Many people are surprised to hear that Trance is not a binary state (i.e. in trance or not in trance) but more of an analogue scale from very light trance all the way through to a very deep trance. Milton Erickson defined trance as the process of learning to go into trance. He went on to suggest that there are three experiential stages of hypnosis that you can learn to go into:

• Light Trance: Critical faculties are put on hold.
• Simple Trance: The client manifests the appearance of a deep trance but internally is merely compliant with suggestions.
• Deep Trance: The client actually experiences the suggestions as reality.

Both Light and Simple trances can be induced in a relatively short time. On the other hand, Erickson recommended an initial period of three to eight hours for training a subject to into a deep trance! Results will vary depending on your client, it is the time that it takes them to learn to go into trance that will decide on the time involved as much as it will rely on your skill as a Hypnotherapist.

So how do the levels of trance differ?

In Light Trance it is normal to comfortably experience:

• Lethargy
• Relaxation
• Eye Catalepsy
• Arm Catalepsy
• Catalepsy of isolated Muscle Groups
• Heavy or Floating Feelings

In Simple Trance it is normal to comfortably experience:

• Smell and Taste Changes
• Number Blocks (Where the client forgets numbers)
• Amnesia
• Analgesia (No Pain)
• Automatic Movement

In Deep Trance it is normal to comfortably experience:

• Hallucinations (Positive)
• Bizarre Post-Hypnotic Suggestions
• Anesthesia (No feelings)
• Negative Hallucinations
• Comatose
• Somnambulism

A “yes set” is an agreement frame that is used in many contexts, including Hypnotherapy, sales and even parenting. It is useful for leading the other person towards agreeing with you on something by getting their agreement on small, reasonable questions first. The principle is really straight forward: the likelihood of someone agreeing with your suggestion will rise significantly if they have immediately previously agreed with you on multiple other points.

Sales

A common example in Sales could be something like this:
“Are you looking for a car today? (yes) You’ve probably decided on whether you want a small car or a large car? (yes) And you probably want to see a car that is good value for money? (yes) Would you like to see this new BMW we just got in?”
Or if you were selling a service, such as Business Consulting:
“Is quality important to you? (yes) Is your time important to you? (yes) If you could be making more profit would you listen to someones suggestions? (yes) Great, then could we make an appointment to discuss what we could help you with?”

Hypnotherapy

In a Hypnotherapy setting is extensively used in trance inductions and the setup of suggestibility tests. For example a Hypnotherapist may say:
“To begin with I want you to stand up (yes), stand with your feet apart (yes), take a big deep breath (yes) and then close your eyes and go into a deep, deep trance (suggestions).”
The client is much more likely to accept the suggestion to close their eyes and go into a deep, deep trance if the Hypnotherapist has first installed compliance using a Yes Set.

Parenting

You’ve probably already started to get the idea, but here is an example for a parent who wanted their children to go swimming:
“The sun is shining, it’s warm, it is such a beautiful day, let’s go swimming.”
As you can see with this example it is not strictly necessary to have the other person say “Yes” in response to each part of the sentence, just for them to end up agreeing with the final suggestion.

In addition to saying the questions that form a Yes Set you are also likely to find that nodding your head while waiting for their answers will increase the effectiveness of this pattern, and the speed at which they answer.

What next?

Yes Set’s occur naturally in conversation and, now that you are aware of them, you’ll probably notice them in your conversations with others and maybe even on TV. As with all linguistic patterns the key is to begin to use them. The more than you use them the easier they will become and the more you will find yourself using them in suitable situations. Enjoy!

Hypnotic Suggestibility Tests are commonly used in Hypnotic Stage Shows or Street Hypnosis as a way of finding out just how likely other people are to follow your suggestions. It is literally a series of commands and instructions that have a clearly visible display in the other person. By running through these tests with a group of people, as they do in Hypnotic Stage Shows, you will be able to quickly see who the most suggestible people are in the room. It is rare that these tests would be used in a Therapy session, although they may be useful if

As with any hypnosis, suggestibility tests themselves will normally work much better when they are pre-framed by the Hypnotist. Giving a strong reason for doing the suggestibility test before you start will normally lead to better results. An example of a pre-frame script if you were trying this with friends could be:

Hey, my friend was telling me about this thing where at some level everyone responds to suggestions from the people around them. He told me about this suggestibility test thing where basically you close your eyes and I ask you to use your imagination and it gives an insight into how suggestible you are, or you aren’t. Would you like to give it a go?

If they say yes at this point then continue. Otherwise find yourself a more adventurous friend to try this with. Once you have their permission then you would go straight into one of the tests below.

The Finger Vice

This is one of my favorite suggestibility tests. You can tell how suggestible they are by how quickly their fingers move together. As you run through the script it is a good idea to demonstrate the movements you want from them by doing it yourself.

The script you would use would go something like this:

Please take both your hands and interlace them together firmly like a fist. Now keep your hands in the fist, but have your index fingers outstretched. Keep your fists tightly together and your index fingers about an inch apart. Now what I want you to do is imagine a vice squeezing your index fingers. Imagine a vice pushing in on your index fingers and pushing your fingers together now (And at this point I would be making squeaky noises like I am doing up a vice). Tighter and tighter, really feel the pressure of the vice bringing your fingers together. That’s right.

