Here’s the big secret about hypnosis. It isn’t a secret. Everything you need to learn hypnosis is easily accessible and often freely available. But, as with anything else that’s easily accessible and often freely available, there’s a lot of rubbish that you have to sort through before you get to the good stuff. So if you’re serious about learning hypnosis, you’ll need to consider some quality hypnosis training.

In this article, we’ll look at the types of hypnosis training available and what you might expect from each of them.

Hypnosis training comes in two basic models – distance learning, which these days pretty much means online, and classroom based. There are advantages (and disadvantages) to each of them, and the one you go for will largely depend on your goals for training, and your personal preferences. If you’re the sort of person that breaks into a cold sweat at the thought of being in a classroom, then an online course may be the way to go.

When it comes to distance learning, we’re living in something of a golden age. The internet, and the possibilities it offers for communication and dynamic presentation of information, has revolutionized training delivery. A good online course may offer dedicated learning software, video lessons, members’ forums, VoIP teleconferencing and so on.

This type of training is no longer the poor relation of classroom based study, and indeed, many classroom based training courses include some element of online support. It’s a particularly good model to consider if you’re looking for an overview or an introduction to hypnosis.

Classroom based hypnosis training inevitably involves more commitment, in terms of time and money. It ranges from morning workshops, to 5000 people in a conference center listening to a guru, with everything in between. The major advantage is that you get hands-on experience and the attention of an experienced tutor – unless you’re one of the 5000 people in a conference center, of course, but even then, you benefit from the crowd!

There is simply no substitute for this person-to-person contact, no matter how sophisticated our communications technology gets. Remember, hypnosis is all about people, and subtleties of communication. Classroom based hypnosis training is therefore ideal for more in-depth study. If you aim to become a practitioner, then you’ll need to consider this model very seriously.

All types of hypnosis training will cover the same sort of ground – the actual mechanics of hypnosis, developing rapport with a client, how to elicit the right information, inductions and specific interventions for specific problems, hypnotic language patterns and so on. As you become more experienced, training courses are available for continuing your professional development, developing different approaches, and studying specific areas in greater depth.

One final point to remember – if you’re serious about hypnosis, sooner or later you’re going to have to work with a real live human being – and real live human beings inconveniently refuse to behave like the examples in the text books! Good hypnosis training, therefore, should involve some element of practice with other people. This may be scary, but it’s not half as scary as facing a person for the first time without that practice. You can check out the Resource section for a list of trainings I recommend.

Many people start out with a basic curiosity about hypnosis. Perhaps they’ve seen a stage show, or been fascinated by the sort of “Sensational Mind Power” version of hypnosis that tends to get portrayed in the movies. This basic curiosity can be easily satisfied, either by enjoying the showbiz for what it is, or by starting to read in a little more depth.

There are a number of books that any serious hypnosis student should have in their library. Dave Elman’s Hypnotherapy is an undisputed classic, bringing the short, sharp effective techniques of stage hypnosis into the therapy room. Milton H. Erickson pioneered the permissive, indirect approach to hypnosis and therapy that prevails today. In some ways, Erickson is like Einstein, in that it’s probably better to read others who have written about him before reading the man himself. Other names to look out for are Cal Banyan, and the NLP literature of Richard Bandler and John Grinder (NLP contains much of practical interest to hypnotists).

As your interest moves beyond curiosity, you may start to consider formal hypnosis training. A quick web search will reveal a bewildering variety of training opportunities, which as a beginner, you might find a little overwhelming.

Before taking the plunge, there are a few things you need to consider. First of all, why do you want to learn hypnosis in the first place? If you’re just interested in learning the mechanics of hypnotic trance, perhaps for self-hypnosis or relaxation, then any of the books mentioned above will give you reliable techniques. You’ll find a few on this website, too!

For a more directed overview of the subject, an online or distance learning course may be best. You can take these at your own pace and at your own level of interest. They’re also a good way of finding out just how interested and committed to hypnosis you actually are.

Having completed an online course, you may decide that you want a career as a hypnotist working with clients. Or you may have decided that already! In which case, a more formal classroom based course will need to be considered.

As with just about everything else in life, there are good hypnosis training courses and bad hypnosis training courses. Things the beginner should look out for are -

• What qualifications does this course give me? Qualifications are important indicators of credibility. They don’t have to be Harvard level degrees, but they prove that you’ve applied yourself and completed a course of study. They’re certainly one of the things that the paying public look out for. Who would you rather visit? John Doe, or John Doe EHQ (Example Hypnosis Qualification)?

• Does successful completion of this course give me membership of a professional body? In many parts of the world, hypnosis is a completely unregulated profession. This means that in theory, at least, anybody can set themselves up as a hypnotist. Clients know this, and are therefore looking for reassurance that they’re not going to be sitting in a room with their eyes shut with a complete charlatan. Membership of a professional body is another important indicator of credibility, and it protects both you and the client. It shows that you’re serious, that you abide by a code of ethics, and that there’s a complaints procedure available should one be necessary.

