Uncovering Hypnotic Characteristics Of "But"
by Peter Saks on May 7, 2009
Hi,
in this article I will introduce you to the powerful hypnotic characteristics of the word "but". As you will see in the second, this short three letter word possesses some astonishing features. As always let's start with an example:
- you are a very smart person, but...
- you look very pretty in this dress, but...
- you drive very well, but...
Have you noticed how the word "but" affects the way you perceive examples above? If not, put yourself in the situation of person receiving such compliments and try to say, would you feel like they are honest?
I really don't think so.
But why? It happens because part of the sentence located before the word "but", is ignored by unconscious part of the mind. So, it's not important that you notice stuff before "but", because your mind forgets about it in order to acquire information after it.
As you begin to imagine this linguistic structure is handy in a lot of situations. However if you want to take advantage of its full effectivness, you have to keep in mind one very important rule. Parts of the sentence before and after "but", can't be clearly connected with each other. It is the key to making this pattern work.
If I would say: "There are a lot of good sites about conversational hypnosis, but my is the best.", the first thought that would cross your mind would be that I am bluntly advertising my website. Therefore if you will become aware of my intentions on a conscious level, my plan is doomed for failure.
However if I would approach the situation from different angle and say something like: "There are a lot of good sites about conversational hypnosis, but... Would you like a cup of tea? Getting back to my website...". You are left with a feeling, that in fact there are not so many good sites about conversational hypnosis out there.
To make it more clear to you let's return to the example from former article. So, you are a salesman trying to sell latest cleaning product to your client. Most of the rookies would say something like this:
"Yes it's true that other producers sell similar products to ours, but our products are the best."
You can't allow, the person you're talking to, to spot your intention on a conscious level. Like in an example above, you say something your client is currently thinking: "other producers sell similar products" and you try to make his unconscious mind to delete the part of the sentence located before the word "but". However the suggestion planted after "but", will never get accepted by his unconscious mind.
Why does it happen?
Because by giving your customer luxury of being aware of what you are up to, you annihilate the effectiveness of this pattern. It is like explaining a joke immediately after you told it. However more advanced salesman would say something like:
"Yes it's true, other producers sell similar products to ours, but as we are speaking, I would like to present to you, what my company has to offer."
As you can see it is much more tasteful and effective method, first your client will notice you have said something positive about your competition, but then it will be erased by his unconscious mind. Because the first part of the sentence no longer exists in his mind, all of his attention is directed to the second part of the sentence so, to the offer of your company.
Just to clarify, "but" isn't physically deleting information from persons brain, it is making it impossible for conscious mind to access it during resoning process. And because it is unavailable, we can say it has been erased.
In short you are first confirming the experience of your customer and then you delete it on the unconscious level, directing his attention to your offer. Interesting, isn't it? I hope so, see you in the next article.