And that is it! Some people who are really suggestible will have their fingers pressed firmly together from the start. Other people may not have moved their fingers at all. How far they have moved their fingers is your indication of how suggestible they are (The more the better).

The Dictionary/Balloon

This is a common suggestibility test that provides really obvious visual feedback and is good if you are working with a bigger group. You can tell how suggestible they are by noticing how far apart their arms are when you are finished. As with the previous test, if you demonstrate the arms as you do it then they will find it easier to do the right thing.

The script goes something like this:

When you are ready, hold both arms straight out in front of you. Now turn your right hand so it is palm facing down, and your left hand so it is palm facing up. Now close your eyes and imagine as brightly and as clearly as you can a big bright balloon tied by a string to your right wrist. The balloon is pulling your wrist up, higher and higher it is pulling your wrist up. But wait, imagine in your left hand a heavy, heavy, big, fat dictionary. And as you vividly imagine the big heavy dictionary in your left hand feel how heavy and tiresome it is to hold. But the balloon, the balloon on your right wrist is feeling lighter and lighter, pulling your wrist higher and higher… while the dictionary is getting heavier and heavier. And when you’re ready, without moving your arms, open your eyes.

Once again, that is it! Their arms will show who is more suggestible, and those who are less open to your suggestions.

See it in Action

This is an amateur video I found on YouTube of someone doing a basic suggestibility test in their back yard. It is worth watching as it gives you an idea of how easily and quickly this can be done:

What’s next?

You know all you need to know! Go and give it a go with your friends and enjoy the results.

Time Line Therapy^TM is a technique that utilises both Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Eriksonian Hypnosis that was first developed in 1985 by Tad James. It is based on the premise that there is the past, now and the future, but in reality there is only the now. We hold an idea of the past and the future in our minds. That idea includes our memories, our decisions and our good/bad experiences. Because we hold this idea in our mind we can change that idea to have a profound and lasting impact on how we feel right now about things in the past or the future.

Eliciting Your Time Line

Before any work can be done using Time Line Therapy^TM your time line must be elicited. This process is usually quick and simple. Many people have never thought about it but we have a way or organising things that have happened in the past, and a way of organising things that we believe will happen in the future. Most people, when they think about it, can even point in the direction of their past, and the direction of their future. And they can notice that those two directions sort of form a line between their past and future. This process is best done formally by a Time Line Practitioner.

Releasing Negative Emotions

Time Line Therapy^TM is a really good way to release negative emotions from the unconscious mind. Because the unconscious mind can only Generalise, Delete or Distort what happens to us we store emotions in the mind in a structure called a Gestalt. The Gestalt is a generalisation of each emotion and it has a First Event, the first time we felt that emotion, and then subsequent Significant Emotional Events that have been generalised to be like the first event. When using Time Line Therapy^TM it normally only takes a release of the First Event for the entire Gestalt to begin to release, taking with it the negative emotions. The main negative emotions that Time Line Therapy^TM is used with are:

• Anger
• Sadness
• Fear
• Guilt

Although these are the main four, it is possible to use Time Line Therapy^TM with any emotion that the clients mind has a linguistic label for.

Releasing Anxiety

While most negative emotions appear in the past, Anxiety is an emotion that appears in the future. Time Line Therapy^TM is a very useful way for resolving Anxiety with a client. In my personal experience Anxiety can be resolved using Time Line Therapy^TM in as little as 2 to 5 minutes on most events. It is important for the Time Line Therapy^TM Practitioner to clearly differentiate between Anxiety and Fear as Fear must be treated in the past although the presenting symptoms may be similar.

Releasing Limiting Decisions

Limiting Decisions are also sometimes called Limiting Beliefs. They are things that we have decided in the past, or currently believe about ourselves, that mean that we don’t reach our full potential. For example, if you believed you were stupid you would be less likely to expect good results from your studies. While, if the belief/decision that you were stupid was released then you would approach your studies differently. Time Line Therapy^TM is much more effective than the traditional NLP Method of Submodality changes for making long lasting changes to limiting beliefs. While the submodality changes will change how you feel about the belief, Time Line Therapy^TM will release the Gestalt with that belief in it.

What else?

This article only touches on the basics of what Time Line Therapy^TM can do. The truth is that Time Line Therapy^TM can also be used to place goals in your future, remove phobias, facilitate forgiveness of people in your life and much much more. People are increasingly recognising the role that emotions play in illness and disease – imagine the role that Time Line Therapy^TM can play in health by releasing negative emotions.

Interested in Time Line Therapy^TM?

If you are interested in Time Line Therapy^TM then please get in touch. I am a Certified Time Line Therapy^TM Practitioner and was taught by the creator, Tad James. I regularly conduct Time Line Therapy^TM sessions both face-to-face and over the phone. If you have read this article and you are interested in finding out more or interested in experiencing the benefits for yourself then please get in touch. My Contact Details are available here.

