Psychology of Influence - Give Them Meaning They Have Never Had, with Ke...

Follow @kevinhogan

Changing People - Changing Their Behavior with Kevin Hogan

Instant Rapport that Lasts Forever

Invisible Influence: Technique #117 - Instant Drama Resolution in Persua...

Covert Hypnosis - Why I Invented and Developed the Art

Covert Hypnosis had it's origin in my teaching at the St. Thomas Management Center as well as the Minnesota Institute of Hypnosis in Hypnotherapy back in the late 1990's.

At the time there was no one training skills that would be useful in communication that involved behavioral genetics, covert conditioning, subliminal technology using social psychology and neuropsychology as a foundation for this field.

NLP and hypnosis were essentially closed fields that were tangential but didn't really overlap with Covert Hypnosis.

Traditional Hypnosis could be isolated to the four basic categories.

1) Stage Hypnosis relies on role playing behavior.
2) Ericksonian Hypnosis revolves around the potent use of story (also significant in Covert Hypnosis).
3) Hypnotherapy which draws from an evolved psychoanaltyic approach. and finally
4) Direct Suggestion Hypnosis.

Erickson's work had taken some strange turns into "hypnotic language" which certainly has a place in subtle influence but the effectiveness of Ericksonian Hypnosis was far more about story and strategic listening than "language patterns."

NLP expanded for awhile in the late 80's and early 90's at which time the field essentially closed. No real research of substance was done to improve the technology thus rendering it less valuable as time went on. Nevertheless there were many useful behavioral change devices that come from NLP.

What was missing was a scientifically derived set of influence factors that could be taught and learned. Many of these factors would involve art. All would involve science. What worked would be kept. What didn't would be given up.

As time went on I continued to grow the study of Covert Hypnosis but many others took the rather captivating term and imagined that it would be a neat way of describing hypnotic language patterns and similar influence approaches that generally were not tested, proven or shown to be effective.

Covert Hypnosis originally struck me as combining behavioral genetics with subliminal technology which was just coming into it's own in the late 90's and psychological principles both social and individual which included a dash of the hypnotic but not as most think.

Really what drives Covert Hypnosis is the discovery and then application of influential factors from the environment, the context, from the individuals own expectations, and dealing with resistance and reactance.

Since then it has been studied at University under titles like "Covert Persuasion" yet another term I coined in the early 2000's and then wrote the first book and did the first research for.

That is a story for another day.

Covert Hypnosis is best noted as subtle but overarching influence. It is more science than art but there is art in effective application of often very large but unseen factors.

Kevin Hogan

Inoculation and The Power of Covert Influence

Inoculation is a potent tool of covert influence.

People are given a "dose" in the form of a message that causes a mildly painful reaction.

When the larger message with much greater potential pain is delivered later the resistant response to the later message is dramatically reduced.

You can observe this phenomena in your world where leaders think, plan and do the unthinkable. Had they attempted to release the virus pre-inoculation they would have caused revolt. Instead the masses are made immune to the virus which comes in many smaller doses and then changes over a period of a few years. Each subsequent change garners less resistance.

Historically this method has an almost perfect track record when played out at nation levels. You can utilize the same tool for good for others while leaders mess up the rest of the world around you...

The inoculation of/to those individual observable events unfortunately makes the whole much, much more menacing than the parts....and the parts are pretty distressing...doesn't bode well for the near future... this is one time i wish my vision was so blisteringly wrong and that living in ignorant bliss would be possible...but...

Follow @kevinhogan

Inoculation - A potent tool of Covert Hypnosis

Inoculation is a potent tool of covert influence.

People are given a "dose" in the form of a message that causes a mildly painful reaction.

When the larger message with much greater potential pain is delivered later the resistant response to the later message is dramatically reduced.

You can observe this phenomena in your world where leaders think, plan and do the unthinkable. Had they attempted to release the virus pre-inoculation they would have caused revolt.

Instead the masses are made immune to the virus which comes in many smaller doses and then changes over a period of a few years. Each subsequent change garners less resistance.

Historically this method has an almost perfect track record when played out at nation levels.

You can utilize the same tool for good for others while leaders mess up the rest of the world around you...

Follow @kevinhogan

What color should my website be?

"What color should my website be?"

If your customers compete against each other to get or use your product/service it should have more red.

If your customer/client feels themselves competing or negotiating with you on price you should have a blue background.

Red is a trigger for aggression/arousal.

Blue triggers calm.

Your job as a "marketer" is to think about what your client/customer is thinking/feeling when they ARRIVE at your page and if that is the state you desire them to be in. Notice that Facebook uses a blue background. "Come all day, stay, do nothing, don't worry, be happy, the universe will take care of everything." (See how that works?)

Persuasive Questions

Persuasive Questions

by Kevin Hogan

One of the most effective tools in Covert Hypnosis is the use of questions.

Of the questions people can ask, there are more than two dozen types or classifications. The first I want to share with you are "Focused Questions."

Use a focused question to change what the other person considers. 

Focused questions are quite useful and must be asked very deliberately and carefully of others with as much forethought as possible.  When you ask this type of question of someone else, you must have a clear idea of the thought-direction you want to take the other person and then once that experience is fresh in their mind, you must know what you will ask next.

A good, sharp, focused question will set the other person’s thoughts in a particular direction.  Then, you can choose another question type from the ‘Chart of 26’ and really begin to persuade under pressure.

The following are examples of focused questions:

“How would things have been different if you never would have met (person A)?”

“What is good about the way things have turned out?”

“How did your parents prepare you for situations like this?”

“Who would be the best person to help you in this situation?”

“What would be the outcome if you believed “x” instead?”

“What would be different if X were not true?”

“How do you know, with total certainty, that you are right?”

“Could there be another right answer here?”

“If there were another solution here, what could it be?”

 Getting people to focus on answers bypasses conflict of all kinds. One of my favorite questions...without question!

Covert Persuasion

The Subliminal Factor: Causing Successful Subliminal Persuasion

(Part One)
Kevin Hogan

I’ve found 13 factors in creating effective subliminal messages. There are probably more.
In this series of blog posts, I want to show you a number of these factors and discover how you can use them at the office, the club, the bar and with almost anyone you choose.

Part of my mission on this orb has been about giving my friends the edge in life. The edge over the competition, against the scamsters, the edge on achievement of goals and desires.

All subliminal influence that IS effective…is because the triggers are hardwired like telephone lines your brain.

For example:

People buy the “Instant__________” because they are greedier than they are smart.

• Instant Billionaire
• Instant Influence
• Instant Weight Loss
• Instant Fame
• Instant Pick a Desire

And, there is a *lot* of money to be made in the “quick buck business.”
I can confirm to you that I was asked to co-venture a promotion where you would spend $10,000 (I would get paid 1/2) and the claim was that you would be able to simply “imagine” and “think” about something and it would manifest. No kidding. And in fact, I am regularly asked to put someone’s junk in Coffee for you to look at….and try to kindly refuse. Let someone else do it. I’m having Coffee with you.

Now, if I tell you that something which is claimed to be spectacular… is true…, there is a reason to consider the proposition (which is why I was chosen to be a vehicle of the message to you). You’ve trusted me for 5 or 6 years or however long you’ve been with me on Monday morning. And you know that if it’s in Coffee, it’s worth considering. You’ve been “primed” to know that what we talk about is worthy, trustable and typically falls in the realm of usefulness, value and fun.

