Outline Script

Before beginning hypnosis, you should have an outline script memorized so that when you are performing hypnosis, you can speak with confidence, clarity, strength, and without hesitation. This is important for reasons we’ve discussed before: putting the subject at ease, instilling confidence in your subject about your abilities, and so that an unbroken flow can be hypnotically recited, which goes to work more quickly and easily on the person’s subconscious.

How do you make an outline script? What to include?

This is your general outline without any specifics attached. The phrases you should build are you initial relaxing chant – words, and phrases keyed in to promote relaxation and suggestion in the subject. There are many different ways to induce hypnosis, and the best method will be what is most comfortable for you and your audience.

1. You want to begin by setting your subject at ease. Before you begin, tell them that they will remember everything that happens very clearly. This not only puts them at ease, but is an initial suggestion, called “waking suggestion” that sets them up for following your instructions (this is one that they will want to follow), and allows for the comfort and confidence in believing you won’t do anything they wouldn’t like, as they’ll be able to remember it upon “waking.” You’re building trust and now you can obtain useful feedback in the end.

2. Reassure them that they cannot be made to do anything under hypnosis that they do not want to do. This is simply true, but iterating it continues to build trust and confidence. It’s also a common myth that hypnotists can get you to do anything, so in case your subject has this impression, set them at ease with this simple phrase.

3. Now you’ll be entering the beginning phase of hypnosis where you’ll have your subject relax and focus.  Have your subject sit in a comfortable position, or lay down. You can have them close their eyes, or look at an object; the swinging watch is a nice rhythmic device, or you can use a candle for mood, your finger held close to their nose, or have them visualize a calming scene, like a river bubbling over rocks. Focusing on an image or object allows for the conscious mind to be more absorbed in the watching, while opening the subconscious up for your hypnotic suggestion. Come up with a few suggestions for visualizations that you can use depending on your subject’s interests, or come up with an object that you would like to use.

4. Next, you can begin building a phrase book for relaxation. Carry this around with you and jot down ideas as they come to you throughout the day. Later, you can clean up and choose which phrases you would like to use on your subjects. They will all have a similar theme: relaxation. Remember back to our section on The Body and Voice. Try to use intonation and effective pauses to aid in furthering relaxing suggestions. Here are some examples of relaxation scripts that you can use, or build from:

Full Body Relaxation Method

Have your subject, either sitting or laying down, focus on one body part at a time. Tell them to focus on their toes, say, I want you to relax each toe one by one, start with the little toe, make it fully relaxed, move to your next toe, release the tension, go through with the rest of your toes, one by one feeling the tension dissolve out of you, and then move up to your ankles and the tops of your feet, notice if there is any tension in them, if you can relax them even more fully. Now your heels and the backs of your calves, your knees, making sure they’re loose and comfortable. Your thighs and your hips, adjust yourself if necessary to release all tension, just feel it pouring out of you as your body becomes more and more relaxed. Now your stomach, let it soften, let it relax, follow your breaths up your chest and as you breath in and out feel you body become more and more relaxed. And now your arms starting with your shoulders, remember you can adjust them if they are holding tension, now let that supreme state of relaxation flow down your arms, your elbows, your wrists, let each finger loosen and relax. And now focus on your neck and your jaw. Is there tension in your jaw? Let it relax, let it drop open a bit. Your tongue, let it relax. Let your teeth relax. Now your nose and your eyes, smooth your eyebrows away from each other, and your forehead. Now even feel the top of your head relax. Your body, now, has reached complete relaxation, find yourself sinking deeper and deeper into a fully relaxed state. Find your eyelids getting heavier and heavier, with each breath sink into a deeper and deeper state of relaxation.

This type of relaxation-chant can go on indefinitely until your subject is under hypnosis. Just build repetition and keep your vocabulary limited.

Counting Method

Have your subject, either lay down or sit comfortably. Begin counting down from a number – say 50 or 100. On each number, tap your foot gently to accentuate the rhythm. Keep a steady rhythm. At each number ending in 7 and 3, give a suggestion for relaxation: 97…you are falling into a deeper state of relaxation. 93…your eyelids are growing heavier and heavier. 47…you are falling into a deeper and deeper state of relaxation. 43…your body is becoming heavy and tired. 27…you are falling under into a fully hypnotic state 23…soon you will be completely under my suggestion. 17…by the time I reach zero, you will completely under my suggestion. 13…you are falling into a deeper and deeper state of relaxation. At 0, they should be under.

Alternate Relaxation Method

Ask your partner to relax all over, using words like these: “Just let your feet relax, and your legs relax. Feel your hips relaxing, and your waist relaxing. Feel your chest relaxing, and your arms relaxing. Your shoulders relaxing, and your neck and head relaxing. Feel your entire body relaxing, all over.”Gradually change your instructions into suggestions which increase the strength of the feeling of relaxation. “You can feel yourself relaxing now. You can feel a heavy, relaxed feeling coming over you. And as I continue to talk, that heavy relaxed feeling will get stronger and stronger, until it carries you into a deep, peaceful state of hypnosis.”

Using your partner’s breathing and body language as a guide, gradually make your suggestions more directive, using suggestions similar to the following. Repeat the suggestions a few times, much as you might repeat the verses and choruses of a song, until your partner appears to be totally relaxed.

• “Every word that I utter is putting you faster and deeper, and faster and deeper, into a deep, peaceful state of hypnosis.”
• “Your eyelashes are getting heavy and sleepy.”
• “Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down, shutting down completely.”
• “And the deeper you go, the deeper you are able to go. And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes.”

You can conclude your induction with words like: “Now you are resting comfortably in a deep, peaceful state of sleep, going deeper and faster and deeper and faster all of the time, until I bring you back. You will only accept those suggestions which are for your benefit, and that you are willing to accept.” – wikihow

Your Own Method

I would suggest either researching more methods until finding the one that sounds best to you, or coming up with your own. Using repetition and suggestion, you want to get your subject relaxed and into that altered brain state that characterizes hypnosis.

Tips and Tricks

Keep your voice smooth and consistent.

You want to speak clearly and enunciate well.

Go back to our chapter on Body and Voice and learn to resonate, hold your own body position comfortably, and use pauses and inflection to enhance your suggestions.

Once you’ve built your method and your script, practice it a few times to become comfortable with the rate of speech (slow=good) and the content. Practice it a few times on yourself, even. Once you have a good handle on what to say, you can build your hypnosis script. Then you’re ready to begin!