• Does the course give value? In other words, is it just a bunch of email lessons copied from a book, or do you get lots of supporting material, access to an experienced tutor, practical exercises and demonstrations, proper assessment of your work and so on. Above all, does it cover the areas you want to cover? Any reputable course will have its curriculum freely available for you to consult.

• Have other people benefited from the course? Check any testimonials, and if you can’t find any, ask. No reputable course provider will mind you asking this.

If you’re interested in discovering other resources which can help you on your journey I recommend you check out the Resources section of this Hypnosis Blog. The resource section is a collection of hypnosis books, programs and courses that I personally recommend. The material in that section can take you from a newbie to a seasoned professional in no time.

Stress is certainly a 21st century buzzword – but what is stress exactly?

On a purely physical level, stress is simply the release of adrenaline (epinephrine) into the body. This is actually something which evolved to keep us alive – the fight-or-flight response, a survival mechanism which we inherited from our distant ancestors. When the brain perceives a threat, adrenaline instantly surges into the system. This sets the heart and lungs pumping and tenses the muscles, priming you to fight for your life, or run away as fast as you can before something eats you!

This is a very useful thing to have in a world full of saber-toothed tigers and other predators. However, the instinct is still with us today, even though most of don’t face genuine life-or-death threats on a daily basis. Problems arise because this natural survival response is triggered when it isn’t needed, often in response to imaginary threats. So although a demanding job won’t literally kill you, like a saber-toothed tiger would, the brain feels threatened by it just the same, and activates the fight-or-flight response.

Is Stress Good Or Bad?

Stress isn’t necessarily good or bad – it’s just a question of degree. Think about a stress scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most stressed and flooded with adrenaline that you can possibly imagine being. This would be a very good level of stress to have if you’re running away from a wild animal. It’s not such a good level of stress to have if you’re going for a job interview. That might be a 3. Generally speaking, we might say that 4 is probably the highest point on that scale that you’d need for everyday life.

So when we talk about stress, we’re really talking about using too much stress for the situation at hand. The effects of this can be pretty damaging over time. As stress is a survival mechanism, one of the things it does is switch off or suppress all of those things that aren’t immediately necessary for survival – digestion, the immune system, the libido, even the ability to think clearly.

In the short term, the body is able to cope with this. However, if high levels of stress persist over time, then these vital natural functions remain suppressed. This is why severely stressed people suffer more infections and illnesses, are prone to stomach problems and IBS, and often say that they can’t think straight. That’s literally true.

Is Hypnosis Able To Help With Stress?

So how can hypnosis help with stress? First of all, it’s a relaxing experience by itself. Taking just a few minutes each day to practice self-hypnosis will reduce the impact of an overworked stress response. One very quick way to do this is by paying attention to your breathing. Just as we have a fight-or-flight mechanism, so we have a natural relaxation mechanism – the parasympathetic nervous system – and this can be activated by simply breathing out for longer than we breathe in. You can try breathing in for a count of 7 and out for a count of 11, or in for 5 and out for 9, whichever feels most comfortable to you.

Secondly, because stress has more to do with our reaction to events than the events themselves, we can use hypnosis to train ourselves to react in a more helpful way. Here’s a hypnosis tip for stress developed by the therapist David Botsford, which uses the stress scale we mentioned earlier.

Let’s Discover A Self-Hypnosis Technique

Relax into trance using one of the self-hypnosis methods described on this site.

In your mind’s eye, get a sense of a time when you’ve been more than usually busy. Perhaps a busy day at work, when there was a lot to get done, and when you found you had the right amount of energy and concentration to cope with what was demanded of you. Make it as vivid as you possibly can, with sounds and feelings.

In your mind, practice moving up and down the scale from 1 to 4 and back again, feeling the levels of energy move from complete relaxation to more than usually busy. If there’s a situation in your life that makes you feel stressed, get a sense of where on that stress scale you feel it lies. What happens when you bring the level down to 4 or 3, or even a 2?

Next, get a sense of a time when you were so completely relaxed that you didn’t have to do anything at all – perhaps lying by a pool on a hot summer’s day. Superimpose the number 1.

Next, get a sense of a time when you felt relaxed and attentive and involved with something, perhaps a conversation with family or friends. This time, superimpose the number 2.

Clear that screen in your mind, and next get a sense of an averagely busy day. Perhaps a normal day at work, with the normal amount of things to get done, a time when you coped easily and well with what was required of you. Again, make it as vivid as you possibly can. This time, superimpose the number 3 on that scene.

When you have a good strong sense of that unusually busy day, visualize the number 4 superimposed on it, like a projection on a movie screen.

If you practice this exercise regularly, you’ll be able to bring just the right amount of energy and the appropriate level of stress to any situation.

