitch. Again, read in a high voice and then try it out with
a really low voice. Read the story with different accents,
even different types of personalities.

4. Use a digital recorder.

A digital recorder comes in very handy for memorizing
large amounts of text. A computer with a microphone and a
free audio editor and recorder like Audacity will work just
as well. Write out the story again, only this time leave
one or two words out of each sentence. Now record yourself
while you read back this story, pausing where the word you
removed should have been. Now burn the audio file to CD or
transfer to your MP3 player.

As you listen back to your recording say the appropriate
word out loud when you come to its pause. Record your story
as many times as necessary until you have covered most of
the major words in each sentence.

5. Practice a mental rehearsal.

Imagine yourself in vivid color telling your story to a
group of people. Create your perfect setting. Feel the
temperature on your skin. Are you sitting or standing? How
does that feel? Work out how your voice will sound. Put on
your best clothes. You can even change the time period.

Is your audience smiling, laughing, or crying? This is
your inner landscape so do what you want. Tell your story
to as many imaginary groups as possible.

admin :: Jul.12.2007 :: metaphor, NLP, hypnosis, storytelling :: 1 Comment »

The Sufi Masters were notorious for using metaphors and stories to teach. The following tale has been passed down from Sheikh Mohammed Asghar.

Three fishes once lived in a pool. They were: a clever fish, a half-clever fish and a stupid fish. Life continued very much as it is for fishes everywhere until one day came-a man.

He was carrying a net, and the clever fish saw him through the water. Calling upon his experience, the stories he had heard, and his cleverness, he decided to take action.

“There are a few places to hide in this pool,” he thought. “I shall therefore play dead.”

He summoned his strength and jumped out of the pool, landing at the feet of the fisherman, who was rather surprised. But as the clever fish was holding his breath, the fisherman supposed that he was dead: and threw him back. The fish now glided into a small hole under the bank.

Now the second fish, the half-clever one, did not quite understand what had happened. So he swam up to the clever fish and asked him all about it. “Simple,” said the clever fish, “I played dead, so he threw me back.”

So the half-clever fish immediately leaped out of the water, at the fisherman’s feet. “Strange,” thought the fisherman, “they are leaping about all over the place.” And, because the half-clever fish had forgotten to hold his breath the fisherman realized he was alive and put him in his satchel.

He turned back to peer in the water, and because he had been slightly confused by the fishes jumping on to dry land in front of him, he did not close the flap of his bag. The half-clever fish, when he realized this, was just able to ease himself out and, flipping over and over, got back into the water. He sought out the first fish and lay panting beside him.

Now the third fish, the stupid one, was not able to make anything at all of this, even when he heard the first and second fishes’ versions. So they went over every point with him, stressing the importance of not breathing, in order to play dead.

“Thank you so much: now I understand,” said the stupid fish. With these words he hurled himself out of the water, landing just beside the fisherman.

Now the fisherman, having lost two fish already, put this one into his bag without bothering to look at whether it was breathing or not. He cast the net again and again into the pool, but the first two fish were crouched into the depression under the bank. And the flap of the fisherman’s bag this time was fully closed.

Finally the fisherman gave up. He opened the bag, realized the stupid fish was not breathing, and took him home for the cat.

So, what do you think the storyteller’s intended outcome was? Can you retell this story using events from your own life?

admin :: Jul.09.2007 :: metaphor, storytelling :: 3 Comments »

After reading an email from Jamie Smart recently, it occurred to me that trying to learn how to construct covert metaphor was useless until you learned the basics of storytelling. It’s a natural progression. You begin to collect a small amount of your favorite stories, each with a simple message or moral, and simply memorize them and tell them to as many people as you can. The more you do this, the more you can begin to tweak the stories to your liking.

Experiment with tonality and put emphasis on certain words by trying to express the emotion in which that word represents. If the word is exiciting, then feel excited. If it is curious, then become curious.

After some months of collecting and telling stories, you can begin to play a little. First you can play with loops. Start one story, then start another in the middle, and finish off the first, followed by the ending of the second. Experiment with two stories in the beginning, and then learn to juggle multiple stories and sequencing of loops. Then you can start dropping in embedded suggestions. This is especially easy to do when the command itself is actually a part of a character’s dialogue.

I recommend starting out with simple three minute stories, some of which are even told to children. Even children’s stories are effective on adults. Plus some of those stories spark up a little long forgotten magic. You can tell three minute stories to about anyone you cross during your day. How courageous are you? Do you have the guts to tell a story to a stranger, to your waiter or waitress, your coffee barista?

I think a great author to begin your storytelling career with is Margaret Macdonald and her book The Storyteller’s Start-Up Book. Then add her Three-Minute Tales. Focus on those two for a bit, and then you can begin adding her other story books. Once you’re comfortable with telling stories it will become much easier to add in conversational hypnosis and covert metaphor language patterns and techniques.

admin :: Jul.03.2007 :: metaphor, storytelling :: No Comments »