Making

Hypnosis
Simple
Steven Hall MCOH MASC
(NLP)
Making Hypnosis Simple
An introductory guide to Hypnotherapy
Steven Hall MCOH MASC (NLP)
Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved.

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 publishers
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

Mindworks UK Copyright 2004 Steven Hall MCOH MASC (NLP)

retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise copied for public or private use without the
prior written permission of the publisher.

Mindworks UK Copyright 2004 Steven Hall MCOH MASC (NLP)

All rights reserved Copyright Steven Hall,

2004Introduction
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 friends 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.

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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 dont 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 its 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 dont 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 its 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 its 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 dont 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 thats OK because we have got that covered. Unfortunately, what we
dont 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. Dont
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 dont get any choice at all. Someone calls you to book an appointment and thats it. I
suggest that you enjoy the easy deep goers (official they are known as somnambulistic) but dont 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? Its 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 isnt. 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 didnt; 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 cant, 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 isnt, because it is what it isnt, 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 peoples 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
patients 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 subjects
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 its 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 dont, 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 subjects 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. Everyones 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 subjects 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 dont, they simply continue with their own internal
dialogue or start daydreaming. If you suspect this has happened, you can simply bring a subjects 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 subjects 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 didnt
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 nonverbal 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 its easy to hypnotise people, which it is, so this shouldnt 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 dont 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 its 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 thats 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 hypnotists 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 hypnotists 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 unpause 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 its 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, its time for you to start
daydreaming, and Ill 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 arent 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 shouldnt 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. Lets 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 subjects 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 isnt
necessary. An example of this would be, I am glad you decided to give hypnosis a go, its 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 its 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 experiencePresumes 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, isnt 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 isnt 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 pretalk; 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 arent 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 someones 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
someones 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 anothers
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 pastors 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 clients 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 cafe. 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 persons 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 someones 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 clients 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 someones 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 wont!

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 1970s John Grinder and Richard Bandler, the co-founders of NeuroLinguistic 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 clients 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 thinkers 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:

Thats a bright idea.

This looks like a tricky situation.

I find that my experience is rather dull.

Thats 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 auditorys 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 someones nonverbal communication.

Another way of recognising an auditory is to watch their lips, they tend to subvocalise 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 thinkers 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.

Lets discuss this issue.

I dont like the tone of his voice.

Its 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 cant 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 someones 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 persons 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 persons 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 doesnt change, so its 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 someones
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.

Its 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, its 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 cant remember what someone looks like, move your eyes to the location that represents visually
remembering (up left) and you will find it much easier. Its 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 Olivers excessive use of the word, Pukka, yet to most of us this
isnt even a word at all, it certainly isnt 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 psychologists 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 clients 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 cant smell it (most smokers cant) Be certain that your client wont 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, its
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 clients 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 doesnt matter if this isnt 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 clients 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 wont 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. Its 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 dont
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 wont 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 inbreath 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, its 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, dont 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 dont 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! (Dont 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 clients 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 cant 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 dont!

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 its 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 clients
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. Dont
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 someones 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, thats 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 doesnt. 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,
thats 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, thats 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 thats 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. Its 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 isnt, 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, thats fine, talking the first step now, and remembering that each step takes you deeper and deeper into trance, thats
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, thats 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, thats 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. Thats 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 clients 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 thats 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 clients ailment, regardless of how
obvious or trivial it may appear. Pain is the bodys 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. Its 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 clients 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 lets 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 its 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 7th of March.
Say, On the 7th of 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 clients, 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

.During your pre-hypnotic talk listen to your clients 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 dont 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 dont 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 doesnt 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 thats 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 clients 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 didnt 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 clients 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 dont 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 its 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

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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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