Have you ever wished that you could be more consistent in your chosen sport? Perhaps your game flows smoothly during practice, but somehow seems to let you down when things become more competitive? And what’s going on those days when everything just seems to fall into place? Why is it you are on top of your game one day and then beating yourself up over your head the next day when nothing flows.

Sports psychology certainly isn’t a new or unfamiliar concept. Soviet Olympic teams were using it in the 1950s, and today, most professional teams or players employ a psychologist or coach to influence the mental factors affecting performance.

So you’re probably already aware that mental rehearsal is considered a vital ingredient for sporting success – and any form of mental rehearsal is, in effect, hypnosis. What’s not so well known is that it’s how you mentally rehearse that makes the difference. It’s quite possible to mentally rehearse success the wrong way!

In this article, we’ll look at the right way to use hypnosis for sports improvement.

The Psychology of Power

In his book, The Psychology of Power, J.A. Hadfield describes an experiment in which he tested subjects’ strength by having them grip a dynamometer, under three different conditions of awareness. In normal, everyday consciousness, the average grip was measured at 101lb. Subjects were then hypnotized and given the suggestion that they were very weak – the average grip fell to just 29lb. Lastly, subjects were given the hypnotic suggestion that they were very strong – and the average grip was then measured at 142lb. This is an almost 50% increase in strength!

Hypnosis doesn’t just improve brute strength. It can also be used to improve technique.

Colonel George Hall was a USAAF pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965. Captured by the VietCong, he was incarcerated in a POW camp for seven years. Throughout his long captivity, he escaped into his imagination and imagined playing golf. He relived in his mind the perfect days that he’d enjoyed on the course, the smell of the grass, the sunlight on his skin, and hitting the perfect shot, time after time.

One month after his return from the war, Col. Hall played in a tournament and shot a 76. His long years of mental practice had improved his game. Why? Because he’d practiced success.

Practice Makes Perfect?

Col. Hall’s story teaches us something very important. Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect. You could practice all day every day, but if you consistently miss, all you’re doing is becoming very skilled at missing. The saying should really be perfect practice makes perfect.

So how do you practice perfectly?

Researchers Sian Beilock and Sara Gonso tested the putting accuracy of 15 novice student golfers and 13 students with at least ten years golfing experience.

The students completed their putts after one of two imagery tasks: either ten imaginary putts performed as fast and as accurately as possible, or ten imagined putts performed as accurately as possible, taking as long as they wanted.

The skilled golfers then performed real life putts, and demonstrated more accuracy after the fast imagery task than after the slow imagery task. The opposite was true for the novices, who putted more accurately after imagining slow putts.

This fits in with research on the effects of speed on real life actions. Experienced athletes benefit from executing moves quickly whereas novices typically benefit from taking their time and thinking about actions which are not yet familiar.

In another experiment, Australian researchers asked 20 highly experienced golfers to do one of three things whilst taking a putt – focus on three words associated with their technique (eg, arms, weight, head); focus on three irrelevant words, such as the names of colors; or focus on one word associated with how they wanted their action to be, eg smooth.

The golfers then performed in two situations – one for fun and one where real money was at stake. Their performances were only adversely affected in the real money game and only if they thought about the words associated with their technique. Conversely, their performance improved under pressure when thinking about the irrelevant words and was absolutely at its best when thinking about the positive summary word.

The Flow State

All of these findings show us how to defeat our inner opponent. We can rehearse the perfect game in your mind, just as Col. Hall did in Vietnam. We can make this even more effective by rehearsing at a level appropriate to our expertise – eg, by taking it slowly at first if we have to, just as we would in real life.

Furthermore, we need to switch off unwanted distractions. The golfers in the Australian experiment performed badly when under pressure, both from the circumstances of the game and from their own internal chatter. This would have aroused anxiety, even if they weren’t consciously aware of it. The chemical changes brought about by that heightened emotion disrupted the appropriate muscle tension, interfering with actions that are usually automatic.

Psychologists refer to the state of effortless unconscious skill as the flow state. It can be disrupted, as the Australian experiment shows. But it can also be accessed very quickly, and that can be done through hypnosis.

Process vs Outcome

When you’re game goes smoothly in practice sessions, it’s because you’re not really thinking about anything else, except playing the game, whatever it might be. The outcome is irrelevant.

On the other hand, when you play in a competitive situation and you really, really want to win, suddenly the outcome is very relevant. You stop focusing on the game, and start focusing on the result. Consequently, your performance drops. Anxiety interferes with the neural pathways that control your muscle actions, and automatic things become conscious. You’ve dropped out of the flow state.

To achieve the flow state, we need to get out of our own way.

A Hypnotic Technique For Sports Improvement

The following hypnotic technique brings all of these findings together, and is an effective for sports improvement at any level.

* If you have a particular sports role model or hero, watch a number of performances of them in action.

* Find somewhere where you can relax comfortably for a while. You can even do this standing up.

