Invisible Hypnosis – Part 2
In this second part of my invisible hypnosis articles, we will cover an area of hypnosis that is often only covered in minor detail – the way in which the hypnotist carries themselves.
It is fairly common knowledge among hypnotists that a confident persona is necessary to achieve profound hypnosis, a fact often stressed in hypnosis courses and training programs. Unfortunately, this emphasis often never goes beyond that phrase – “be confident”. For those who are still unsure, there is no safety net.
Luckily, we shall now cover this simple phrase in a little more detail. Below are key techniques broken down into several important aspects – the voice, the body language, and the visual cues.
The voice, or tonality, is the central part of most hypnosis sessions. Words are after all the format for any suggestions that may be given, and hypnosis audio products are freely available for a wide variety of conditions.
As a hypnotist, your voice must convey power without being tyrannical. You must seem trustworthy! The great thing is that these qualities are in high demand in all situations – the workplace, the streets, anywhere. Let’s see what we can do…
One technique is to mimic the emotion you want your subject to feel. By using an excited tone, you can in turn induce excitement in your subject (of course, there is a limit – don’t act crazy!), and by using a relaxed tone you can relax your subject very easily.
Another strategy is the source of your voice. The most powerful speakers in the world all speak from their stomach, giving a voice that is steady and strong without being too loud.
Another part of tonality is the way in which your voice changes as you speak. Most people have little inflections (variations in voice pitch) when they are making a statement or emphasizing a point. An upward inflection is usually used at the end of a question – and by using such an inflection, you can turn any statement into a question. The opposite is true for a downward inflection – this usually follows a direct, factual statement. By using a downward inflection, you can turn a question into a statement.
The most powerful voice technique to use, however, is more of a very simple idea – know what you are going to say before you say it. As long as their sentences are always meaningful, people will still listen to someone who rarely talks at all. We do not want to ramble in hypnosis – plus, the pauses you should give will give both you and your subject breathing time, and time to look at any phenomena taking place.
Let’s move on to body language. Those who have great confidence in themselves often sit, stand and walk with a strong, secure, but not tense, body posture. Conversely, if you sit hunched, and seem nervous, then your subjects will pick up on that and thus not enter into that trusting state of mind. Walking with your head held high, and making constant eye contact with people, can be much easier than you might think. If you are looking for other ways to increase the power of your posture, then you would do well to have a look at some people whom you find as confident. Celebrities, politicians, movie stars – see how they (or their characters) act, and see if you yourself can pick up on the subtle attributes that make up their body language.
The final part of this report concerns gestures. People who gesture as they talk are demonstrating their enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject, and use of gestures such as pointing or clenching fists can greatly increase a person’s persuasive, and in our case hypnotic, powers.
Gestures can also reveal a great deal about our inner, hidden beliefs. Retreating gestures, such as folded arms, leaning backwards, or turning the body away, can signify a person’s want to discontinue the current activity. Even if they are pretending to take an interest, fidgeting or hands in the pockets usually gives the person away. An extremely common deception symbol is the rubbing of the nose or the back of the neck (more prominent in men) – which is almost always a sign of nervousness.
So what can we, as hypnotists, learn from this? Well, gestures can prove very useful in cementing ideas into our subjects’ heads. As long as they have their eyes open, for instance in a pretalk, use of confidence gestures can increase hypnosis success rates tenfold. Of course, this also means that you must clamp down any nervous twitches or little habits that you exude when you are nervous – like a “tell” in poker, you will give away your lack of confidence and your subject will pick up on that.
Happy hypnotizing,
Benjamin
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