Disclaimer…

WARNING: Time Line Therapy^TM is extremely powerful and has the possibility of changing a person’s personality totally and completely in a very short period of time. It is therefore important, for your safety, that any therapeutic use of these techniques be done by someone trained in Time Line Therapy^TM.

Further Reading

- Time Line Therapy^TM and The Basis of Personality by Tad James and Wyatt Woodsmall

Following on from my previous post Milton Model Part 1 and Milton Model Part 2 this post includes even more Milton Model Patterns for your viewing pleasure. If you haven’t had a chance to read Part 1 first, I highly recommend that you start there. Part 3 concludes the list of Milton Model Patterns.

Pace Current Experience

The Pace Current Experience pattern is one of the quickest patterns for getting agreement and putting someone into a trance conversationally. Essentially what you do with this pattern is you say things that are undeniable about the other persons experience. You don’t just mention one thing though, you mention multiple, and as you mention more and more things you will find them being drawn in more and more by what you are saying.

Here are some examples of statements that pace current experience:

• As you sit there, reading this article, thinking about what it means and wondering how you could use these patterns…
• As you look you can feel how your clothes feel against your skin, and how quickly, or slowly, you’re breathing and…
• You’ve looked at the brochure, you’ve spoken to our sales staff and now you’ve come into the show room…

So why is this useful? This is the basis of what they call a ‘Yes Ladder’ in Sales. If you can say several things that are undeniably true then you can normally say something that is possible, but not definitely true, and have the other person readily agree. And as they agree with that last suggestion/statement the can begin to unconsciously move in a new direction.

An example if you were introducing trance could be:

As you sit there, listening to my voice, and hearing what I say, you can begin to feel incredibly relaxed. As you begin to feel incredibly relaxed you can allow yourself to sink deep, deep down into trance, now.

Or an example in sales could be:

You’ve seen this car on TV, you’ve come down to the show room and now you’ve taken it for a test drive and by now you’re probably ready to start filling in the paperwork.

Double Bind

A double bind is when you give the listener a choice, but where regardless of their choice they still do what you want them to do. This pattern works especially well with children, though if you over-use it they will work it out pretty quickly! This pattern is best explained with an example:

• Would you prefer to take the bin out tonight or tomorrow morning?
• Do you want to go to bed now or in 5 minutes?
• Would you prefer to buy this in blue or red?
• Is it better for you if we meet in the morning or the afternoon?

The key to see in each of these statements is that although the listener is given a choice, regardless of their choice they are implicitly agreeing to something else. Regardless of whether they take the bin out tonight, or tomorrow morning, they are still agreeing to take the bin out when they answer. Regardless of whether they prefer to buy it in blue, or red, they are still agreeing to buy it.

Conversational Postulate

A conversational postulate is where you take a command (i.e. something you want the listener to do) and turn it into a question. This greatly softens the command and will increase compliance. Essentially, it avoids the feeling of authoritarianism that can come from telling someone what to do.

Examples of conversational postulates are:

• Can you close the door?
• Would you mind signing this document?
• What are the chance of you picking my clothes up from the dry cleaner on your way home from work?

In each example there is a clear command (i.e. Close the door, sign the document, pickup my clothes from the dry cleaner) though the way it is framed make it sound like a request that the person could potentially refuse. It may sound counter-intuitive but because the option to refuse is presented it makes the listener less likely to refuse, and much more likely to comply.

Extended Quotes

Extended Quotes is a beautiful pattern that creates confusion in the listener really, really quickly. You essentially start talking about someone (Person #1) and then tell the listener that this person(Person #1) then said something that he (Person #1) had heard from someone (Person #2) and that he (Person #2) had heard something from someone (Person #3) who had said “<insert command here>”. What happens is that the mind loses track of who is saying what, and because the mind loses track of who is saying what it gets confused, drops the listener into trance and makes them much more likely to accept the suggestions. It also makes it okay for you to say whatever you want to the listener, because it isn’t you saying it to them, it is the person who is being quoted saying it to a 3rd party.

Confused yet? Maybe an example will help:

So I was talking to John and he had been sailing on the weekend with his friend Matthew and they had both been talking to this guy in the bar about what it takes to make a boat sail well. And he said “It doesn’t matter what you know, it matters that you learn quickly.” And I don’t really know why he said that, but he said it again, “It doesn’t matter what you know, it matters that you learn quickly.” “and the more that he said it, the more I just sort of found myself agreeing with him,” said John.

Or another example in a business environment. Say for example you received the objection that your product was ‘too expensive’ from a prospective client. You could use this pattern like so:

You are not the first person to say our product is too expensive. In fact, I got a call from a past client last week who had said the very same thing to me. He was telling me about how he was talking to a colleague about how hesitant he had been to make a decision on our product, because of the price. And he took a little while before he made his decision. But looking back he wished he had just gone for it and made the decision right away. Because even though he felt it was expensive at the time, having had it as long as he had, he now wonders how he coped without it. It saves him so much time and makes things so much easier for him. And that’s interesting, because his colleague phoned me almost straight away after speaking with him and decided that it was the product for him. Because even though it was expensive, it was exactly what he needed and he wanted it now.

