Making Hypnosis Simple

Steven Hall MCOH MASC (NLP)

Making Hypnosis Simple

An introductory guide to Hypnotherapy

Steven Hall MCOH MASC (NLP)

First published in Great Britain in 2004 by

Mindworks UK
Unit 3
112 Abbey St
Nuneaton
CV11 5BX
England

IMPORTANT: Do not follow the induction techniques if you suffer from epilepsy or
clinical depression.

The author accepts no responsibility for the use of the material within this publication.
It is the sole responsibility of the reader to ensure that they adhere to local and
national restrictions and regulations that govern the use of hypnosis, hypnotherapy
and client confidentiality.

This book is sold as an introductory guide to hypnotherapy for information purposes
only, therapeutic work should not be completed without professional training and
prior consent from a suitably qualified medical professional.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or
otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s
prior written consent in any form of binding or cover.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any process, nor may it be stored in a
retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise copied for public or private use without the
prior written permission of the publisher.

All rights reserved
Copyright Steven Hall, 2004

Introduction

The biggest secret to hypnosis is that it is incredibly simple, yet so many people have
difficulty actually inducing trance in another. The reason for this book is to show you
how, step by step, you can become a hypnotist the easy way.

I have written many hypnosis ‘how to’ guides over the years and helped thousands of
people learn hypnosis. You may even have purchased a previous title of mine and had
a go yourself. What I am offering here is a new approach, a simple step by step guide
that covers what you need to get started successfully. This is by no means a
comprehensive guide to hypnosis; it is a quick-start introduction that has a very
specific goal…

…to turn you into a hypnotist… FAST!

In writing this publication I have stripped away the hype and left the history for you to
discover in your own time. I am taking hypnosis right back to basics. This is hypnosis,
plain and simple. What you do, why you do it and how it all works.

As you have probably noticed, this book is short, I have intentionally not padded it
out with information that you do not need at this stage. I want you to be comfortable
reading the whole thing in one or two sittings, and doing it often! You should have a
notepad with you as you read and use it to take notes throughout. There are exercises
that you are required to complete and suggestions that you should follow. Read
everything as many times as you need, learn the scripts, take notes and do the
exercises and you will be successful.

Before we begin, I want to tell you about two trance experiences that happened to me
when I was younger. When I was about 11 years old I had a very strange experience
in church. The whole congregation was bowed in prayer as the pastor read from the
bible. I was listening to the pastors’ words so intently that I very quickly lost
awareness of everything else. The pastor had a wonderfully hypnotic tone of voice
and the natural rhythm of his words seemed to compliment my deep breathing. As the
prayer came to a close the pastor made a suggestion that members of the congregation
join him at the front. When I opened my eyes I immediately walked to the front of the
congregation. It felt as though I had been programmed to do so, and could not even
consider an alternative. The next thing I knew I was leaving the church as the service
came to a close. I am unaware of what happened when I left my seat to join the pastor
at the front and, by my calculations, seemed to have lost around ten minutes.

Back then I was very confused, but now, with my knowledge of trance states, I
believe that I was inadvertently hypnotised by the pastor. Hypnosis is so simple to
achieve that you can even do it by accident.

My second childhood story happened a few years later, around the age of 14. This
time I was the hypnotist and it was completely intentional. I was at a friend’s house
and we had been playing memory games with a pack of playing cards. Our
conversation soon drifted to the power of the mind and my friend said that it would be
cool to be able to hypnotise somebody. I lied (something I was pretty good at when I

was little) and told him that I could do it. He was younger than me and very
impressionable so it was easy to make him believe that I had done it before. Once he
agreed to let me hypnotise him I gave him some rather crude instructions to relax and
commanded over and over that he was feeling sleepy. I had a small shiny washer tied
to the end of a length of cotton that I was using as a make-shift pocket watch. As he
stared at the washer, listening to my instructions, his eyes slowly closed. I carried on
giving him suggestions to ‘sleep’ and it seemed to be working. I did a few simple tests
using the cards, suggesting that he forget certain numbers and it worked!

I had complete faith that it would work as I had seen something similar on TV and
had somehow accepted that anyone could do it. My friend also believed it would
work, probably because I was so convincing when I told him that it would.

The reason I have shared these stories with you is to illustrate how easy it is to induce
trance in another person. I have no special abilities or qualities that make me any
more capable of hypnotising someone than you do. If you can speak you can
hypnotise.

Section one: All about trance
The simple truth

To suggest that you will be able to hypnotise another person is actually a little
misleading, as no one can hypnotise someone else. All hypnosis is self hypnosis, so
your job is to simply help a person to hypnotise themselves. There are many roles that
you can adopt to do this, some people like to act as a guide, others prefer to lead by
example and some opt for a more commanding role and simply order their subjects
into trance. You are going to learn a combination of all three, just to make sure!

The reason that so many people believe that hypnosis is difficult is because so many
hypnotists have said that it is! Hypnotists are a little like magicians, they learn very
simple secrets and guard them. I had the pleasure of living with a magician whilst at
university and believe me; magic is much more entertaining when you don’t know the
secrets! Now, when I watch a performance, I spend most of my time admiring the
simple ingenuity of the props, and ignoring the guy prancing around pulling levers.

Fortunately, the world of hypnosis is changing and hypnotists are much more willing
to share their wisdom today. Unfortunately, most of you reading this have already
been programmed to believe it’s difficult, as the hypnotists of yesteryear wanted you
to think they were somehow more powerful than the rest of us.

Hypnosis is all about communication, the only tools that you need are your mind and
your voice. It can be performed in almost any setting (keeping safety in mind
obviously!) and everybody can do it. It helps to have a good imagination but it is
certainly not a necessity.

You are going to learn hypnosis in stages; you will practise each stage until you are
comfortable with it, remember it and understand it. I have not included a huge script
for you to read out as I want you to become a hypnotist not a reader. I have, however,
included instructions that will enable you to create your own induction scripts. You
are expected to put some effort into this process, I don’t for a minute suggest that
someone will read this book once and suddenly be able to hypnotise (I have written a
book that does do that, but it’s not for you!) I expect you to read and re-read this book
many times, do the exercises and follow the suggestions. Why? Because I want you to
be a hypnotist. I want you to be able to use hypnosis productively and effectively. I
want you to be safe and confident in what you are doing. I want you to know
hypnosis, not just read it. If you have bought my previous books, read the inductions
to your friends and successfully hypnotised them, you are not a hypnotist, I am, but on
that occasion I was working through you. On this occasion it’s your turn, I think you
will agree that this way is much better.

Because all hypnosis is self hypnosis you will probably have guessed that the
hypnotic subject has a pretty important role to play. Not everyone is that good at
entering trance states. Some people are fantastic, and will need very little input from
you, most people need at least a few instructions to help them along and a few people
don’t seem to be able to ‘get it’ at all. The more you learn about hypnosis the more
you will be able to help people that find it difficult to enter trance. You will develop
strategies and techniques that will make you a more versatile hypnotist, meaning that

you will have greater success. If you learn only one technique, and this particular
technique is only good for 20% of the population, you will only ever be successful
20% of the time. This is what happened to Sigmund Freud, his limited knowledge of
induction techniques meant that his success was frustratingly restricted. Disgruntled,
he soon made himself feel better by displacing his short comings onto trance itself,
stating that it was simply not a reliable form of therapy. I believe this was a Freudian
slip and what he actually meant to say was that he was simply not a flexible form of
therapist. Not happy with hypnosis he went on to develop psycho-analysis and other
talking therapies that all seem to take forever to do very little.

So, as you can see, flexibility is very important, but that’s OK because we have got
that covered. Unfortunately, what we don’t have such great control over, is the quality
of your volunteers. If you are only able to practise on people that are poor subjects
then you may start to delude yourself into thinking that you are a poor hypnotist…
and as a student of mine this is simply unacceptable! It is for this reason that I insist
that you practise on as many and as varied people as you can. Don’t worry, as soon as
word gets out that you are a hypnotist you will have no shortage of eager volunteers.

I know it is obviously preferable to only hypnotise people that make great subjects but
this is a luxury that you can only really expect if you are on the stage. In such a
situation you get to pick from the entire audience, test them for suggestibility and
throw back anyone you think might cause a problem. If you are thinking of moving
into therapeutic practise (which I am kind of hoping that you are) you don’t get any
choice at all. Someone calls you to book an appointment and that’s it. I suggest that
you enjoy the ‘easy deep goers’ (official they are known as somnambulistic) but don’t
become reliant on them. Learn techniques that will expand you knowledge so that you
can help everyone. If you get a particularly tricky customer accept the challenge and
recognise it as an opportunity to develop your skills.

What is hypnosis?

Although this section is not completely necessary for you to learn how to actually
hypnotise, it does help. The more you understand about hypnosis the better hypnotist
you are likely to become. When you know exactly what hypnosis is and why and how
it works your abilities will vastly improve, enabling you to develop your own style.

The first thing you should know about hypnosis is that it is a natural state that
everyone has gone through many, many times before. Sometimes we enter the
hypnotic state naturally, enjoy it for a while and then either fall asleep or come back
to fully waking consciousness, often unaware that anything unusual has happened. On
occasion, we do notice the shift in consciousness, but usually this realisation does not
come until we are back to full conscious awareness. Have you ever driven or walked
somewhere and suddenly realised that you are unsure of which route you took? It’s
almost as though you are on autopilot, you know you were safe, yet your focus was
elsewhere. This naturally occurring state is often cut short because of external events
that require your conscious awareness, such as stop lights or potentially hazardous
circumstances. You also enter a trance state while day dreaming, again this is often
cut short as work colleagues wave their hand in front of your face and call your name!

These are just two examples of how we drift in and out of altered states of
consciousness without direction, the difference between these experiences and
hypnosis is that with hypnosis you control the state and make productive use of it.

During the hypnotic state something very special and rather unusual happens. The
subject becomes increasingly suggestible and is able to gain access to the
subconscious mind. The subconscious mind works very much like a computer
processor, obeying the programs it receives without question, however, during normal
waking consciousness, any program that you attempt to install will be checked, and if
it conflicts with programs already running, it will be rejected.

The hypnotic state allows you to reprogram your subconscious mind without scrutiny.
This means that you are able to install new programs that conflict with your existing
ones. When this happens people change. Sometimes this is a good change, sometimes
it isn’t. Changes at the subconscious level are usually very long lasting; an example of
a negative program at this level would be a phobia or an addiction.

The goal of hypnosis is to elicit positive change by removing undesirable programs
and replacing them with helpful ones. This is only possible because hypnosis allows
access to the subconscious, if it didn’t; hypnosis would be nothing more than
relaxation. There have been many attempts to explain what makes this communication
possible and experimentation has revealed a number of ways that we are able to
program our subconscious, the most notable of which are repetition, relaxation, focus,
shock and confusion.

Hypnosis makes productive use of all of these techniques, so do many politicians and
marketing companies. In particular we are going to be using relaxation and focus, as
these are more pleasurable for the subject, making them a lot more practical for
therapeutic use. Stage hypnotists will often use confusion and shock tactics, as they
are very dynamic to witness and help to speed up the process, this is obviously
important for entertainment value.

When you realise the awesome power of your subconscious mind you begin to
recognise the advantage of being able to consciously program it to achieve the things
you desire from life. On the most basic of levels you can use hypnosis to remove
phobias and bad habits, when you begin experimentation with more advanced
hypnotic abilities you will astound yourself as to what is possible. Hypnosis gives you
access to the power of the subconscious, this truly is the most tremendous power
available to mankind. The power that you hold within you far exceeds that of science
and technology. The control that your subconscious mind commands over your body
is much more advanced than any drug. The wisdom it contains about you, exceeds
that of any doctor. Using hypnosis allows you to become the master of your own life;
it allows you to be whatever you want to be. It is the key that unlocks your hidden
potential.

Many people doubt the credibility of hypnosis, believing that changes are due to the
placebo effect or that the hypnotised subject is simply trying to please the hypnotist.
Whether these suggestions are true or not, the fact remains that hypnosis does work,
but no one is completely sure what makes it work. I agree that both of the sceptics’
explanations have a large part to play in all treatments, not just hypnotherapy;

however, there is certainly something more happening that makes hypnosis unique.
Countless people have had impacted wisdom teeth removed, pain free child birth and
even serious operations with nothing more than hypnosis as an anaesthetic. It would
take a very brave, or stupid, person to go through such painful experiences, without
conventional medication, simply to please a hypnotist.

If you have read my previous books you will know that one of my earliest hypnotic
experiments was to make my poor volunteer feel intense heat followed by unbearable
cold. During this experiment his body actually physically reacted to my suggestions
as though they were real, his face flushed and he sweated at the suggestions of heat
and this quickly changed to Goosebumps and shivering when I switched the
suggestion to cold. You could even see the little hairs on his arms stand on end! Since
that day I challenge anybody that believes that hypnosis is simply a matter of
‘pleasing the hypnotist’ to produce the same changes in their own body, obviously
they can’t, because when we try to please someone we are doing so using our
conscious minds. The reactions I have just described are controlled by the
subconscious mind and it is only because hypnosis can gain direct access to the
subconscious that such changes are possible.

The hypnotic state is very similar to that attained during meditation and if you have
the necessary equipment, you will be able to see that brainwave patterns change as
someone enters trance. Not many of us do have the necessary equipment and being
able to record the change with a machine is not necessary. The changes affect the
subject in ways that you will be able to identify with ease when you know what to
look for.

Having understood a little about what trance is, you should be able to talk about it
comfortably with your subject, as they are likely to ask you many questions. I am
going to give you a sample pre-hypnotic talk later, so you will know exactly what to
say. It is now time that you learn what hypnosis isn’t, because it is what it isn’t, that
most people think it is!

Trance Misconceptions

There are many misconceptions about trance and almost all of these come from the
1931 psychological thriller, ‘Svengali’. Those that have not seen Svengali will not
have escaped its curse, even today it is responsible for the way hypnosis is portrayed
by the media and very few people have a view of hypnosis that has not been tainted
by it. In the film, based of the screenplay Trilby, John Barrymore plays a slimy
heartless music instructor that uses the guise of a headache cure to claim dominance
over an innocent performer. His piercing eyes and evil presence overcome the young
singer, Trilby, and she becomes increasingly dependant upon him. The film shows a
very dark and eerie image of control, submission, dominance and death.

The image of hypnosis created in Svengali has had devastating impact that is still with
us today, more than 70 years later. Almost every patient that I treat has a
misconception of hypnosis that originally came from the film. As a hypnotist, it is
important that you understand the truth about hypnosis as well as being aware of the
misconceptions that your subjects will bring with them. Many stage hypnotists have
fuelled the confusion surrounding hypnosis as their induction methods can greatly

benefit from the ideas and misconceptions that Svengali introduced. Some stage
hypnosis relies heavily on hype, dominance and control, creating a very negative
image of hypnosis that is sadly very far from the truth. Not all stage hypnosis uses
these techniques; many practitioners are very respectable and help to increase
awareness of genuine hypnosis, whilst providing harmless family entertainment.

Before their first genuine experience of trance, many people’s expectations are
remarkably similar, I have listed the most common below, all of these are false
misconceptions, most of which came from Svengali.

• Control

People often believe that the hypnotised subject is under the control of the
hypnotist and powerless to do anything other than what they are instructed.
This is not true, if you feel strongly about something you will not do it. Most
people do however follow the instruction of a hypnotist as they are able to use
the fact that they were hypnotised as an excuse for their actions.