So, many would consider that $10,000 is worth exchanging for Kevin Hogan telling them that they would get something for nothing, virtually instantly, like unexpected piles of money in the mailbox. (And I am not kidding, that is precisely what this “opportunity” that I let you miss was about.)

How and why was this amazing program going to work?

• Because you imagine it.
• Because it’s the nature of the universe.
• Because it’s understanding the nature of the universe and utilizing that.
• Because you did affirmations for it.

And that is total garbage and though I rarely name names, don’t ever fall for it.

Let me ask you this. Do YOU have a greedy side?

How about the people you live with?

Your customers?

What do YOU think and then tomorrow we’ll look at the research…

Covert Hypnosis and Resistance

When Resistance is Likely, Distraction Triggers a Receptive Mind

One of my favorite Techniques

Festinger and Maccoby conducted an experiment in which they attempted to prevent members of their audience from inventing arguments to refute messages being presented to them. (AKA resistance in hypnosis.)

This was accomplished by simply distracting the audience somewhat while the communication was being presented. Two groups of students were required to listen to a tape about the evils of college fraternities. The argument was powerful and was obviously not going to be well received by the audiences.

During the presentation to one of the groups, the audience was also distracted by a highly entertaining silent film. (That group is engaged in TWO tasks simultaneously.) The other group was not disturbed by a film. They simply listened to the tape.

What were the results of the experiment? The students who were distracted by watching the film underwent substantially more opinion change against fraternities than did the students who were not distracted.

The distracted mind is easier to manipulate and create change in than the undistracted mind.

Resistance is inherent.

Expect it.

Anticipate it.

Erickson said there was no such thing as resistance. Erickson was wrong. We now know that there is resistance. There is resistance AND there is reactance.

There is resistance in the mind of every human being to that which the individual does not believe to be true. There is resistance in the mind of each person to that which creates fear within the individual.

If any ego state is not in alignment with what messages are being shared between two people, resistance will be experienced. Be aware of this now. The resistant person more often than not needs to experience pictures he creates in his mind, not pictures created by you. (See: The Hypnotherapy Handbook, Hogan)

Your task is simply to direct people to the right pictures!

Covert Hypnosis Tricks

Subtle Influence Tricks offer you a proven way to make difficult things easy. This is true whether these "things" are influencing your Self or someone else.

Here's an example or two of tricking the brain.

Common problem:

Someone has been trying to lose weight forever. All you need to be healthy is to lose about 30 pounds. You count calories....but you always seems to go over your set amount for the day. You usually does well in restraining your Self during the day but then at night you decide to reward your Self with a large amount of junk food.

Sound right?

OK

2/3 of American adults today are overweight. How did this happen? Were Americans born without a self-control gene?

Besides having easier access to fatty, fast, processed foods, what else makes this country grossly less healthy than the rest of the world?

When people feel they have made progress towards a goal, it's like a switch turns off pursuit of that goal. When people eat smaller portions of foods throughout the day, they feel they have made progress towards their goal, their self control switch turns OFF and they allow indulgence.

People have a tendency to choose smaller rewards immediately, instead of choosing a larger reward for later.

In this case, one prefers to indulge now isntead of feeling good about theirselves later. To get to a point where you can resist immediate small...fleeting rewards to obtain a later larger reward...takes mental discipline.

Here's the first Covert Hypnosis TRICK.

1) Get rid of the junk food. Mere exposure to the problematic foods increases cravings for the food. If you must keep some problematic foods around, hide them. (really) Keep them on a different floor of the house. (really) When one experiences a craving, you are far more likely to get up from their current task and consume the food if it is closer in proximity to them.

Getting rid of the temptation is the first trick.

Here's the second Covert Hypnosis trick.

The average person fills up their gas tanks about twice per week. If no other junk food is kept in the house this is the perfect opportunity for a reward. 2 times per week you are given the opportunity to indulge by running into the gas station mart and grabbing a -small- treat. Without the constant impulse of going for the junk in the house, who knows, maybe you'll forget to indulge all together and opt for that bowl of fruit at home instead.

Here's the third Covert Hypnosis trick.

Eat alone, TV off. New studies have shown people eat over 200 calories more in front of the tv or with people. And they don't realize it.

Humans (and particularly American humans) grossly underestimate the amount of calories they consume. When people savor their food and eat slower, they will feel fuller before consuming our full meals. The brain doesn't register being full for about 20 minutes after you start eating, so people think (fallaciously) that they need to keep eating because they don't feel full quite yet.

Here's the best Covert Hypnosis Trick: Eat off of the smallest dishes you have. You'll eat more and feel fuller if it APPEARS you have a big portion.

Remember Covert Hypnosis is bypassing the Critical Factor of the brain without resistance. This is the best kind of trick...when the brain is absolutely convinced one thing is happening when in fact, something else is happening.

Ah, and here is a bonus trick:

Eat, then shop. Much more is purchased when you go shopping hungry. Even if you aren't going to the grocery store, your hunger will take priority over fulfilling other needs, so you'll hurry, probably purchasing more than you intended in the first place.

Feeling those hunger pains? Don't be tricked, you may not actually be hungry.

We do not necessarily experience hunger pains because we need noursihment. We experience hunger pains becauase we train our bodies when to expect food, especially if we have a routine day. Remember Pavlov and his dog, classical conditioning? A way to combat this? Switch it up. Eating our larger meals at different times of the day can keep our bodies on their toes. Little snacks don't hurt either, constantly stimulating the digestive system throughout the day with SMALL snacks keeps up our metabolism-wait too long between meals and our metabolism halts.

Know what you want in life and THINK ABOUT IT OFTEN: the less people think about their future selves, the more people will be willing to indulge. If you don't have plans for the future, maybe it's time to start.

Those that are conscientious about their future health and wellbeing-because it is vital to reach their goals-are more likely to put off immediate indulgence because they see it as vital to their future selves to deny that Reeses or Tirimasu. Even just thinking about how you want to look and feel about yourself in a few years before ordering that triple chocolate cake can give you sufficient motivation to say, 'no thank you'.

The new book found here is blisteringly cool...take a peek.

And for those of you wanting to learn Covert Hypnosis Tricks for other purposes than looking more attractive to others, think about each trick and match it to your specific scenario. Block out the trick. They are simple but it takes a little practice to get the concept of APPLICATION shifting.

Covert Hypnosis and What Influences

Covert Hypnosis and What Influences

Nice guys finish last...unless they have a porsche?

Peacocks with the largest and most elaborate plumage will win the right to mate with a female...then says 'see ya' and leaves the female to parent his offspring. Peacocks are notorious for their wasteful displays that serve no other function but to spread their seed to as many peahens as possible, along with their low parental investment. They would have been the perfect companions for Ghenghis Khan. It is thought that 1/6 of all people are his descendants. Kudos

Analogously, it has been a common belief for years that men with flashy cars attract women.

But is this really true?

A new study conducted by Jill Sundie and colleagues published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology confirms this phenomenon with a resounding "YES".

Spending money on extra expensive goods is called conspicuous consumption. Usually these take form in sports cars, designer clothing and shoes, among other things that scream bling.

