Distraction to Your Benefit
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.
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admin :: Jul.17.2007 :: advanced language patterns, covert hypnosis, metaphor, persuasion, psychology, storytelling :: 7 Comments »
you’ve expressed yourself nicely. good writing skills. take care.
Very Interesting! Makes sense too, the nonsensical gives the person that moment of confusion and then you slip something in!
Thank you for the compliments.
I’ve read about this before and I’ve experienced those momentary trances – going internal to make sense of something. Double negatives involving uncommon vocabulary are very effective to induce such a state I think.
Years ago, someone said to me: ‘It’s not as unaltruistic as I expected’. It took me an age to sort that one out and I have no idea what he said next. Knowing what I know now and recalling that particular person, I think he knew what he was doing. He was very popular with women, by the way.
That gets me to the question: is there any research into the effectiveness of this technique or is the evidence anecdotal?
Graham,
That kind of statement seems like it was consciously intended. Most people don’t unconsciously speak like that.
I’m not sure about any official research done on the effectiveness of distracted sentencing. I’ll take a further look into it.
I must be in a constant state of trance… I can stone for one hour just thinking while waiting for my lunch break to end, one hour while traveling to school and another hour traveling back from school.
Hi Komirad,
Most everyone is in a constant state of trance. Sometimes when I’m driving or traveling I play a game to see how long I can keep my attention external without drifting off into my thoughts. It’s not that easy!