• Truth serum

Many people believe that hypnosis is some kind of ‘truth drug’, you are in fact
just as capable of lying, or withholding information, in trance as you are when
fully conscious. It is also possible to lie inadvertently by creating false
memories whilst in the trance state. This is the reason hypnosis is not used in
court.

• Mystical power

It is surprising how many people think that hypnosis is due to some kind of
mystical power. A lot of people will not even look you in the eyes when they
discover that you are a hypnotist! Hypnosis only requires words. This
misconception is more dangerous for the budding hypnotist than the subject, if
you believe that hypnosis requires some kind of mystical power that you do
not possess you will have a hard time learning how to do it!

• Amnesia

Most people think they will have no conscious recall of the trance state. This
is not completely true. Recall of trance is very similar to that of dreams,
sometimes you remember everything very clearly, other times memory is
patchy at best and, on occasion, you can not recall a thing. The level of recall
has nothing to do with the level of trance or the success of the therapy.

• Zombie

A lot of people think that you will turn into some kind of zombie during the
actual hypnotic process and be completely unaware of what is going on. You
are actually acutely aware of the entire situation and can always hear the
hypnotists’ voice clearly. On occasion, you will become so absorbed in your
imagination that you will simply tune out and no longer hear the external

world, just as when you become engrossed in a daydream. When something
catches your attention you will once again listen to the hypnotist and continue
with the trance as usual.

• Mind reading

Many people are simply scared of hypnosis because they are afraid that the
hypnotist will ‘get into their head and find out all their secrets’ this is
impossible. A hypnotist does not get inside your mind they simply give you
instructions to follow that help you do the necessary work required in your
own mind.

• Getting stuck

Some people are too afraid to enter trance because they are worried that they
might not be able to ‘get back out’. It is impossible to become stuck in trance.
If a hypnotist mysteriously vanished part way through a treatment, the patient
would either wake immediately, wake after completing a set task, fall into
natural sleep and wake as normal in the morning (especially if very tired),
wake as soon as they need the toilet, become uncomfortable, hungry, too hot
or too cold or simply wake themselves as they are wondering what is going
on. Although it is very rare, if a patient’s life is very dull, they may prefer the
trance state to reality, and want to stay there a little longer than you would like
them to, on such an occasion you need simply run through the wake up script
again and they will soon be wide awake.

You will no doubt come across other, more obscure misconceptions that I am sure
you will be able to deal with as they arise. The only addition to these that I think you
need to be aware of is that hypnosis is not sleep! This confusion is more than
understandable, for a start the actual word hypnosis comes from the Greek word
hypnos which means sleep. This rather unfortunate term was chosen by the Scottish
ophthalmologist, James Braid, in 1842. Before then, it was known as animal
magnetism, which was a term created by Franz Anton Mesmer (who lent his name to
the phrase mesmerised). Realising that sleep was not a factor required for trance,
Braid tried to rename hypnosis monoideism in 1847, but he was too late and the name
had already stuck.

As well as the complications involving the name, from an external view point a
hypnotised subject does appear to be asleep, this is due to the profound relaxation that
often accompanies the trance state. Also, as you will soon discover for yourself,
hypnotists do use the word sleep quite liberally throughout the induction process. It is
of little wonder that people that have not experienced trance before expect it to be
similar to sleep! This can cause a problem. If you have hypnotised someone for a
particular condition successfully, but the trance experience was very different from
their expectation, they may believe that they were not hypnotised at all. If this
happens they could very easily decide that, as they were not hypnotised, the condition
will not have been fixed. Given that all hypnosis is actually self hypnosis, at this point
it is possible that they could actually program themselves right back to where they
were prior to the session. It is even more probable when you consider that a recently
awoken subject is still very suggestible.

With this in mind, it is worth telling your subject before hand that, although you will
use the word sleep during the induction, the kind of sleep that you are referring to is
not the same as what they experience in bed at night, it is hypnotic sleep, something
very different. They will still hear your voice and not become unconscious. This
approach is easier than emitting the references to sleep altogether as the instruction
does encourage relaxation and this is a great benefit to trance.

Having read the previous couple of paragraphs you will no doubt understand the
importance of matching your subject’s expectation of trance to the actual experience.
You do all this during your pre-hypnotic talk, and because of the nature of the
language you will be using, it gives you tremendous opportunity to pre-program your
subject using subliminal messages. We will discuss this in great detail when we go
into the actual pre-talk script later. Knowing how trance feels is obviously necessary
if you are to create an accurate expectation, so this is what we are going to look at
now.

The trance experience

The actual hypnotic state is rather difficult to define as many people experience it in
different ways. There are certain characteristics of trance that are common to
everyone so we will discus these first and then move on to what could happen, but is
not necessarily guaranteed.

Relaxation is very common during trance but this can depend on the actual induction
process used. The way you are going to learn hypnosis will absolutely guarantee that
your subjects will feel relaxed. When we relax, our bodies get bigger and you need to
make allowances for this. You should have your subjects loosen or remove anything
that could become restrictive and cause discomfort as they relax, such as belts and
shoes.

The next most common occurrence during trance is time distortion, almost everyone
that goes into a hypnotic state believes that the time in trance was shorter than it
actually was, sometimes considerably shorter. It is not uncommon to spend up to an
hour working with a client in trance and for them to report the whole thing as feeling
like fifteen minutes. I strongly suggest that you point out the time before you begin
the induction and ask your subject how long they feel has passed when you wake
them. As already mentioned, when a subject first wakes from trance they are still very
suggestible so what happens directly after the trance state can have a very large
impact on the success of your therapy. This is very useful, as when people wake from
trance and realise that they seem to have lost some time it reinforces the idea that
something must have happened, helping the subject to strengthen the therapy all by
themselves.

Your subject will probably feel rather profound changes in their body during the
induction, usually beginning with a heavy feeling in the limbs. This can be
accompanied by a sweet sensation in the muscles or a change in temperature. They
will most likely feel an increased sense of comfort as the trance progresses and it is
not uncommon for this to reach such a level that a trance subject becomes unsure of
their physical position, or even completely unaware of their body altogether. Many

people report on waking that they believed that they had moved into a different
position. Tingling sensations are also common, especially in the fingers and toes,
some people also feel a tingling feeling move up through their spine.

Other physical sensations include numbness, pins and needles, floating sensations or
illusions of movement; this may be a sensation of falling or rotating.

A lot of people that go into trance see internal colours or images that seem to appear
from nowhere, this state is known as the hypnogogic state and is a very natural part of
trance. It is very common for people to naturally go through this state as they fall
asleep at night. However, it does tend to depend on an individuals preferred
representational system so is not universal.

I have had many people report a feeling of expanded consciousness (I experience this
when I enter trance) it is a very pleasant sensation and actually feels as though your
mind has been opened up in some way. This is often accompanied by a peaceful calm
wave that seems to move through your entire body.

Although it is less common, on occasion you will have someone feel as though they
have actually blacked out during the trance state, becoming completely unaware of
proceedings. People that experience this can usually pinpoint the exact moment that
they come back. The process feels very much like astral projection and a definite
sense of moving back into the body will occur on return, this is almost always
accompanied by numerous pleasant physical sensations.

The sensations that are experienced during trance will differ, not only from person to
person, but also from trance to trance. One day a subject might report a heavy
sensation and the next they may feel as though they are floating. You should not use
this list to tell your subject what trance is going to feel like to them, you should use it
to offer some suggestions as to what could happen. By explaining some of the
sensations that could happen, you will create an expectation that will most likely
match the experience. This will help to reinforce the process. You should not go into
too much detail with your explanations of how trance will feel and avoid some of the
more spectacular sensations. If you spend ten minutes explaining how trance can
make you feel as though you are rotating in space outside of your physical body, you
will be setting your subject up for disappointment as such sensations rarely occur. If
you give a few basic suggestions and their experience turns out to be much more, they
are likely to be very excited about the whole occurrence and will certainly not doubt
its credibility.

There are many other sensations that a subject may feel, but these occur infrequently
so you do not need to know about them at this stage. As you begin practising hypnosis
on your friends and family you will certainly become aware of the ways that trance
can differ quite considerably for each person.

Now that you know what trance is like for the subject, you need to know what it is
like for you as the hypnotist. There are two areas to look at here, firstly how you
perceive the subject and secondly how you feel yourself during the process. There are
many things to look out for when you are hypnotising someone, and these will help

you to establish how well it’s going, giving you a good indication of what to say and
when to move on to the next section.

To begin with, you will be looking for physical signs of relaxation; the most obvious
initial indication is the subject closing their eyes. I do not always start an induction
with the subjects eyes closed, I let them choose how to start, and it makes little
difference to the trance if they begin with their eyes open. Most people prefer to have
their eyes closed from the beginning; those that opt to keep them open for a while
soon close them as they start to relax. If they don’t, I simply make a few suggestions
to encourage the idea until they do.

Once the eyes are closed you can really begin to look for signs of trance without the
subject feeling self-conscious in any way. You can tell a great deal from your
subject’s physiology, and the information you gather will be invaluable during the
induction. One of the best things to look out for is the way that the subject is
breathing. Notice the quality of the breath, as someone becomes more relaxed their
breathing tends to become deeper, shallow breathing may indicate anxiety, nerves or
tension. Take the entire physiology into account when reading your subject and then
act accordingly. If you believe that they are nervous you are able to use this to deepen
the trance and lead them to a more desirable state. You will learn how to do this when
we discuss biofeedback later. You will also want to pay close attention to the rhythm
of the breath, watch the chest rise and fall to establish this. Everyone’s voice has a
natural rhythm and by adjusting yours to compliment your subjects breathing you will
create a very useful link that can be used to lead them deeper into trance.

It is common for a subject’s cheeks to become flushed as they relax; this is due to the
capillary veins near to the skins surface filling with blood as tension in the
surrounding muscles is released. You will also notice a definite sagging to the facial
muscles at this stage; this is very noticeable as we rarely completely relax our face.

During the actual induction process you spend a considerable amount of time relaxing
the subject; you do this in a very systematic way, working through the body from
head to toe. As you work on a particular area you are usually able to detect signs of
relaxation relatively instantly, such as fingers twitching. This process allows you to
determine whether or not your subject is listening to you and following your
instruction, some people don’t, they simply continue with their own internal dialogue
or start daydreaming. If you suspect this has happened, you can simply bring a
subject’s awareness back to your voice and give them some suggestions that will help
to remove distracting thoughts.

As your subject becomes increasingly relaxed their digestive system will begin to
function. Sometimes you can hear this process others you can not, but it is safe to say
that it is very likely to occur. You should mention this to the subject and tell them that
it is an indicator that they are moving into the trance state. This avoids feelings of
embarrassment when it happens and also helps to deepen the state due to the
association you have created.

Most induction methods include a great deal of visualisation, you should be able to
see rapid eye movements (REM) in your subject as they begin to visualise. Although

the subject’s eyes will be closed at this stage it is easy to see the eyes moving under
the closed lids.

Everything that you notice will help you to establish the level of trance and can be
used as a tool to deepen it. For maximum affect you will need to make slight
adjustments that will enable you to create an induction specifically suited to your
subject. This is the flexibility that Freud lacked, he ordered his patients into trance and
many of them simply didn’t like it. You will soon realise how valuable this ability is,
it is the process that turns you into a hypnotist, rather than a person that simply
reiterates a pre-written script.

Building confidence

An area of trance that is very often neglected in ‘how to’ guides is the way that you,
as the hypnotist, should feel during the actual induction. The way you feel, what you
think, how you act, and the way you speak has a massive impact on the induction
process, hypnosis is much more than mere words.

Whatever you are feeling inside will leak out through your non-verbal
communication. This will be picked up by the subject as you are preparing them for
trance. Your body language and voice tonality will reveal your inner emotions so it is
important to be experiencing emotions that will help the induction process and not
those that might hinder it. As an example, if you are very nervous, you will appear
tense, fidget and avoid eye contact. Your speech will be faster than usual, you are
likely to make frequent mistakes and stutter. Your energy will be up in your shoulders
and your posture uncomfortable. Your subject may not consciously notice your non-
verbal leakage but will most certainly react to it negatively, most likely becoming
nervous themselves. If they are consciously aware of your nerves they will lose trust
in your abilities and begin to doubt your credibility as a hypnotist. Either way, you
will make the actual induction a lot more difficult than it should be.

In order to hypnotise someone successfully you should feel so confident, that you
know, with certainty, that your induction will be successful. When you feel this way
you immediately relax into it, everything feels natural and flows more easily. Your
subject will follow your example and become more relaxed themselves. They will be
very comfortable with the situation and much more responsive to your suggestions. If
you have never hypnotised anybody before, you are not likely to be feeling
particularly confident in your abilities, so this is where a little self hypnosis comes to
your assistance. Our goal here is to convince your mind that it’s easy to hypnotise
people, which it is, so this shouldn’t be too much of a task! One of the best ways you
are able to do this is to trick yourself into thinking that you are already a very
accomplished hypnotist, and your imagination can do this easily.

It is important that you do the following exercises as they will make a huge difference
to your success when you begin to practise on others. Why they work is not important
at this stage, simply accept that they do and enjoy them.

Your first exercise is very simple; all I want you to do is spend a few moments
daydreaming about hypnotising people. You do not have to imagine the entire
induction process just see yourself giving your subject the command to sleep and

watch as they instantly fall into a deep hypnotic state. Use your imagination to choose
the environment that best represents your fantasy, you might like to imagine a private
practise or perhaps a stage setting. Play with this scenario for as long as you feel
necessary and really enjoy making it larger than life.

Some people do not realise that they have the ability to visualise internally, because
they tend to prefer using other representational systems while thinking. Everyone has
access to this ability, but some people simply don’t use or recognise it. Internal
visualisations are not nearly as vivid as normal physical vision, but their affect on
your subconscious is just as powerful. If you believe that you lack visualisation skills
notice what happens when you answer this question. What colour is the door to your
house? Well? In order to get the answer you first need to see your door, and if it’s not
in sight physically you have to rely on your mind to recreate the image for you. That
is visualisation. You can develop your visual skills with practise; doing so will
improve your memory and aid your imagination.

If you prefer not to use visual images while daydreaming that’s fine. You can simply
imagine hearing sounds or just feel sensations as you mentally hypnotise your
subjects.

This exercise is designed to be done right now, the sooner you get started the better,
as this process is actually training your mind for success. You should play with this
technique often, it is particularly powerful just prior to sleep.

Our second exercise will help you to develop your abilities as well as your
confidence. I would like you to imagine that you are watching a famous hypnotist
(you can use me if you like!) as they successfully hypnotise somebody. Watch the
entire process through, and pay particular attention to the hypnotist’s confident
posture and gestures. When the trance is over and the subject is awake imagine that
you are rewinding the whole scene back to the beginning. This time I would like you
to actually step right into the scene and run it through again. Watch the entire
induction and listen to the words that the hypnotist is using. Walk around the scene so
that you can observe both the hypnotist and the subject from varying angles. When
the scenario is complete go back to the beginning, if the hypnotist is sitting have them
stand up, and then pause the scene. Notice a zipper that starts on the back of the
hypnotist’s neck and runs down their spine. As you unzip this, you are able to actually
step inside the hypnotist as though you are putting on an all-in-one boiler suit. Get
right inside, so that you are actually seeing through their eyes, once completely inside
reach behind yourself and pull the zipper back up, then un-pause the scene and allow
it to play thorough. Hear the hypnotists voice as though it is your own and simply
enjoy the experience. At the end, unzip yourself and step back out, zip the hypnotist
back up and then thank them for the experience before bringing yourself back to fully
waking consciousness.