* Close your eyes, and imagine that your role model is stood in front of you, engaged in their sport. Make this as detailed as you possibly can in your mind’s eye.

* Now imagine what it would be like if you could step into their body, and begin to see the game through their eyes. What do they see, hear and feel?

* Imagine playing the perfect game as your role model. Notice how effortless it seems to them, how distractions or thoughts of the future fade away, and how they simply focus on the game at hand.

* Replay the game in your mind in slow motion, and then at normal speed. You can do this as many times as you choose.

* Take a deep breath and return to the room in your own time, bringing some of that new understanding with you.

I hope you enjoyed this article and if you did I’m sure you’ll enjoy our next article on Hypnosis Tips For Stress Relief which will be coming in the next couple of days.

Often, it’s not what we study but the way in which we study that has an effect. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of a charismatic teacher who was able to make even the dullest and most irrelevant subject come alive for you. Or perhaps you experienced the opposite, a teacher who was able to make the most fascinating ideas terminally boring!

The same principle holds true in our adult life, when formal study is likely to be on our own initiative. Even though we’ve chosen to study, the way in which we go about it can be like that mediocre teacher, making the subject boring and irrelevant to us. And who in their right minds wants to study something that’s boring and irrelevant?

Successful study depends on speaking the brain’s language – and speaking the brain’s language is what hypnosis is all about. The following hypnosis tips will help you to make your studies inspiring, rewarding and ultimately more successful.

First Of All – Relax

Stress and high emotional arousal interfere with memory, recall, analysis and clear rational thought – the very things you need to study effectively. Practise regular self-hypnosis for relaxation, and you will significantly improve your ability to study.

Open Up The Mind

The human brain has two sides to it. A logical, analytical side, which is fascinated by detail, and an emotional and creative side, which is fascinated by patterns. These are often referred to as “left” and “right” brains, since these functions are mostly (but not exclusively) located in the left and right hemispheres of the brain respectively.

Most traditional learning and study is aimed at the left brain, but we learn much more effectively when both side are engaged. Here is a simple Hypnosis tip for Study Improvement.

* Before you begin to study, choose a spot somewhere up above eye level where your eyes can rest comfortably.

* Keeping your eyes fixed on that spot, allow your awareness to drift out to the right. Spend a few moments just noting the things you can see in the periphery of your vision on the right hand side.

* Return your awareness to that central spot.

* Next, keeping your eyes fixed on that spot, allow your awareness to drift out to the left. Spend a few moments just noting the things that you can see in the periphery of your vision on the left hand side.

You can achieve the same effect of “waking up” both hemispheres of the brain with “Lazy Eights”. Rapidly draw horizontal eights, first with the right hand and then with the left, changing direction halfway through. You can do this with pen and paper, or trace them in the air with your finger.

The Language Of Memory

Any type of study will involve memorizing information. This may or may not stick in the mind, depending on the type of information involved. Abstract, technical information can be particularly difficult to keep hold of.

To improve your ability to memorize, you need to understand that the human brain is designed to deal with things in the real world of the senses. It likes objects, movement, sights, sounds, textures, smells and tastes. It latches on to color, shapes and patterns, and it especially seems to appreciate humor. Apparently, we’re far more likely to remember something if we find it funny.

We can use this to our advantage by turning anything we need to remember into a vivid sensory image, the more colorful and humorous the better. For example, if you wanted to remember the atomic number of lithium (3) you might visualize three Kurt Cobains singing “Lithium”.

Developing Positive Expectations

As is generally the case in life, study is affected by our expectations of it, for better or for worse. If we expect something to be difficult, boring and tedious, nine times out of ten that’s exactly what it will turn out to be. Conversely, if we approach our studies with positive expectations for smooth and straightforward learning, we’ll have a much more rewarding time of it.

Below are some Hypnosis Tips for Study Improvement.

* Relax into trance using one of the self-hypnosis methods described on this site.

* In your imagination, get a sense of yourself looking relaxed and at ease with your study. Notice what it is about yourself that lets you know that you find your subject rewarding, enjoyable and fascinating.

* When you have that sense in your mind, drift into that representation and experience it from the inside. Feel what it’s like to be able to study with relaxed, concentrated ease.

* Imagine knowledge and learning flowing towards you like a color or a light, and feel it settle into your mind and body at every level.

* Return to everyday awareness when you are ready to do so, bringing some of that feeling back with you.

So as you can see Hypnosis can be a great benefit for those seeking to improve their studies.  I hope you enjoyed these little Hypnosis Tips for Study Improvement.

Out of all of the odd messages that I have received over the years, one question continues to remain prevalent and consistently the most commonly asked question about hypnosis. How can I do it? What are tips for me to become good at this craft?

I have considerately made a neat and tidy little list of ten important tips to help you improve your hypnosis ability. You’re welcome.

