I did it once, by mistake!

If you’re thinking about how to hypnotize someone, you might find yourself sitting in a comfortable chair, swinging a pendulum back and forth, and telling the person on the nearby couch that you’re sleepy.

I can assure you that you do not need to hypnotize someone in this way.

I know, because I once inadvertently hypnotized the cashier at my local supermarket while he was going about his duties at the counter.

In fact, you can hypnotize a fully awake person, even without their knowledge. It’s called “covert hypnosis” or “conversational hypnosis” and it’s an art that almost anyone can learn.

Have you ever seen Derren Brown in action? This British hypnotist and magician often uses covert hypnosis to convince his “victims” to do exactly what he wants them to do. On one occasion, he even made them accept blank papers believing, in reality, that it was money with which he paid them for goods.

But I digress! This is how my own story unfolded…

One day, while I was living in France, I went to the supermarket to buy some food and also a present for my husband.
The food only cost a few euros, and I intended to use my private savings to pay for the gift separately.

While waiting in line, I spent some time preparing the correct payment to speed up the checkout process at the counter.

My gift cost €11.36 and not wanting to end up with a lot of loose change, I prepared myself by setting aside my last €20 bill along with a €2 coin to pay for the gift.

Now, this is where the cashier got confused.

When it was finally my turn to pay, the cashier registered my gift and then asked if the food was mine too. I answered “Yes” but wanted to pay for the items as two separate purchases.

He said “Okay” and then told me that I should pay him 11.36 euros first.

Looking a bit bored, he turned his head to look at the people waiting in line. However, I soon caught his attention, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Here! I have the money ready for you!”

Then I handed him the 20 euro note plus the 2 euro coin. The cashier seemed surprised. He took my money, put it in the register and gave me 64 cents back.

“Excuse me,” I told him. “But I gave you a 20 euro note.”

The cashier looked at me and said in a calm voice, “No, it was a 10 euro note. I saw it clearly.”

Suddenly, it made me doubt myself.

I really thought I gave him a 20 euro note, but… he sounded absolutely sure of himself. I paid for the food from my other wallet, then asked again, “Are you sure I didn’t give you a 20 euro note?” -“Absolutely sure” was his answer.

We had already recognized each other, since he regularly shopped at that supermarket, and he seemed like an honest guy.

The ride home only took a few minutes, and as I walked I took my time to think through the whole episode one more time.

I knew that, a short time ago, I had a specific amount of money in my bag. He knew that he had only bought three things before this, and after some simple calculations, he was sure that he had given her a 20 euro note.

Back home, I phoned the supermarket and told them what had happened.

They asked the cashier to close the cash register and count the money in the box.

After a while, our phone was located and I heard the embarrassed voice of the cashier. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “This has never happened to me before.”

He added that he could come down at any time and collect the 10 euros he owed.

I had been right all along.

But the mistake was not entirely his fault.

In fact, I hypnotized him; first confusing him, and then giving him a direct command: “Here! Take it! I have the money ready.”

Now, as you can see, you can hypnotize someone, even if they’re wide awake.

I did this by mistake, but many people use this technique deliberately to gain an unfair advantage.

Once I learned about conversational hypnosis, I began to recognize how this method was being used both in advertising and by devious politicians.

Everyone should learn about it. Even if you don’t want to practice it yourself, you can defend yourself better if you realize how it is used against you.

And if you want to use covert hypnosis, it can greatly improve many areas of your life, such as:

* By talking to your banker about the loan you want to get.
* By exchanging a cheaper price for that new stereo you want from the chain store.
* Or make the IRS leave you alone and stop bothering you.