If you have ever watched Star Wars you probably remember how the Force was used to talk people into doing things or accepting things. Just by lifting up the hand Obi Wan Kenobi was able to tell people exactly what to think. This is fiction of course, but by using conversational hypnosis you are able to do much of the same things. You do not even have to lift your hand.

How Does Conversational Hypnosis Work?

When we talk about conversational hypnosis we often think about hypnosis shows or street hypnosis. Conversational hypnosis is no magic or black art technique. By using some well tested strategies we are able to use conversational hypnosis to convince people about close to everything, and they will believe it as the truth. Milton Erickson is one of the leaders of conversational hypnosis and he discovered how people fall into different trances all through the day. Watching TV, waiting for the bus, reading, working and in other every day situations.

Erickson deduced that these trance states could be used for bringing people to your way of thinking. However, many people often resist direct counseling and suggestions. Often it happens that due to inertia or the natural ability to resist change, people do not like being told what to do. Hence Erickson suggested the use of rapport, confusion and circuitous ideas to bring them to a trance like state and get them around to his way of thinking. Thus rapport, confusion and indirection suggestions form the basis of conversation hypnotherapy.

Rapport: You have probably tried to build rapport with a person or the people around you. Rapport can be defined as an agreement mode where you have the same thoughts and the same interests in common.

Rapport helps in getting the subject’s guards down. In case you strike a rapport with the subject then the subject considers you as “his party” and then it becomes easy to influence him.

Confusion: Another principle of conversational hypnosis is confusion. This means that the subject needs to be confused so much so that he does not know what to do and turns to you for an answer. Sometimes confusion can result from a simple question like “do you really think that the right way to do it?”

Suggestion: When you have established rapport and you have used confusion to get your subject to go to you for an answer it is your time to strike. Now it is your time to suggest a better way to handle the situation. You want to do this indirectly to make the subject think that he thought it out himself.

You have now learned the basics of conversational hypnosis. You have learned that it is a helpful tool to influence people to accept and share your way of thinking. The power of this technique is close to limitless. Remember to use conversational hypnosis with caution and that you will benefit more from its powers if you use if for good.