This is an extremely powerful pattern and a lot of fun to use!

Selectional Restriction Violation

A selectional restriction violation is where you suggest properties of a noun that the noun cannot posses. For example, it is quite possible to suggest that humans and animals have feelings. But can an object like a chair have feelings? The answer is no, so when you suggest that an object like a chair has feelings you are suggesting propertieis of a noun that the noun cannot posses – or making use of a selectional restriction violation!

Examples of this include:

• A car can have feelings.
• Remember, the walls have ears in this office!
• How do you think the chair feels under your weight?

This was notably used by Martin Luther King Jr in his speech (Quote a hypnotic speech if you analysis it). To quote, “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” – the idea that Negro’s legitimate discontent can be described as a ’sweltering summer’ or freedom and equality can be described as an ‘invigorating autumn’ are both selectional restriction violations. Or, to quote again, “Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!” – how does freedom ‘ring’?

The key is that even though at a logical level Selectional Restriction Violations don’t make sense, when you use them they add a poetic and trance inspiring nature to your communication.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity is really the core of the entire Milton Model. The language is about introducing things into your speech that make it hard for people to understand specifically what you are saying. It forces them to try and make sense of it at an unconscious level, and as they do it naturally deepens their level of trance. There are four types of ambiguity specifically that deepen trance even further:

Phonological Ambiguity

This is when you use two words that sound the same, but have different meanings. Examples of this include:

• ‘By now’ sounds the same as ‘buy now’
• ‘Hear’ sounds the same as ‘Here’
• ‘There’, ‘their’, ‘they’re’ all sound the same too.

How would you use this in a sentence? As you sit here, hearing the sound of my voice in your left ear hear and your right ear hear what you can hear here. When said out loud? Very confusing! Or in business you can wrap up a sales presentation with: By now, you can probably see the benefits of our product in your business. See what I did there?

Syntactic Ambiguity

This is when the listener cannot determine from the syntax of what you’ve said exactly what you mean. Examples of this include:

• They are visiting relatives – Are the people relatives that are visiting? Or are the people away visiting their relatives?
• I’ve had enough of managing managers – Have I had enough of spending time managing what the managers do and don’t do? Or have I had enough of managers that are managing?
• Selling salesmen can be trick! – Is it tricky trying to sell a salesman? Or are salesmen that are selling tricky?

Scope Ambiguity

Scope ambiguity is where your ambiguous language leaves the listener unsure as to how much of the sentence the descriptors apply to. For example:

• Speaking to you as a child – Am I a child speaking to you? Or am I speaking to you like I would speak to a child?
• The old men & women – Are the men and women old, or just the men?
• My older brother & sister – Is the sister older as well?

Punctuation Ambiguity

Punctuation ambiguity is where you pause as if a sentence has finished, but then keep going with the sentence. You place pauses… in places… people don’t necessarily… expect them. This is often very confusing for the conscious mind, but the unconscious mind still grasps the meaning. Examples include:

• I want you to notice your *pause* hand *pause* me the glass – That will be interpreted as two sentences, both ‘I want you to notice your hand’ and ‘hand me the glass’.
• Sometimes people aren’t *pause* ready *pause* for this to happen – That will be interpreted as two sentences, both ‘Sometimes people aren’t ready’ and ‘ready for this to happen’.

Utilization

Utilization is an incredibly fun language pattern. Essentially it works by noticing something that is undeniable you have observed, and that the listener can also observe, and then assigning a larger meaning to what you’ve observed. By pointing out things that the listener is yet to notice it will not only deepen their trance, it will also lead to them to feel more convinced about what you are talking to them about.

Examples of utlization include:

• *other person yawns* and you say “It is good to yawn, because yawns indicate that learnings are being processed at the unconscious level”
• *other person coughs* and you say “With each cough feel the tension releasing in your chest and shoulders”
• *other person says “I’m angry”* and you say “That’s right, you’re angry because you haven’t yet had a chance to release what you’re angry about yet”

This has obvious applications in therapy, but it is equally useful in business. Take for example someone who says to you “I am not sold.” You could utilise that and reply with something like “That’s right, you are not sold yet, because you haven’t asked the one question that will have you totally and completely sold.” Powerful stuff!

What next?

This article concludes the three part explanation of the Milton Model. The key to you going from where you are now, to a point where you can use this model unconsciously, is to pick one pattern for the day (or week) and just practice, practice, practice! Now that you have all 19 patterns at your disposal all that stands between where you are and mastery of them is time and effort. The more you use them, the easier it gets and the easier it gets the better the results you will enjoy.

Following on from my previous post Milton Model Part 1, this post includes even more Milton Model Patterns for your viewing pleasure. If you haven’t had a chance to read Part 1 first, I highly recommend that you start there.

Universal Quantifier

A Universal Quantifier is any set of words that contains a universal generalisation AND lacks a referential index.

So what’s a universal generalisation? Words like ‘all’, ‘every’ and ‘whole’ that refer to everything.  Universal generalisations can also be negative, such as ‘never’, ‘no-one’, ‘nothing’ etc. The key is that the word must refer to everything.

