I have seen many many posts about the mechanics of certain suggestibility tests, people who are frustrated with memorizing all of them and clueless as to what they should do if they don't work. There's also tons of people who use suggestibility tests AS the actual hypnotic phenomena. But what are suggestibility tests for and how do they work?

Suggestibility tests came about as a tool to test certain people's "hypnotizability". Meaning, a hypnotist would talk at you, describe some imagery and whether or not he did it so you were able to have a response . . . measured YOUR suggestibility. Kinda funny right? Well think about the difference between these two paragraphs below:

I would like you to place your hands out in front of you. Intertwine your fingers together with the opposite hands except the first finger on each hand. So it should look like your hands are clasped together, fingers intertwined, with one fore finger on each hand sticking straight up. Now make sure those two fore fingers are separated. Good. Now imagine the space inbetwee those two fingers as having a black whole sucking the two fingers together. And that feeling gets stronger . . . . and stronger. . . and STRONGER. . . . And now even STRONGER with the FORCE of the COSMIS UNIVERSE!!!! Now stop. Did you get a response there?

You may have. But not everyone is going to respond to that. Simply put, some guy talking about magnets in between your fingers is extremely silly and weird. Some people aren't going to want to jump on board with your hallucinations and they'll feel very embarrassed for you when a response is not met. People don't need to be spoken at and given instructions to. They need affective imagery that moves them. That's how the suggestibility tests work. They don't test suggestibility. They were primarily used by stage hypnotists and even that way of doing things is dying out. They're aren't reliable. They work off the mechanics of the nervous system having a response to your friggin' thoughts. If that's what makes ALL suggestibility tests work then consider:

The young surfer ran swiftly to meet the crashing waves on the beach before him. He splashed into the water as he threw his board under him. Laying flat, paddling with utter excitement, smiling from ear to ear, he rushed with anticipation. He felt the warm sun on his back and the beautiful salt smell of the ocean. The wind was just right and his board was waxed and ready to go. Suddenly, a rogue waved came tumbling toward him. He was frozen with fear as he felt he heart pounding and body trembling. Right there in front of him was a wall of water coming at him with ferocious speed! As the height of the water blocked out the sun right before it crashed on the boy, he closed his eyes. All he could hear was a CRASH!! Then muffled sound waves streaming through the cold water as his body lay weightless. Floating through the water. "How peaceful" He thought momentarily right before his realization set in that he couldn't breathe! He twisted himself upright and started paddling with every force in his muscle for the surface. He felt the cold weight of the water and he pushed it aside as hard as he could. His heart going now like an orchestra and the back of his throat swollen with the NEED for air. He felt his lungs about to explode and he burst through the surface and took the deepest breath of his life as the sun sprinkled crystals off the water and the sea gulls squaked nervously.


Now obviously we're using the same exact mechanics of the suggestibility test to create affective imagery that grabs the listening and sucks them into a spiral of sensations and feelings. It takes hold of their attention and keeps it there as we guide them through an experience that will bring the story to life for the listener. We're introducing a level of ease with the suggestibility tests and you can do the same thing with any suggestibility test you want. Just keep in mind that not all people are going to want to jump on the bandwagon for magnets, sticky hands, lemon drops or any other test IF you approach them in a patronizing and silly way (in their opinion). " Think of Barney the Dinosaur. Now think of his purple costume becoming even more radiant and see his doofy smile widen! And the more he widens the smile the more you sink into trance" Come on. We can do better than this.

The whole suggestibility nonsense is just that. Nonsense. There aren't some people that are more suggestible than others and there isn't some imaginary way of testing what isn't there. Create affect in your stories and perhaps consider the way you're talking to people when you're doing these tests. Does it sound silly "Now imagine magnets" Look, if you're going to have them imagine something then GET TO THE POINT. Have them imagine the time when they felt most relaxed, calm and serene. Have them describe the green moss they were resting on as they looked up at the trees and admired the shards of sunlight dancing through the shadows of the leaves as they noticed the smell of fresh air. Get it? I say we throw away these tests and if you're doing stage work, well I'm not a proponent of stage work so I'll pass on that.

But if you want to increase your success with the "suggestibility tests" than notice the mechanics on how they work which is the nervous system responding to vivid imagery in the body and take that principle and apply it in a way that the listener feels relaxed and willing to respond. I'm not going to go up to my marine father and ask him to imagine magnets. "Get the hell outta here!" Is definitely what he would say. I may have him talk about his experience with relaxing in the tropical pools of water in the Philippines though. I may go into vivid detail about that and ask him "So how did the water feel and smell? Was is utterly relaxing under the hot sun? I bet" There's a bit of a difference there. I think this is the way we should start conducting our work and start leaving these imaginary intricacies with the "mechanics of suggestibility tests" behind. There are no intricacies. There's vivid imagery being interpreted by the mind body (nervous and proprioceptive systems) and then feelings come from that. There is no suggestibility test that is better than another in terms of what its trying to do. It's all the same.