Men that are conspicuous spenders (think Porsche) that readily display their wealth tend to

-look for short term sexual relationships or one night stands
-attract far more females than more frugal men (think Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic)
-spend lots of money in hopes of romantic flings

However, females CAN and DO see through wasteful spending and showy displays.

Females will only prefer the conspicuous spenders if the female is also looking for short term relationships. Excessive spending signals to females that the males are looking for fun, and would probably be more interesting on a date.

Excessive spending DID NOT give men an advantage if they were looking for a long term mate:

Guys...if you are interested in a long term relationship but like to show off your wealth...your message is probably being lost in translation.

Women are more likely to go for the frugal spender if they are looking for something more long term. Flashy cars and expensive clothes won't get men anywhere if females are looking for someone who is loyal, can invest in a family, and would be a good father to their offspring. Marriage material.

Females can be conspicuous spenders too...but it's not because they are intending to attract a mate. Ask any woman...men just aren't on the top of their priority list. Sorry guys.

Covert Hypnosis for the Self?

Can You Use Covert Hypnosis to Imagine Your Way to Success?

This is not about sitting back and waiting for the universe to deliver success while you daydream or "imagine" it.

But new research does suggest that both mental imaging and daydreaming can be a factor in future performance.

That we can in fact "dress rehearse" for success in our mind..

and daydream our way to solutions...

Here is the latest.

Association for Psychological Science (2011, June 24). Imagination can influence perception.

"Imagining something with our mind's eye is a task we engage in frequently...But how can we tell whether our own mental images are accurate or vivid when we have no direct comparison? "

...How can you TRUST them to guide you, to serve you?

.. the article above refers to a study done by Joel Pearson of the University of New South Wales, Rosanne Rademaker of Maastricht University, and Frank Tong of Vanderbilt University, who wanted to test how accurate our knowledge is of our own imagery performance.

Here's the question: If you "imagine" yourself completing a task successfully, how helpful will this be?


They believe that the results of their test show that..."our evaluations of mental imagery bear a direct relationship to our performance on perceptual and cognitive tasks in the real world".

We can see how things might have been.

We can see how they might be.

Being able to imagine objects and scenarios is "one of the fundamental abilities that allows us to successfully think about and plan future events," says Pearson.

So as PART of your preparation for your next speaking gig
you might want to ponder running through a successful dress rehearsal in your mind, with as much vivid detail as possible.

In addition, research shows that while we are "daydreaming", we are problem solving for the future.

University of British Columbia (2009, May 12). Brain's Problem-solving Function At Work When We Daydream.

A new University of British Columbia study finds that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously
thought.
"
Mind wandering is typically associated with negative things like laziness or inattentiveness," says lead author, Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. "But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks."

The study further points out throught the use of fMRI scanners, that our brains "executive network" – associated with high-level, complex problem-solving becomes activated when we daydream.

"The quantity and quality of brain activity suggests that people struggling to solve complicated problems might be better off switching to a simpler task and letting their mind wander".

Have you ever taken a nap when your mind was just overloaded with data and then woken up with a clear head about what needed to be done?

Cognitive Overload is a common tool of skilled hypnotherapists. It isn't always effective but there are times when obviously...it is.

Daydreaming is essentially the same thing...switching to a rote task(mowing the lawn) while the brain is still working but you are not aware that you are still in "high gear"...but your brain is.

And when you get to your computer again, the solutions are there.

Learning influence is one of the most valuable things you can do to understand yourself, subtly influence others and get pretty much everything you want in life.

Covert Hypnosis and Control

The Have’s and The Have Not’s…Have or have not got Control

“Money doesn’t bring you happiness.”
“People care too much about money.”
“Money isn’t important.”
“I don’t need things.”
“I don’t like being around all those control freaks.”
“All I need to be happy is…”

When you are persuading, you pace the client’s actions and beliefs, but, also realize that he is only human and therefore programmed like most other humans. Your customer will often state something that he really doesn’t believe, because, he wishes that what he was saying was true.

Rationalization is psychologically required in humans. People must create an internal resonance between their behaviors and their beliefs.

The person who just went bankrupt, must say, “money isn’t everything.”

What are the facts about control, having, and happiness?

How do these biological truths relate to your influencing others or selling your products and services?

KEY. Control: The more you perceive you have, the healthier you are likely to be. Control is what keeps you focused and aware. People who experience a great deal of control in their lives tend to be healthier. When people feel in control or they feel your product or service will put them in control they are likely to buy from you… now.

If your customer is to succeed in life and move up the ladder of success and survival, he needs problems, the ability to solve them and the victories that come from defeating his problems. Control is analogous to personal power. Personal power is the ability to take action and achieve. The ability to meet life’s challenges head on and win is not only useful in raising self esteem and self efficacy but also the general health of your client!

If your product or service will give your customer more control in his life and she realizes it, then she will buy your product. PERIOD. Without control people become hopeless. When people become hopeless you are once again able to help your customer. If your product or service can generate hope, you give new life to your customer…literally. If your customer sincerely believes that your product or service can help him, then you can literally help him change his life.

KEY. People need a significant amount of control to experience happiness. If you can paint a clear picture of how you can help the other person regain control in some area of his life or business, he will be your customer forever.

Covert Hypnosis on Choice

Covert Hypnosis on Offering Choices...

There is nothing logical or rational about the way people buy or make their decision to say yes to you.

Logic would tell you that people want the best product. They don't. Logic would tell you that people want the most choices possible and that they make decisions logically...Nothing could be further from the truth.

Do people really always want to experience free choice?

Even more interesting is research released from Stanford. Researchers went to a grocery store and set up tasting booths in the store. On one table they had 24 jams that the people could taste. On another there were six different kinds of jams. As you would expect, 60% of all people who stopped at the table with 24 jams tasted a jam.

Only 40% of those stopping at the table with six jams tasted there.
What's shocking? Listen carefully: 30% of all people who stopped at the table with SIX jams purchased one of the jams. Only 3% of people who stopped at the table with 24 jams purchased any of them! The ramifications are enormous...

The larger number of options (in jam, religion, spousal choices, jobs) creates what we call cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is what happens when you hold two or more beliefs or ideas and don't know which to choose. It makes us feel overwhelmed. People like to have choices...it gives them freedom.

If you give people too many choices they will simply freeze and do nothing.

Covert Hypnosis: The Drivers

Understanding Covert Hypnosis is understanding the drivers of human behavior.

Example:

You may have less money to spend this year than last.


This makes you even more curious about what drives you to make the decisions you do....why are you spending those precious dollars the way you are?

You, like everyone else, are really 2 people, operating from both your conscious mind and your unconscious mind.

Your old car needed to be replaced. You were thinking of getting a hybrid. But you bought a red sportscar.

You went out to eat with friends and were going to just get a salad. But the smell of the steak on the grill was SO good....

According to Sad Gaad , University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption, at the John Molson Scool of Business at Concordia College, there are several drivers for what we buy and his thesis is that they are based on evolution.


1. He thinks we buy that steak for dinner because our ancestors ate cooked meats and that's how they survived. Our logical, conscious mind may say, "A salad would be good for me", but our unconscious mind is saying that we didn't survive for all this time without red meat and plenty of it!