You may find this difficult the first couple of time, but stick with it. You can use this
technique to learn practically anything, and it can be a very beneficial way of
understanding others.

As with the first exercise, practise often, especially before sleep.

We have one more exercise for you to complete at this stage to really boost your
confidence. If you are alone, do this right now. If not, you may like to come back to
this one when it’s convenient. You should repeat this exercise whenever you feel self
doubt creep in as it completely destroys negative emotion. It is also a great thing to do
just prior to trance; the best time is when your subject has just popped off to the toilet.

Stand up, put your shoulders back, hold you head high, close your eyes and imagine a
fanfare is playing. Now imagine that you have a cape draped around your shoulders,
clench your fists and smile triumphantly. Open your eyes and parade slowly but
deliberately around the room. As you march, focus your attention on the cape,
imagine it dragging along on the floor behind you and really feel the material pulling
your shoulders back. Breathe deeply through your nostrils and puff out your chest. If
you can get away with it (in other words, if the toilet is out of earshot!) you might like
to proudly announce a few words, such as, ‘Success! Confidence!! …or simply
YES!!!’ Breathe in the sensation of complete success and feel it flooding your entire
body. When you are ready, or you can hear your subject coming back, simply sit back
down nice and slowly, allowing the feeling of confidence and success to continue
moving through your body.

I can not stress the importance of actually doing the above exercises enough; they will
make a massive difference. I know it is sometimes tempting to skip simple exercises
when you want to get on with the more exciting material, but I insist that you really
do take the time to complete these, they are designed to make you a better hypnotist
and to speed up the process. They are also a lot of fun, so before you read any further,
if you have not done them already, it’s time for you to start daydreaming, and I’ll see
you back here in a few minutes! Have Fun!

Welcome back!

Before we press on lets have a quick recap of what you have learned thus far.

• Hypnosis is a natural state that requires no special power.
• All hypnosis is self hypnosis.

• Most people have a false impression of hypnosis.

• If you can talk you can hypnotise.
• Hypnosis is easy; however, most people have been conditioned into believing

that it is not.

• Everyone can visualise.

• Relaxation is a very important part of trance.
• Flexibility will enable you to help those that have more difficulty at entering

trance than others.

• Trance is fun, as are the exercises! So do them!

The easiest way to learn hypnosis is in stages, breaking down the process into
manageable chunks that you are able to practise until you are comfortable. There are
five main areas of trance; these are the pre-talk, the induction, the deepening, the
therapy and the wakening. Each of these areas can be broken down into subcategories
making learning very simple. Although I am sure you are primarily interested in the
actual induction, we are going to run through each of the stages in turn, as this will
help you to understand the entire process. As well as learning each stage, you will

also need to learn about the tools of trance; these are your voice, your imagination,
language patterns and the words that you choose to use.

The tools of trance

As a hypnotist, your voice is your most valuable tool, yet I know of only two
hypnotists, besides myself, that have taken the time to work on their voice, and I find
this astounding! An athlete will train their body to ensure that it is in peak physical
condition before an event, a singer will spend many hours with a voice coach to
perfect their vocal tones, yet so many hypnotists are making their life much more
difficult because they are using tools that simply aren’t fit for the job. Hypnosis can
be such an easy thing to do if you go about it the right way, and having a voice that
soothes your subject, with each peaceful sound caressing their ear is going to make
your induction a whole lot more powerful than trying to make do with a shrill
irritating screech, spitting out a thousand words a minute!

If you prefer the easy life, you need to make sure that your voice oozes trance, this
means controlling the tempo and tone, avoiding slang and (if you have one) calming
your accent. As you progress through the induction script you will need to reduce the
tempo of your voice quiet dramatically. If your speech is usually very fast then this is
something that you will have to work on, it helps if you look down and to your right
while talking, and avoid looking up. This is due to your mind accessing different
representational systems. When you look up, you are accessing internal images; your
speech will naturally increase as you are presented with ample information in each
picture to fill numerous sentences. When you look down and to the right you are
thinking with your emotions and you need to really feel that what you are saying is
right before you say it, this process takes a little longer so your speech slows
dramatically.

Many years ago it was believed that, to hypnotise a person, you should talk using a
monotonous authoritarian voice, this does not hold true with todays, more
sophisticated, induction methods. Trance today makes use of various emotions and
your tonality should compliment these. If you are using an exciting adventure as a
metaphor during therapy work, your voice should sound exciting. If you are relaxing
your subject during the induction then your voice needs to be soothing and calm. If
you want your subject to go deeper then you should deepen your tone.

If your voice is not naturally filled with soothing warm brown tones that are a delight
to behold, then you need to work at it. Practise saying phrases over and over until they
sound just right. You can use any phrase you like but I would suggest choosing one
that has something to do with hypnosis, try something like, ‘Your chest gently falls
with each comforting relaxed out breath, allowing you to sink down even deeper into
trance.’

It really helps to record yourself and listen back to it, some people are amazed at how
fast they talk when they listen to their own voice, doing this will provide you with
instant feedback, allowing you to make the necessary adjustments until you feel that
your voice sounds just right.

These techniques will give you a huge head start on most hypnotists, as very few
actually devote time and effort to developing their voice. I recently worked with a
colleague to help develop his voice. After just a few minutes of practise with a tape
player for feedback we could both hear a remarkable improvement. He later
confirmed that his inductions were indeed more successful. He had been using
hypnosis for a couple of years previous to this and said that he wished he had taken
the time to develop his voice tonality from the beginning.

Your imagination is also a valuable tool that will help to enhance your inductions. To
improve your imagination, simply use it! People used to make much more productive
use of their imaginations but today, sadly, we allow ourselves to be entertained by
technology, this has robbed us of our creative power and now is the time to take back
control! Play with, and enjoy, your imagination. When you begin to develop your own
inductions you will most certainly benefit from such activity. If you move into
therapy, a creative imagination will be a very valuable asset, enabling you to develop
powerful metaphors that will elicit positive change in your clients.

Milton Erickson is considered by many to be the most successful therapist that ever
lived. He was a master of metaphor; his seemingly innocent, fascinating stories
captivated listeners and provoked profound lasting changes. His style has been
meticulously studied by many and his techniques still rank amongst the most powerful
available.

Hypnotic language

People far too often overcomplicate hypnosis, especially when they are first learning
about it. One of the things that I feel you should always remember is that, regardless
of how experienced a hypnotist is, the only thing that you actually do to your subject
to hypnotise them is talk. So, as long as you say the right things, in the right order,
using the right tone and tempo, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be as successful
as anyone else.

When it comes to what you have to say in order to bring about a state of hypnosis you
are really working on two levels, primarily you are simply relaxing your subject with
soothing guidance, while at the same time making use of some very clever and
incredibly powerful language patterns. As I said earlier, I am not going to script out
an induction that you will simply read to your subject, but what I am going to do is
give you some phrases that I want you to commit to memory. You can then simply
makeup an induction that follows my basic guidelines and pepper it with very
powerful hypnotic language patterns that will ensure your success.

There are many language patterns that will help to ensure a successful induction and
you should make use of these whenever possible. The first technique that we are
going to look at is the subliminal message. Subliminal messages are grossly
misunderstood and often blamed for all sorts of ridiculous things. By far the most
outrageous to date is the Judas Priest incident where the words ‘Do it’ where
supposedly recorded backwards onto a record, this obscure recording, that was
actually nothing more than a coincidence, was blamed for the death of a young fan
that committed suicide while listening to the music. The court finally ruled that the

music was not to blame when a member of the band played a random record
backwards to illustrate how easy it was to hear words that simply were not there.

Subliminal messages were famously used during the Second World War, when Hitler
flashed images of rats on the screen while showing films of Jews in an attempt to
create a subconscious association between the two. Subliminal messages bypass
conscious awareness, making it possible to give someone instructions without them
being aware of your intention. It is this element of the subliminal message that has
created the negative impression that many people have of them. However, you can
use this persuasive power to promote positive change, just as easily as it has been
used in the past for negative influence.

Subliminal messages work because they bypass conscious scrutiny. They are usually
transmitted at the threshold of awareness, and are simply accepted by the
subconscious mind. When you know how to create subliminal messages you have a
tool that will really enhance your persuasive powers. I use subliminal messages very
heavily during the pre-talk to ensure a rapid induction and successful session. To
create a subliminal message you need to decide on your command, hide it in your
speech and employ a method of identification that your subjects subconscious mind
can use to pick it back out. This sounds really complicated on paper but in real life it
is very simply. Let’s say, for example that you would like to command your subject to
‘go into trance’, if you simply give them the instruction as a command, they are not
very likely to respond, and will probably not appreciate your technique! It is much
more affective if you hide the instruction in a perfectly acceptable sentence such as,
‘When you go into trance you will probably begin to feel extremely relaxed.’ Then
pick it out by slightly changing your tonality, like this, ‘When you go into trance you
will probably begin to feel extremely relaxed.’ This subtle change in tonality will be
noticed at a subconscious level and the command ‘go into trance’ will be accepted as
an independent instruction, separate from the rest of the sentence, as it was formed by
the subjects own mind.

If you are paying attention, you will have noticed the opportunity to slip another
subliminal command into that sentence that will encourage your subject to relax, so
you really should be picking that out too, like this, ‘When you go into trance you will
probably begin to feel extremely relaxed.’

You do not need to change your tonality to pick out your command, you can use other
methods; in fact, you can do whatever you desire, so long as it is not too obvious. If
your subject’s eyes are open, and they are looking at you, then you can simply raise
your eyebrows to highlight the command, this works in exactly the same way.

If you wanted to over complicate matters you could break your command apart to
hide it even further, but this really isn’t necessary. An example of this would be, ‘I am
glad you decided to give hypnosis a go, it’s a great subject to get into and the more
you learn about trance the more interesting it becomes.’ You would highlight the
italicised words in whatever way you desire (simply raising your index finger on each
would do) your subject will subconsciously notice that you have picked these words
out, and set about putting them together to form the command. Making subliminal
messages this way takes a little bit of effort, so you should have a few ready made that
you can use whenever required.

Prior to the actual induction, it is a good idea to use as many subliminal messages as
possible to encourage a deep trance and successful therapy. If you prime your subject
this way you will achieve far greater results. Below is a list of commands that you
might like to include, do not limit yourself to this list, change the commands to suit
your style and makeup some of your own. The golden rule is to keep your commands
positive and in the present tense.

• Go into trance

• Relax completely
• Feel comfortable

• Go into trance quickly

• Go into a really deep trance
• Open your mind to these suggestions

• Obey my commands

• Enjoy the experience
• Respond to trance

Take some time now to hide each of these commands in an innocent sounding
sentence that you would feel comfortable using during your pre-hypnotic talk. To get
you started, here is a sentence that includes three very useful commands yet sounds
perfectly natural when used to explain how trance can affect people differently,
‘Everyone will respond to trance in very different ways, some people will go into
trance quickly while others prefer to take their time and really enjoy the experience.’

It only takes a little imagination and a small amount of effort, and you will soon have
a list of subliminal sentences ready to use as required. Remember you do not have to
keep each word of your command together, you can spread them out if you prefer.

If you want to become an accomplished hypnotist then it’s exercise time! Following
the guidelines given above, create a list of 10 subliminal sentences using different
messages in each and also 10 different ways that you can include the command ‘go
into trance’. Once you have created your subliminal sentences, commit them to
memory. One of the best ways to do this is to record them on to tape exactly as you
would say them, and listen to it over and over, get used to hearing your sentences until
they sound completely natural and you can easily repeat them without needing to
think about the subliminal content.

This process is akin to stock piling ammunition before going into battle, you need to
make sure that you have more than enough so that everything runs smoothly and
sounds completely natural. Having such tools on hand will also boost your
confidence, so grab yourself a pen and paper and start designing your subliminal
messages right now.

Before the actual induction process officially begins, you should make use of every
possible opportunity available to ensure that the hypnotic session is a success.
Subliminal commands, such as those previously discussed, are easy to administer and
very effective. You can also subtly use presumptive language throughout your
descriptions, as this will act as an indirect command that predetermines what the
subject is going to experience. For example, the sentence we used earlier, ‘Everyone

will respond to trance in very different ways, some people will go into trance quickly
while others prefer to take their time and really enjoy the experience.’ Presumes that
your subject will go into trance, the only question is whether they are going to go into
trance quickly or perhaps take a little longer. The idea that they might not enter trance
at all, isn’t presented as an option.

To use this technique effectively you need to present your subject with a choice of
two or more options that distract attention from an undesirable alternative. The actual
presumption you are making isn’t directly stated, it is simply implied by the options
that you present. Presumptions are an effective way of encouraging a subject to enter
trance, relax and ensure that the therapy is successful.

Liberal use of persuasive language patterns during the pre-induction talk will help to
ease the induction process; as a result, the trance state is likely to be deeper, resulting
in more effective therapy. Language patterns are not restricted to the pre-talk; they
also effectively pepper the induction, increasing the effectiveness of your suggestions
throughout the entire hypnotic process. Language patterns, such as subliminal
messages, enable you to embed commands that bypass conscious scrutiny, creating
very effective suggestions.

A simple, yet very useful, technique that can be used to encourage acceptance of a
suggestion is to tag it to the end of a string of verifiable commands. This process
requires some observation, so works most effectively when used in real life, rather
than on pre-recorded cassettes. Your initial commands should be truth statements that
your subject is easily able to consciously verify, such as, ‘you can hear the sound of
my voice’ or ‘you can feel your hands resting in your lap.’ Once you have delivered
four statements of this nature, tag your command to the end. Your final statement will
be determined by the direction that you desire the subject to move, this would usually
be into a more relaxed, suggestible state, resulting in trance. Keep the changes subtle
to begin, as your subject will only be in a light trance at this stage, and unlikely to
respond to a suggestion that seriously conflicts with their present condition.
Something relatively un-invasive should be used as your first tagged command, such
as, ‘Relax deeper’. As you continue with this process your commands can become
more direct, you may like to use commands such as the following;

• You are open to suggestion
• Lose awareness of your body

• Go into trance

• Relax completely
• Enter a deep trance

Obviously, you are not limited to the suggestions given here; make up your own and
add them to a string of verifiable commands in a similar way.

The simplest way to deliver these suggestions is to state one after another, as a series
of short sentences, like this, ‘You are listening to the sound of my voice. You are
sitting in the chair. Your hands are resting in your lap. Your feet are flat on the floor.
You are completely relaxed.’ This simple process works very well to increase the
acceptance of the final command. However, by linking each of the commands
together, you are able to further increase its power. The link words that you use to

connect your commands are called ‘linguistic bridges’ and these come in varying
strengths. You should begin your links with the weakest form of bridging, this is the
word ‘and’, move through the mid-strength links, such as ‘as’ and ‘while’ and finish
with the more powerful connectors, these are, ‘makes’ or ‘causes’.

Using this structure, the format of your sentence is now:

‘You are listening to the sound of my voice and sitting in the chair as your hands are
resting in your lap while your feet are flat on the floor causing you to relax
completely.’

Remember to use emphasis on your final command, allowing you to pick it out as a
subliminal message as we discussed earlier.

