Jedi Mind Tricks - How To Make Suggestions Like A Jedi Master

Being a child of the Seventies I'm a real fan of the original Star Wars movies.

Do you remember that fantastic scene in A New Hope where Obi-Wan Kenobi (known as Ben at this point) gets out of a scrape with some Storm Troopers? Here's how it goes...

EXTERIOR: TATOOINE -- MOS EISLEY -- STREET.

The speeder is stopped on a crowded street by several combat-hardend stormtroopers who look over the two robots. A Trooper questions Luke.

TROOPER: How long have you had these droids?

LUKE: About three or four seasons.

BEN: They're for sale if you want them.

TROOPER: Let me see your identification.

Luke becomes very nervous as he fumbles to find his ID while Ben speaks to the Trooper in a very controlled voice.

BEN: You don't need to see his identification.

TROOPER: We don't need to see his identification.

BEN: These are not the droids you're looking for.

TROOPER: These are not the droids we're looking for.

BEN: He can go about his business.

TROOPER: You can go about your business.

BEN: (to Luke) Move along.

TROOPER: Move along. Move along.

Wouldn't it be cool to be that persuasive? Imagine how useful that kind of skill could be in a selling situation for instance?

Now, how would you feel if I told you that there are Jedi Mind Tricks that DO work in real life?

You might not believe me yet, but you can prove it to yourself when you try what I've got in today's article.

In a moment I'm going to show you some techniques for embedding suggestions in your written and spoken communication to increase the likelihood of you getting the outcome you're looking for but first let's take a look at...

How These Mind Tricks Were Discovered

Back in the Seventies, Milton Erickson, a renowned and successful hypnotherapist, was modelled by a couple of guys (well actually the creators of NLP - Richard Bandler and John Grinder) who were keen to understand what he was doing so well to help his clients.

They spent hours and hours simply watching, mimicking and soaking up his skills. Simply taking in as much information consciously and unconsciously as they could until they could get similar results themselves. Then they kindly "codified" that information and shared it so that others, who were so inclined, could also achieve the same success.

In Neurolinguistic Programming terms, the patterns they elicited became known as the Milton Model. These patterns, when applied correctly, can have a powerful effect on people's thinking.

Beware The Dark Side...
Right, it's time to see what I've been talking about. But I must share a warning... It is possible to use this stuff to get your own way EVEN IF you're not acting in the interests of the people you're dealing with. This, for me, is unethical, sneaky and manipulative. So, please only use these approaches where a mutual gain is to be had ie a win-win. If you use this approach to create a win-lose situation then don't blame me when your bad deeds catch up with you.

Now It's Time...
The basic premise of an embedded suggestion is to give somebody a direct instruction by stealthily hiding it amongst a seemingly innocent comment or question. The seemingly innocent bit is a kind of wrapper or disguise for keeping your conscious mind from blocking the real information.

Typically you'll emphasise the suggestion/command by changing your tonality slightly, saying it slightly louder or quieter or changing the look (using italics, bold, colour) of written text to jump out.

There are various ways to embed suggestions and whole books have been written on the subject but here are just a few Mind Tricks to try for yourself...

1. Yoda-isms

"It's easy to ______________, is it not?"
"You can _____________ can you not?"

Try disagreeing with "is it not?" or "can you not?" statements and you'll find it difficult. The way a direct statement is converted craftily into a question softens the effect and makes detection of the suggestion more difficult. This in turn makes your embedded command easier to install.

If somebody tells you something's easy you'll feel compelled to try it out to see if they're right. And if somebody gives you permission by saying "you can..." then you'll be tempted to try that thing out too.

Some things you may wish to add to the blanks...

"enjoy yourself"
"pay with your credit card"
"agree with what I'm saying"
"buy my product"

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2. Judo-isms

"You don't have to, ___________________."
"You may not know if you _____________________."
"You may or may not _____________________."
"Don't ________________________ yet."
"Don't _________________________ too quickly."

Basically these embedded suggestions seem to take people in one direction when really you're encouraging them to do the opposite.

Presupposing that they will do the thing you want eventually using "yet" and "too quickly" works great.

Adding someone's name after telling them "they don't have to" nullifies your opener. So they'll essentially only hear their name and the suggestion and disregard the "don't have to" portion of your statement.

Some things you may wish to add in the blanks...

"think I'm just right for you"
"agree with my point of view"
"sign that contract"
"buy my product"

3. Dumb-isms
"I'm wondering if you'll _____________________ or not."
"I don't know if you'll _________________________."

"Or not" avoids resistance and softens your statement to a harmless enquiry rather than a direct suggestion. How can anyone disagree with you wondering if they'll do what you'd like or not?

"I don't know if..." suggests a harmless lack of knowledge about what someone will do but it doesn't prevent you from inserting a good suggestion that they just might decide to act on.

Some things you may wish to add to the blanks...

"buy my product"
"enjoy it"
"like what I'm doing"
"be excited about my proposal"

There are obviously many alternatives and you can include whatever suggestions you want. Just be sure to set it up so that it's an active doing statement for now or the immediate future. Past tense doesn't quite work as well.

You can use your new-found Jedi powers to improve the life of people around you. And avoid the lure of the dark side by remembering your intention is to create win-wins.

'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com

(c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com

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