The Presupposition Method

Learn to make your communication more persuasive with presuppositions. A presupposition is an assumption that your listener perceives from your communication. For example, a very common presupposition I used with clients in my hypnotherapy practice was, "before you go deeper (into hypnosis), I would like you to notice how your breathing seems to be deeper .. . ". That line had 2 presuppositions in it, that even if the client has consciously negated one, the other is still accepted. Milton Erickson was able to embed his communications with presuppositions that were often quite well hidden.

Overview: The Presupposition Method
Step #1: Select your presuppositions
Step #2: Embed them in sentences
Step #3: Create a conversational approach with the sentences and set-ups
Step #4: Practice on people

Step #1. Select your presupposition.
Imagine that you are about to encourage a trance state while in a conversational format.

Think of at least five things that you could presuppose (assume is a close synonym) about the person and their experience that you could leverage for relaxation, rapport, healing, and trance.

For example: "... this allows you to more fully feel the relaxation spreading from your shoulders," (presupposing that the person is already relaxing and that it is spreading from their shoulders, making it possible to feel sensations that can be interpreted as relaxation and increase awareness there that will induce relaxation) or, at a higher logical level, 'As you go into your day, your subconscious will continue to heal you and build you," (presupposing that the subconscious has this agenda and is already healing and building).

Step #2. Embed them in sentences.

Create sentences that, as I showed in step one, include these presupposition. You get bonus points for preceding each sentence with a sentence or two that set up the presupposition to make it more stealthy.

For example, "As you inhale, you can feel your shoulders spread very slightly, with your exhale allowing them to feel their natural weight. This allows you to more fully feel the relaxation spreading from your shoulders, into the weight of your hands, through the ends of your fingers."

Step #3. Create a conversational approach with the sentences and set ups.
String these presupposition bearing sentences together into a conversational approach to trance.

Step #4. Practice on people.
Try this on a willing participant, or record it and try it on yourself.
Observe your subjects for signs of trance.

Notice how your use of presuppositions can encourage what you presuppose to actually take place or become the basis for other behavior.

CREDITS FOR THE CREATION of this NLP pattern belong to Milton H. Erickson, modeled by Richard Bandler and John Grinder.

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind"- Rudyard Kipling

(Page 528 of "The Big Book Of NLP")