2.Because of the primal need to reproduce, that hybrid car is just not cutting it. Men go for flashy sports cars because they believe they will impress women. Saad says his research shows that simply driving an expensive sports car boosts a mans testosterone.

3. Saad also thinks that men are the overwhelming users of pornography and that this is both evolutionary and of significance to marketers. However, with increasing inroads make by the Internet, soft porn, and using differing definitions of "pornography" ...one might see that gender gap begin to close.

[Gender Differences in Pornography Consumption Among Young Heterosexual Danish Adults
Published online 13 October 2006 Springer Science+Business Media Inc. 2006]


4. Love for our kin evidenced by gift giving. Gift giving is a consumer trend that is not likely to slow....economic downturn or not. Saad states that 10% of what we spend is on gifts for our "kin". It's probably more than that if we expand our definition of "kin" to what Oprah Winfrey called family in this months "O" Magazine...that circle of love where you are accepted for who you are....and she included her pets...

Pets?

Last year, Americans spent more than 48 billion on their pets (In 2010 $48.35 billion was spent on our pets in the U. S. www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp).

That's actually more than the average American family spent on technology last year.(May 24, 2011...Home of the San Francisco Chronicle...The average American household spent $1,179 on consumer electronics last year...).

And its not a big secret why we give gifts to those we care about or to those we want to influence...from time immemorial, it has made us feel good to do so!

Pondering these drivers might make you a better salesperson, marketer, or small businessperson. One of the members of my Inner Circle said that when she realized that buyers bought Workers Compensation Insurance not just as a commodity but to protect the people they worked with every day, their WORK FAMILY, it changed her whole approach to sales and she was much more effective.

There are actually more drivers in your unconscious mind. If you would like to learn about all of them and how to make them work for you go to

Covert Hypnosis Reframing

A Core Skill in Covert Hypnosis is Framing and Reframing.

Today we look at Reframing.

Reframing: What it really means to reframe...and do it well.


Test Yourself

I want you to participate in a Reframing Game that comes from
Kahneman & Tversky (1984)... Simply read this scenario and write down
the answers before going through the evaluation.

Imagine that we are preparing for the outbreak of a dangerous
disease, which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative
programs to combat the disease have been proposed. Assume that the
scientific estimates of the consequences of the programs are as
follows:

If Program A is adopted, 200 people will be saved.

If Program B is adopted, there is a 1/3 probability that all 600
people will be saved and a 2/3 probability that no people will be
saved.


What do you advise? Program A or Program B? Once you record your
answer, read on.

There are two other options now.

If Program C is adopted, 400 people will die.

If Program D is adopted, there is a 1/3 probability that nobody will
die and a 2/3 probability that all 600 people will die.

Write down your choice of program C or D then read on...


Kahneman and Tverskey found that 72% of their subjects chose the
"sure thing" program A over the "risky gamble," Program B. However
they obtained almost the OPPOSITE results when the question was
framed the opposite way. 78% of the same people (doctors) then chose
option D which is identical to option B. (C is identical to A)

In other words if someone chose A they logically must also choose C.
If someone chose B they logically must also choose D because they are
the same exact responses. However, the framing or perspective that is
given seems to shift people's thinking significantly.

Covert Hypnosis Key : Reframe with this in mind - The majority of
people will do far more to avoid losing something they already have
than they will to get something they don't have.

KEY: Fear of loss is a much greater motivator to most than the
possibility of gain.

Need more evidence? (Say "yes", as that is the logical response!) More
Covert Hypnosis tomorrow!

Hypnosis Can Extend Life (part 1)

Patients with Hodgkin's disease or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma live longer if they receive relaxation and hypnotherapy treatment along with standard chemotherapy. Similar approaches has resulted in mixed results for other cancers.
Leslie Walker of Hull University studied 63 patients with newly diagnosed cancers, all of whom were receiving chemotherapy and standard anti-nausea drugs. The patients were split into three groups. One group was given relaxation tapes, another received the tapes plus hypnotherapy to reinforce their effect. The third received neither.
Walker followed up the patients 13 years after diagnosis. "We found that the patients who had received relaxation or relaxation and hypnotherapy lived significantly longer," he says.
New lease of life
On average, patients in the relaxation and hypnotherapy group lived an average of 10.7 years after diagnosis, patients who used only the tapes lived 8.7 years and patients with neither lived 7.8 years.
But Walker stresses that the patients differed in age and the stage of disease when treatment started. So although the differences are significant, translating hypnotherapy plus relaxation into three extra years of life is not possible, he says.
How the relaxation and hypnotherapy may increase survival is not clear. Other studies of cancer patients have found that similar treatments can boost levels of killer T cells. But researchers have not been able to link this rise with increased survival.
"Chemotherapy and radiotherapy tend to suppress immune system functioning, so small interventions may help patients be more resistant to these effects," Walker says.
COVERT HYPNOSIS: An Operators Manual for Influential Unconscious Communication in Selling, Business, Relationships and Hypnosis by: Kevin Hogan
Covert Hypnosis is the utilization of techniques and strategies to change the perception and behavior of others in a completely unconscious way. The optimal applications for covert hypnosis are in the fields of selling, advertising, marketing, relationships and of course, therapy.

"I got chills up my spine as I started flipping through your new book. I'm afraid I'm either going to have buy all rights to this thing from you and take it off the market, or buy all copies to keep you from selling it. This material is the most powerful stuff I've EVER seen for selling, persuading, and motivating--- without anyone but you knowing it. Truly amazing. You've hit another one out of the park and over the stands." -- Joe Vitale, author of the best-selling series of "Hypnotic Writing" ebooks, including the new "Hypnotic Writing Swipe File" www.mrfire.com

This 100,000 word manual includes truly up to the minute scientific breakthroughs in the area of unconscious influence. For the simplicity of the reader the book is written with examples pertaining to either therapy or selling situations but of course the approaches discussed herein would apply equally as well to pastoring, teaching, training, and other relationship and group situations.
You will learn:

• Covert techniques for sports performance.
• Over 150 specific non-verbal communication techniques.
• How to stand and sit with people so they like you and believe your message.
• Strategies for pre-hypnotic therapy.
• How genes influence people’s decisions and how to know in advance what they are.
• The basic thinking process of covert conditioning.
• The 253 words that change people’s minds verbally and in print.
• How to use 20 of the most powerful hypnotic language patterns ever spoken.
• Discover the core 16 desires of every person you meet.
• Find out the 11 new metaprograms that no one has previously discovered.
• Over 800 questions that help you direct the thinking of others.
• The truth about distraction and confusion.
• How suggestion can change visual recall.
• Two complete models for presenting material to others in a persuasive manner!
• How to make minor alterations in your physical appearance to influence others.
• How to tell a story so that the story delivers the message you want send!

I’ve shared this material with companies that have paid me $5,000 per day. I’ve shared this information with the government of Poland to help construct strategies to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. I’ve never put most of this information in print before. Now, instead of paying $5,000 per day to have me teach this to you, you receive it in this dense manual for less than $100. A lifetime accumulation of research and practice are now available for your success building and relationship enhancement!
Now in e-book form!
Learn more about subtle persuasion or Order the E-book

Priming: Explosive Secret of Persuasion Revealed

adapted from The Science of Influence c. 2003 by Kevin Hogan

Been curious about the Science of Influence Home Study Program? Check this out!!