When using this technique it is preferable to begin as we have suggested, using four
verifiable statements, followed by one command, then slowly reduce the statements
and increase the commands as you progress. So begin with four statements and one
command, then move to three and two, then two and three and finally one and four. If
you begin with one statement and four commands, your subject will simply reject
them, as their conscious experience will conflict with your suggestions.

With regard to your verifiable statements, you are able to make presumptions that you
are relatively certain your subject will be experiencing, but, of course, you do not
know for sure. Most people that are being hypnotised for the first time will be curious
as to what might happen or wonder whether or not it will really work. If you
incorporate these ideas into your statements your subject will feel reassured that what
they are experiencing is normal, some may even take it as mind reading, especially if
they believe hypnosis is some form of mystical power. An example might be
something along the lines of, ‘You are listening to the sound of my voice and sitting
in the chair as you wonder how it is that you are going to go into trance causing you
to relax completely.’ (The two subliminal messages are italicised for you, be sure to
use your tonality to pick them out.)

These simple command strings are very effective when used near the beginning of the
induction, you do not need to over do them, simply devise one or two that you feel
will be universally practical and commit them to memory. Include subliminal
messages where you are able and remember to increase the strength of each linguistic
bridge as your statements progress.

Linking commands to experience is a similar way to deepen the trance state, enabling
you to create an association loop. The best way to do this is to link something that you
want to continue happening, such as going deeper into trance, with something that
will definitely continue to happen, such as breathing. You can do this very easily with
the following statement, ‘Each breath that you take causes you to go deeper and
deeper into trance.’ This simple statement will create an association that deepens the
trance state with each breath, a very useful command indeed! You can take this idea
one step further by looping the association, such as, ‘Each breath that you take causes
you to go deeper and deeper into trance and the deeper your go into trance the more
relaxed you become causing you to go even deeper into trance making you feel even
more relaxed.’ If you recall from earlier, confusion is a factor that can lead to trance,

and this sentence can be very confusing! In a relaxed state the subject is likely to not
want to have to consciously work out what is being said here, so the entire sentence
will be readily handed over to the subconscious to deal with, allowing your imbedded
suggestions to penetrate deep into your subjects mind. This creates a loop that sends
the subject deeper into trance as they become more relaxed, and makes them feel
more relaxed as they go deeper into trance, and so on. It also gives you the
opportunity to include some subliminal messages, I have avoided doing this for you at
this stage as you should by now have developed the ability to include them naturally.

As you can see, hypnotic language patterns are incredibly useful for inducing and
deepening the hypnotic state. You should learn these techniques thoroughly, however,
do not, for a moment, believe that your induction will be unsuccessful if you can not
perfect these simple techniques. Many hypnotists do not use these techniques at all,
yet still produce profound states of trance in their subjects. I certainly did not use
these patterns all those years ago, when I hypnotised my friend. Having said that, it is
important for you to learn, and apply, these techniques, as they are incredibly
powerful and will give you the edge over other hypnotists. If it makes your job as a
hypnotist easier, why not make use of it? These patterns are simple to learn and very
effective, so, before we move on, lets recap on what you know about hypnotic
language patterns so far.

• Subliminal messages

Commands that are imbedded within innocent sentences, and highlighted by a
change in tonality, thus enabling them direct access to the subconscious mind.
i.e. ‘Some people go into trance quickly, others prefer to take their time and
really enjoy the experience.’

• Presumptions

Offering alternatives that distract attention from an undesirable outcome. The
sentence, ‘Some people go into trance quickly, others prefer to take their time
and really enjoy the experience.’ Presumes that they will go into trance, the
only question is how long it will take, the idea that they might not enter trance
at all is subtly bypassed.

• Verifiable command strings

A series of readily verifiable truth statements that increases the acceptability
of a command that is tagged to the end.

• Linguistic bridges

Linking words, such as, ‘and, as, while, makes, causes’ that connect command
strings to increase effectiveness.

• Association loops

Linking an experience that will definitely continue throughout the induction,

such as breathing, to something that is desired to continue, such as increased
relaxation.

By now you should have a good understanding of hypnotic language and be fully
armed with an assortment of powerful commands. It is not enough to simply read
through these instructions and hope that something will be retained, you need to make
the conscious effort required to commit these language patterns to memory. It really
helps if you do not simply rely on the ones that I have given you, but also, using my
examples, create your own patterns, doing so will increase your understanding of
hypnosis and help you to remember them. This will have a massive impact on your
verbal delivery during the entire hypnotic process, everything will flow more easily
and you will enjoy far greater success, even with difficult clients!

The importance of rapport

If trance was a scrumptious fruit cake, language patterns would be the raisins and
sultanas inside; they aren’t completely necessary but they do make the cake a whole
lot tastier! Rapport, on the other hand, is much, much more. Rapport is the flour, the
milk, the eggs and the sugar, without these, there is no cake; without rapport, there is
no trance. Rapport is so important, and so powerful that you simply have to learn it!
Rapport is the glue that binds friendship, it is the chemistry of love and, most
importantly, it is the easy to learn, fascinating area of communication excellence that
is going to turn you into a confident, competent and extremely successful hypnotist!

Rapport is such a massive area that there are countless books completely dedicated to
single aspects of it, books that are much bigger than this. So, as you will no doubt
appreciate, you are in for somewhat of a crash course. You will learn enough about
rapport here to use it effectively as a hypnotist, and hopefully, as you do, you will
develop sufficient fascination in the subject to warrant further exploration.

You are already a master at establishing rapport with others, every relationship you
ever had began because you were able to create a state of rapport and your current
circle of friends are evidence of your ability to maintain it, this is what we call
‘natural rapport’ and there are very specific reasons that we all have it. Your natural
rapport only extends to a select quantity of people, meaning that, although we readily
create a solid relationship with some individuals, no matter how much we work our
charm on others, things simply do not seem to ‘click’. Your goal as a hypnotist is to
be able to move beyond natural rapport so that you are able to establish rapport with
everyone that walks through your door, quickly and seemingly naturally.

The trick to rapport building is to be like someone; because when someone perceives
that you are like them, they are much more likely to like you. There are many
strategies that you are able to employ that will enhance your ability to establish
rapport; you should take time to learn these techniques thoroughly as there
subconscious operation will vastly enhance your success as a hypnotist.

We are going to begin with some simple techniques that you can start practising right
away. Firstly, I want you to notice your breathing, pay close attention to the
movement of your chest as you breathe. Notice your natural breathing rhythm. Just
for a few moments, watch as your chest gentle rises and falls as you breathe, with

little or no conscious effort on your part. This is an automatic cycle of which we are,
usually, consciously unaware. You are able to use this subconscious activity to
establish a very basic level of rapport with the client by simply matching your
breathing cycle to theirs. To do this, spend a few moments observing someone’s
breathing pattern just as you have been your own, then adjust your breathing until it
complements theirs. Sit quietly breathing in sync for a few minutes to establish a state
of rapport. From here you are able to gradually reduce your breathing rate and, if the
level of rapport is strong enough, they will naturally follow. This process is called
‘pacing and leading’ and is a very simple yet powerful tool that you can use to alter
someone’s state.

If you practise synchronising your breathing to others as often as possible it will very
quickly become an automatic skill, leaving you to focus on other areas. Daily life is
filled with opportunity for practise, the train or bus to work can be a playground of
experience if you make good use of it. Practise synchronising your breathing to the
person sitting next to you, or perhaps someone at the other end of the carriage. This
not only develops your ability to establish rapport, it also improves your observational
skills. However, a cautionary word of warning! Although the easiest way to see
another’s breathing pattern is to watch the rise and fall of their chest, people are
usually not too happy about strangers staring at them, especially there! Instead of
looking directly, make use of your peripheral vision. You are not limited to practising
on strangers, you could just as easily practise on your family while sitting down to
dinner or watching TV.

The second step is to notice the breathing and link it to something else. Just as before
I want you to begin by practising this alone then try it out in the real world. First, you
may like to rest you hand in your lap and slowly raise and lower your index finger in
sync with your breathing pattern. Do this for at least two minutes, and then
consciously slow down the rate of your finger movements without altering your
breathing. You will probably notice that this feels out of sync, and you will feel
compelled to either return the movements to their previous tempo or reduce your
breathing rate to re-establish synchronicity. The same thing happens when you try this
with others, enabling you to lead them to a more relaxed state. Try it.

The next association that I would like you to establish is to link the rhythm of
breathing to the rhythm of speech. This is the part where you begin to realise why
most hypnotists sound a little peculiar when they speak. Speech has a very natural
rhythm that makes what we are saying sound much more interesting. In normal
circumstances, this rhythm is dictated by the content of the speech, the grammar, the
enthusiasm of the speaker, whether the words spoken form a statement or question
etc. During hypnotic induction this rhythm is dictated by the clients breathing cycle.
This means that, as a hypnotist, you will need to fit your tonality to your clients
breathing, so, as their chest rises, raise your pitch, and as it falls, lower it. This need
only be a very subtle change for it to be effective. If you think back to my experience
in the church, you will remember that I commented on the pastor’s tonality and the
way it seemed to naturally compliment my breathing. When this happens it almost
feels as though you are being rocked to sleep, the words seeming to take on the
peaceful reassuring quality of a lullaby.

Practise adjusting your speech… so that it complements your breathing. It will
probably help… to have many pauses… that can be synchronised… to the natural
pauses… between, each… and every breath.

When you are able to pace your client’s current state you establish a connection that
binds you, this is subconsciously noticed by your client and automatically accepted.
On a conscious level, they will simply feel as though you are the kind of person that is
easy to get along with, as they will be unaware that you have artificially manipulated
the situation to establish the bond. Once this connection is established, if you change
your state, their subconscious mind will try to maintain the harmony and, as a result,
will change theirs. However, if the change is too sudden or great, you are likely to
break the bond and they will not follow. When this happens simply go back to pacing
their current state for a few minutes and then make a more gradual transition. It is
particularly useful to be able to control your clients breathing in this way as they will
natural become more relaxed as their breathing deepens. Relaxation is one of the key
elements of trance and these subtle changes will increase the effectiveness of the
entire process.

As well as matching subtle cycles in your client, such as breathing, you should also
make a conscious effort to compliment their body language. This can be used in a
similar way to the previous examples, to lead your client to a more desirable state.
The best and most enjoyable way to learn about body language is to see it in action.
Everywhere that people interact you are able to see demonstrations of body language
that will assist your studies; one of the most interesting areas to observe is flirtation.
To a learned observer the bodily communications of attraction are obvious; some
interesting examples to look out for are couples that seem to mirror each others
movements. This could be a first encounter at a club or perhaps a couple enjoying
each others company in a café. Practise people watching at a comfortable distance
and, using body language alone; determine the level of rapport that exists between the
people that you are observing. This practise will help you to develop observational
skills that will increase your effectiveness at recognising when you are out of rapport
with your client, enabling you to make necessary adjustments when required. If you
watch an exchange where people are out of rapport you will see defensive body
postures such as crossed arms or legs that act as barriers. Other examples that can be
seen during such exchanges may demonstrate ones desire to leave the encounter, look
out for people turning away from the communication or pointing their feet away, as
though indicating where they would rather be. When reading a person’s body
language you should take the whole situation into account, crossed arms are not
always a barrier, sometimes they are due to cold weather or simply comfort. I once
had a client that was self conscious about her weight, she folded her arms across her
front to try and hide herself from others, this illustrates that there could always be
something more going on and you should take the whole body into account when
reading someone’s non-verbal communication. The more practice you have observing
people, the more finely tuned your abilities will become. Milton Erickson was very
well respected as the greatest hypnotherapist of our time and he often talked about
how he loved to play at people watching as a child. Recognising where someone is,
knowing where they need to go and closing the gap is the purpose of all therapy, and
developing your observational skills will help you to close that gap much more
effectively. Even if you do not want to move into therapy you will still benefit from

these exercises. Noticing the client’s state and knowing what needs to be done in
order to deepen it will bring about a profound state of trance.

When you witness the non-verbal communication between two individuals that have
established a solid sense of rapport you will notice the extent of the harmony and
balance in their gestures and postures. Their movements almost mirror one another in
a graceful dance of appreciation. This connection is usually very obvious, such as
both people taking a drink at the same time or simultaneously shifting to the same
position. This, rather blatant, mimicry is called matching. You will also notice a more
subtle form of matching called cross-over matching, this is where one action is
complimented with another of a different type, for example, one person may rub their
cheek every time another takes a drink. Cross-over matching is less common in
natural rapport, but it is extremely useful when pacing and leading someone to a
desired state. You can increase the level of rapport with your client by subtly
matching their body position and gesture frequency without being too obvious, the
trick is to not let them consciously notice what you are doing, if you were to copy
each movement in an obvious fashion, they would very quickly become annoyed or
embarrassed; not very productive states for trance work!

You have already used cross-over matching when you worked with the breathing
exercises earlier. During this exercise, through repetition, you created an association
that linked your finger movements to someone’s breathing. You can match body
posture in similar ways to help you to encourage your client to relax. For example, if
your clients arms are crossed, then cross your legs, after a while naturally uncross
them as you learn forward, your client will probably follow your cue and uncross their
arms as you do this. Although these subtly techniques work very well, you could just
as easily ask them to uncross their arms. Sometimes asking is the more favourable
approach as it begins to condition your client to accept your commands, other times a
subtle approach is more fitting, use your own judgement for each situation.

As you are probably beginning to notice, a successful induction has many elements.
To try and consciously control every area of trance during the induction is very
difficult as your conscious mind can only focus on a few areas at any one time. It is
much more productive to elicit the assistance of your subconscious mind. The way
you do this is to practise each area until it just happens automatically. Your
subconscious mind will take heed of your practise and gladly take over the task of
gaining rapport once it realises that is your intention.

For the purposes of this book, we are going to leave body language at this stage, but I
do urge you to practice these simple exercises, they can be a lot of fun and really help
to pass the time on long journeys. Body language is a fascinating subject and further
study of non-verbal communication will prove most fruitful.

Although body language is a valuable tool for establishing rapport, most of the
communication that you have with clients is likely to be while their eyes are closed.
At this stage, your voice and the words that you speak are your only tools, but do not
let that worry you, as your word selection is by far the most powerful and effective
way of establishing rapport available. It is also the reason that natural rapport has
limitations and some people just do not seem to click.

Very few people actually take the time to think about how we think, most of us
assume that everyone else thinks pretty much the same way that we do, but this is not
true, people tend to think in their preferred representational system. If you are
naturally using the same system as someone else, you are likely to get along with
them very well, if you are not, you won’t!

There are three main representational systems that you need to know about for the
purposes of rapport building, these are visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. I am going to
discuss each in more detail in a moment, but first, I would like to tell you a little about
the origins of this information and illustrate its importance for establishing rapport.

In the early 1970’s John Grinder and Richard Bandler, the co-founders of Neuro-
Linguistic Programming, noticed something about the way that people spoke that got
them thinking. Their curiosity had been sparked by a student that thanked them while
leaving a lecture by commenting that he could really ‘see’ what they were saying.
Grinder and Bandler thought about this a lot, how can you ‘see’ what someone is
saying? Surely you ‘hear’ what is said, right? I think most of us would not have given
this a second thought, but Grinder and Bandler decided to devote a lot of thought to it,
and pretty soon you are going to be very thankful that they did.

