The word hypnosis is such an awkward word... It literally means "sleep" and it comes from the first generations of hypnotists that thought hypnosis was some sort of sleep and they often used this word to get their subjects in a trance.

This tradition has been kept until today and many stage hypnotists still use it in many forms of trance inductions because people usually respond to it very powerfully in this context.

But with the art of secretly hypnotizing people, a simple everyday conversation is transformed in a powerful persuasion and mind-altering concert of techniques and strategies that create a more or less permanent change in a person in a deliberate and completely unconscious way.

The term "covert hypnosis" was coined by Kevin Hogan, Psy.D. where covert means "secret, concealed" and "hypnosis" means, well, hypnosis. The term is inappropriate, though, but it sounds mysterious and was a good name for marketing purposes.

In one of covert hypnosis strategies, we're capturing and leading a person's imagination (trance) and -- in their minds -- taking them from "here and now" to the desired place and time thus giving them the experience before they actually experience it in the real world.

Why is this so powerful?

The thing is that first, our subconscious mind doesn't distinguish between reality and imagination. This is perfectly demonstrated when you get scared while watching a movie and the character is in a dangerous situation. While you consciously KNOW that "this is just a movie", when you identify with the character in the movie (IMAGINATION), your subconscious mind takes it quite seriously and your physiology changes according to what's going on in the movie -- you get scared for real.

Secondly, nobody is going to do something without first imagining it in their minds and feeling good about it! This is where some covertly suggestive techniques are used to make a person do exactly that in their imagination and thus tilting their decision toward our desired goal.

These two effects are easily accomplished by, for example, a proper form of storytelling and metaphor utilization. In one of his courses, Kevin Hogan explains various techniques and simple rules to do this extremely efficiently.

Another way to quickly and secretly hypnotize a person is by using memorized passages of text (a sort of a script) to conversationally bring a person in a suggestive state. Such "scripts" are termed "language patterns" (= "patterns") in NLP (= Neuro Linguistic Programming).

Such patterns utilize certain linguistic structures that are designed to bring a person in a trance and start experiencing the world through guided imagination. Such patterns can be included in stories which make them even more powerful. I've given an example pattern in my previous article How Does Covert Hypnosis Work?

There are many more techniques to quickly and easily secretly hypnotize people and none of them have to do with any special powers -- contrary to common belief.

So... now I hope I've demystified hypnosis at least a bit and as you begin to learn more about this fascinating subject, you'll realize that it's a powerful tool in any persuader's "bag of tricks". And, as we all know, persuasion goes on every day in every conversation, thus you can begin to see now why it's not only wise, but necessary to learn this trade to be exponentially more successful in life.