• 10. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 9. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 8. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 7. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 6. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 5. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 4. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 3. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 2. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

• 1. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it.

Now that I have made myself clear…..Here is the true list. Although please, take heart, I feel very very very strongly about confidence. That is the key in hypnosis….the “secret door” for all those visual thinkers.

• 10. Confidence. Fake it or truly have it. (Yeah, got to stress how important I believe that is.) Just go out there and do it….you learn from your mistakes! Bring along a magic trick if the hypno doesn’t work. That safety net gives you a lot of confidence.

• 9. Learn from the best….then lock yourself in your room and make it better. Don’t copy cat the legends….it will not work out. There will only be one Erickson. It’s important to show the flairs of your mentors, but that is just the seed. Branch out and become something different and new.

• 8. Become a well rounded performer, but focus on your strengths more than you focus on your weaknesses. If we all focused on our weaknesses, how will we soar above the rest? Perform differently, use different techniques, see if you like scripts or impromptu inductions, see what language patterns work best for you. Once you find them, focus on them, utilize them, use them, and excel in them.

• 7. If at first you don’t succeed….drop them differently. Every person can be hypnotized, it just takes a serious and persistent hypnotist who can adapt to the volunteer or client. But please, if they don’t want to be hypnotized, then in the name of Ormond don’t force them to go under. That’s unethical, immoral, and quite frankly, creepy.

• 6. Engage every sense. Not everyone responds the best to a certain sensation you suggest. Everyone learns differently (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) so be sure to cater to every sense. Hypnosis is a journey through a created situation….the hypnotist’s job is to create the situation clearly. That can only be done with effective suggestion and engaging each and every sense.

• 5. Build that rapport! It is ten gazziolion times easier to hypnotize someone if they feel at ease with you. Study techniques that build good rapport…mirroring, finding what learning style they understand better in, ect. Loads of information about this can be found in studying NLP (neuro linguistic programming) and your time will be very well spent in investigating further.

• 4. NEVER come across as arrogant. As a hypnotist, yes, you need to be authoritative in the sense of commanding the stage, and (I think I forgot to mention this) confidence is 60% of hypnosis in my opinion. However…an audience hates nothing more than an egotistical and arrogant performer. That completely kills your rapport with the audience. And being a hypnotist where your show depends on the audience….that can easily destroy a show. Keep a level head, just be….what was it again? Oh yes, confident.

• 3. Become empathetic. Now personally….this was difficult for me. I have never been one to comfort drama queens and cry babies… but it is very possible to run into those clients. (That sounds a bit mean…*DISCLAIMER* no harshness intended…). Not only do we need to become empathetic towards our clients with their problems, but we also need to empathize when inducing trance. Whether in the office or on the stage, the mark of a good hypnotists is when he/she is under with the volunteer/client after the induction. This makes inducing trance easier, as you can follow along with the hypnotized and get a feel for what is happening first hand.

• 2. Document progress. I keep a journal of every experience I have done with hypnosis. This helps me get a clearer picture of how I am progressing, some trends that I haven’t noticed before, common occurrences, and so forth. Not only is it fun to go back and see how well you have progressed, but you tend to notice how one style suits your more so than the other.

• 1. Keep a strong sense of moral ethics. Hypnotists have a responsibility to our volunteers or clients….we are handling their minds, even though they have ultimate control, you are still looking at and investigating their minds. It is our responsibility to handle our clients or volunteers with the upmost respect and safety, avoiding any possible abreactions and understanding how to handle those situations safely. Out of all of these tips…although confidence is exceedingly important…a sense of moral ethics is of upmost importance.

I hope that this helps all who are hungry to learn more about this fabulous art and science…If there are any questions about anything or if you would just care to chat about hypnosis or other interesting topics (excluding anything in regards to golfing…) feel free to contact me at:

Katherineannemagic.com, My Youtube Page or My FaceBook Page

Take care and happy hypnotizing,

Katherine Anne

Katherine Anne is a 17 year old Psychological Entertainer who has been thrilling audiences of all ages through her mystical charm and gripping performances. Katherine has been performing from audiences ranging from 10 to 3,000 people with venues as diverse as the shows.

Katherine has over six years of experience in magic and is also a Certified Hypnotist with The ICBCH. As well as stage hypnosis, Katherine also does clinical hypnotherapy on the side. Katherine Anne is a well rounded performer who never fails to leave audiences on the edge of their seats and their eyes full of wonder and amazement.

Champions Are Made When Nobody Is Around

Champions are made when nobody is around,” are words of wisdom from my past that perpetually roll around in my mind.

My father constantly told me they these powerful words as he instilled the belief in me that in order to be at your best you must do the things champions do in the off time, when nobody is around, in order to perform your best in front of the crowd.

My father taught me many lessons while coaching me in sports and little did I know that some of these lessons would have such an incredible impact on my professional and personal development.