Do these four "thought exercises" with friends, groups (best!) or on your own.

Record your answers, then read on to discover how this information will forever change the way you do...everything in life, particularly, influencing others!

(a) Read this scenario:

John is intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, and jealous.

Mark is jealous, stubborn, critical, impulsive, industrious, and intelligent.

Quickly, which person do you think you would like more, John or Mark?

(Write down your answer now, before reading on.)

You have a lot of company if you said John. Most people do, and the reason is simple. Although the same traits were used to describe John and Mark, the principle of primacy primes the mind to filter everything else you learn about someone through the first characteristic, that of being intelligent in John's case and jealous in Mark's case As each characteristic is mentioned in order, it becomes less and less important.

(b) Guess-timate the total of each of these multiplication problems. Show the first equation to one person and the second equation to another. Each person gets only five seconds each.

a) 8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1 = ?

b) 1x2x3x4x5x6x7x8= ?

Write down your answers now.

The average guess for problem A is 2250. For B? 512.

The correct answer is 40,320!

Why the big difference in guessing and the huge distance in both cases from the right answer? People group the first few numbers together in each set and then guessed based upon this information.

(c) How are you perceived?

Group one (or person one if you are doing this with only two friends) is shown these words and asked to remember them.

"adventurous", "self assured", independent" and "persistent"

Group two is shown this set of words and asked to remember them.

"careless", "conceited", "solitary" and "stubborn"

Now, each has 15 seconds to describe and evaluate the following person: Donald is a parachutist.

The descriptions given by the individuals or groups will be heavily slanted toward the words they had to remember....Group A typically finds Donald careless and a daredevil. Group B typically finds Donald a free spirit.

KEY: Whether you realize it or not, everything you watch, listen to, read, and think about influences the NEXT thing you consider.

(d) Say the following word five times then continue reading.

"Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood."

What color does a traffic light have to be to proceed?

Did you say red?

Go back and look at the question. Interesting eh?

These four scenarios all take advantage of our brain's programming for primacy. We tend to lose the ability to consider much information after the first important piece and in fact, we tend to filter or disregard information that doens't match our current information, whether or not the new information is valuable.

KEY: There is an enormous amount of research, old and new, that confirms that what happens "first" in some experience, event or situation is that which alters our perceptions of all others. There is also an equally large amount of research that shows that what happens "last" in some experience, event or situation is extremely important in our perceptions and beliefs.

Are the two in contradiction? No. The brain tends to remember that which happens first and last in sequences, events and life in general. The balance between the two (primacy and receny) is very interesting. One experiment shows that when two speakers are giving speeches one right after the other with no break, the first speaker tends to be received better and appreciated more. However, when speakers (say candidates for office) can choose between speaking this WEEK at a meeting or before a group or NEXT WEEK, they must choose the later event as people will forget what happened last week and the freshness of this week's speaker and her message will be ultimately weighed in a much better light. When considering "going first" or "last" the key determining factor for "positioning" is the elapsed time between the events. The shorter the elapsed time, the better it is to go first. The longer the elapsed time, the better it is to go last.

Let me ask you a few questions, may I?

What was the first school you attended?
What was the second?

Who was the first person you kissed?
Who was the second?

What was the first apartment you rented?
What was the second?

What was the first car you actually owned?
What was the second?

What was your first job?
What was your second?

OK, I think you get the idea!

So, we know we have a hard time remembering things in the middle! We are good at beginnings and endings. How do we use this enlightening information?!

Priming people to accept a message is all about starting out with a great impression, something big, a promise, a big smile, something that "sets the stage" for everything that can happen later. Remember, that what happens first, will be REMEMBERED and will serve as a filter for everything that comes after. To successfully do this, you can get the Science of Influence Home Study program that will show you hundreds of secret and powerful tactics and persuasion strategies for half price this week!

What Color is Most Persuasive?

There is a color that has an incredibly powerful effect on people at the nonconscious level. Want to know what it is?

Better...want to know what kind of motivation it's linked to?

(How's that for a sales and marketing advantage no one has proven for you before?!)

The Color Red Affects How People Function

The color red can affect how people function. Red means danger and commands us to stop in traffic. Researchers at the University of Rochester have now found that red also can keep us from performing our best on tests.

If test takers are aware of even a hint of red, performance on a test will be affected to a significant degree, say researchers at Rochester and the University of Munich.

The researchers' article in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General on the effect of red on intellectual performance reveals that color associations are so strong and embedded so deeply that people are predisposed to certain reactions when they see red.

Andrew J. Elliot, lead author and professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, and his co-authors found that when people see even a flash of red before being tested, they associate the color with mistakes and failures. In turn, they do poorly on the test. Red, of course, is traditionally associated with marking errors on school papers.

"Color clearly has aesthetic value, but it can also carry specific meaning and convey specific information," says Elliot. "Our study of avoidance motivation is part and parcel of that."

The Study of Avoidance Motivation

Four experiments demonstrated that the brief perception of red prior to an important test--such as an IQ test or a major exam--actually impaired performance. Two further experiments also established the link between red and avoidance motivation when task choice and psychophysiological measures were applied.

The findings show that "care must be taken in how red is used in achievement contexts," the researchers reported, "and illustrate how color can act as a subtle environmental cue that has important influences on behavior."

Elliot and his colleagues didn't use just any color of red. He assessed the colors using guidelines for hue, saturation, and brightness, and purchased a high-quality printer and a spectrophotometer for the research. He was stunned to learn that results from earlier work on color psychology by others didn't control for saturation and brightness.

The article's hypothesis is based on the idea that color can evoke motivation and have an effect without the subject being aware of it.

"It leads people to do worse without their knowledge," says Elliot, when it comes to academic achievement. In one of the six tests given, for example, people were allowed a choice of questions to answer. Most of them chose to answer the easiest question, a classic example of how to avoid failure.

The researchers believe that "color carries different meanings in different contexts." If the context changes, the implications do, too. Elliot's next study will focus on physical attractiveness.

Co-authors of the article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, a publication of the American Psychological Association, are Arlen C. Moller and Ron Friedman, graduate students in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester, and Markus A. Maier and Jörg Meinhardt at the University of Munich. The work was funded by a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation, and a Friedrich Wilhelm Bassel Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to Andrew Elliot.

7 Powerful Frames to Paint Your Selling Picture in (part 2)

Please go to 7 Powerful Frames to Paint Your Selling Picture In, Part 1 for the first part of this article.

5. How the Enemy Makes A Sale for You
When it seems that there is no competitive edge to your product or service, you can utilize a genetic predisposition that was alluded to in the topic above. You can assist in creating an enemy to bind people together. The Internal Revenue Service is an enemy that has been able to bind the thoughts of the public together. This has been done by our elected officials so we will vote for them. The enemy can be "good" or "evil." Appearances of good and evil are in the eyes of the beholder, of course. Mc Donald's doesn't like Burger King. Microsoft doesn't like Netscape.

KEY. Create or identify an enemy that needs to be fought and then define how you, or, your product or service will help in the fight against the common enemy. An enemy can be a person, a group, a nation, or a non-living thing, like drugs, cigarettes, associations, churches, newspapers, etc.