The second part, lacking a referential index, means a phrase that doesn’t refer to anything in particular. So you use words like ‘it’, ‘that’, ‘things’, ’stuff’ etc.

For a statement to be a Universal Quantifier it must contain BOTH a Universal Generalisation AND lack a referential index. It can look something like this:

• Everything feels like that.
• And all the things, all the things…
• That is never…
• No-one knows that.

Modal Operator

Modal Operators are words that imply either necessity or possibility. These words are often used to form and reinforce the rules in our lives. They are incredibly empowering (Or disempowering), depending on how they are used. Modal Operators of Necessity are words that imply something must be done (All the odd numbered examples). Modal Operators of Possibility are words that imply something could be done (All the even numbered examples).

Examples of Modal Operators include:

1. Should
2. Could
3. Must
4. Might
5. Need
6. Want

Take for example these two statements:

• You should go to the Post Office.
• You could go to the Post Office.

They feel very different. The first statement uses a Modal Operator of Necessity (Should) while the second statement uses a Model Operator of Possibility (Could). If someone is feeling bad about something they will almost certainly be using modal operators of necessity. Try repeating back to them what they said to you, but swap the Necessity words with Possibility words and enjoy the results!

Nominalization

Nominalization is what we call it when you transform a verb or process into a noun. The easiest way to spot a nominalization is to look for words that end in ‘ion’ such as Communication, Decision or Relationship. Communication is the process of communicating, decision is the process of deciding and relationship is the process of relating. By using nominalizations we reference the process in a way that assumes it has completed.

In sales you may have a client that tells you they are ‘deciding’ on whether your product is right for them. By beginning to use the nominalization of ‘decided’ you can shift their thinking quite quickly towards them already having made a decision.

Unspecified Verb

Any verb that lacks an adverb is unspecified. When you use unspecified verbs it will sound like you’re only saying half of the sentence. For, instead of finishing the sentence with an adverb (Like the listener would normally expect) you stop short and leave their unconscious mind to fill in the blank.

Examples of unspecified verbs include:

• That can help…
• That’s the way…
• And you can….
• You know…
• You may discover…

Tag Question

This is one of the easiest and funnest Milton Model pattern that you can start using straight away. A tag question is literally adding a rhetorical question onto the end of what you say, isn’t it? When you start using them, people just find themselves agreeing with you, don’t they? And they don’t even know why, do they? The funny thing is, most people already use these… right?

Here are a bunch of examples:

• …haven’t you?
• …don’t you?
• …won’t you?
• …can’t you?
• …right?

Lack of Referential Index

These patterns are really useful because they are just so vague! Any phrase that doesn’t refer to something in particular lacks a referential index.When you refer to something but the way that you refer to it makes it very ambiguous as to what you are actually referring to. For example using the word ‘it’, ‘them’, ‘that, ‘thing’, ’stuff’ etc.

These are some examples:

• Remember that thing that we left behind at that place near that person? (This statement lacks 3 referential indexes – but as you read it the statement should still make sense)
• One can, you know…
• How they said it made all the difference.
• Sometimes that thing happens

We do this naturally all the time, don’t we? (Whoops… tag questions was the previous pattern ). Take for example if you are describing an argument. I made this argument up to show the pattern in use, but I’m sure you could have heard something like this before: ’she said this then he said that and it was all over the place and before we knew it that person rocked up who everyone hated and he was saying that stuff about her mother but nobody knew whether it was her natural mother or her step-mother’…

Comparative Deletion

A Comparative Deletion is very similar to a Lost Performative (Described in Part 1 of this article) where a comparison is made but it is not specified as to what or whom the comparison is being made to. While a Lost Performative relates to the person making the judgment being left out, a Comparative Deletion relates to the leaving out what it is being compared to.

Examples of Comparative Deletion’s include:

• The bus was much bigger.
• And it’s more or less the right thing…
• Things weren’t that good.
• But it didn’t go as well.

When you make a comparison in this way it is incredibly hard for the listener to disagree with it. How can you disagree with something when you don’t know what it is being compared to? You can’t! So this is a great technique for you to use when trying to be persuasive.

Wondering what’s next?

Combined with Part 1 you now have 12 of the 19 patterns of the Milton Model. Look forward to the next article that will include the final seven language patterns. Remember, the key to you going from where you are now, to a point where you can use this model unconsciously, is to pick one pattern for the day (or week) and just practice, practice, practice!

I don’t want you to read this article. I don’t want you to learn anything and, whatever you do, please DON’T press that button… the red one… don’t press it… okay? Oh… you’re reading this article? Darn – I thought I told you not to do that already?

Negative suggestion is a technique where a suggestion not to do something results in increasing the likelihood that the person will actually do it. You may have seen parents telling their children ‘Don’t run by the pool’ and then watched the children, appearing completely oblivious to their parents, start running by the pool. You’re probably wondering why people don’t do what they are told, maybe it is a curiosity or a resistance towards authority – or could it be something else?

Why do people not do what they are not told to not do?