Success isn’t an overnight phenomenon or something that just happens to some lucky people. People who achieve a high level of success are the ones willing to do the necessary activities in their downtown so when the time is right they are prepared to succeed. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and all other sports legends didn’t get to that position without putting in a tremendous amount of time practicing their skills. Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, and all the other great motivational speakers just don’t go and wing it hoping to deliver a great lecture. Ormond McGill, Gerald Kein, and all the other legendary hypnotists never woke one day with hypnotic powers nor were they born hypnotists. All of these greats lived by the philosophy that my father preached to me as a child. They became the best in their fields because of what they did when nobody was around.

The End Is Just The Beginning

In order to be a successful hypnotist you must commit yourself to a lifetime of learning and constant development. There is a direct correlation in the activities you do in your off time and your ability to achieve success with your clients. During your downtime, you must spend it developing and sharpening your skills so you can be as effective as possible. I tell all of my students, at the end of their certification course, that this isn’t the end it’s only the beginning. Every single day there are new developments in our profession, people developing new techniques, and new ways are discovered to maximize our potential with our clients. The best in our profession are well aware of this fact and spend lots of time reading books, trade journals, and website forums so that they stay up to date with a profession that is constantly growing.

A success deficiency that many people possess is that they wait until they landed a big gig before they start developing the program for it. Successful people do the opposite. The major successes in our profession are always in their lab during their off time developing new programs, products, scripts, and courses. They always think in terms of “when” they get the big jobs and never “if” they do. This attitude keeps their motivation levels high and in the spirit of constant development. When a person combines practice, preparation, and action with opportunity it creates massive success.

Learning Hypnosis Never Stops

It is amazing just how many familiar faces there are at all the major conventions, advanced training programs, and lectures. When these people aren’t at the conventions, you constantly hear them on tele-seminars, or see them logged-on video conferences yearning to learn more. This isn’t by accident. The same way their success isn’t a mistake either. They are constantly learning doing the things that nobody sees.

To be the best you can be, commit yourself to constantly develop your skills and expand your knowledge everyday just like the best in our industry do. So the ultimate question is.what are you doing when nobody is around?

Yours Truly in Success,

John Weir BCH, CI
Author of “The Crash Course in Selling Hypnosis”
www.johnweironline.com
www.hypnosisbusinesscoaching.com

Be sure to check out my new Facebook fan page click here http://bit.ly/johnweirhypnosis

Since 2000, John Weir has been working full-time as a NGH Board Certified Hypnotist and Certified Instructor. In addition, John has a BA in psychology, a NLP Master Practitioner and Certified Life Coach. In 2008, John was awarded the NGH Charles Tebbetts award for “Spreading the Light of Hypnotism” and the honor of “Distinguished Practitioner” from Pnosis an online hypnosis magazine.

Over the past few years, John has been a member of the NGH faculty and is a regular presenter at the NGH Annual Convention and NGH Solid Gold Weekend, and was on the 2009 NGH Platinum Success Panel. John is the author of “The Crash Course in Selling Hypnosis” and the creator of numerous hypnosis audio programs including “The Mental Caddie.” To find out more about John Weir please visit his website www.johnweironline.com.

When I first got started in hypnosis I went around to everyone I knew asking to hypnotize them. Most of the people said no, but a few of them agreed to “try” hypnosis. These people knew nothing about hypnosis, but being a confidence newcomer I didn’t feel I had to educate them on the subject. I figured all I had to do was copy some Youtube video’s I’ve seen.

I knew I could hypnotize someone if I just followed the videos I had watched. Looking back on this situation I think I may have been to confidence in myself, which can blow up in your face sometimes. I walked up to the guy, told him to press on my hand, close his eyes and the moment he started to apply pressure to my hand I yelled “sleep” in a deep voice.

As I yelled sleep I knew I was going to be successful. I glanced up to see what a person in hypnosis looks like in real life and got a surprise. His eyes were wide open; he looked at me and said did it work? My hurt ego took a moment and answered “no, it didn’t work and I’m not sure why”.

Banging My Head Against A Hypnotic Wall

I spent a week studying the videos and had followed what I had seen the hypnotist do on the video. I had no idea what was wrong and was about to chalk it up to he was one of the few people who couldn’t be hypnotized. Wow, I had a really big ego back then and I had some nerve assuming this was the case when this was my first attempt at hypnotizing someone. Due to a lack of financial means I couldn’t afford formal training.

My education came from all the free e-books floating around and many of the Youtube videos. I assumed that hypnosis was just as easy as yelling sleep and that’s not the case. There was more going on behind the scene then I realized.

It wasn’t until I ran across a certain video that a friend let me borrow from Hypnosis Training Gerald Kein that changed my future and gave me the tools for success. The hypnotist in the video mentioned how important it is to discuss hypnosis with the person before attempting to hypnotize them. The hypnotist on the tape made a statement that put it all into place for me.

