Which words should you use to cause covert hypnosis?
Using words that cause someone to see things in a different way is one way to influence how they feel and think. This is called reframing.
A common reframe is the glass is half full, not half empty metaphor. This causes someone to move from viewing a situation that was thought of as negative now as a positive.
Reframing can be used for very complex things as well by switching some words in a sentence. Look at the following examples:
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.
It’s very pretty outside today, even though tomorrow it’s going to rain.
Each of these sentences describes the same thing, but by changing just one or two words you change the way you think about each day. Read these three again and think about how each makes you feel about the weather today, and tomorrow. Notice the difference?
The ways of reframing are many.
By using words that enlarge the frame, the person you are speaking with will focus on the big picture.
Let’s take an example. Your friend is shopping for a new pair of shoes. After finding a very nice pair, she is not sure about buying because she knows the same pair are being sold across town for a better price. To covertly help her make her decision, you say something like: wow, I can’t believe you are getting those shoes for such a nice price and now don’t even have to drive all the way across town.
You can also reframe the context of a situation.
Friend: Boy! I wanted to go to the beach, but listen to that wind outside… it won’t be nice today.
You: Sure, sitting on the sand in this wind won’t be fun, but imagine the waves! What a day for surfing!
The content reframe is another kind of reframe.
Friend: What a jerk! That man blew by us doing 100 mph. Can you believe some people!
You: He was going pretty fast. He had his emergency lights on, maybe he is going to the hospital.
See how someone’s attitude can really be changed simply by the words you use?
Reframing is powerful and it is a kind of conversational hypnosis.
By reframing you distract the person’s conscious brain and force her to think anew about something using the subconscious mind.
There is no obvious hypnotic trance here like you would see in overt hypnosis, but nevertheless, this use of words in conversational hypnosis causes the listener to respond to things using her subconscious mind.
Learn more about conversational hypnosis and reframing, and try it out.
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