Embedded Commands - Part 1
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Photograph by unrelaxeddad(cc)
The morning greeted me harshly. Cat yowled a little too loudly, eye felt scratchy from allergies, and the headaches have returned. Yes, I know, I know, the latter means I am probably not handling my stress as well as I should and so I am working on relieving it. After I finish writing this, I will take my own advice and work on a little self-hypnosis to relieve the pressure.
With all that and an already empty coffee pot, I am thinking about the word snarky. Do I feel snarky or perhaps frowsy? Do I feel the effects of someone else’s snarkiness (leaving me with an empty coffee pot and no refill)? Is it because I am visiting a topic today that some might view as snarky?
The topic? Embedded commands in hypnotism. Jake Shannon mentioned this technique in his answers to the 10 Questions, so I though it would be something else to add to the tool box. Jake – I am not saying you are snarky in the least (unless you want me to ;)), but embedded commands, at least in my mind, are often the black sheep in the NLP world. These are the hidden words in a sentence that make you want to do something you might not normally think about doing. They are often used in sales to influence you to buy something you might not otherwise buy.
However, in the hypnotic realm, they can be especially powerful and helpful. Embedded commands are instructions that bypass the conscious mind and go straight to the subconscious. The interesting thing is to utilize the commands, the person you are trying to influence does not have to be induced into a state of hypnosis. It is used conversationally.
How does it work and how do you use it?
- First, think of something you would like someone else to do (I want you to relax now).
- Make that into a command statement (Relax now).
- Now create a statement that includes those words. The words do not have to be together in the sentence, though I believe they must be chronological (if someone knows otherwise, please let me know) (It would be so nice to relax just about now). Notice how the words relax now are embedded in that statement.
- Here is where the art of embedding commands comes into play. The command is all in the phrasing of the seemingly innocuous statement (It would be so nice to relax just about now). Whether you lower your voice or make a gesture, when the words “relax” and “now” are spoken, they should feature the same voice tonality or expression. This tonality or expression is different than the rest of the sounds in the sentence. Both words are emphasized. The art is the subtly - how naturally you can pull off the sentence without raising someone else’s conscious awareness to the commands.
Let’s just go with this for now. There is more, but I will save that for part two.
I must go and relax and will leave you with this for now.
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