How do you utilize this principle of genetics in your favor? President Clinton, in the wake of the Paula Jones/Monica Lewinsky hearings was able to take focus off of himself by finding a common enemy of almost all Americans, Saddam Hussein. The strategy of "talking war" was brilliant as it bound the nation as it did seven years earlier in the Bush administration. The real threat of biological weapons in the hands of Iraq was enough to take Clinton/Lewinsky off of the front page of the newspaper and put Hussein, UN Inspectors and talk of war on the front pages. This created a new perspective in the public's thinking about the significance of the Jones/Lewinsky scandals.

Bill Clinton did a good job of making Saddam Hussein a common enemy.

Creating or identifying a common enemy is an excellent tool for building rapport and increasing compliance. If you can assist your customer to become frustrated with the status quo, his likely future, the success of his competitors, he is more likely to act in a positive manner on your request for his compliance.

The concept of using anger, disgust, fear, hatred and negative emotions in effective selling and marketing is as old as monetary exchange. For years we have seen commercials about how disgusting roaches are to have in the house. We spend billions on security systems every year in America, but only once the customer has experienced through future pacing or in actual case history of his security being violated. People will purchase products to relieve pain, reduce anxiety, be less depressed...and these products go far beyond medications! Some people buy magazines, books, CD's, computer games, internet services, cars, houses, groceries, all to reduce negative emotions.

6. The Have's and The Have Not's...Have or have not got Control
"Money doesn't bring you happiness."
"People care too much about money."
"Money isn't important."
"I don't need things."
"I don't like being around all those control freaks."
"All I need to be happy is..."

When you are selling, you pace the client's actions and beliefs, but, also realize that he is only human and therefore programmed like most other humans. Your customer will often state something that he really doesn't believe, because, he wishes that what he was saying was true.

What are the facts about control, having, and happiness? How do these biological truths relate to your selling your products and services?

KEY. Control: The more you have, the healthier you are. Control is what keeps you focused and aware. People who experience a great deal of control in their lives tend to be healthier. When people feel in control or they feel your product or service will put them in control they are likely to buy from you now.

If your customer is to succeed in life and move up the ladder of success and survival, he needs problems, the ability to solve them and the victories that come from defeating his problems. Control is analogous to personal power. Personal power is the ability to take action and achieve. The ability to meet life's challenges head on and win is not only useful in raising self esteem and self efficacy but also the general health of your client!

If your product or service will give your customer more control in his life and she realizes it, then she will buy your product. PERIOD. Without control people become hopeless. When people become hopeless you are once again able to help your customer. If your product or service can generate hope, you give new life to your customer...literally. If your customer sincerely believes that your product or service can help him, then you can literally help him change his life.

KEY. We need a significant amount of control for happiness. If you can paint a clear picture of how you can help the other person regain control in some area of his life or business, he will buy anything from you.

7. Selling Testosterone
Men who are rich in testosterone often find themselves in great trouble or achieving great success. Testosterone inspires confidence and aggression. Most entrepreneurial types tend to be high in testosterone and tend to be confident of their ability to achieve in business and life. Knowing this allows you to pull a useful mind string. Appealing to the core urges of a man in some manner is useful in awakening his confidence and "go for it" attitudes.

KEY. Help your client re-experience past victories in any aspect of life and you will probably succeed in creating a "testosterone rush." Linking your product to this rush, will enhance the probability of compliance.

Testosterone is tied to "winning" in men. An excellent manner of instilling a testosterone rush into men is to have them recount a story of a time when they overcame the odds and "won." This normally creates a testosterone surge in men and builds confidence. By successfully linking this internal state to your product or service you almost assure yourself of making a sale.

BONUS:
8. See You at the Top
One of my all time favorite self development books is See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar. When Zig wrote this book he had little if any idea that the book would go on to sell 1.5 million copies. Zig could have predicted such an outcome had he known the genetic draw of humans to gravitate toward leaders in a group. Not only do we want to be like the leader in a group, we want to be liked by the leader in a group.

The higher up the ladder a person climbs, the more "friends" a person has. Now, it should be noted that these friends may be "fair weather friends," but clearly those who wish to consider themselves friends of the leaders in groups are far greater than those who dwell near the bottom of the societal ladders. Therefore you have an opportunity to appeal to an individual's pre-programmed desire to first be at the top of the ladder and second, to be friends of the person at the top of the (or "a") ladder.

You may have the opportunity to share with your customer that if he moves up the ladder in his group that his health will improve. Recent research shows that those who are higher up the "ladder" have less hypertension. Health benefits are going to be a good justification for any action in the 21st century and this is one that is truly worth noting when it ties in with your products and services.

KEY. People want to either be at the top, be seen with the people on top or be given hope that they may be able to make it to the top. Your product or service should somehow be able to help your client up the ladder.

Imagine how powerful you would be if you actually knew all the persuasion tactics in existence. What would you do? How would you influence others? What would you want?

Science of Influence CD Set Part II Volumes 13-24

with Kevin Hogan, Psy.D.

Persuasion tactics are very specific pieces of the persuasion pie. There are 59 tactics that can be utilized in the persuasion process and they are ALL detailed here for you. No one on the planet has ever released a program containing every tactic of influence and persuasion. They are here for the first time.

You will:

• Conquer Your Market
• Motivate Your Clients
• Profit in Surprising Ways From Your New Knowledge

This program breaks new ground in persuasion.

100% Legal!

• Eliminate the "call back for approval."
• Eliminate "buyers remorse."
• Eliminate, "I'll think about it."
• Eliminate your competition.

Learn more about advanced influence techniques

• Biography •• Body Language • • Catalog/Store •• Tinnitus •• Influence/Persuasion ••o

• Need a Speaker? • Appearances

7 Powerful Frames to Paint Your Selling Picture In (part 1)

This information is not for the faint of heart. Here we share concepts, tips and techniques that are held closely to the vest by the masters of influence.

In our continuing study of what determines why people buy and why they decide to do the things they do, we have learned that all is not logical and rational in the real world. This article will give you 7 brand new key insights and frames in which to paint your selling pictures.

I guarantee no one has ever shared this information with you!

1. The Best of Times...The Worst of Times:
Are you Selling Security or Adventure? It only makes all the difference in the world...
When times are relatively good, on average, we are biologically programmed to venture out and increase risk and adventure in our lives. When times are bad, on average, we are likely to be much more conservative.

When participating in the sales process it is very useful to know whether your client (and the economy in general) is going through good times or bad. If she is going through good times you can appeal to her desire to experiment, her need to expand her horizons and explore. If she is going through bad times, you need show how your products will allow her to meet her conservative needs. The emotional appeal of your product is very important in determining whether you will make the sale or not. People will justify their purchase logically, but first need to fit the product into their emotional filters.

KEY. Appeal to your customer's need to take risks and participate in adventure in good times. When experiencing bad times, appeal to your clients needs of security and safety.

Does the economy allow you to appeal to their sense of adventure?

Should they be taking the plunge or being conservative?

It's up to you to find out from your customer!

2. Your Appeal Should be to the Many, not Just the One
Our genes do not simply generate the tendency for us to survive and care for the self, but they virtually command and carry out a powerful compulsion to care for our children and the larger groups that we are part of. In fact, almost all of our genetic make-ups are so designed that we will help the larger groups we are part of survive before they will save themselves. (You witnessed this in all too vivid a fashion on 9/11/01.)