Grinder and Bandler began an extensive study of language patterns and noticed that
people tended to favour using one of three representational systems while
communicating. On noticing this they conducted a little experiment and labelled each
person with a coloured sticker to indicate which system they preferred to use, then
observed interactions between matched and mismatched pairs, the results were
astonishing! The matching pairs seemed to instantly bond, like old friends, the pairs
that did not match were uncomfortable to watch! They had discovered the most
powerful tool of rapport building to date, a system that enables you to speak in the
language of your client’s thoughts, this breakthrough in communication quickly
established itself in the therapeutic world and vastly increased the effectiveness of
hypnosis.

Visual thinkers

Of the three major representational systems, the most frequently used is visual, so this
is the one that will be looking at first. Visual thinkers think in pictures, they see
internal images that represent the completeness of their thoughts and their ability to
visualise far exceeds that of the auditory or kinaesthetic thinker. When a visual
thinker is following a chain of thought, it is presented internally as a series of images,
this process happens very quickly, so, in order to keep up with the internal experience,
they have a tendency to speak with a fast tempo. A visual thinker’s voice is usually
rather shrill, although it not as noticeable as one might expect as it compliments their
pace perfectly. Their breathing echoes this accelerated communication and is usually
rather shallow and confined to the upper chest. During conversation they make
frequent use of hand gestures and often use an extended finger to illustrate their point
by drawing in the air. Their body posture, gestures and movements can appear rather
animated, they make frequent eye contact during conversation and, as you will see in
a short while when we discuss eye accessing cues, they spend a great deal of time
looking up.

Visual thinkers are literally the visionaries of our world, they make great designers
and architects as they find it easy to hold the image of the completed result in their
mind.

Visual thinkers spend a lot of time daydreaming, and so they should, it is the dreams
of today that shape the reality of tomorrow. Unfortunately this is often misinterpreted
by others and some visuals are viewed as ‘air-heads’. Another obstacle that a visual
has to overcome is one of trust; because they can see the big picture easily, they tend
to race through negotiations and sales pitches a little too quickly for non-visuals,
leaving potential customers feeling as though something is not quiet right.

I am sure that you already have a few people in mind that fit this pattern very well,
perhaps one of the most famous, and obvious, visual thinkers is Robin Williams.

All of this will help you to identify a visual thinker, but it is the language that they use
that you will find most useful. Visual thinkers consistently pepper their speech with
words that have a visual reference, this is a characteristic of each system and can not
only help you to successfully identify the system a client is using, but also enable you
to change your vocabulary to suit, gaining you instant acceptance and rapport.

You should look out for visual words in their communication such as:

• That’s a bright idea.

• This looks like a tricky situation.

• I find that my experience is rather dull.
• That’s a very colourful alternative.

• I was red with anger.

• Do you see what I mean?
• Everything suddenly became clear.

• I was left in the dark.

• Can you picture this?
• Can we focus on this perspective?

Now that you know how to recognise a visual, it is time to pretend to be one! Think of
some phrases, such as the ones listed above, that you can use whenever you are
communicating with a visual thinker to increase your rapport with them. Practise
making hand gestures as you speak and use diagrams to illustrate your point. You can
simply do these in the air in the way we looked at earlier or, if you prefer, carry a
notepad and pen with you and use it whenever required. A visual thinker will respond
really well to an image or illustration, enabling you to not only gain their attention,
but also their trust.

A very useful way of learning how to be more visual is to do the ‘stepping in’
exercise that we did earlier. Imagine that you are stepping right into a famous visual,
such as Robin Williams or David Letterman, and see the world through their eyes.

Auditory thinkers

Auditory thinkers have a distinct advantage when it comes to gaining rapport with
others as they sit comfortably in the middle, half way between visual and kinaesthetic
thinkers. This means that they are only a short distance from either, making the
transition much easier.

Auditory thinkers use sounds, rather than images, while thinking, so the process tends
to take a little longer. For this reason the tempo of their speech is slower than that of a
visual, and their voice has much greater resonance and tonal quality. Sound is very
important to an auditory thinker and often plays an important role at work and at play.
Music will feature heavily in their life and a talent for singing or playing an
instrument is very probable.

Auditory thinkers can easily become absorbed in the internal conversation of their
own thoughts, they will happily sit in silence, because they are able to create
wonderful music in their minds, in fact, it is common for them to not even realise the
silence of the external world when they turn their attention inward.

Auditory thinkers are very easy to spot during conversation even if you are unable to
hear the words. They tend to adopt a posture as though on the phone, and often tilt
their heads slightly to one side as though presenting their ear to enhance
understanding. They often touch or tug on their ears during conversation, or
sometimes point to their lips. If they do this they probably want to say something, and
if they are preparing to speak they will be listening to their internal dialogue in order
to prepare their thoughts, you should allow them time to communicate with
themselves, as they are less likely to be listening to you at this stage.

If you have read up on body language you will no doubt have come across indicators
that expose liars, unfortunately for the auditory, their lips and ear touches are often
misconstrued as such. This only happens if someone knows a little about lying
indicators, but not much. The actual motions of an auditory are very innocently
presented and can easily be recognised as such when compared to the misguidance of
a liar. A liar will try to cover their mouth while lying, they usually do this by quickly
flicking the end of their nose, the movement is rather fleeting and usually only occurs
at the actual moment of deceit. An auditory’s finger will tend to stall at the mouth or
ear while they think about what you have said, it does not appear dishonest or
misleading in any way, but, a student of body language that has read that touching the
lips or covering the mouth indicates lying may jump to conclusions. This further
illustrates the importance of reading the entire body when gauging someone’s non-
verbal communication.

Another way of recognising an auditory is to watch their lips, they tend to sub-
vocalise a lot and many will openly talk to themselves aloud. If you could open up
their mind and step inside you would realise that the utterances that escape under their
breath are just the tip of the iceberg. I have met one auditory thinker that had no fewer
than seventeen individual voices all contributing to their internal conversation, they
role play situations and practise meetings using internal scripts that echo the sounds of
life perfectly. Not every auditory has so many voices, a great majority only have one
or two, either way they are able to provide companionship whenever required, offer

words of encouragement and, unfortunately, words that are not so comforting,
especially while trying on clothes!

Just as the visual thinkers use words that have a visual theme, the auditory thinker’s
language is filled with references to sound, such as:

• That rings a bell.

• Do you think this sounds OK to you?
• I like the sound of that.

• I can really hear what you are saying.

• Let’s discuss this issue.
• I don’t like the tone of his voice.

It’s exercise time again! You now know what an auditory thinker sounds like so go
out and spot some, look out for (or should I say listen out for) the characteristics of
auditory thinkers and pay close attention to the words they use, their breathing style,
gestures and movements compared to that of a visual thinker. Practise communicating
using their language, if they ask your opinion on something say, ‘sounds great!’,
develop some phrases that have an auditory reference, such as the ones given above,
and practise using them until they sound natural to you. If you are an auditory thinker,
they already will!

Kinaesthetic thinkers

The third of the major categories is the kinaesthetic thinker, these individuals think in
feelings, they tend to make decisions based on gut instinct and need to feel
comfortable with a situation before they proceed.

Kinaesthetic thinkers need time to mull things over; they communicate very slowly
when compared to visual, and even auditory, thinkers. They listen to what you have to
say and they go inside to gauge how they feel about it before responding, this process
takes time. You can imagine the frustration of a visual thinker waiting for a response,
this is very apparent when a kinaesthetic thinker is describing something to a visual.
The visual sees the entire image quickly and is rarely concerned with the emotional
attachment to each element, where as these details are very important to the
kinaesthetic thinker so they embellish on them, leading to even more frustration.

Because kinaesthetic thinkers are so in touch with their physical reality they make
great sportsmen, most footballers are kinaesthetic thinkers, whereas most presenters
are visual, this mismatch of personalities makes the kinaesthetic appear rather
unintelligent as their thought process does not lend itself well to quick fire
questioning.

Kinaesthetic thinkers are very sensual and emotional people, they make great lovers
and develop bonding relationships easily. There character makes them appear very
trustworthy, even if they are not, and they are usually the first person that others will
confide in or turn to in an emotional crisis.

You can spot a kinaesthetic because they really look like thinkers, their breathing
tends to be much lower in the abdomen compared to that of visual or auditory. Their

gestures are less obvious, but they do make physical contact much more frequently.
They are likely to touch your arm while making a point and usually greet people with
a firm handshake or embrace.

As you will have no doubt already guessed, the language of a kinaesthetic is filled
with reference to feeling, such as:

• I can’t quiet grasp this concept.

• This makes sense to me.
• I need to get a handle on this idea.

• I like to learn things hands-on.

• How do you feel about this?
• That was a very heavy situation.

By now you will certainly appreciate that different thinkers have trouble getting
along, so the easiest way to overcome this obstacle is to practise each process until it
feels natural to you. Then, when you meet a thinker that is using a system that is not
the same as your natural choice, you can adjust to their experience and gain rapport
much more easily. To do this efficiently you need to be able to do two things,
recognise what system they are currently using and be able to step into that system
yourself. Using the information above you should be able to determine someone’s
preferred system relatively easily, although you may find it a little tricky at first, so
you need to train your brain to do it for you. Over the next week make a conscious
effort to determine what mode every person you meet is using and pretty soon you
will be able to recognise the patterns instantly. A great way to do this alone is to
watch talk shows on TV, the kind that use genuine members of the public, rather than
actors, as they will be working to a script. Listen out for words, and look out for
gestures that give away their preferred system, this exercise is great practise before
you go out and try it for real.

The next section, on eye accessing cues, will give you another powerful tool that will
help you to quickly and easily establish a person’s preferred modality.

It is important to remember that we do not confine ourselves to a single thought
modality, predominantly visual thinkers also make use of auditory and kinaesthetic
modes, so you need to use your skills of perception to determine the modality your
client is using while you are working with them. We tend to favour certain systems
for certain situations and can easily move between them. Most people have a
preferred system that dominates, and for some they can become so dependant on the
one system that they are almost unable to use the others, but this is not the norm. I
have always been predominantly auditory, although I have purposefully developed
my visual modality to the level where I enjoy thinking using either. My kinaesthetic
ability does fall short of my desires but I do use it a lot when inducing trance, I feel
the effect of my words and take time to notice the sensations that they bring, giving
time for my clients to do the same, thus enabling a greater rapport.

Eye accessing cues

Eye accessing cues allow you to distinguish which modality someone is using to
access their thoughts without having to listen out for sense related cue words. This is
because a person’s eyes subconsciously move to a specific area depending on the way
they are thinking. If you are internally visualising, you tend to look up, what you are
visualising will determine whether you look up left or up right. For most right handed
people, if you are remembering visual images you will look up and to the left,
whereas if you are constructing a visual image of something you have never seen
before, you will tend to look up and to the right. This is the archetypal pose adopted
by most daydreamers.

Some people simply stare blankly into space with defocused eyes held central to
visually construct. This is another classic that you will most certainly have witnessed
in daydreamers and it is the one you have probably been caught doing yourself,
followed by someone waving their hand in front of your face and calling your name to
get your attention.

When we think of sounds we tend to look sideways, just as with the visual cues, left
to remember and right to construct. This left/right polarity is usually reversed in left
handed people, however, not everyone slots into this pattern, some right handed
people use right to remember and left to construct and similarly some left handed
people will construct to the right and remember to the left. But these exceptions are
unusual.

Just as there are specific eye movements that relate to visual and auditory thought
modalities, there is a cue that represents kinaesthetic thinkers too. This is down and to
the right; this doesn’t change, so it’s an easy one to remember. If you watch a
depressed person wallowing in self pity you will probably notice regular use of this
eye movement as it enables them to access their inner feelings, which is essential if
you want to stay depressed! An easy way to remember this is to imagine a depressed
teenager complaining that they feel ‘down right’ awful.

The last cue, down and to the left, is used to talk to yourself! When you see this one
you know that someone is engaged in internal dialogue, and if you look closely you
might even detect subtle lip movements. This is also a common site in depressed
people, because, as well as accessing their feeling, they spend a lot of time telling
themselves how bad they feel. I guess this goes someway to explaining why depressed
people look so down!

Using these cues you will be able to determine which mode someone is accessing to
retrieve information. However, we always use the specific mode that is required to
answer a question, for example, if I asked you what colour your front door is, you will
look up and to the left while you recall an image of your door in order to retrieve the
answer. It matters little what your preferred thought modality is, you could be
predominantly visual, auditory or kinaesthetic, you will still look up left as only a
visual response will provide the correct information. Knowing this means that you can
map someone’s specific eye cues, enabling you to determine how they are thinking if
they do not fit the usual pattern. You can do this with a series of questions that
provoke a response from each modality, such as the example already given for visual

remembered, ‘What would I look like with bright green hair?’ for visual construct,
‘What does your favourite song go like?’ for auditory remembered and ‘What might
an alien race sound like?’ for auditory construct. As the down left and down right cues
never change, you do not need to devise questions to determine these.

All this makes interesting reading, but what you really want to know is how to
determine a preferred modality, as this is the one you need to use to gain rapport. If
you ask a non sensory specific question your client can choose which modality they
will use to gather the information and their eyes will tell you immediately. For
example, if you ask someone what they enjoyed most about their last holiday, a visual
will construct visual images, an auditory will remember sounds and a kinaesthetic will
remember the feelings. Their eye movements will reveal the way they gathered the
information enabling you to adjust your language to suit. You need not provoke a
response with leading questions to determine their preferred modality, you can simply
observe the frequency of each eye accessing cue, if your client has a preferred system,
their eyes will spend much more time at its associated location.

It’s great fun to practise observing these eye movements in others, (and have them
observe yours) use the questions that I have given you above or devise some of your
own. You might even like to experiment with trying to avoid moving your eyes at all
while answering the questions, it’s surprisingly difficult!

Aside of revealing which thought modality someone is using, eye accessing cues have
another useful function that may not be related to hypnosis but I believe you will
certainly find useful to know. The whole system works just as effectively in reverse!
So if you can’t remember what someone looks like, move your eyes to the location
that represents visually remembering (up left) and you will find it much easier. It’s
simply a matter of looking for the information in the right place. If you are trying to
make up a new song look to the right, if you need to check how you feel about
something look down right, if you are wondering how your room might look if you
painted it a certain colour, look up and right and if you are having trouble
remembering your lines when giving a speech at your friends wedding, look to your
left.

Before we leave this area I guess I should to clarify left and right! When I say look
down right for feelings, I am referring to your own eye movements, your eyes would
move down and to your right. If you are looking at someone else, obviously their right
is your left. So if there eyes move down and to your left, they are accessing feelings,
if they move down and to your right (their left) they are engaged in internal dialogue.

Sticking with language and rapport for just a few more minutes I would like to
introduce you to what I call ‘punch words’. These are words that have specific
meaning to people, so much so that they seem to pause slightly before they say them
and then really punch them out. Punch words are usually used to describe something
and each person has their preferences. Imagine for a moment that you think that
something is great, is this better or worse than something that is awesome, how about
something that is fabulous, fantastic, tremendous, wicked, cool, brilliant, marvellous
or even astonishing! The answer to this question is a matter of preference, some
people will rate awesome over tremendous others will insist that nothing beats cool. A
famous example of a punch word is Jamie Oliver’s excessive use of the word,

‘Pukka’, yet to most of us this isn’t even a word at all, it certainly isn’t one according
to the spell checker on Microsoft Word!

If you notice your client punching out a word then borrow it from them and use it
later when you need to make a point, it will have meaning for them and increase your
level of rapport. During your induction deepeners you will have ample time to weave
their language into your suggestions, trance makes use of a lot of descriptive
language, describe things using terminology that your client understands and they will
respond to your suggestions much more readily.

