Hypnotic Eyes - Develop a Hypnotic Gaze

Chris Harrison
3rd October 2012
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When it comes to Hollywood movies relating to hypnosis, the hypnotic gaze is probably the most enduring image and it's easy to see why.

It's a skill that shows the hypnotist as all powerful and it's a skill that everyone would surely love to be able to develop.

Is the Hypnotic Gaze real?

In the sense that you can hypnotize someone simply by staring into their eyes, then yes there is such a thing as the hypnotic gaze but be aware there is usually more going on behind the scenes. It just happens that the hypnotic eyes are the strong visual element that people are aware of.

If you watch someone like Derren Brown perform this kind of hypnosis on television then it always looks really impressive. It's important to remember that the actual gaze is the end point in a process that the hypnotist has probably been engaged in for several minutes. Their victim has been primed and is basically ready to go by the time the focus is on them and the cameras start rolling.

How do you develop a Hypnotic Gaze?

There are two variations of the hypnotic gaze. One that is used primarily as a form of hypnosis and another which is often used as a way to bypass the conscious mind and 'talk to the unconscious'.

In the first instance the stare is used along with rapport and pacing and leading. Once the hypnotist has developed a good level of rapport, through breath matching for instance, the hypnotist looks into the clients eyes and then changes their own state very quickly and drops into a trance. Hopefully, if the rapport is good, the client will follow and with the help of a few suggestions drop into a deep trance.

The second variation of hypnotic eyes is often used by NLP practitioners. During a series of questions and answers if the practitioner doesn't get an answer that feels particularly honest or the practitioner thinks the client is 'getting in their own way', straight after the answer the practitioner may simply defocus their eyes and focus just behind the clients head as if they are looking through them and then say "not you, you" and wait for the second unconscious answer. Whether this is truly an unconscious answer or simply sets up a metaphor and the client plays along is open to question.

Both methods are fun to play with, and take a bit of practice to get right. It's probably best to experiment with clients that you have a good rapport with and are easy subjects before attempting to use your hypnotic eyes on strangers!