A person will only enter hypnosis based upon the fear they have of the subject. I had been trying to enter a locked door without the key to open it, now I had the key needed to succeed. The key to having a person enter hypnosis is called the Pre-Talk.

The Power Of A Good Hypnosis Pre-Talk

So the next question is what is a pre-talk? A pre-talk can either be a long or brief talk about what hypnosis is and addressing any fears the person may have about hypnosis. You basically address some of the rumors and myths about hypnosis and explain the truth to the person. You let them know they are not asleep during hypnosis, they can hear you speaking to them in hypnosis. Let them know they are in control and will never do anything against their moral or ethics.

You want them to feel comfortable with hypnosis and give them the real facts. Society has programmed the general public to think hypnosis is something it isn’t. People think we perform some type of black magic or we control their minds. So you must become the expert and explain the truth to them.

It makes a lot of sense and looking back at the lesson I learned and I can’t believe I never thought of it before. Think about this for a moment. Would you sky dive off of a plane if you were afraid of heights? You might really want to experience it, but due to your fear you just can’t make that jump. Have you ever wanted to do anything in your life, but some fear held you back? If so, then you may have an idea about what might be going through the head of the person you are about to hypnotize. They don’t know what to expect and may be afraid even if they don’t tell you so.

What’s Next In The Hypnosis Pre-talk?

The next part of the pre-talk to be honest is simple and is used more when using rapid or instant induction techniques. You must build up the person’s expectations of what to expect. You basically what to tell them that if they do exactly as you say nothing more and nothing less they will enter a wonderful relaxed, deep state of hypnosis and they will feel great. You want them to associate something good to the experience.

Let them know how good it’s going to feel or how relaxed they are going to be when they enter hypnosis. Once you build this up all you have to do is one more thing. You must ask permission to hypnotize the person.

I usually use something called the hypnotic contract. I basically will tell the person that if they do exactly as I say nothing more and nothing less they will enter a wonderful state of hypnosis. If you do this for me I will make sure you are taking care of and no harm will come to you. If this is acceptable to you, are you ready to go into hypnosis? As you see I compounded the statement with repeating it twice and the final step is added right onto the end of the contract.

This makes the person feel you respect them by asking them formal permission. It also gives the person permission for them to enter hypnosis since all hypnosis is just self hypnosis. Once you have all of this in place all you have to do is perform your instant or rapid induction and watch the person enter hypnosis quickly and easily.

You Must Develop Confidence In Yourself and Hypnosis

A little tip to remember is to make sure you deliver your pre-talk with confidence. Confidence is a huge part of successful hypnosis. You will also find as you get better and better you will be able to get this pre-talk down within a few min. For many beginners, learning how to be confident can be one of the hardest things to overcome. As my friend Nathan Thomas says in his Confident Hypnotist program “Confidence begins in the mind”. All this means is that Confidence is a state of mind and the more you think you are confidence the more you’ll become.

The pre-talk is the most important part of what we do as hypnotists. The pre-talk allows us to educate people and make the client or person feel comfortable enough to enter hypnosis and feel comfortable with us. I recommend any beginner who is serious about the field of hypnotism to study hypnosis and learn the truth behind the rumors. This will help you in developing your own pre-talk. In the end just remember to eliminate fears, build up the clients expectations and get permission.

I hope this post helped you to understand the importance of The Pre-Talk. If you want more information on how to deliver a really great pre-talk then I recommend you check out Cal Banyan’s Pre-Talk DVD. I personally use this DVD with all my clients as it explains Hypnosis in an easy to understand manner. Highly recommended if you want to know more about the Pre-Talk.

Joshua Houghton

Things have come long way since the first person was ever hypnotized. We have learned so much more about hypnosis, patterns and the way our words affect suggestion and the way they affect the client.

This is the year 2009 and many of us are still using words that are causing hypnotists to shoot themselves in the foot. As we all know the media has really given hypnosis a bad rep over the years. While their are some good reports out there, certain movies and books have convinced people that what we do is magic or something from the occult.

The average person tends to think we have “super powers” or some type of control over people. So it’s important that we stop using certain words that give people the wrong idea about what we do. I also promise that if you start to change the words you use you’ll notice a strong difference in the way your sessions go.

Once again this is just my opinion and you are free to use whatever language you like, but how do you know what the results will be unless you attempt the change. All I am doing here is offering you an alternative. I want to give you something to think about before I list some of the words. Have you ever had a session that “you” thought went really well? Only to find out that a few sessions later your client has actually got worse or not improved at all.

How Can Words Hurt My Success Rate?

Yes, it’s possible the client rejected your suggestions, but could it also be the client was confused or didn’t understand something properly. This could cause the client to believe they we’re doing something wrong or that they we’re not in hypnosis. For instance, during the pre-talk you let the client know you are not asleep during hypnosis. Well as the hypnosis session concludes you tell the client when you count to 5; you will open your eyes and wake up.