Not only is that an altruistic act, it is part of most people's genetic programming. The compulsion to care for others in our group is very powerful. Almost all people are pre-programmed to act in the best interests of the following:

• Themselves
• The Family
• The Group
• Society
• God

What kind of group might your customer belong to?

What about family?

Your appeal should be to the many, not just the one.

The big mistake that salespeople make is that they only appeal to the customer's best interest when they should be appealing to the customer's interest in how your product will help his family, his employees, his civic groups and church organization, society as a whole and even God. There is an old Mc Donald's commercial that illustrates how to appeal to the greater genetic needs. The theme song, "You deserve a break today, so get up and get away, to Mc Donalds..." plays in the background. The image is that of a man who has had a long day at work and the theme initially plays to his deserving a break. The genetic motivator however is not self-satisfaction. The motivator is when you see Dad and Mom and the kids all driving off to Mc Donald's together.

KEY. What a person may not be able to justify for himself can often be justified if it becomes obvious that it benefits our family, or society, or the group with which we belong.

3. Who Your Customer Wants to Be Like
In all species, including humankind, the masses are compelled to be like the leader of the group(s). Your appeal to your customer therefore, should in part be one of installing the desire to be like the leaders in his or her field. This could mean being a better parent, a better employee, a better supervisor. Your job is to show how your products and services help your customer be more like the leader(s) of the group(s) he is most intimately linked to. In general, we imitate our leader's behavior. As a sales person, we therefore want to show how using our products will make the customer more like the leaders.

4. Positive Attitude? Here's the Truth for Salespeople
Research completed last year reveals that projecting a positive attitude is not nearly as helpful to the self when contrasted with the impact that it has on others. When your customer sees your positive attitude it gives them optimism and encouragement that you are a good person to be with and buy from. "Generating" a "positive attitude" is very important to sales success, because it improves the relationship you have with others. Not feeling positive? Be the actor playing the role. Stay focused, eyes on the target and reap the rewards!

Let's be honest though: Generating a positive attitude for one day because you are down and out due to the taxman, a fight with the kids or a spat with the in laws is one thing. Generating a positive attitude because you are not able to truly be happy with what your life work is, is quite another.

You can only work off your reserves for so long before you need to do what is right for YOU and YOUR LIFE. Don't sell something or be involved in a company that doesn't get your juices flowing for any longer than is absolutely necessary. Find work that you would do for free! That's usually the work you ultimately get paid the most for.

To Be Continued...

>More Articles on

• Persuasion
• Body Language
• Communication
• >Relationships

Scripts: What Works?

Most work at one specific time. When?

Quick story:

Went to Lenscrafters in Burnsville Center near my home. Vision "white" and "foggy" in right eye. Told her that everything was cloudy. The "doctor" completed her exam on my eyes. Said "healthy eyes," gave me a prescription and off I went with glasses. The script was useless. Glasses did no good...at all. By Wednesday no change w/ or w/o the glasses on.

Went to my regular real eye doctor, Dr. Ottenstrauer in Eagan, for a real examination. Told him the same thing I told the "doc" at Lenscrafters. He looked concerned...focused. Immediately he found the cataract on my "lens" in my right eye. Surgery required in a few months. No glasses prescription necessary. "Use readers you can get from Target. Your script will likely be different after surgery..."

Lenscrafters only cared about making the sale. My real doc cared about my eyes. I returned my glasses to Lenscrafters and gently suggested the "doc" take the eye exam more seriously. Cataracts: Number one cause of blindness. I asked my real doc if cataracts were hard to see in the examination. "Not this one..."

Sure. I got ripped off in more than one way but what does that have to do with scripts?

Everything. You see, Lenscrafters has the same goal for every customer and it isn't to have me become a loyal customer. It is to sell me a pair or two of glasses when I walk in the door. If the goal was to manage the health of my eyes and sell me a pair of glasses IF I needed them and not a surgery that would save my right eye from going blind, a different experience would have happened. It's their script....

Unfortunately people can't use the same script over and over. Long term, they don't work.

Why don't sales scripts, therapy scripts or any other kind of scripts work after the first few weeks? ( With the notable exception of a script/screenplay...)

In the theater each person has a set of lines within a script for an entire play. The play has the same context and same tone every time it is performed. The same exact lines are said in every play. It is 100% scripted. Each scene is blocked out. All the characters do and say the same thing every night.

If you say the same words to everyone you talk to... you take that person out of the equation and they know it. They feel it. They respond precisely as they should.

Click.

Scripted words will get a response from a very small percentage of the people you come into contact with. To be sure, quite a number might say "yes" today but they will not fulfill their part of the deal as soon as they are out of your presence. This is true in all human interaction. Therapy, management, selling, dating.

Why?

You obligated them to act without taking into consideration WHO they are.

No empathy = no true commitment.

Say a bunch of words that someone else wrote and you treat each person like an irrelevant piece of baggage.

Managers, salespeople, maybe some therapists think that scripts are useful. They aren't. Yes, on day one, they provide a framework for learning. From day two forward they teach your people to treat other people like luggage. Any success with a script will be very short lived.

The person on the other end doesn't know the lines...well O.K., they know one line...

"No."

Even when they are twisted into a "yes." The answer will be "no" when they are off the phone, out of the house or have escaped from the office.

I have a confession.

A million years ago, I wrote scripts for salespeople.

I also wrote scripts for hypnotherapists.

Both ideas were big mistakes. Skeletons in my closet.

Oh, they were "awesome." They read well. They sounded great to others who weren't the customer or client. They had cool metaphors, great stories, perfect leverage points. They had everything except for someone who cared about the other person...which after a period of time... I finally realized was the first key to success.

I repented and saw the errors of my ways. The results were predictable. Like every other great script writer, they started out very good and soon deteriorated. They always do. Guilt replaced the boredom that replaced enthusiasm in the mouths of those uttering words...taking the only human element out... of the scripts.

So what DO you DO?

Think: Empathy. Feeling. What do THEY want. Why? What kinds of things are important to them or need to be important to them! What would be fun for them. What might they like?

Requirement: Discovery. Curiosity. Empathy. Sincere interest that will sell you forever. Because they are buying you first and your service much later.

Then you need a Play Book.

A play book is what the coach pulls out for each down of the game. Depending on the location on the football field, whether winning or losing, by how many points and how much time is left on the clock the choice of plays narrows to a few excellent options.

A play book is a set of templates of plans that you would like to execute. Depending on the other person's response the actual play will vary a great deal from usage to usage. Sometimes a long touchdown will be the result. Other times a 5 yard loss.

One thing is certain if the ball were handed off to the running back to the hit hole where the Guard was and Ray Lewis is the next human in sight, it would be wise to abandon any "script" and *think!*

Thus...a playbook. A set of templates, designs, actions and response and responses to actions.

The baseball manager knows whether the hitter hits right handed or left handed pitching better or worse and will bring in the best pitcher for the job. The results will vary but knowing the variables, knowing the quality of the players you face, their strengths and weaknesses, knowing what to do in each situation is what makes a great manager.

In business, a lot of managers run from a "script." That's why they stink.

Good managers have dozens of templates that adjust to each situation. Excellence. The same is true of all great salespeople, speakers, therapists.

