This week, my mentor Kenton Knepper and this fantastic quote from his "Wonder Words" (which you can get in HERE)
It is known in Psychology the relevance of effective communication in every aspect of human interaction. Constantly we are communicating, it is impossible to NOT communicate, and obviously in performance this is highly relevant.
It is known in esoteric schools and practices that words creates reality.
A "spell" is that.
A new construct that you create with words that allow a new experience to occur, an experience that is real.
Remember the first Hermetic Principle, the "Principle of Mentalism" (reflect about that and your understanding of this art)
So, in theatrical terms, your "script" has fundamental importance in the creation of the reality that you desire.
Linguistic Patterns (or Linguistic Deceptions as Kenton call them in the context of performance) are effective because they are constructed with specific strategies, and these techniques are highly important in various different situations in performance.
Let say that you want to create the idea that you are good.
First of all, you NEED to be good. No words will cover mediocrity.
Lets compare this two pieces of script:
"Hello, my name is Theo and I can read minds..."
"Hello everyone, I am very glad to be here, my name is Theo and although I can read minds, it is very important that you experience this with an open mind..."
The first line is a classic example of a direct command. This can be effective in some occasions if you have a powerful presence (if you want to learn more about this, I can recommend you the book Presence by Amy Cuddy), but most of the time, it is relevant to state this ideas that can create resistance in our audiences, especially at the beginning of our performance, in a more indirect manner, like in the 2nd script. As you can see, the idea that you can read minds is embedded, hidden from conscious resistance, so people will accept that claim in an easier manner.
It is imperative that your non-verbals are congruent with your verbals. No magic spell will be effective if you dont communicate your genuine confidence and enchantment.
In communication we have the form, the external and the content, the internal. They are BOTH important, and in our first interaction with our participant and audience, our form it is more important. We need to be conscious about it so we can create a good impression and offer a likeable expectation. ONLY THEN people will be interested in our content. So again, it is essential that you actually have content, if not, you are just being superficial, offering "techniques" without real inner value.
So, if you will use these techniques to really "cast a spell on your audience", observe first your inner strengths and processes to have something to say.
If you need assistance about this, you can check our "Online Services"
There are so many examples of "Linguistic Deceptions", that if you are interested in more, I highly recommend you to study the work of my mentor at his site Wonder Wizards.
He is one of the most under-rated modern living legends in Mentalism, and he deserves our attention and support.
And while you have a great week, remember that you can be awesome!
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