10 - The Pretalks

Here’s a common conversation that comes up when a young, adorable bat pup talks to a strong, ravishing experienced vampire bat.

Vampire Bat: So, you’ve been learning hypnosis. What’s the most important part of the ritual?

Bat Pup: The pretalk!

Vampire Bat: That’s right! You’re off to a good start.

Here’s the context that’s missing from this interaction that’s often overlooked.

Vampire Bat: So, you’ve been learning hypnosis. What’s the most important part of the ritual?

(I’m glad they’ve been doing their reading. They’ll do well. But I want to make sure they’re on the right path.)

Bat Pup: The pretalk!

(Always get consent! Always make sure the subject is well informed!)

Vampire Bat: That’s right! You’re off to a good start.

(Ah good! They understand that the pretalk is what sets the subject up for success, clears up misunderstandings, and explains to the subject how to engage with suggestions.)

If you’re in any hypnosis community, you’ve probably had safety rants ram-jammed your direction ad nauseam. It’s therefore understandable to arrive at the misunderstanding that pre-talks are only for establishing consent.

Regardless of safety, the pre-talk is often the most impactful part of any hypnotic experience.

A Pre-Talk in Two Parts

I know this isn’t exactly the sexiest part of this process, but it’s a necessary component for getting anything hypnotic done. Despite their nuance, they don’t have to be long and drawn out.

I’d break this down into two components:

• Consensual component - Covering content, safety, and permission.
• Functional component - Asking for participation, clearing up misunderstandings.

Let’s see it in action.

An Example

Here’s a common street hypnotist’s pretalk, albeit a bit awkward:

Hypnotist adjusts bowler cap.

“Great to meet you all! Hey, I’m a hypnotist. I’d love to show you some cool tricks you can do with your mind. Are you game?”

Easy. Let’s break down what it does:

• Establishes context. (You’re a hypnotist.)
• Establishes what you’ll be doing. (Ambiguously, cool mind tricks.)
• Not only asks for consent, but asks for active participation.

These conversations aren’t just for consent - they pave the way for everything to work. They’re your conversational free space to make your intentions clear and explain what you’d like the other person to do.

Here’s how I might go about it:

Got a minute? I’d like to practice an induction. Nothing spicy, some invitations to be mentally and physically relaxed. Do you have some time to try something out?

Assuming they said yes, ask them if they can clear any distractions for the next 20 minutes, and you can get started. (I’m also taking for granted that you’ve chatted with this individual for a bit and deemed them Not Crazy and Worthy Of Your Time.)

I’ll break this down in more detail in the next two sections.

Footnotes

• I’m not really into vampires or vampire bats. I just wanted to razz a friend a bit. (I do have a soft spot for leaf-nosed bats, though.)