Section two: The induction process

Preparing the environment

This section has been included for completeness but only really applies if you are
thinking of moving into practising hypnosis for therapeutic purposes, which I do hope
that you strongly consider as it is most rewarding.

If you are expecting a client to come to you for hypnosis you need to consider your
environment. Most practitioners do not have the luxury of a clinic specifically
designated to practising hypnosis so have to make do with using their own home. It
goes without saying that your home needs to be tidy and in a good state of repair.
Before you decide that it is, take a really good look around, familiarity can make
seemingly obvious problems disappear if you are exposed to them often enough.
Pretend that you are the client, approach your house from the street in the same way
that they will, look around and notice the things they notice, imagining that you are
the one going to see a therapist. If you see anything that you feel they may disprove of
fix it, move it or clean it! If you have a promotional poster in your window supporting
your chosen candidate for the upcoming elections take it down, your client may not
share your political view. When you enter your house check for grubby marks around
doors or light switches, a client will spot them immediately and will probably not be
too comfortable being hypnotised in such an environment. Remember that your client
will need to use your toilet while they are at your home so be sure it is clean and well
stocked with toilet tissue!

Obviously, the room that you have selected for the hypnosis to take place is the most
important. Make sure that you eliminate all distractions where possible and, if you
have family members, or other house users, ensure that they know that this room is
out of bounds while you are working, or at all times if you can spare the space. The
room should be decorated with soothing colours, nothing to harsh or bright, keep it
simple and well ventilated. You will need two chairs, one for you and a more
comfortable one for your client, perhaps a desk and, if you chose to use it, a means of
playing relaxing music. A tape recorder can also be very useful as many clients like to
take a copy of the session away with them. A lot of new hypnotists worry about the
clients chair and feel they need to spend a lot of money on a psychologist’s style
leather couch. Any chair, so long as it is comfortable and clean will do just fine.

Another issue that you are obliged to consider if you are having clients visit your
home is one of safety. Make sure your client knows how to get out of your home in
case of an emergency and have a fire extinguisher in the room. You will have to
contact your insurance provider as using your premises for business use will affect
your buildings insurance, and, as with all therapists (and tradesmen), you will need to
arrange public liability insurance.

I do not use music during sessions but many hypnotists do. It does benefit the session,
so you may like to consider its use and see which you, and your clients, prefer. If
using relaxing music, choose something soothing that has no vocal content. Many
therapists introduce music during the deepening section of the induction; it is usually

played quietly as a background and can be a valuable asset to help focus the client’s
concentration.

You should avoid strong odours such as incense sticks or flowers as people may have
reactions to these. Make the environment a peaceful calming one, not too cluttered or
oppressive. If you continue your studies in hypnosis and earn a diploma you may like
to frame this and hang it on the wall.

Make sure that you have everything that you need ready in good time, including
yourself! It is common sense that you must be presentable, clean and well mannered.
Make sure that your breath is fresh, and your clothes! If you smoke you will definitely
smell of tobacco, even if you can’t smell it (most smokers can’t) Be certain that your
client won’t smell it either, change into clean fresh clothes, clean your teeth and use a
good mouthwash or breath freshener. You should wear something comfortable and
not too formal, perhaps a sweater or casual shirt.

So, preparations complete, your door bell rings and you greet your client with a warm
friendly handshake. Introduce yourself as you lead them through, and invite them to
take a seat. From this point forward it is all about closing gaps, and the first one, as
we shall see during the pre-hypnotic talk section, is to close the gap that separates the
anxiety and nerves that they are likely to be experiencing from the relaxation and
open-mindedness that you want them to be feeling, so, it’s probably time to stick the
kettle on!

The pre-hypnotic talk

The induction process begins a lot earlier than most people realise, in fact it begins the
moment that your subject first decides to come to you for hypnosis. As I mentioned
earlier, all hypnosis is self hypnosis, and your subject will be programming
themselves to go into trance from the moment they decide to do it. However, from
your point of view the hypnosis does not begin until you are both sitting down
chatting about it during the pre-hypnotic talk. This seemingly innocent conversation is
an opportunity to plant powerful suggestions of trance and use many of the language
patterns that we have previously discussed.

Your initially objective is to gain rapport with your client. This is essential, as your
second task is to put them at ease, and unless you have established a state of rapport
this will prove impossible.

In order to establish rapport with your client observe the instructions and advice
already given. If, like I have instructed, you have practised these techniques, they will
be automatic. You should quickly gauge your client’s preferred representational
system and easily be able to adjust your posture, tonality, language and gestures to
suit. With all this going on automatically, you are able to converse much more easily
and your client will naturally feel comfortable in your presence.

Almost every client that walks through your door will have apprehensions about
hypnosis. They are likely to feel a little anxious and curious about what is going to
happen and no amount of chit-chat or tea drinking is going to alter that, so you need to
address it head on, and early on. Tell them that most people feel anxious when they

visit a hypnotist because they are worried about what might happen when they go into
trance. (I trust that you had already noticed the opportunity for the subliminal
command, and yes, you really do start them this early.) If you want to establish even
greater rapport, you can tell them a little story about how much of a nervous wreck
you were the first time that you went to visit a hypnotist. It turned out that you had
nothing to worry about and was so impressed by the whole encounter that you decided
to learn hypnosis yourself, so that you could help others! It doesn’t matter if this isn’t
true, if it helps your client to relax into the situation say it. Your objective as a
hypnotist is to close the gap between your client’s current state and their desired state.
The first gap that needs closing is the one that separates anxiety from relaxation. If
you can elaborate of the truth a little to accomplish this you are doing your client a
favour, however, do not patronise them with obvious fallacies that undermine their
genuine nerves, treat them as an intelligent human being, after all they are seeking
your help so they must be!

Reassuring your client that they have, ‘nothing to worry about’ won’t work. Our
subconscious minds do not process negatives and all you will achieve by using such
statements is to remind them of all the things that they are worried about, and possibly
cause them to invent a few more. You will have much greater success if you approach
the situation by telling them a little about how natural trance is, and how they have
already experienced it on numerous occasions without even noticing. It’s about now
that your client will begin to take an interest in your words rather than concentrating
on the ones in their own head. If they drive they will probably be able to relate to the
analogy of not remembering which route they took, and at this point you really have
their interest. Your little analogy has answered a question that they had probably
puzzled over for considerable time, although long forgotten, they will still feel as
though you have provided a valuable answer to a puzzling dilemma. This association
really helps you to gain their attention and they will suddenly have more respect for
your suggestions.

Another reason this works is because it allows them a frame of reference of which
they are familiar to try and understand something that is new, and even frightening, to
them. Most people fear the unknown, so if you can convince your client that hypnosis
is something that they are already familiar with they are far more likely to be
comfortable with the idea.

Next, you should dispel the misconceptions about trance. I used to ask people what
they thought about trance at this stage, so that I could address issues that were
personal to them, rather than running through the entire list. I soon realised that this is
not the way to go about it! Clients are very often embarrassed to admit that they have
a particular misconception, or don’t even realise that they do, much of the
programming that has created such distortions of perception is subconscious, and so it
is of little wonder that they are not consciously aware of their own beliefs. It is far
more beneficial to run through all of the misconceptions and disprove each of them.
This eliminates the possibility of missing something that your client does not want to
admit or consciously recognise and also has the added advantage of making your
client feel a little more knowledgeable. They will invariable compare their own
conscious beliefs to the ones that you dispel, and quiet frankly some of the
misconceptions are ridiculous, if your client does not have all of the misconceptions

on your list they will be comforted by the fact that they already know more about
hypnosis than some of the other people that come to you.

As with all of the pre-talk sections, the misconception area allows you to implant
countless subliminal commands for your client to go into trance and you need to make
sure that you are making good use of these. We covered this area earlier and, if you
have done the exercises, you will already have a list of commands that will be
suitable. If you skipped the exercises I suggest that you go back to that section and do
them now. The subliminal commands that you create only need be created once, you
can use them with every client, as you will always be dispelling the same
misconceptions. Hypnotists that do not prepare themselves in this way simply make it
up as they go along. I am sure you will agree that you have far greater potential for
success if you spend some time really thinking about the words you use and
structuring your sentences so that they include as many imbedded commands as
possible. Aside of this you will also appreciate that, until it is a subconscious
automatic activity, the unprepared hypnotist has to make up a new set of imbedded
commands for every client, if you have a universal set ready prepared, you need only
do this once.

I am not suggesting that you script out the entire process word for word, simply have
a ready supply of usable sentences that you can add to your conversation naturally
when discussing perceptions of trance. When you create your sentences, remember
that they need to sound like part of the natural conversation. It helps to imagine the
way that the conversation might go to do this. In most circumstances you will both be
sitting in comfortable chairs, drinking tea and having a general chat about hypnosis.
The style of the conversation will probably be a friendly one; after all, you are also
working at deepening the state of rapport. If your pre-prepared sentences are very
formal in comparison to your chit-chat style of conversation they won’t fit, so practise
and perfect them until they have the same friendly quality and style.

Although much of the pre-talk is consumed by talking about trance it is also the time
that you learn about your clients problems and desires, and devise the content of your
therapy, so you will be doing just as much listening as you will talking!

You should address your clients concerns about trance before anything else in order to
put them at ease. This will help them to open up to you about their problem or desire.
(Not everyone that visits a hypnotist has a problem, some people simply desire
something extra, like improving at golf!)

The pre-hypnotic talk will cover most of the areas that we discussed at the beginning
of this book; misconceptions, expectations, preparations etc. It also gives you time to
construct your therapy; this area will be discussed in more detail later.

Preparation for the induction will require that you inform your client of distractions
that may occur and how they should deal with them. These will depend on your
circumstances, if you live on a busy road, under the flight path of a local airport or
near a railway you need to let your client know in advance that they are likely to be
hearing such sounds. If you create an association before hand that they will actually
relax deeper when they hear these temporary distractions you will certainly assist the
trance. There are two ways that you are able to do this, the first takes advantage of the

natural relaxation that occurs after any period of tension. Tell you client that although
they may become slightly distracted when they hear the sound of an aircraft, as it
passes they will suddenly notice how easy it is to become even more wonderfully
relaxed than before the distraction took place. The second way is to actively use the
distractions as part of the induction. If the distraction is a vehicle a great way to do
this is to have your client imagine that they are collecting all of their tension into a
ball as the vehicle approaches, as it comes closer have them throw the ball of tension
onto the passing vehicle and imagine that it is sticks to it, then watch as the vehicle
carries the tension away. I have included these instructions here rather than during the
actual induction process as it is something that you will want to prepare your client
for in advance, so that if the situation arises they know what to do.

Obviously you will need to ensure that all other distractions are kept to a minimum,
have your client switch off their mobile phone and make sure that your home and
mobile phones are silenced. Use ‘do not disturb’ signs if necessary and ask your client
to use the bathroom before you begin. While they are away, if you need it, you can do
the confidence walk that you practised earlier.

Before you move on to the actual induction take advantage of a few physical
relaxation techniques that will help the client to release any tension. Whether your
client is already suitably relaxed or filled with tension and stress will determine the
amount of time you spend on these exercises, but do not dismiss them as they really
do help to kick start the session.

You should, at the very minimum, have your clients do a series of deep breathing
exercises. Have them pause for a few moments with the breath held in and tense all
the muscles in their body. As they slowly exhale, get them to relax completely and
imagine that their body is sinking deep into the comfort of the chair. If your client is
particularly tense then spend considerable time on these exercises, moving through
each muscle group in turn. First of all have them screw up their face tightly and tense
all the muscles of their jaw, as they relax request that they allow their jaw to hang
slightly open. Next move to their shoulders and chest, have them tense for a few
seconds and then really feel the easing as they slowly exhale. Go through this process
of holding tension for a few moments followed by relaxation and imagining sinking
into comfort for all areas of the body; face, shoulder, chest, arms, hands, stomach,
upper then lower legs and finally feet. For a finale have them take one final deep in-
breath and tense every muscle in their body before they relax completely, imagining
that they are a limp rag doll. This exercise is fantastic for releasing physical stress and
really relaxes the client ready for the induction to begin.

Once you have done the tension and relaxation exercise, inform your client that they
are able to move as much as required to make themselves feel completely comfortable
(notice the feel completely comfortable subliminal message opportunity?). Make sure
they are aware that they can move during trance too, if they have an itch that they
avoid scratching because they believe that moving will ruin the hypnosis, they are
likely to ruin the hypnosis by worrying about it!

As you begin the actual induction reassure your client that their subconscious mind is
always watching over them and it will only accept the suggestions and messages that
are for their greater good at this time for them to achieve their goals, if something is

not for them, at this time, they can simply let it go. This offers an additional security
that will put their mind at ease if they have any doubts or worries about what you are
going to say.

As with all areas of trance, practise makes perfect, and you do not have to wait until
you are sitting in front of a client to start practising. Imagine that you have answered
the question, ‘So what exactly is hypnosis then?’ a hundred times. Do you think that
on the one hundred and first repetition of this question that your response would be
effortless and automatic? You bet it would! But the first time someone asks you, it’s a
different situation entirely. So how do we get to that stage of automation? Practise!
Practise on your own or with a willing friend, on your own is probably a lot easier to
begin with. If you are driving alone imagine that you have a client sitting beside you
asking you questions about trance and answer them naturally, don’t worry about what
other road users might think when they see you talking to yourself, as they will
assume that you have a hands-free mobile phone. The more you do this the easier it
gets, and when you come to doing it for real, you are already experienced!

Here are a few questions that you are likely to be asked during the pre-hypnotic talk,
practise your replies based on what you have learned.

• How does hypnosis feel?

• What exactly will I have to do?

• What if I don’t wake up?
• Is it dangerous?

• Will it work?

• How will I know that I am hypnotised?

Obviously there are many more questions but I am sure when the time comes you will
have sufficient knowledge to deal with them. I have listed the common ones above so
you have something to role play with. It gets you used to explaining about hypnosis,
which is something you will be doing a lot of very soon. When your friends and
family realise that you are a hypnotist they will ask you lots of questions. All of this
will prepare you for the pre-hypnotic talk, and the more automatic your responses the
easier it is to concentrate on imbedding subliminal commands, although, obviously,
this is only required if the person asking you questions wants you to hypnotise them,
many people will simply ask you out of curiosity.

The Pre-hypnotic talk notepad

You need to make notes during the pre-talk that will help you to devise the content of
your therapy as well as giving you pointers as to the most suitable approach for the
induction. Your client will obviously not be able to see your notes so it is fine, and
recommended, to have a list of points to remember that you can tick off as you
complete them. This not only ensures that you do not miss anything, it also keeps the
whole situation rolling along comfortably and avoids embarrassing silences or those
dreaded moments where your mind goes blank and you completely forget what you
were going to say next.

Use the following list as a guide to get you started, it simply acts as a checklist to
make sure that you are covering the areas that you should be, and during your first
few inductions this is essential as you are very likely to miss something out without it.

• Gain rapport (Eye cues, sense words, body language, gestures and punch

words.)

• Misconceptions – use subliminal messages! (Control, truth serum, mystical

power, amnesia, zombie, mind reading, getting stuck in trance and the ‘sleep’
association problem.)

• Expectations – use subliminal messages and presumptions! (Don’t go over the

top. Relaxation and ‘they will always hear you’.)