The problem is you told the client they weren’t asleep during hypnosis, yet you told them to wake up. So the client goes home and as they are driving they start thinking to themselves. I must have done something wrong since he told me to wake up when I wasn’t asleep. Maybe I should have gone to asleep. It is at this moment that all your work has been undone.

I’m not saying this will happen with all clients and to be honest most of them may never even think about it, but why take the chance. I do recommend that if you do continue to use the wake up that you explain to the client ahead of time why you say wake up. This way once the sessions ends and emerges from hypnosis.

They will already know that they did what they we’re suppose too. The idea for this post isn’t mine alone and I didn’t even come up with the concept. I actually heard Gerald Kein talk about this subject before. I totally agree with his point of view. So I would like to give Mr. Kein credit for giving me the motivation to write this short article.

Words To Avoid

• Deep Sleep: When I say the word “sleep” I don’t mean the word we use to induce hypnosis. Many hypnotists will tell a client they will go into a deep sleep and this can cause problems. The problem is that hypnosis isn’t sleep and we don’t want the client to think hypnosis is sleep. I also recommend that you always explain to your client before hand that when we use the word sleep in our inductions we don’t mean actually sleep. Explain to them you mean a state of relaxation that is similar to sleep. Le them know the sub conscious mind understands this suggestion and it seems to work well with it.

• Awake or Wake up: This can cause all the work you do as a hypnotist to be worthless at the end of the session. The reason is that you are not asleep so how can you wake up. A person knows they are not asleep during because they will be able to hear you during the session. So when the person comes out he is going to start thinking it didn’t work because he told me to wake up when I wasn’t asleep, so I must have done something wrong. Instead of saying awake or wake up I recommend as do other Hypnotist to use the word “Emerge”. This word seems to work wonders and I promise your client won’t be wondering about it later. If you do like to use the word wake up, then at least explain the reason we say, “wake up” before the actual session begins.

• Under: When you tell someone you are going under it can be perceived as talking down to someone. You are “under” my control is a phase which most of our population has heard. Think about it for a min you are telling a person they are going under. So you may want to just let the person know you are going into hypnosis, or allow yourself to go into a nice state of hypnosis or even a nice state of relaxation.

• Command: When you tell people you are giving them a command they tend to think you are forcing them or being bossy. A command means you are in charge of them and they know you are not. I have found with a few clients the word command can work, but most clients will have an issue with this word on the Sub. Conscious level. I suggest using the word “suggestion” instead.

• Subject: When you call someone a subject it gives the impression they are beneath you or under your control in someway. Think about this for a moment. How would you feel if someone kept addressing you by this term. Subject can also imply you are running test or trying something out on somebody and for someone who may be new to the experience of hypnosis this is not the type of thoughts you want running around in there head.

Well these are just a few words or phases, which can possibly hinder a session or the level of hypnosis a person can enter. I learned this from Gerald Kein and put these changes into my practice and noticed an amazing change in the depth of my clients and the overall success of the sessions.

While these words have been used long before I was born and hypnotist have been successful with them I believe in moving forward instead of backward. I believe that to be taken as a serious professional by others that must move forward and work hard to erase the negative stereotypes within our profession.

I have been getting a lot of e-mails asking is it possible to hypnotize people in a loud location. So I thought I would write a little article on this hypnosis blog about how to work with clients in these situations.

First off, it is possible to perform hypnosis in a loud location and it’s done all the time. While the client and I might prefer a quiet location this isn’t always possible. The fact of the matter is that unless you have a sound proof booth their will always be some type of noise around.

For instance, noises such as cars passing by, the A/C or heater coming on, People making noise outside, dogs barking and so much more.

All of these are examples of noises that take away from your quiet, calm and relaxing session. Many new Hypnotists think that unless they have peace and quiet that their session won’t be a success or that the client won’t be able to relax or enter a state of deep hypnosis. This just isn’t true and experience has taught me this fact.

The problem is that most hypnotists aren’t taught how to overcome this annoying little problem. Hypnotists have to remember that hypnosis is a state of enhanced suggestibility. So if you want the session to go well no matter what sounds are around you then just suggest it to the client. You can even suggest that any sounds or noises the clients hear will send them deeper. All it takes is a simple suggestion before you really get into your Hypnosis Session.

A Free Hypnosis Script

One very simple, but powerful suggestion I use when helping people into hypnosis when there is a lot of noise around is as follows.

“From this moment on, any sounds or noises you hear will only help to guide you deeper and help you relax more. Sounds such as _______________________(Fill in the blank with the things in your location which could cause noise) Will only help to send you deeper relaxed and the only sound you remain focused on is the sound of my voice and the sound of my voice helps you to relax so much more.”

This is just one example of many different ways to get around being in a loud location. Now just because you can get around this situation doesn’t mean you should go looking for the location with the most noise. A nice, quiet location is always preferred, but when that isn’t available you now have a tool available for any hypnosis situation.