You can't teach improvisation from a script. You teach it by teaching the person the various outcomes that will happen in different situations and settings. Improvisational ability is one of the qualities of charisma.

Sounds like a lot of work. A lot of time. At first it is...then you have so many successful clients and customers you don't have time to fail anymore. And that is one of the great differences between success and failure.

It will literally change your life.

Get your Free subscription to Coffee with Kevin Hogan. Learn the latest in persuasion, selling, body language, mind/body and have fun while you do. It's all free!! Go to www.kevinhogan.com for more information.

INFLUENCING MINDS THROUGH STORIES

What's your story?

How One aspect of Covert Hypnosis Elegantly Persuades

December 1991.

It's a rare moment when I can be glued to the television watching an 80-year-old man talk to a 50-year-old man...I am a stimulus nut. I like to listen to The Beatles while I watch E!'s Brooke Burke tour me through Ibiza... while I am creating the next chapter for my next book. If there are a couple of source books on the coffee table open for documenting my ideas, I have almost enough stimulus to keep me producing 'til 3A.M...

...but on this night some 10 years ago, the channel landed on a television show called, "The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell, interviewed by Bill Moyers."

"We are drawn to the Hero's Journey," Campbell said. (Readers Digest of Hero's Journey: Someone who could be anyone, goes away, finds enlightenment -- Moses, Jesus, Paul, Buddha--and comes home to save his people.) Campbell pointed out that certain myths are common to every culture and universal in appeal. I learned so much that night. After studying the Bible and other sacred literature for most of my life, a light went on inside of my head. I finally realized that these stories are common to dozens of cultures around the world. I knew that of course, but what I didn't understand was what that really meant. The stories were written to help create meaning for the lives of the many. More: Look how successful they have been!!

The insights I gained from Joseph Campbell would change how I perceived individuals and cultures and their beliefs for the remainder of my life. People's personal stories and the stories of those they admired/worshipped became critical to gaining insight into the human mind. This triggered a life long fascination with understanding how these stories are filed in the brain, how you can change impoverished stories and how you can help more people take the Hero's Journey so they can become the hero of their own life.

It seemed to me virtually everyone could participate in their own Hero's Journey.

How? One thing was for sure: The craving the human brain has for the Journey makes it something that must be driven from an evolutionary standpoint. Specifically, the desire of curiosity and the drive to learn. Meaning in life is adaptive from a human survival perspective and I believed that this could create great change for people IF you could get them to believe that they were worthy of great things in their life.

To the point of today though, how can YOU utilize narrative to elegantly persuade...to covertly create change in the unconscious minds of people...now?

The answer is in some respects simple and other respects difficult.

On one level, I have always been amazed that people scoff at scientific research and still believe nonsense that is a total fiction even after given overwhelming evidence to the contrary. (This is the Law of Consistency, according to my book, Psychology of Persuasion). My personal philosophy is one of personal evolution. Each day learn more, apply more that you learn, and discover the best possible strategies for X that exist with current knowledge.

Most people don't understand and they don't believe statistics when compared with a good story. I could share irrefutable statistics with a group of cigarette smokers that research proves smoking cigarettes will ultimately kill them and those around them in greater percentage than nonsmokers, BUT when I tell a persuasive story of ONE person living to 100 who smoked cigarettes her entire life, the group is utterly convinced that smoking isn't bad and that the research is "crying wolf."

If you have a scientific mind, this probably makes you grate your teeth. Don't let it. Instead, start telling stories. People want to hear stories. It's how they think and believe. It's what they believe. Statistics are somewhat complicated and take deep thought sometimes. A brilliantly told story immediately clicks in to the brain and becomes truth. People don't have good recall of facts but they can at least in part remember a story.

But what kind of stories? Most people tell stories that are incredibly boring. How do you tell a story that will be persuasive and create change in the minds of others?

People identify with certain stories and how the story teller (the salesman, the speaker, the leader, the manager, the therapist, the teacher) tells them. If the story teller brags about her greatness, the listeners turn her off. If the story teller shows how her solutions are ingenious, the listeners turn her off.

The first of seven keys to telling a persuasion packed story which you want believed is to be certain that you have identified who you are. What are you going to say that will cause me to want to listen to you in the first place and believe you in the second place? This seems to be an easy point...at first glance, but in reality it isn't easy at all. Everyday people are bombarded with thousands of messages, especially in the form of advertising, all asking for belief and compliance. We believe some and act on some of those we believe.

Getting someone to listen to you is no easy thing. Most people are thinking of their responses, their resistance's, their objections as they listen to you talk. The truly great story eliminates the need to object and resist.

I start almost every presentation or seminar I give with a story. It usually will be one with humor in it. Never a joke. But always humor...lots of it. I might tell the story about how I did the body language assessment of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky for the New York Post. In a different setting, I might discuss how Al Gore lost the election by misusing his body language in the third debate with George Bush. I might tell the story of when I met the Princess. The stories are memorable and have great humor. I'm not the star. I'm secondary to the event. There is no arrogance about the story teller, I'm just like my listener and happily surprised to be playing an important role in the scheme of analyzing national events for the media or meeting someone particularly exciting.

Woven into these stories... you learn not only about the national figures but you learn self revelations from myself. I explain that I'm a conservative who actually liked Bill Clinton. You learn all kinds of tidbits about me, most of which are non-threatening, but enough to stimulate some emotions about what I'm communicating about. In all of my opening stories at a seminar you learn in a very covert fashion that your story teller (trainer/speaker/seminar leader...me) is feeling excited about being on television or radio (just like you would be), has a great deal of expertise based on the story itself, is not arrogant or pompous (huge turn off for listeners), is funny (massive laughter experienced in audience), seeks no harm and only good for everyone involved while having a playful demeanor that is fun.

This all comes through in the telling of the first story with several very short "asides." Just how to do that and helping you discover the other six keys of persuading with narrative will be dealt with more in future E-zine's.

For now, realize that a well told story is powerful in change potential. A poorly told story is guaranteed to lose clients, lose sales and cost you enormously. Watch the stories that inspire and excite you. Look at the communications you receive that cause you to take action. Discover what changes you and then you will begin to have a hint at what might change others as well.

That reminds me of a story.

January 1999

Morning in Las Vegas. I was at the Venetian. About 11AM I go downstairs to the casino to play some Pai Gow Poker. I sit down at 3rd base and look up to see two stunning women standing around the chair at first base of my table. Both were wearing form fitting white t-shirts and white pants. (Not that I noticed.)

I looked at my cards and my first hands were likely to be losers. I placed them and happened to look back up over toward first base. Now sitting at first base between the Girls of Playboy was the man who played "Mini Me" in Austin Powers. He was wearing a brown smoking jacket and I remember how odd looking it was to see someone especially Mini Me in a smoking jacket in a casino... Then I smiled and realized that I was no one to question Mini Me's taste in clothing. The two Girls of Playboy massaged his back while the dealer scooped up my green chip.

I smiled and said, "Good morning."

He said, "Good morning."

"How's it going?", I inquired.

"Great. Thanks..."

The dealer took his two green chips. He looked up at one of his friends.

"...Couldn't be better."

I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. I wonder where you get those brown smoking jackets?

More Articles on

• Persuasion
• Body Language
• Communication
• Relationships