NLP is basically the science of the mind. It shows you how people think, and process thoughts, feelings and emotions. Once you understand how it works, you can then begin to “re-wire” so to speak people’s mind maps.
To apply covert hypnosis, however, doesn’t require knowledge of NLP. Covert hypnosis I believe is a technology in itself that may share similarities with NLP, but it does not take an understanding of how a person’s brain works to apply covert hypnosis.
Besides, I’ve read about how you can structure your language in NLP sense that doesn’t really sound too good as in “Allow yourself to notice how good it feels to open your mind and relax.” This, indeed sounds like you’re trying to hypnotize them as you talk. How can you sound like you’re innocently conversing with another person by saying “You can notice the colors on the wall, the feeling in your shoes and relax.”
There are, however ways you can soften this clunky verbal language NLP teaches us by using sneak phrases. You can also use what is called presuppositions and linguistic binds.
Let’s talk about them right now as they are considered NLP. Presuppositions are simply a way to structure your language to cause a person to believe something in fact is happening or is going to happen. A famous presupposition hypnotic sneak phrase is “when you” because it implies you will undergo the situation, condition or circumstance you describe.
“When you read these entire articles you’ll have more power than most people you meet and that feels great, doesn’t it?” What the above statement does is it says “you’ll read this entire book and feel great knowing you have power over most people you meet.”
The fact is, however, most people don’t notice you’re telling them what to do. So they just comply or obey your commands. It seems like to them that you’re saying IF you decide, when you’re really saying TO decide. However, it still leaves a sense in the person that they have a choice, even though you aren’t giving them one. Another example of a presupposition is to say something like “later in the presentation I’ll show you how you can do that but for now.”
What this presupposes is that the person will be listening later in the presentation. I see this in writing a lot. A great hypnotic sales letter will have something like “Later you’ll read about how you can apply this secret but for now…” Again, you’re basically telling the reader that they’ll read about it later. That they are in fact going to be reading the rest of the letter.
This is a big part of selling with words. You need to get the person to read the entire letter so you have a better chance to seal the deal. Furthermore, when you write something like that above example, the person reading it will not know where they’ll be reading it so they’ll naturally read everything so they don’t miss it. Now you don’t have to say any of the above things. One sentence causes this chain reaction of thoughts, doesn’t it? By saying one simple sentence!
Presuppositions are extremely powerful. Simple presuppositions are comments like “you’re as stupid as your brother.” Now, even though the person is directly saying another is stupid, they are secretly insulting your brother as well.
I was with my cousin and she’s a tough woman and her and her husband got into an argument in front of me. The husband then said to her “You’re just as messed up as the rest of your entire family.” And my cousin replied “Don’t call my family messed up when you haven’t met them all yet.” Simply put, a presupposition as a hidden meaning in it. In this case, my cousin noticed the hidden meaning and didn’t pay attention to how he was trying to insult her. I think she did that to show him that he didn’t get under her skin and that “names will never hurt her.”
Anyway, there is always a camouflaged command or statement behind presupposing statements that isn’t said directly.
Another presupposing statement could be like “As you’re flipping through the pages of these articles, you’ll notice…” This statement says “You’ll be flipping through the pages of these articles.” The only question is when?
A good sentence in sales copy, yeah? The way I like to think of presuppositions is to imagine the person already acting as I would like them to. Then, I simply determine how I can subtly give them an unconscious message that they are in fact going to do it. Now, here’s another strategy of using presuppositions. Basically, you give a fact, and then you begin the next sentence with a word that ends in “ly.”
Here’s an example:
“You’re learning about covert hypnosis. Obviously, you’re getting the hang of using hypnosis.”
I’d like you to observe that above statement. It sounds logical, doesn’t it? But who says you’re getting the hang of it? Me? Yes. Me. That’s it. What a sentence like this does is makes a person agree that what you’re saying is truth – even if it really isn’t. Now, the sentence doesn’t always have to begin with a word that ends with “ly.” There are other ones, too.
Here’s a list:
| • | Clearly |
| • | Obviously |
| • | Actually |
| • | Suddenly |
| • | Objectively |
| • | Naturally |
| • | Easily |
| • | Ethically |
| • | Apparently |
| • | Actually |
| • | Evidently |
| • | Normally |
| • | Shortly |
| • | However |
| • | Now |
| • | So |
| • | Again |
| • | Anyway |
| • | Duh |
| • | Think about it |
| • | You see |
| • | Remember |
This technique is simple to apply a straight forward.
• You’re reading hypnosis. Clearly you’re going to be good with it.
• Since you’re probably new to it, obviously you need to practice it.
• Suddenly, you might find this next piece of information amusing.
Got it? You can use these in language patterns. You can use them as one liners. If you find yourself in a social situation and your mind says “Hey, obviously…” then use it!
Now let’s talk about linguistic binds. This is simple. It’s in the form of “the more you a, the more you b.”
Here are some other examples: “The less you A, the more you B” “The less you A, the less you B” “The better you A, The Better you B” You can apply these simple sentences in your language patterns or use them as a one-liner.
They don’t require much explanation. You’re basically telling the person to do more or less of one thing and as they do it, they will experience more or less of the other. When I was younger, I was out with a bunch of my sales associates and we were drinking late inside a hotel.
One of my associates’ wives was there, too. She was a little cocky. She challenged the rest of the group that she would be the last to go to sleep. Well, I bet her a $100 bill that she couldn’t stay awake longer than I could. For the entire 30 minutes it took me to get her to pass out, I only applied linguistic binds. I said things like “The more you think you can outlast me, the more tired you begin to feel.” And she’d reply “No.”
So I simply retaliated by saying “And the more you say no, the more you find yourself agreeing with everything I say, and the more you agree, the more tired you feel because you drink your drink more and more.” See where I’m going with this? Now, I’m not recommending you use this to win a $100. Let’s not forget that I made mistakes ethically so you don’t have to. I’m simply showing how powerful it is. In less than 30 minutes, she was sound asleep and the next morning I was $100 richer.
By the way, I gave the money back to her about an hour later. I just let her “hurt” a little to show her who she’s messing with and to teach the other salesmen about what I’m about, too. We were very competitive. Anyway, there are many uses with linguistic binds. Maybe you need to get your child to enjoy cleaning their room.
Maybe you could say something to them as they’re cleaning it like “Oh, I see you’re cleaning your room. And notice how neat it is when the more you pick things up, the better you feel, and the better you feel, the more you want to keep your room clean.”
Notice the command keep your room clean. There are hundreds of different ways you can use this (as with very technique you’re learning) and by now I think you understand how easy these tools are to apply.
The only thing left to do is go out and use them to your advantage. And the more you use them, the more powerful you’ll become.