Ericksonian Hypnotic Language Patterns

Conversational Postulates are Yes/No questions that elicit responses rather than a literal answer. They are useful because you completely avoid resistance; since you’re only asking a question, you can’t fail. As an example, if you ask someone, “Do you know what time it is?,” the person could say “Yes” or “No,” but 99.99% of people will simply tell you the time.

My friend Greg loves to use this one when the check comes at a restaurant, “Did you bring your credit card?”

“Can you tell me how to get to airport?”

“Can you hand me that pen?”

“Do you know the way to San Jose?”

And, of course, for purposes useful to a hypnotherapist:

“Could you sit back and relax?”

“Can you close your eyes and go into trance?”

(These two examples have a little sneaky scope ambiguity too, don’t they? After all - a person might be able to sit back, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll relax. They may be able to close their eyes, but the linkage to going into trance is a presupposition, isn’t it?)