Applying Conversational Hypnosis When Talking With Someone
Which words should you use to cause covert hypnosis?
One way to really change the way someone feels about something is to use words that make the person see the thing in a different way. I call this reframing.
A famous example of reframing is glass half empty, half full metaphor. This reframing from viewing the glass not as half empty, but rather as half full, helps people see the positive side of something.
The way someone views more complex things can also be reframed and thus, viewed differently by very simple word changes in a sentence. Let’s look at some examples. Think about these different sentences:
It’s very pretty outside today, but tomorrow it’s going to rain.
It’s very pretty outside today, and tomorrow it’s going to rain.
Its beautiful outside today, even though its going to be cloudy tomorrow.
These sentences describe the same things, but the small change of only a word or two makes you think about the weather differently. Go over these sentences again and be sensitive to how each one makes you feel about the weather today and the weather tomorrow. Can you feel the different attitudes they bring out?
There can be many ways to reframe things.
You can use words that make the frame bigger, so the person you are talking to can see the big picture.
Here’s an example that might sound very familiar. Someone is shopping for shoes and is concerned about the price because she knows she can get a better price across town. You might say, Wow, imagine getting those shoes for such a reasonable price without having to spend all the gas and time to go across town.
The situation context can also be reframed.
Friend: Boy! I wanted to go to the beach, but listen to that wind outside… it won’t be nice today.
You: You’re right. It wouldn’t be any fun just sitting on the beach in this kind of wind, but what must the waves be like? I bet it’ll be great for surfing.
And there is also the content reframe.
Can you believe what jerks there are! That guy just passed by and he must have been doing a hundred miles per hour.
You: He sure was going fast. Did you see he had his emergency lights on? I wonder if he was going to the hospital.
This really shows how by changing the language used, you can really change someone’s attitude.
Reframing is very powerful because it is a type of conversational hypnosis.
Reframing let’s you distract the listener’s conscious mind and causes her to listen to her subconscious brain.
The person does not go into a deep trance like you would expect in a hypnotists office, but he does look inward to the subconscious to think differently about things.
Read more about reframing and covert hypnosis and try it out.
