So you've discovered hypnosis, and now you have the desire to develop the skill of hypnotism for yourself. But what's the best way to learn hypnosis?
Read more
As you learn to think like a hypnotist, you will integrate what you learn much more easily into what you actually do.
If you're wondering how to become a certified hypnotist, this article might save you a lot of time and money. There are some common misconceptions about becoming a professional hypnotist that cause people to jump through hoops they don't need to worry about, or that stop them from training in hypnotism at all.
Have you thought about getting into stage hypnotism? What would you leave behind in order to fulfill that desire? If you had told me when I was 18 years old that one day I would learn to hypnotize people and make a career of it, I would have laughed at you. Well, I'm not laughing now.
In this video, I tell my story of how I came to hypnotism as a career.
"Can I be hypnotized" is one of the most common questions that I get from people. It's a natural curiosity that many people have, but the reality is that I can't answer that question with certainty for every person. I can give you some guidelines, however, for getting a general sense of whether you can be hypnotized or not.
Read more
Forgive the rawness of the video, but I wanted to show the real process I go through when I'm generating content for my show. No fancy lighting, no effects. This is me in my living room grinding through the creative process.
In this video, Paul briefly explains how some of the less popular, or less common, markets for stage hypnotists operate. Each market has different pay levels, buyers, and time commitments.
Let's clarify "long demonstration" to mean any presentation you give that is longer than 30 minutes. You might be a guest speaker at a psychology class, or presenting at a MeetUp group. In a long demonstration, you are the invited speaker, and you will be holding the group's attention for the majority of the meeting. The outline that follows is organized so that you will both entertain and educate your audience.
Start with a Pre-Talk
- Show them you are knowledgeable.
- Share some of the facts and the science behind hypnosis.
- Tell them about what you've done in the world of hypnotism.
- Show them you are trustworthy.
- Talk about what you love about the work you do.
- Use humor to deflect their fears about hypnosis.
- Dangle the carrot.
- Present a clear reward they would get from experiencing hypnosis today.
II. Warm up their brains with an exercise.
- Whole group is best. Less pressure on individuals, yet more peer pressure to participate if everyone is involved.
- The "magnetic fingers" suggestibility test is great for this.
- Do not frame it as a test!
- People fear failing tests. Frame it as an exercise, and craft language that everybody has some level of suggestibility.
- Use your observational skills.
- This is not something to just go through routinely. You are working the crowd and looking for higher suggestibility candidates.
III. Select a working group of volunteers.
- Use the "arms rising and falling" or the Hand Clasp method.
- You can even use BOTH methods, if you have time.
- If you have GREAT subjects, take advantage of it and convert the suggestibility tests into inductions, which lets you transition into your main demonstration.
IV. Give your main demonstration.
- This is where it really gets fun!
- By now you should have some sense of who your best potential subjects are.
- Induce and deepen, then demonstrate some simple hypnotic phenomena that work them through the stages of depth.
- Finish with a Gift
- Give your volunteers a pleasing experience to end on. They deserve it for volunteering, and it makes you look great with the rest of the audience.
V. Q & A
- Take questions from the audience, help them better understand what they saw.
- You can quickly re-induce with your best subject to demonstrate something, if an audience member asks a question that would benefit from that.
- This also makes you look impressive, when you quickly re-induce someone, looking so casual as you do it.
- You can quickly re-induce with your best subject to demonstrate something, if an audience member asks a question that would benefit from that.
- Finish with a Call to Action
- Make an offer to them, that they can take action on, which will connect you to them after the presentation.
- Free consultation, free hypnosis audio download, etc.
- This gives you a way to fully cultivate the lead, by getting an email or having a conversation in which you can close with them.
Stage hypnosis has been my career since 2004, and in that span of time I've hypnotized approximately 25,000 people. High school students, college students, and adults at corporate events and theater shows have shared the experience with me. My audiences have been as small as 25 people, and as large as 1600. Throughout it all, there have always been, and always will be, naysayers and skeptics. And that's okay.
If you're thinking of getting into stage hypnotism, you should spend some time considering the way that a job like that will affect your lifestyle. There are some great aspects, but some challenges, as with any job.
Wendy Merron trains consulting hypnotists in Pennsylvania. She's a great person, and a dedicated professional. She wanted her students to get some perspective from another practicing hypnotist, so she was kind enough to invite me to a Q&A with her class.
When I speak with people about my profession, I think it's important to be honest and open about all the different aspects of the work we do. I think there's too much secret keeping and question dodging in our community, so when I get these opportunities to speak with students, I don't hold back.