• Distractions (Phones etc.)

• Toilet! (Not just them, you too!)
• Remove tight shoes/belts/glasses or contacts. (May cause discomfort when

relaxation kicks in.)

• Physically relax the client (Use tension and relaxation exercise.)

• Do the progressive relaxation induction (You will learn this in a short while)
• Deepen the trance state

• Use the contract method to gain acceptance and co-operation from the client’s

subconscious mind.

• Deliver the therapy.
• Wake the client.

The last five points listed will be discussed in detail throughout the rest of the book, I
have included them here so that you can simply copy out this list and use it as a guide
during your inductions.

Until you have mastered recognising a clients preferred representational system you
should include a section on your notes where you are able to mark down each
indication of a system in use. You can do this using a small three column chart with
the headings, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Each time you notice a cue, such as a
sense related word, posture, gesture or eye movement, make a mark in the relevant
column. Using this method you will quickly determine which system they are using as
its associated column will fill up much more quickly than the other two.

It is also a good idea to leave a space that you are able to write down any punch words
that your client uses. You can then borrow these later if you need to make something
really stand out.

The induction

I know a lot of people will have skipped the rest of the book and headed straight for
this section, and I can’t say I blame them; it is the part that everyone wants to know.
However, without first reading what precedes this section, it will make little sense. If
you want to become a hypnotist, and I mean actual become one, not just learn how to
read out a script to a volunteer, then go back and start from the beginning, doing the
exercises and reading everything. The book has been written in the order it should be
read.

For those that have read everything to this point and done the exercises, well done!
You are already well prepared for the induction process and will find it very easy to
do.

Before we continue on to the actual induction I would like to remind you that all
hypnosis is self hypnosis, you will not be hypnotising your client, you will simply be
guiding them to hypnotise themselves, hypnosis is a very natural experience and
everybody can do it, indeed I would go so far as to say that everybody already has.
Hypnosis is only difficult if you do not understand what hypnosis is, and,
unfortunately, most people don’t!

Having successfully completed your pre-hypnotic talk, your client will by now have a
thorough understanding of hypnosis. You will have dispelled the myths, explained the
reality and got them to realise that it’s actually something they do all by themselves
reasonably regularly. The only difference between natural hypnosis and the trance that
you are about to help them into, is that, during this trance, you will offer suggestions
that will help them to achieve their goals.

As we established earlier, the actual induction process happens on two levels.
Initially, you will work through a systematic process of relaxing your client into a
state of trance, you do this using a relaxation technique and some guided
visualisation. Whilst this is going on, you also communicate directly with the client’s
subconscious mind using the language patterns previously discussed.

The purpose of the actual induction is to relax your client so deeply that they begin to
allow you access to their subconscious mind. As well as making good use of
subliminal commands to speed this process, you can also encourage the onset of
trance by using shock, confusion, repetition or focus of attention. I do not recommend
the use of shock or confusion when hypnosis is being used for therapeutic purposes,
but repetition, focussed attention and, of course, relaxation will all feature greatly in
the formal induction process.

You will have already spent some time physically relaxing your client, and ensuring
that they are comfortable, now you can began to relax their body with the assistance
of some creative visualisation. This will encourage them to become more involved
with the process and develop an increased focus on your suggestions. You are able to
include lots of commands to relax while doing this, simply by explaining what you
are about to do. Your introduction will go something like this;

‘You have just enjoyed a few moments tensing your muscles and then letting go
completely, allowing you to really relax. This was very easy for you to do and, as a
result, you already feel more relaxed and comfortable. Now, before you go into
trance, I would like you to continue relaxing as I invite you to close your eyes and
simply listen to the sound of my voice. To help you to relax even more deeply, I
would like you to imagine that you are outside on a wonderfully peaceful day, find
somewhere comfortable to sit down and relax, perhaps resting against a rock or a tree.
In a few moments you will be more relaxed than you have ever been before, to help
you to relax, imagine a small orb of light is effortlessly floating, just a few inches
above your head. In a few short moments this orb of relaxing, peaceful light will move
slowly down through your body, bringing a wonderful calm relaxed feeling with it.

Each muscle that it touches instantly becomes limp and loose, relaxed and
comfortable.’

This short introduction does a number of things, firstly, as highlighted in italics
throughout, it gives you ample opportunity to include subliminal messages to
encourage relaxation, it also makes good use of repetition in this same area. Don’t
underestimate the power of repetition, try it out on yourself, say the word, ‘relax’ nice
and slowly over and over and see what happens. Now try a different word, such as,
‘excited’ notice the difference? This is a subtle, yet effective way of changing
someone’s state, the more ‘relaxation’ related word that you use the greater the effect,
this is the purpose of the inclusion of words like, ‘floating, comfortable, effortless and
slowly’ they all promote relaxation. As you move on, to describe the relaxation
process, you can include more relaxing words such as, ‘tired, heavy, peaceful or
sleepy’.

By having your client imagine that they are outdoors as you go through this process,
you are increasing their sense of detachment from their body and causing their focus
to shift internally as they access their imagination. Obviously you would choose a
different environment for an agoraphobic. This shift in focus will help to bring about
the trance state as well as distract their awareness from the external world, their
surroundings and body. The details of the environment are purposefully vague, this
enables your client to fill in the blanks themselves, some will select a beach scene
other a forest or perhaps a mountain. You can offer a few suggestion if you feel the
need, but avoid trying to persuade your client to use an environment of your choosing,
as such a scene could easily have negative memories associated with it.

The orb of light will further focus their attention, have them choose it colour
instinctively. Light vibrates at a specific frequency depending on its colour, this
applies to real or imagined light and its vibration will have an effect on the client
psyche. Tell them that the orb may change colour, size and shape as it gently glides
through their body.

From hear, you slowly talk them through a progressive relaxation script while
describing the light moving slowly and systematically from the top of their head to the
tips of their toes. Build up their expectation during this process, using suggestions
such as, ‘The relaxing light begins to descend toward you now, so slowly and easily,
it is only inches from the very top of your head and you can begin to imagine how
comfortable and relaxed you will be as it moves through you. Perhaps you can even
feel its comforting presence as it moves closer and closer. It is beginning to merge
with your hair now, and slowly, and naturally it soaks down through each hair and
seeps into your scalp, as a relaxed feeling begins to spread right across your head.’

I have purposefully not included any subliminal suggestions here because I want you
to work these out for yourself. This is what will make you understand hypnosis and
master it. Some people have the impression that if you omit a word, say something in
the wrong place, or have your client not seated in a particular way, that it will not
work. This is not the case, hypnosis is not a magic spell, an induction is not an
incantation, it is simply a soothing description of relaxation aided by visualisation and
language patterns. When you are able to create an induction script yourself using
these basic principles you will understand hypnosis for what it truly is, a procedure

that guides a client into a relaxed suggestible state, know this and you know hypnosis,
do this and you are a hypnotist.

Continue with relaxing suggestions as you invite your client to imagine the orb of
light moving gently through their entire body, until you reach the tips of their toes. I
prefer to concentrate on details around the face area as a lot of tension collects here
and there are many muscles that you will want to ensure are all suitably relaxed. From
the scalp, I tend to move slowly into the clients brain, having them imagine the orb
resting for a moment at the back of their brain, from here it is relatively easy to have
them imagine it moving slowly around the both sides of their head and into their ears.
As I mention their ears I reiterate that they will always be able to hear my voice and
take advantage of another subliminal opportunity with a statement like, ‘As the orb of
relaxing light gently glides around each side of your head, it begins to softly caress
your ears, sinking deeply into your ears now, and as you go into trance my voice is
always here with you, you can just relax and go so deeply into trance and my voice is
always with you.

From the ears move across the forehead and then around the eye sockets, having them
imagine their eye resting gently and effortlessly in their sockets as you do. Next move
across the bridge of the nose and spread out over the cheeks. As you have them
imagine their mouth relaxing, you can take the opportunity to request that they allow
their jaw to hang limp and loose. If they swallow at this point use it as a cue to have
them imagine that the relaxing light has moved down into their throat. From here you
can begin to move into larger muscle groups such as the neck, shoulders, upper then
lower arms followed by the hands and fingers. Request that they imagine each and
every finger relaxing as this really helps to relax their arms. You can use associations
to encourage the sensation of relaxation such as, ‘As the relaxing colour moves deeper
and deeper down now it flows effortlessly around your elbow and fills your forearm.
You can feel your arms becoming heavier and heavier as they relax completely,
imagining your tired muscles becoming limp and loose like a handful of elastic bands,
so loose and easy now, heavier and heavier as you relax deeper and deeper.’

Once you have relaxed their arms you need to move down through their torso. Rather
than jumping back to the shoulders to do this, have them imagine a wave of relaxation
starting in their fingers and gently moving back up their arms to their shoulders, then
continue down through the body; shoulders, chest, upper and lower back, stomach and
waist. Moving into the legs spend a few moments relaxing the thigh muscles as these
are the largest in the body, then, in a similar way to the arms, move down through the
knees and into the lower legs, ankles, heels, soles of the feet balls of feet them toes.
When you have finished this process you may like to top it off with a few waves of
relaxation moving back up the body if you feel it is necessary.

By this stage your client will be profoundly relaxed and in a light state of trance, your
task now is to deepen the trance state that you have created to increase their
suggestibility, thus increasing the effectiveness of your suggestions. I realise that
these instructions seem rather simple, that’s because they are; hypnosis is very easy.
Unfortunately, most hypnotists of yesteryear have spent considerable time convincing
us all that it requires some sort of mystical power. It doesn’t. There are many different
techniques that you can use to reach this stage, the more induction methods you
develop the more successful you will be. As a standard script, the progressive

relaxation technique is perhaps the most effective at bringing about the trance state;
however, some individuals find the required concentration too difficult and are
continually distracted by thoughts. If you detect that your client is having difficulty
focussing, you can give them a task to complete to prevent intrusive distracting
thoughts. Have them count backwards in their mind, from three hundred, in threes.
Such a task is not too difficult, but it will require a great deal of conscious focus.
Before long, your client will lose their place, and as you know this is going to happen
use it! Tell you client that, before long, they will suddenly realise that they are no
longer counting, yet be unaware of stopping. As they notice this thought they instantly
become twice as deeply relaxed, as they relax they continue counting backwards in
threes from roughly were they left off.

Deepening the trance state

Deepening the trance that you have already created will increase the power of your
suggestions, making your therapy more effective. There are many ways that this can
be done and you will no doubt develop your own deepening scripts when you
understand the basic principle involved. To deepen the trance state you need to
develop an association of downward movement with increased relaxation and
suggestibility. This is achieved using guided visualisation.

After completing the induction process have your client imagine that they are standing
at the top of a flight of stairs, looking down. Tell them that this is the staircase of
relaxation and each step that they take down the staircase will lead them deeper and
deeper into trance. There are ten stairs, and, as you count down from ten, on each
number they are to imagine taking another step down the staircase, each step causing
them to relax even more deeply, taking them deeper and deeper into trance. Use
subtly vagueness to suggest the scene, but allow them to create it. You may like to say
something along the lines of, ‘As you gaze down the staircase of relaxation, I wonder
if you have noticed, are you outdoors, or are the stairs inside? Perhaps there is a
banister or rail that you may use to guide yourself deeper.’ The more involved they
become in the scene the deeper into trance it will take them. Remember that you are
still going to be making use of the hypnotic language patterns that you used during the
induction, include as many subliminal messages as you are comfortably able. You can
use an association loop at this point, as you are describing the sensation that each step
will have, such as, ‘With each step that you take down this special staircase, you
instantly become twice as relaxed, and as you relax, you go deeper into trance, that’s
good, relaxing so easily now and as you go into trance you relax completely, causing
you to go deeper and deeper into trance. With each step down, you go deeper and
deeper into trance, that’s fine.’

This seemingly innocent instruction, as to what is about to happen, includes a number
of subliminal commands and relaxation associations that your client will readily
follow, even as you are saying them. This will produce an immediate reaction and the
client will automatically deepen the trance state. By tagging ‘that’s fine’ onto the end
of this command string, you are letting their subconscious mind know that the shift in
awareness that they have just experienced is desired, as a result, they are likely to
move even further into trance. It’s akin to praising a child when they have done
something of which you approve, and, as you have probably experienced, such praise

usually results in move of the same action. You should make liberal use of phrases
like this throughout the induction and deepening.

As you count down slowly from ten to one make further suggestions that they are
relaxing deeper between each number. It is relatively simple to make these up as you
go along; however, remembering what number you are on isn’t, so use your notepad
to keep count or you are very likely to loose your place.

You can use a combination of command strings (remembering to link them with
increasing strength linguistic bridges), subliminal commands, suggestions of
increased relaxation or the onset of deep trance with biofeedback. Watch out for body
movements and twitches as you count, particularly in the legs, but also the hands.
With some clients it is obvious that they are imagining a hand rail simply by noticing
the subtle movements of their fingers as they descend the staircase. If you see this,
you can feed the information back to the client, with a suggestion attached. This
process is called biofeedback. This increases rapport, it sets you up to pace and lead
them using the attached suggestion and it is sometimes misinterpreted as mind
reading. If this happens the client will be convinced that you are in control and
instantly program themselves to do much deeper.

The instructions that you give between each number should be of equal length, and
creating a natural rhythm to gently pace their breathing at this point will really aid the
process. Try to capture the calming lullaby affect that I discussed earlier. I want to
avoid giving you specific commands, as creating your own will help your
understanding of trance and speed your learning. However, I do not want to leave you
with nothing to work with so here are a few suggestions to get you started.

10, that’s fine, talking the first step now, and remembering that each step takes you
deeper and deeper into trance, that’s good, deeper and deeper, more and more relaxed.

9, as your foot comes to rest on the next step, a gentle wave of relaxation spreads up
through your leg and into your body, so comfortable now, so relaxed and peaceful.

8, another step down now and it feels so good to relax completely as you go into
trance, that’s good, go into trance deeper and deeper with each wonderful step down.

This should give you a few ideas to get you started, remember to include subliminal
messages and continue in a similar fashion down to one. I like to pause at five and tell
the client that they are half way down the staircase, as they look to the bottom a cloud
of purifying white mist is beginning to gentle form. I use this mist to further deepen
the trance state and remove any tensions, fears or worries that may still be remaining.

As you move through the final numbers, make increasing references to the mist, such
as, ‘3, twice as deeply relaxed now and gazing down the remaining stairs as the
wonderfully relaxing mist begins to grow brighter and brighter. 2, deeper and deeper
you go into trance, that’s fine. The beautiful white glow is becoming so alluring now,
so attractive, waiting patiently to welcome you into trance. 1, reaching the bottom of
the stairs now, so relaxed and comfortable, as you take that final step sinking deeper
and deeper, and… zero, step right into the mist and really enjoy its loving embrace,
welcoming you into trance. You are so deeply relaxed now, so comfortable and

content. As you breathe, you feel this wonderful white glow enter through every pore,
melting away any tensions, worries stresses or strains as it lovingly washes through
your entire being. That’s good.

By now your client will be in a deeply relaxed hypnotic state; however, do not move
straight into your therapy, as this will seem disjointed and distract from the
peacefulness that you have created. Instead, use the following suggestions and
visualisation to deepen the trance state even further and gracefully glide into the
delivery of your therapeutic suggestions. Have them continue breathing the mist until
it gently clears to reveal a beautiful bed. Tell them that this is the bed of trance and
those that rest upon it will instantly fall into a special sleep, a magical sleep, the kind
of sleep where their deepest desires and dreams become reality. Invite them to
clamber up onto the bed and then run through the following pattern.

