Covert hypnosis is a powerful persuasion skill where a hypnotist can influence the subject without him or her knowing about it. Covert hypnosis is slightly different than stage hypnosis - There's no blatant trance that the subject is put in. Through simply pacing and leading the subject with carefully chosen words and language patterns, the subliminal images, emotions and messages the hypnotist wants to convey will simply sink into the subject's subconscious.

Convert hypnosis is based on the work of Milton Erickson, and further expanded by the invention of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Erickson was an expert at pacing his clients to build rapport, and gradually leading them to where he wanted to go. Erickson was also great at using various language patterns to get his clients the results they were looking for. This is the basis of covert hypnosis.

To perform covert hypnosis, the hypnotist first has to get trust and rapport with the subject. Once the hypnotist has this trust, he can then lead with a pattern that conveys a subliminal message to the subject. For example:

Basis: Trust is built, and the hypnotist is moving into covert hypnosis:

"Ben ... (Speaking Slowly) Have you ever had an experience with a person ... Where while you're listening him (Hypnotist points to himself) , you find yourself listening to every word (Hypnotist lowers his voice) ... And as you listen ... You find yourself feeling more and more connected to this person (Hypnotist points to self) ..."

In this scenario, the hypnotist first built the necessary trust to get the subject saying "Yes" to his questions. Then the hypnotist uses covert hypnosis to get him to listening carefully, and links that to himself. Finally, the hypnotist uses the language pattern to build a more powerful connection with himself.

Throughout the pattern, the hypnotist uses a covert hypnosis technique called subliminal commands. Subliminal commands are commands that are spoken to the subject's subconscious mind. The hypnotist does this by deepening his voice slightly, signaling to the subconscious mind that the words he's speaking are "different" from the rest of his message. The subconscious mind singles out those words, and takes them as a command. In this case, the commands were "Find yourself listening to every word" and "Feeling connected to this person."

Covert hypnosis is a powerful means of persuasion, and is also useful for hypnotherapists who want to have a more powerful impact on clients.

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