Negative Suggestion doesn’t make much sense until you get into the mechanics of how the brain processes the words that you read/hear. It turns out that your mind processes sentences in a certain way. If I tell you, “Don’t think of a brown dog” you must think of a brown dog in order for your mind to process what it means to not think of a brown dog. If I tell you, “Don’t go near the road” you need to think of the road for the statement to be computed. The negative component of the sentence isn’t processed until later. And because you are picturing it in your mind your mind will try and move you towards it.

Are you unfamiliar with that concept of moving towards the things you picture in your mind? Try picturing a plate of your favourite food. Chocolate cake, fresh fruit, ice cream, hot chips – whatever. And really focus on that picture… focus harder… that’s right. Now, think about it, are you feeling hungrier for that food all of a sudden? If you are (and most people will be) that is the power a simple image can have in your mind!

You can generally spot a Negative Suggestion if the sentence contains words like:

not, don’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t, won’t, can’t, haven’t… etc.

This raises serious questions about many messages in our community. The number of safety signs phrased negatively is astonishingly. My least favourite is the message they use for drink driving. The slogan they use in Western Australia is: Don’t drink and drive

But what do you think about? That’s right – drinking and driving! Honestly, stop a moment and think about the picture when you read:

Don’t drink and drive.

Now, clear the pictures from your mind, and think about the picture you have when you read:

Drive safe, drive sober.

Quite different pictures and when repeated (Suggestions are more effective when repeated) to the extent that the Don’t Drink and Drive message is we could possibly see quite different results in our community.

How do I make the most of it?

As with everything I’ll be sharing on this blog there are ways to use your new knowledge to your advantage. And with this particular tip there are two ways to really use it to your advantage, a good way and a not so good way (Haha did you see what I did there? ).

Negative Suggestion: The Good Way

Now that you know this is how the mind processes language you can use it to speak so that people create internal images that are congruent with what you want them to do. So “Don’t go on the road” becomes “Stay in the front yard”. Or “Don’t forget to buy some milk” could become “Remember to buy some milk”. By rephrasing what you say you will get much better results, especially in high pressure situations when people are reacting to your words without the chance to properly think them through.

Negative Suggestion: The Not So Good Way

This is slightly more advanced but can be a lot of fun. You can make use of negative suggestion to suggest things that the person may be resistant to otherwise. When combined with Milton Model style language it can make you very persuasive. A sales style example could be “I don’t want you to buy this product today unless you are completely happy it meets your needs” – at a conscious level the sentence makes sense BUT the negative suggestion means the person will be picturing buying the product today. Another example with a bit of Milton Model is “I don’t want know if you want to go out for lunch today but if you did want to go out for lunch today where could we go?”. Believe it or not the negative suggestion at the front of that question will make the person much more compliant as it won’t feel like you’re telling them what to do. The possibilities are endless!

See Negative Suggestion in Action:

There is a great video by Derren Brown on YouTube that shows it in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fIuMBDLOAQ

The video shows the Negative Suggestion in action with children following instructions and also with adults through the use of a written sign. Well worth the time to watch.

In Summary

The more awareness you have over your language, especially your use of negative suggestions, the more powerful you will become as a communicator. Over the next few days I encourage you to watch out for Negative Suggestions in your speech and the speech of others. As your awareness of it rises maybe you could even start using them yourself and enjoy the results…

The Milton Model was created by Bandler & Grinder, the founders of NLP, following their study and modeling of Milton Erickson. The Milton Model is a linguistic model, or way of talking, that allows you to more easily induce trance in the people you are talking to. The Milton Model is ideal for us in Hypnosis, especially when you are inducing or deepening trance, although it is also very powerful in business discussions and advertising. When you effectively talk using the Milton Model you will find that people begin to glaze over and begin to hang on each and every word.

What does it look like?

You’re probably wondering what the Milton Model is and why you’re going to start using it soon. Because, even though right now you’re not sure how important it is, there have been times before when you’ve been not sure, and good things have happened, haven’t they? And the fact that you’re reading these words and thinking about the Milton Model means that you could learn the Milton Model easily and effortlessly, couldn’t you?

Try reading that short paragraph out loud. Notice how, if you speak it slowly and steadily, you gently relax and maybe go slightly into trance. And you’ll probably notice how it is written just like a lot of things you may have read before – that is because hypnotic language is used unconsciously by many of the most powerful communicators including speakers like Martin Luther King Jr.

That paragraph makes use of mind reads (Where you really wondering what the Milton Model is and why you’re going to start using it soon?), lost performative’s (The Milton Model is important according to who?), cause & effect (How does you wondering that mean that you’re not sure how important it is?), presupposition (It is assumed that you’ll start using it soon…), tag questions (haven’t they? couldn’t you?) and a couple of others too just for fun. This will all make more sense as I write more part’s about the Milton Model.

How do you do it?

So, how do you go from what you know now, to knowing and being able to use the Milton Model effortlessly? The short answer is that you need to:

1. Learn the Milton Model patterns
2. Practice the Milton Model patterns again, and again, and again
3. Notice how you effortlessly start using it unconsciously

Here are the first few patterns for you:

Mind Read

A mind read is a really handy pattern where you claim to know the thoughts or feelings of someone without having any way of coming to know that information. By claiming to know what they are thinking in the right way they will begin to think about it and because they begin to think about it as you say it they think that they were already thinking about it – crazy, right? So how does it look?