‘As you rest in the comfort of this magical bed, you instantly fall into a deep, deep…
sleep. The kind of sleep where you can dream, dream that you are walking down a
wonderful flight of stairs, and at the bottom of these stairs, is an entrancing white
mist, as you enter the mist it gently soaks into each and every pore, soaking so deep
into your body and bringing with it a wonderfully relaxed state, you bathe in the mist
for a few blissful moments until it gently clears, to reveal a magical bed, as you
clamber up onto the bed you fall into a deep, deep… sleep. The kind of sleep where
you can dream, dream that you are listening to the sound of my voice, open to the
suggestions that you receive, your subconscious mind forever guiding you and
keeping you so safe and secure, allowing these suggestions deep into your mind,
where they can guide you in such wonderful ways.’

You can obviously enhance on this or change it as you feel necessary to suit your
style. This simple script allows you to naturally flow straight into the therapy section
of the hypnosis. You will learn more about constructing your therapy in the next
section. Although I do not, a number of hypnotists begin the therapy with a form of
contract. This is a very useful procedure as it increases the acceptance of the
suggestions that follow. If you would like to include the contract you should do so at
this stage before moving onto the therapy. Here is a suggested script for you to use.

‘The first suggestion that I would like to give you now is a form of contract. I would
like to establish a contract between myself and your subconscious mind. I ask of your
subconscious mind that it accepts all of the suggestions that I give you to help you to
achieve your goal of (insert reason for hypnosis here). As your subconscious mind
accepts these suggestions I ask that it embrace each one lovingly, knowing that they
are all for your greater good, I ask that your subconscious mind do everything in its
power to make these ideas and suggestions your true reality. With the assistance,
openness, agreement and indeed blessing of your subconscious mind I will begin to
communicate directly with that guiding power within you, your conscious mind can
listen in if it wishes, or it can simply dream, dream that you can hear the sound of my
voice allowing you to realise that…’

This script allows you to move straight into the therapeutic section of the hypnosis,
but before we do that I would like to say a few words on delivery.

We have already talked about the importance of your voice and the benefits to be
gained from training and developing your tonality. It is during the deepening section
of the trance that this practise really pays off. You need to gradually slow everything
right down as you progress through the deepening script. Your client will deepen their
trance state naturally as your guide them in this way. If you recall the mismatched
pairs during the preferred representational system demonstration, you will understand
the importance of tempo here. Your client is hypnotised, and therefore profoundly
relaxed, you need to maintain your level of rapport with them while staying
consciously alert and active, you do this by slowing your voice to complement their
state. The best way to gage whether you are getting it right is to talk to your clients
afterwards. You will soon realise how valuable your client’s feedback is.

Therapy

The purpose of this book is not to turn you into a hypnotherapist; this requires far
more detailed and thorough training. The purpose of this book is to turn you into a
hypnotist. However, what good is a trance if you do not use it? Well, actually it is a
very beneficial state similar to meditation, but that’s not the point! The point is, you
have just learned how to hypnotise someone, so my guess is that you will be wanting
to make use of your new talents.

My previous ‘How to’ guides concentrated on stage performance, as the regulations
and training required to entertain are not as stringent as those of the therapeutic world.
It is with this in mind that I give you the following cautionary warning before you
continue with this section.

Unless you are a doctor, you do not have the expertise or authorisation to diagnose a
client’s ailment, regardless of how obvious or trivial it may appear. Pain is the body’s
way of telling you that something is wrong, if you remove pain you are simply
removing the desire to take action to fix a deeper problem. When the little light on
your dashboard tells you that your car is low on oil, you do not simply remove the
light believing that this will make everything OK. If you did, your car would not last
very long. Anaesthetised pain could mask something much more serious, a seemingly
innocent headache might be the warning light that is trying to tell us of a potentially
lethal tumour. Be sensible and mature with your use of hypnosis, it is a very powerful
tool so handle it with the care it demands.

If you would like to hypnotise someone for therapeutic purposes, first insist that they
have consulted their Doctor, and take some additional training with an accredited
school of hypnotherapy.

Warnings and lectures aside, there are many things that you can use your new skill for
and I am sure you are already buzzing with ideas! So, this is where you learn how to
turn your ideas into reality by creating real therapy that you can use right now.

The rules of therapy

There are three golden rules that you must obey in order to create effective therapeutic
suggestions for your clients. These are;

1. Your suggestions must be stated in the positive.
2. Your suggestions must be stated in the present tense.
3. You must check your suggestion for suitability.

If you adhere to these simple rules you will be able to develop powerful suggestions
that will elicit positive change for your clients.

Rule 1: Your suggestions must be stated in the positive

The subconscious mind does not process negatives so it is important to state
everything in the positive. Until you have conditioned yourself to do this
automatically you should make a conscious effort to notice whenever you use
negative suggestion, not only during hypnosis, but in everyday life. It is almost
automatic to state things in the negative and, although the affect is small, repetition
and focus will undoubtedly lead to the desire that you most want to avoid. A classic
example of this is when we store something away in a safe place at the same time as
stating, ‘I must not forget where I have put this.’ The subconscious mind simply
eliminates the negative focus and a command to forget is instantly implanted. The
same thing happens when parents tell their children not to do something.

In order to avoid an undesirable outcome, make a conscious effort to always turn your
negative commands into positive one, for example, instead of saying, ‘Do not forget
to do whatever.’ Say, ‘Remember to do whatever.’ It’s a very subtle and simple
change that has a profound effect on the outcome of spoken language. During
hypnosis, a client becomes increasingly suggestible, so the affect of negatively stated
commands is even more apparent. You can easily see how this can affect the outcome
of trance when using statements such as, ‘You will not smoke another cigarette.’
instead of, ‘You are now a happy and healthy non-smoker.’

Rule 2: Your suggestions must be stated in the present tense

The purpose of your suggestions is to install programs in the subconscious mind of
your client that will shape their reality in a desired manner. Your client’s
subconscious mind will do everything within its power to follow those suggestions;
however, it does this very literally. Because of this, suggestions that are stated in the
future tense are very different to those stated in the present. As you are aware, all
hypnosis is actually self hypnosis, and, through repetition, we continually program
our subconscious mind. For the vast majority of people this process is taking place
with no conscious awareness. So let’s take a look at typical unconscious self
programming and see what a devastating affect failing to observe the second rule of
therapy can have.

Most people desire more wealth than they are currently enjoying and, as a result,
unconsciously program themselves to ‘want more money’ through their thoughts and

actions. They often say to themselves or others that they want to have more, and this
constant repetition is soon imprinted on the subconscious mind. The subconscious,
thinking that it is doing it’s very best to serve your desires, immediately sets about the
task of turning your program into reality. But what, exactly have you programmed? If
you have stated a desire to have more money, you have programmed yourself to
experience a desire to have more money, and the only way that this is possible is to
actually have less money. As a result, your subconscious begins to cause you to make
decisions and take actions that will actually reduce your wealth, resulting in an
increased desire for more, which is exactly what you asked for. To overcome this
problem you should actually state what you want as though you already have it.
Sticking with our example of money, you would need to program your subconscious
mind with the suggestion that you are extremely wealthy. Your subconscious will
then set about the task of creating a reality that supports this belief, and you are likely
to take actions and make decisions that will increase your wealth.

The same things happens when you state something in the future tense, you are
simply sending a message to your subconscious that this is not your reality, and as a
result your subconscious will create exactly the reality that you are trying to move
away from.

As with the wealth example, the solution is to state what you want as though you
already have it. However, if you know that it is going to take time to achieve your
desires, such as losing weight, it is very difficult to accept such a suggestion. The way
around this is to future progress to the date you desire the change to have happened
and then you are able to use present tense suggestion without the risk of conflict. So,
instead of saying, ‘You will weigh 9 stone by the 7

of March.’ Say, ‘On the 7

March you weigh exactly 9 stone’. This forces the subconscious to focus on the actual
outcome rather than the desire.

Rule 3: You must check your suggestion for suitability

When we consider what is best for your client we must appreciate that only their
subconscious truly knows. There are far too many factors that fall outside of our, and
our client’s, conscious awareness. To avoid making a suggestion that is unsuitable for
your client you should always leave the last word with their subconscious. There are
many ways that you are able to do this. Some hypnotists prefer to test their
suggestions before hand, by having their client mentally progress into their future
reality and see how their life has been affected now that they have already made the
change. If they can foresee problems resulting from such changes then it would be
wise to re-evaluate your suggestions and there desires before continuing. If all is well,
this exercise will actually create an increased desire for the change, as your client has
already had a taste of the success that will result. This creates leverage and vastly
increases the effectiveness of your therapy.

In addition to this precaution, it is also advisable to tell your client that their
subconscious has the last word by using a suggestions such as, ‘Bringing with you all
that you have learned during this trance and allowing any suggestions that are not for
you at this time to simply melt away.’ This should be included just prior to the wake
up script to ensure that your client only accepts the suggestions that are for them at
this time.

Creating your therapy

During your pre-hypnotic talk listen to your client’s desires and turn these into
suggestions that are specific to their needs. You will probably notice that many clients
rarely tell you what they want and instead, they are far more likely to tell you want
they don’t want. If you think about it logically, this makes perfect sense, as the only
reason they want to change is because they are already experiencing what they do not
want, and the reason they are doing this is because they have been telling themselves
what they don’t want for so long that their subconscious mind has faithfully made it
there reality. Remember that your subconscious can not process negatives?

Not everyone programs themselves in this way, some people naturally state things in
the positive, but these individuals rarely need the assistance of a hypnotist!

Use your notepad to record all the things that your client doesn’t want and then set
about turning each of these into a positive suggestion. If they have stated that they no
longer what to be so easily distracted, you can turn this into a suggestion like, ‘You
have perfect concentration and find it easy to keep your focus on the task in hand.’

Once you have created a list of around 15 to 20 suggestions check them and then
double check them until you are absolutely certain that every one obeys the first two
rules of therapy. When you are happy with your list, discuss it with your client and
have them imagine how these suggestions will alter their future reality to ensure that
they will not create any undesirable side effects. This procedure has another very
important and powerful purpose, so even if the suggestions are obviously beneficial, it
is still necessary to have your client go through this process. While your client is
checking their perceived future they will be imagining themselves having already
made the changes that they desire, this is incredibly effective subconscious
programming that’s power is almost equal to that of the hypnosis itself.

Having created and tested your list of suggestions during the pre-hypnotic talk, you
will be ready to deliver them immediately after the deepening section. Use a
confident, positive, authoritative voice and have absolute faith and certainty that they
will be accepted by your client’s subconscious mind and quickly bring about the
desired changes.
You can run through your list a few times during the session, remember that repetition
is one of the methods of implanting a suggestion in the subconscious. Once you are
satisfied that your suggestions have been accepted you will need to wake your client.

This brief introduction to therapy is obviously the tip of the iceberg, the more you
learn about trance the more tools you will acquire that will all help to enhance the
effectiveness of your therapy. If you are serious about hypnotherapy, enrol on a
professional course of study with an accredited school and check with the local
authorities in your area as regional regulations that restrict the use of hypnosis can
differ.

Length of trance

Many people are overly concerned about the amount of time that you should allow for
the actual trance state. There are many factors that are likely to influence your
decision here. Firstly, if you are recording the sessions you want it to end before the
tape does. I once listened to a pre-recorded session that didn’t quite make it, the last
words on the tape were, ‘When I Count to five you will awake feeling refreshed,
relaxed and wonderful, one… two… ‘CLICK’’ at this point the tape had run out and
clicked off! Obviously, with what you know to be true about trance, it did not really
matter, as it is impossible to become stuck in hypnosis, but I am sure you can see how
this clearly illustrates the need to watch the clock! Other factors you may like to
consider include the client’s commitments and comfort. Ask them before hand if they
have any other pressing engagements that will require you to ensure the trance does
not run over. If they have, it might be better to reschedule, rather them having them
worry about it. Generally, the trance itself will dictate the time required, if you can see
signs of tension you will need to spend more time relaxing the client before going
onto the therapy section. Similarly, if you recognise signs of trance sooner than you
expect you can move into the therapy section more quickly.

Waking your client

This is bar far the simplest area of trance, as you already know, it is impossible to
become stuck in hypnosis, so a wake-up script is only required to end the trance and
bring the client back to full waking consciousness. If you are working with a loved
one you might even decide before hand not to wake them from trance at all, but to
allow them to drift into a normal sleep and wake in the usually manner in the
morning.

Always wake a client on a positive note, and don’t do it too quickly, just as we prefer
to wake naturally in the morning, rather than having the alarm disturb our slumber, we
prefer to wake from trance gradually. As you run through the script increase your
tempo and use change your tonality so that you sound excited! Your client has just
made profound changes; this is the time for celebration! You can use a simple script
such as the following to get you started, and as you practise you will most probably
develop your own style.

Sample waking script

‘In the next few moments I will count from 1 up to 3, with each number I count you
will become more aware of your surroundings, until, on the number three, you will
open your eyes and be wide awake. You will bring with you all that you have learned
during this wonderful trance state and allow anything that is not for you at this time to
simply melt away. As you awaken, you are so confident in your abilities now that you
are (insert desired outcome). You are so excited to live the rest of your life as (insert
desired outcome) and feel fantastic that you have now achieved the positive life
changes that you desired. 1, becoming more aware of your body now and the room
around you, 2, feeling fantastic, so excited about your new wonderful life now that
you (insert desired outcome) and, 3, eyes open and wide awake, and feeling fantastic!’

In conclusion

Using these simple techniques, you will be able to safely hypnotise your client, know
what to do with the trance and bring them back to full waking consciousness feeling
great! Now it’s time to put everything you have learned into practise! The real power
in hypnosis is in doing, not in knowing. Practise what you have learned as regularly as
possible, and take time to discuss the trance state with your client afterwards as this
valuable feedback will enable you to fine tune your skills.

To discover more about hypnosis and related subjects please visit:

http://www.mindworks.uk.com

If you have enjoyed this publication we would love to hear about the experiences that
you have had as a result of this book. Please email

comments@inducingtrance.com

with your review, suggestions, comments or stories. Genuine testimonials may be
used in further advertising to aid others in deciding if this book is for them, please
indicate if you prefer your comments to remain anonymous.

For further publications on hypnosis you may wish to visit the following sites:

How to hypnotise: A step-by-step introduction to stage hypnosis
Self hypnosis revealed: Control your destiny with self hypnosis
Hypnotic inductions and Advanced techniques value pack
Preparation for hypnosis: Audio introduction to hypnotherapy

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Document Outline

Introduction
Section one: All about trance
The simple truth
What is hypnosis?
Trance Misconceptions
The trance experience
Building confidence
The tools of trance
Hypnotic language
The importance of rapport
Visual thinkers
Auditory thinkers
Kinaesthetic thinkers
Eye accessing cues
- Section two: The induction process
Preparing the environment
The pre-hypnotic talk
The Pre-hypnotic talk notepad
The induction
Deepening the trance state
Therapy
The rules of therapy
Rule 1: Your suggestions must be stated in the positive
Rule 2: Your suggestions must be stated in the present tense
Rule 3: You must check your suggestion for suitability
Creating your therapy
Length of trance
Waking your client
Sample waking script
In conclusion
Submitting your comments

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