You may have seen in the movies where a hypnotist simply snaps their fingers and the person in front of them drops into hypnosis immediately. But is this something that can actually happen? And if so how do you achieve this instant hypnosis with just a click of your fingers? Well, let me explain…
Hypnotising with a finger click – real or fake?
It is entirely possible to hypnotise somebody by clicking your fingers. In fact, you can do this in many different ways, depending on the person you’re hypnotising, the environment you’re in, and what you are looking to achieve. So, yes, it is definitely real and possible. However, it is worth saying at this point, that a hypnotic finger click will not work with 100% of people you try to hypnotise (more on that shortly), because it relies on more than just the finger click itself!
How the hypnotic finger click works
As mentioned above, there are a number of ways to hypnotise people using a click of your fingers. Let’s ignore the sensationalised depictions of hypnosis in the movies for a moment, and look at real-world applications of hypnosis. I say this because a ‘simple finger click’ on its own, like you might see in the movies, will not hypnotise anybody. On its own, a click of the fingers is nothing special or magical, even when performed by a professional hypnotist. The finger click is made special by the hypnotist’s use of additional language, expectation, hypnotic intention and social cues.
To put it another way; the best hypnotist in the world could go and snap their fingers at anyone, but if those people did not know the person was a hypnotist, or that the click was intended to hypnotise them, there’d be an infinitesimally small chance that it would ever work. This is because the sleep click requires, as a bare minimum, that either;
- the person knows you are a hypnotist and/or intend to hypnotise them.
- you are able to deliver suggestions to set up the intended response prior to delivering the ‘sleep click’.
With this in mind, the main ways to deliver an effective sleep click with a first-time hypnotic subject are with prestige and expectation, or by simply suggesting that your intended result will happen. The finger click hypnosis trigger is also something that you can set up during hypnosis, as a ‘post-hypnotic suggestion’ or ‘re-induction’. This means the next time you hypnotise that person, you can skip the ‘hypnotic induction‘ process, and just use a sleep click, having already set it up last time you hypnotised them (more on that shortly too)!
Prestige vs. suggestion – or perhaps both?
For me, as a hypnotist, I have no need to hypnotise people without first talking to them in my professional capacity as a hypnotist. What I am saying is, it is best to let somebody know that you are a hypnotist before you hypnotise them, it is an integral part of your ‘pre-talk’ process. Conversely, it is a very bad idea to try and hypnotise someone who you haven’t spoken to beforehand, as they may not be safe to hypnotise. Also, it goes without saying; never try to hypnotise people against their will or without their knowledge. Aside from just being generally dodgy and creepy, it likely won’t work anyway, because they haven’t consented to the process.
Remember, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, this means a person must agree to be hypnotised and will know when someone is attempting to hypnotise them. People who do not want to be hypnotised will not go into hypnosis. The idea that hypnotists can hypnotise people with a simple click of the fingers, against the will of the person being hypnotised, is 100% a hypnosis myth.
Anyway, I have digressed slightly!
By letting someone know you are a hypnotist (or hypnotherapist), this immediately sets the expectation that you will be able to hypnotise them. In fact, for some people it may even set the expectation that you will be able to hypnotise them by clicking your fingers. This is the exact thing that you want them to think in order to make your finger click work. Their expectation will make the hypnotic click more likely to succeed.
As well as that, you can also add suggestions into the mix. You cannot just assume that someone will expect a finger click to hypnotise them, as although it is a common expectation, some people may not think about it that way. So, you can actively direct them to thinking about it, by suggesting it to them. For example, in general conversation you might suggest; “Did you know that as a hypnotist, I can instantly hypnotise people with a simple click of my fingers.”
By using a person’s expectation of you as a hypnotist as well as suggesting your intended result, you dramatically increase your chances of success when hypnotising using a sleep click.
First time vs. re-inductions
Another factor to consider with finger click hypnosis demonstrations is, has the person being hypnotised been hypnotised previously? I.e. has the trigger/response been set up in a previous hypnosis session?
A sleep click ‘post-hypnotic suggestion’ is much more likely to be effective, hypnotising someone who has already been primed, when compared to using a simple finger click to hypnotise somebody for the very first time. This is because the person who has experienced it before is already conditioned to you hypnotising them, to your hypnotic voice, and they have been explicitly given the suggestion to respond to your click by going into hypnosis.
To set up this trigger response during hypnosis, you might tell your hypnotised subject something like; “from this point onwards, whenever you are with me and I click my fingers to hypnotise you, assuming it is safe to do so, you will instantly go into a deep state of hypnosis. When I snap my fingers you will immediately go into this deep state of hypnosis. Nod your head that you understand.”
Why a sleep click won’t always work
The main reason that people struggle with using the finger click effectively is, they expect the movement to be ‘magical’, whereas in reality, as mentioned above, it isn’t the click that does the work it’s expectations, your suggestions and your intention for that person to go into hypnosis that do the heavy lifting.
Yes, there are some people who are less hypnotically suggestible than others, and these people are generally poor candidates to try your finger click hypnotic induction with. Again, this is one of the reasons that prep work is important, as you can perform suggestibility tests before you use your sleep click, thereby making sure the person you’re going to hypnotise is suggestible and will respond well!
How to learn and practice the finger click hypnotic induction
You can learn to use the sleep click by reading the theory and scripts in a book. In fact, it is covered in my own book, the Instant Hypnosis and Rapid Induction Guidebook! That said, learning the theory is different to practicing. In order to truly master hypnotising with a snap of your fingers, you need the opportunity to practice doing just that!
During my 1-day rapid induction course, I teach how to use the ‘sleep click’, and you get an opportunity to practice it throughout the day, along with a range of rapid inductions, deepeners and suggestibility tests. On the course, you’ll have the opportunity to hypnotise a variety of people, and see just how easy it can be to hypnotise with a finger click!
For more information and upcoming course dates, click here:
