Hypnosis is a series of techniques and actions that can be used to influence a person's behavior or actions. Good examples of this are hypnosis being used to help people to stop smoking or to loose weight. Traditional hypnosis techniques are often used to do this and involve putting the subject into a trance, with them being knowledgeable of it.

However, what is conversational hypnosis? It is a number of techniques, strategies and conversational methods that will allow you to subconsciously persuade other people to agree with virtually whatever you tell them or do whatever you say. The best part is that they will have no awareness of the fact that you are hypnotizing them as it is all carried out during normal, everyday conversation. It is far more complex and advanced than swinging a chain and telling someone they're sleepy. It is, however, the most powerful form of hypnosis on the planet.

A man called Milton Erickson discovered the techniques of conversational hypnosis. He believed that if you try to persuade someone to do something using direct language, you would likely encounter a natural resistance from him or her. The principles of conversational hypnosis instead revolve around using indirect rapport, presupposition and other detailed (but undetectable) conversation techniques in order to achieve the desired effect- being able to persuade almost anybody to believe almost anything you say or ask them to do.

One of the best conversational hypnosis principles is that of presupposition. Essentially this involves making a statement that assumes the person you are trying to persuade has already accepted to do what you are proposing. To do this, remove words such as "if" and "are" from questions and replace them with a word such as "when". Below is an example of a presupposition-"When are you coming over to my house?" (As opposed to "are you still wanting to come over to my house?") There is no question as to whether the person is going to come over to your house. Instead, the question simply asks "when".What is conversational hypnosis? Simple, it is the most powerful, but most usable method available to be able to persuade others to do what you want or listen to what you have to say. Conversational hypnosis masters have a lot to owe to Milton Erickson, the man who invented this powerful system of persuasion.

There are three stages used in conversational hypnosis. The first stage is developing a rapport with the subject. The goal is putting yourself at ease, allowing the subject to get comfortable and become at ease with you. It is a subtle trust issue of letting the subject feel at home conversing with you. This also allows the subject to become receptive to you and that is important.

The second stage of conversational hypnosis is more tricky. It requires you to throw some mild confusion into the conversational stew. Nothing dramatically alarming, but enough confusion to throw the subject off balance. As an example, the person might be discussing an incident involving someone both of you know. Suddenly you interject a point the person mentioned, yet you repeat it back to the subject as happening differently. When the subject tries to correct you, you agree with what he said the first time, acting as if you were both in agreement all along.To confuse is to put someone in a vulnerable state. You are throwing them off guard. In this state of confusion, the subject is now vulnerable and open to suggestion. On an unconscious level, the subject wants resolve from being confused and is open to solutions to escape this state of affairs the subject is now in.

The third stage has everything to do with timing. While the subject is still in a state of confusion, the subject is also distracted. It is in this unconscious, distracted state that your window of opportunity is waiting for you to plant your suggestion. Remember, conversational hypnosis is subtle. If it is your boss at work you are setting up to hit for a raise, don't blow it with, "By the way, you should give me that raise instead of Julie from accounting." The suggestion is not subtle and will bite you real fast. Conversational or covert hypnosis works, but not on everyone. The process takes practice in a few areas of the stages. Also, knowing how to properly read the subject is essential before trying this technique on them. Everyone is different, knowing that difference goes a long way to inducing a subject properly.