Presuppositions
It was rather surprising for me when I first realized how most of us use hypnotic language patterns so naturally and unconsciously in our daily conversations. The two most frequent patterns I picked up on at first were presuppositions and nominalizations. When we presuppose, whoever is listening to you has to assume part of your statement as true in order to make any sense of it. I now find myself mentally questioning people’s presuppositions, even obviously truthful statements.
“After going to the Post Office to pick up the mail, you could quickly stop at the store for milk.”
So, I presuppose you’ll go to the post office before you’ll stop at the store for milk. I don’t know if you’ll do it quickly, but I’ve presupposed you’re at least going to the store. At first glance this doesn’t look like a terribly useful example for persuasion I guess, but many people use these types of presuppositions and they even instinctively soften them to bypass any resistance, sometimes even with one word.
“After going to the Post Office to pick up the mail, perhaps you could quickly stop at the store for milk.”
I think the best thing to do is first start thinking about simple presuppositions before you start getting clever. Start simple with everyday stuff.
“What time were our dinner reservations, honey?”
What are you presupposing? That there are dinner reservations and that you’re even going to dinner. Ok, try another one.
“After I met him downtown, we proceeded to the meeting together.”
What are the presuppositions? That I was actually downtown and there was a meeting. The conscious mind will most likely ignore those details and question who you met or that you went together. The other stuff just slips directly into the unconscious.
I’ll be adding some persuasive touches on presuppositions later this weekend. Go ahead and post some of your own in comments.
Wouldn’t you agree that presuppositions could be very powerful? This may not be relevant to you, but Igor Ledochowski’s Conversational Hypnosis can help you master presuppositions. Sooner or later, you’ll have to make a choice.
By the way, I am using language patterns in all my posts from here on out. I will throw in language patterns, metaphor, and perhaps play with submodalities. Please analyze and take apart these posts. We can learn quickly from its content together.
I enjoyed your blog, but felt that it had its own presuppositions. Yes, in order to follow a story, it may help to pretend certain things are true (whether or not they are), as framework for the rest of the story.
If you told me, “I was at the store when someone wearing perhaps a dozen watches on each arm approached me and asked if I wanted to buy a Rolex,” I might not care at all where you were, how many watches this person wore, if there really was such a person, etc… I might be listening just out of enjoyment of the story itself. The story could just as easily be, “I was selling heroin to toddlers at the local preschool, when a talking ostritch ran up and tried to sell me a plastic watch.”
I’ve experienced many misunderstandings based on people presupposing that the other’s priorities, likes, dislikes, experiences, etc… were in line with theirs. For example, I’ve had people tell me that they absolutely KNEW, due to my body language, that I was closed off to them, hostile, or having other negative reactions. This presupposes that if I wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, was just outside in weather above 110 degrees F, and the room was in the low 60s, that I would not find it cold and engage in behavior (such as crossed arms or clasped hands) to regulate my body’s temperature.
You are correct. I’ve put in my own presuppositions. All of the techniques which I am expounding on in my posts I am using freely in my language as well to present the message. I figure many will trance out as they read, but I hope there will be many others that begin to deconstruct all this stuff, play with it, and bring us all a bit further than we were before. Where were we exactly?
Yes, everyone is sure they KNOW. They mind read all day long, and their subjective experience must absolutely represent objective reality. At least more than anyone elses.
For example. you must suffer from some emotional pain due to an unhappy childhood experience, and now your current lifestyle, which proves your weakened spiritual condition, contradicts the true teachings of .
A lot of mind reading and a judgement made according to my own subjective standard. It has no meaning anywhere else, does it not?
-Allen
You appear to be missing some words.
Have you ever felt alone in a crowd? Missed a place or person from your past? Or forgotten to put on sun block? It seems that with all of these troubles, Allen, you’re actually no longer human, no longer part of the masses. You’re actually a giant bottle of Gatorade. How does that feel?
I frequently go with an assumption, not because I believe it, or think it’s true, but because it seems that picking something and going with it produces better results than brainstorming a list of “couldas.”
I agree with going with an assumption. I wonder though how many people are making their own assumptions since they don’t question any of it. Many of us today, like you said, are giant bottles of Gatorade. And bottles of Gatorade obviously feel nothing.
Good metaphor there. Thanks for the comments.