You Can Make the Change Happen Public speaking is the number one fear of humans; yet, since so many people do it so well, there must be an easy way for you to get up there on that podium just like the professionals: calm, relaxed, and giving the speech of your life. And that easy way is hypnosis. You have two options: you can do it the long way through self hypnosis, or the short way by hiring a hypnotist to help you.
The Typical Origin of the Problem At some point in your early schooling, you likely had to read in front of the class, give a book report, solve a math problem up at the blackboard, or some similar undertaking that resulted in embarassment for you. So you developed a fear of talking in front of a group. Another option is that your home environment as a young child was such that speaking out was, shall we say, not encouraged. Whatever the origin of your issue, please know that hypnosis does not undo the past, it upgrades how you feel about it.
The Solution What if you could go back and undo the impact of the original cause of your problem? You can. And that's what hypnosis can do for you. For example, what if you at your current age could go back and help your younger self undo the hurt and pain of the original event? You can. After hypnosis, whatever happened to you all those years ago will still have happened, it just won't bother you ever again.
Does It Work? Absolutely. I've helped lots of folks get over their fear of public speaking, and so have my fellow clinical hypnotists. Most do it in person, I do phone sessions all over the world as well. Here are the basics of hypnosis to help you understand how it can help you.
Hypnosis 101 Not believing in hypnosis is like not believing in Tuesday or February. You already go into trance every time you watch a tv show that you like, or read a book that you like, or see a film that you like, or, well, you get the idea. You already go into trance when you sit down to read your email for 10 minutes, and suddenly an hour and a half has passed. You already go into trance when you fall in love or make love. It is like daydreaming to the tenth power. No one can make you go there, just as no one can make you like a movie. When you do like a movie, you naturally enter into a light state of hypnosis. The state deepens when you love that movie. But when you do not like that movie at all, it is exactly because it does not entrance you. Point being, you already love hypnosis, my friend. You spend good money on it. Seen your cable bill lately?
What Hypnosis Is Not It is not what Hollywood has told you. Sadly, there has never been a single film or television show that accurately portrays how hypnosis actually works. No one controls you in hypnosis any more than they do when you daydream. Hypnosis is not sleep. You can hear all the sounds around you during trance, as you are neither unconscious nor asleep. Hypnosis can not make you murder anyone. Ask any mob boss or CIA agent, and you will hear how money works best as an inducement to criminal behavior; they don't use hypnosis because it won't work for their nefarious intentions. Hypnosis is not mind control. Ask the armed forces if they use it to interrogate prisoners, and their answer will be no. They do not use it because they can not. No one can force you to do anything, legal or otherwise, in trance. And you can come out of trance at any time by simply choosing to do so.
What Hypnosis Is Please understand that the feeling of being an individual is a necessary part of being human, and for that experience, we need a conscious mind. It works like the RAM of a computer. However, there's another part of your mind, the far more powerful subconscious. The subconscious mind is the hard drive of your inner computer, it stores your files. Hypnosis simply sets aside the conscious part of the mind, and accesses the far larger, more powerful subconscious. This allows you to make real changes in how and why public speaking has frightened you in the past. And your fear departs.
A Relevant Bit About Me From 1984 to 2001, before becoming a fulltime clinical hypnotist, I worked on the road as a standup comic, touring nationally for decades. No speaker has a tougher job than road comics, who work in bars speaking to drunks. Back in the day, we developed lots of ways to do quite well under difficult circumstances because we had to; that was our job. This background helps me to help my hypnosis clients overcome their fear of public speaking with singular accuracy. I get it because I've done it. I can help you get it, too.
So Easy, You Do It with Your Eyes Closed Hypnosis is easier to do than you think. And your friendly neighborhood hypnotists, like me, are happy to help you. So what are you waiting for?
Although there are several ways to treat a fear of public speaking, hypnosis is often one of the most successful. Hypnosis deals with the "programming" in your subconscious mind, and can affect changes on a deeper level than we are counsciously aware of. Why is this important?
Your subconscious is trying to protect you by maintaining everything in your life the way it currently is -- both the good and the bad! Your subconscious doesn't really concern itself with concepts like happiness or unhappiness. It deals with basic survival, and the way it sees it, you have survived up to now the way you are, so you shouldn't change anything and put yourself at risk.
You can see a therapist that uses hypnosis to overcome your anxiety, or you can use a public speaking hypnosis recording. Self hypnosis, like using a pre-recorded mp3 session, can in some cases be just as useful as seeing a therapist, and you can do it in the privacy of your own home. Public speaking hypnosis mp3s are available to use over and over until you feel that you have completely overcome your fear. They are also usually a cheaper option than seeing a hypnotherapist.
As with most other types of treatment, hypnosis works best when you are able to repeat it over and over. Owning a self hypnosis session allows you to use it every day, until you have successfully "brainwashed" yourself to the point where you have overcome your mental obstacles and re-programmed your mind.
Undergoing hypnosis, whether with a therapist or using a recording, usually begins by getting really relaxed and calm, and entering a pre-hypnotic state. Once hypnotized, you are usually still both awake and alert, but your mind is more receptive to suggestions. The hypnotherapist will guide you by giving you suggestions that will help your subconscious mind to change its habitual responses and replace them with new, more beneficial ones.
You subconscious does not understand negatives, so a suggestion should not be "I am not afraid of speaking in public," but rather something like "I feel calm and relaxed when I speak in public," or "I enjoy speaking in public."
Using hypnosis to treat phobias has been proven effective in many research studies, and this includes treating fear of flying, fear of spiders, social phobias as well as fear of public speaking.
The concept of ypnosis has been around for a long time, but there are many misconceptions about this technique. For one, a lot of people think you are unconscious and not aware of what goes on around you when you are hypnotized. This is not correct; under hypnosis, you might feel like you are in an altered state of mind, but you are still aware of what is going on and nothing can be done to you that you do not allow.
You can not be hypnotized against your will, and you are still in control when you are under hypnosis. If you feel insecure about what the public speaking hypnosis tape will "do to you", listen through it without focusing on following the suggestions, or read the script before you start your self hypnosis session, just for your own peace of mind.
Both Michelle Beaudry & Jon Mercer are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Michelle Beaudry has sinced written about articles on various topics from Hypnotherapy, Depression and Stress Management. Michelle Beaudry, board certified hypnotist near Orlando, Florida, takes clients in person and by phone from all over the world. Email hypnofemme@aol.com.