You’re probably wondering…

You start the sentence like that and then finish with whatever you want. For example, you’re probably wondering what sort of examples I’m going to use.
You’re probably wondering what you’re going to have for dinner.
You’re probably wondering how much eggs cost in China.

And, even though you weren’t wondering any of those things, you may notice how good it feels to start wondering about them now, didn’t it

Lost Performative

A lost performative is what we provide a value judgement without telling the listener who made that value judgement. It works so well because relative words are really easy to agree with. So how does it look?

Basically any words that are value judgements such as: good, bad, better, worse, slow, fast etc.

You can throw these into sentences to lead the listener in the direction you want their thoughts to go. For example, it is good to wonder about the Milton Model.
It is great to go to the beach.
That car is quite slow.

So those statements all make sense by themselves… but if you start thinking about it now, sure, the car could be quite slow – but slow compared to what? It isn’t slow compared to walking, or slow compared to riding a horse or slow compared to riding a bike but it could be slow compared to a Ferrari or a jet plane or a motorbike. Because the sentence makes sense by iteself the listener is likely to accept the though, such as the car is quite slow, and if they accept that thought then they’ll be more likely to base their thinking on it further into the conversation.

Cause & Effect

Cause & Effect is the name we use when we say imply that one thing causes another. The human mind LOVES reasons and this is a great way to provide reasons, even if the reasons wouldn’t hold up to rigorous investigation. The way to spot Cause & Effect style patterns is to watch for these three linguistic patterns:

1. A makes B (make/makes/making)
2. If A then B
3. As A you B
4. Because…

Reading this article makes it easier to learn the Milton Model.
If you go to the shops today then you’ll be happier.
As you find yourself going into trance you could notice how relaxed your arms feel.
Because you’re alive you are ready to learn.

These statements are an elegant way of leading someone slowly towards a favourable outcome. You can take things that are known to be true (the cause), or implied to be true, and then that positive feeling carries through to what you are implying (the effect). Going to the shops won’t necessarily make anyone happier – but if you’ve made that suggestion then that is what they will expect and that becomes a more likely outcome!

Complex Equivalence

Complex Equivalence is a way of suggesting that two things mean the same thing, when they don’t necessarily. That means that you can get people to agree with two things when initially they would have only agreed with the first. What you want to watch out for is these two words:

…that means…

Just re-read the previous paragraph – did you see what I did there? Here are some more examples for you:
Owning a car means that you’re not as fit as you could be.
When someone goes out to a night club that means they want to get drunk.
Reading this post means that you are learning more about the Milton Model.

This linguistic pattern is very useful when you want to make someone aware of something that they previously weren’t aware of. Think of how motivating it could be for a boy learning football to hear his coach say “Jimmy, you coming to all the training sessions means that you’re getting better at football and that means that you won’t be on the bench at the game this weekend” – that’s really just two complex equivalence’s strung together… This pattern is commonly mis-used by politicians and parents (Such as the night club example) to over-generalise about the actual situation.

Presupposition

A presupposition is a fancy word for a linguistic assumption. By creating assumptions in your language you can have people begin to think that something is true without ever having the chance to question it. There aren’t clear words or ways of structuring presuppositions and they are present in all of our language. It is probably best to share some examples:
Are you still thinking of buying a new car? (Presupposes you were previously thinking about buying a new car)
Have you used the Milton Model yet? (Presupposes you have used it already OR will use it in the future)
You have learnt from your past mistakes. (Presupposes past mistakes)
Your dancing is getting better. (Presupposes that their dancing was worse – notice the lost performative?)

Presuppositions are hugely useful when talking to people as they save a great deal of time. The art to using presuppositions is to lead people into presupposing things that will support them doing what you want them to do. If you were selling a car you could presuppose that the buyer cares about the safety of their passengers (Something a car buyer is unlikely to disgaree with) in order to sell them a much more expensive, but safer, car. This could be neatly wrapper in a simple statement like, “Sure, you could buy a small car but our customers who feel the safety of their passengers is important normally only consider medium to large cars”.

Wondering what’s next?

Over the next few weeks I’m going to slowly start posting the remaining 14 patterns of the Milton Model (There are 19 in total). With each pattern I’ll continue to post a short example of how to use it in everyday language. The key to you going from where you are now, to a point where you can use this model unconsciously, is to pick one pattern for the day (or week) and just practice, practice, practice!

In modeling Milton Erickson the creators of NLP observed that people make minute changes from moment to moment. Those changes have meaning if you have enough Sensory Acuity. So, what is sensory acuity? Sensory acuity is the ability to observe minute changes in a persons physiology from moment to moment. Based on the changes that you observe you can begin to gain an insight into what is going on for the other person.

