Hypnotism is a powerful tool when used correctly. A skilled hypnotist can put someone into a trance in less than a minute by making someone available to act on their suggestions.

Hypnosis can be used for therapy, entertainment, sales, and even seduction. When someone is hypnotized for therapy or entertainment, they are aware and even help the hypnotist put them into a trance, that’s the easy part.

To hypnotize someone in a conversational setting, to be able to get them to follow your suggestions without them realizing you’re using your “unique abilities” on them, requires a completely different and more inexperienced bag of tricks.

This is what is called covert or conversational hypnosis. This is the technique used by seasoned salesmen, politicians, and seduction experts to get people to do what they want. These hypnotic techniques are so strong that they can even seem like powerful mind control.

How does this covert hypnosis work?

First, find a link…

The first thing you have to do is create a connection with the person you want to hypnotize, this bond is what some people call “rapport”. You have to maintain this state of similarity with the subject. You can accomplish this verbally and by using appropriate body language. If done right, this makes the subject feel a deep psychological connection with the hypnotist.

Next, increase the status of the report.

After finding a bond and establishing a relationship with the subject, the next step is to enhance this sense of trust and understanding, in this way the subject lowers mental defenses and becomes more susceptible to any suggestions he may have. There are many ways to improve the link, but they will not be discussed in this article.

One who has attention, talk to the unconscious.

Once you have a strong bond with your subject, it’s time to start inserting hidden hints, also called built-in commands, into your subconscious. This is where you “tell” the subject what you want them to do, but you can’t just “tell” them like you would in a typical hypnosis session.

Being too open or direct about suggestions will trigger critical thinking. Critical thinking will raise the defenses and barriers of your natural mind, and will block any direct command you give it.

So how do you make suggestions to the subject once you have him under your spell?

You do this using metaphors and built-in commands. So what does this mean exactly? Hypnotic metaphors or patterns are specially designed hypnotic scripts. We use hypnotic scripts to bypass critical thinking barriers and send suggestions or commands directly to the unconscious. This tricks the listener into thinking that we are talking about one thing that may seem insignificant when in fact we are talking about something else (the true meaning of the metaphor).

Hypnotic metaphors or scripts are one of the covert hypnotist’s most powerful tools. Some of these scripts remain a secret among the community of expert persuaders. If used in the wrong hands, hypnotic scripts have the potential to do a lot of damage.