In NLP they normally focus on these key parts of another persons physiology:

• Skin colour (Whether it is lighter or darker)
• Skin Tonus (Whether the tone of muscles is symmetrical or not symmetrical)
• Breathing Speed (Whether breathing is faster or slower)
• Breathing Location (Whether they’re breathing from higher or lower in their chest)
• Lower Lip Size (Whether it has more lines or less lines)
• Eye Focus (Whether their eyes are more focused or defocused)
• Pupil Dilation (Whether their pupils are more dilated or undilated)

The truth is that these are just a starting point – with enough sensory acuity you can easily gain insight into a persons state through any observable changes in their body. Milton Erickson famously noticed a member of one of his audiences going into trance. Later, he was asked how he knew she was going into trance. Milton replied, “I could tell because the pulse in her ankle slowed down”. The better you get at sensory acuity, the more powerful a communicator you will become! Sensory Acuity is especially vital in a good hypnotherapist as it is your only way of effectively gauging how quickly and deeply your client is in trance .

So, what is an example of this at work? Check out this YouTube video of the infamous Derren Brown at work with three car salesmen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2cvop3vbM

This video is a great example of how Sensory Acuity can be subtly used to gain an insight into the internal representations of another person. Notice how with the third salesman Derren is able to determine when he is telling the truth without the salesman even opening his mouth. This is because of the subtle changes in his body language that Derren can easily pickup with his well practiced sensory acuity. Through the questions he asks he is able to calibrate, using sensory acuity, when they are telling the truth. Derren then simple picks the ‘odd one out’ (i.e. the answer where the persons physiology is noticeably different) and he can safely pick that as the lie.

It is important to note that sensory acuity must be calibrated on a person by person basis. The differences noticeable in one persons physiology who is telling the truth will not necessarily be the changes another persons physiology would show for the same internal representation.

The more you practice, the easier it gets. You can practice this on ANYONE you can see!

Even though NLP is quite commonly talked about now, once upon a time NLP wasn’t even around. In fact, NLP is relatively young and wasn’t really established until the 1970’s. The fundamentals that allowed for the creation of NLP though began long, long before that.

In 1943 Alfred Korzybski wrote a book called Science and Sanity that first raised the idea of Logical Levels. Korzybski said something really interesting in this book, he said that “Almost all psycological problems were the result of the inability of a person to traverse logical levels”. That’s interesting because he suggested that sometime in the future there would be a wholly processed description of the human being that would come along and actually describe the process of a human being. And that is what we call today, Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Around 1975 Richard Bandler was a student at University of California, Santa Cruz and John Grinder was a linguistic Professor. Bandler had a specific interest in Computer Programming and Gestalt Therapy. He happened to be editing a book about Fritz Perls and as time passed Richard decided that he could actually do Gestalt Therapy (Just from listening to audio tapes in relation to editing the book) and in actual fact he was very, very good at it. As Richard began to move forward and use the things he had learnt Richard realised that he had a specific gift of modeling – being able to observe what worked and then create something out of it.

This is the foundation of NLP and where idea of NLP being a notion and a methodology comes from. It comes from that idea of actually being able to look and see what is excellent behaviour and how that excellent behaviour is produced. It starts with a simple question: How do I take that behaviour and how do I try that on myself so that I can get the same results for myself? NLP really begins as a notion and a methodology that leaves behind a trail of good techniques for achieving excellence.

To begin with the three major people that Bandler & Grinder modelled were Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls. These three people were chosen by Bandler & Grinder in the early days of NLP as they were experts in magically creating change in people by simply using the right words. And that is what NLP is about, being able to create magical change. It begins with an attitude of curiosity to know what is going on behind what is going on. When we use NLP and look at a human being we look at that human being with wonderment and we ask ourselves “How is it possible that this person in this circumstances could produce this behaviour?”. Now the second thing, which could be equally as important as curiosity, is the willingness to experiment. To begin to try new things to see if it is going to work.

As Bandler & Grinder’s notes began to stack up they released their first two books in 1975:
- The Structure of Magic I: A Book About Language and Therapy; and
- The Structure of Magic II: A Book About Communication and Change.

These books contain the basis of the Meta Model, a model of communication that works by becoming more specific and removing Generalisations, Distortions and Deletions from peoples language and thoughts. This work was primarily derived from their study of Perls and Satir.

Following these two books both Bandler & Grinder studied Milton Erickon, arguably the best hypnotherapist of our time, and from their study of Erickson they published Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, Volumes I & II. These books contained the basis of the Milton Model, a model of communication that works by becoming more vague and introducing Generalisations, Distortions and Deletions into peoples language and thoughts. Interestingly, the Milton Model is almost the complete opposite of the Meta Model – but both get reliable results.

Ultimately, the Meta Model & Milton Model serve to prove Alfred Korzybski correct – by traversing logical levels it is possible for problems to just disappear.

These models were just the tip of the iceberg though. From Bandler & Grinder’s studies of these three therapists a whole field of information was created. Beyond these models they started documenting new techniques and ideas such as anchoring, reframing, submodalities, perceptual positions, and representational systems. As the usefulness of the techniques began to gain a following more and more resources, such as books and seminars began to be produced. From the work of Bandler & Grinder in the 1970’s and the books that they have published, both together and individually, NLP now has a huge body of knowledge behind it from many, many different authors.