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LinkedInWatch T. Harv Eker “Brainwash” People Into Being Happy (Part 1.)
I heard T. Harv Eker was once a copywriter too – learning Neuro-Linguistic programming and becoming interested in subconscious influence.
He is now one of the biz-op public speakers with a following of hundreds of thousands of people.
He does an amazing job when it comes to motivating people, and getting them to take action… And a lot of what he does involves subconscious influence.
In these two articles I’m going to reveal the techniques that are at work here – without passing judgment of course. In fact I’m actually deeply impressed by what he does – getting subconscious influence down so that you can perform it so easily on this level on stage in front of thousands of people requires at least a decade of practice.
Here’s the video we’re going to analyze.
If you’ve read this already and you’re looking for Part 2 of this article, click here.
Okay, so let’s dive right into it.
| TRANSCRIPT | EXPLANATION | NON-VERBAL |
|---|---|---|
| T. HARV EKER:You know one of the things that uhmm, that I’ve been working with a lot is very very valuable I think is that if you notice one of the declarations I think it was the fourth one down what does it say? What does it say? | T. Harv Eker immediately frames what he’s about to introduce as something “very very valuable” before even saying what it is. Then he points the crowd to one of the “declarations” on a handout, and asks them “what does it say?” immediately making them reach for the paper and check what the very very valuable thing is.This achieves several goals at the same time,#1 engages the audience in activity,#2 starts them on the way of getting used to obeying him and taking action immediately,
#3 the audience will remember: experience of finding something in the handout and reading it leaves a much deeper impression then just saying “I think <something> is very valuable”. |
 Harv starts his speech both hands in his pocket in a neutral position. |
| And so far you’ve heard from just about everybody and you probably will on this stage and anybody really understands the holistic element of life is that your thought process is going to have a lot to do with your body. | Here he uses all the previous speaker’s credibility to support his statement, while adding a presupposition “the people who don’t agree with this don’t understand the ‘holistic element of life’”. |  Harv uses his hand to illustrate “holistic element” of life, and basically says “wholeistic” as he draws a circle with his hands. |
| Yes or yes? | T. Harv Eker’s signature is a “Yes or yes” double bind. He is being just so openly manipulative the crowd can’t help but love him for it. The double bind question also serves the following purposes:#1 Engage and activate the crowd,#2 Get them used to his influence on their actions which has to do with obeying him again,#3 Get them into an unconditional “Yes” mode. From here on out this crowd is going to nod their head and shout “Yes!” whenever they hear the double bind, and some of them are even going to raise their hands. They aren’t going to question any of the statements they hear. They are just going to accept them. Very powerful influence.
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 Notice how he constantly raises his right hand while using the “yes or yes” double bind. This is his non-verbal form of saying “how many of you agree”, and “raise your hand if you agree”. Notice how many people automatically raise their hand all through his speech. |
| I mean literally that’s the key to it that’s not the only key to it but it’s a big key to it. Yes? | He’s adding words like “literally” to increase his credibility. It also drives the listener’s mind in all kinds of crazy directions: you’re imagining a physical key now. A key to the “holistic element of life”. This is called a “selectional restriction violation” in NLP.While doing that there is also a very subtle thing going on. He’s a pattern called “deletion”. He says “That’s the key to it”, without saying what is. This way the crowd is busy doing a so-called trans derivational search in their minds, while also imagining a key and automatically saying “Yes”.Asking people to do this many things at once and the ones who comply will basically turn their egos off. That allows you to talk to their subconscious mind directly. |  “Yes?” |
| So the thinking element is essential and you know everything is perspective. Everything is what?CROWD:Perspective! | Eker underlines what says by saying the same thing a different way, and further engages the crowd in making them repeat his last word by shouting “Everything is what?”– One of the most common tactics of his. |  “Is what?” |
| T. HARV EKER:It’s all the way you look at it, yes or yes?CROWD:Yes! | Says the same thing the thirdtime, rephrased, and with his double bind “yes or yes” this time. More and more of the crowd is starting to get used to his style and starting to give in to his will, by saying “Yes!”At this point, many of the listeners don’t question what’s being said, they just automatically say “yes” when they hear the double bind.While earlier T. Harv Eker phrased his teaching differently, saying “that’s not the only key to it but it’s a big key to it”, now his statements are getting more exaggerated, saying “everything is perspective”, and “it’s all the way you look at it”.This is happening step by step so the crowd has no problem going with the flow. | |
| T. HARV EKER:And so literally, you know if you have a belief system. A what?CROWD:A belief system! | Any time T. Harv Eker brings in a new concept, he makes sure the key words of the sentence are the last words, and he’ll make the crowd repeat his last word. This achieves the following purposes:#1 The crowd is engaged,#2 The crowd gets further used to obeying him,#3 The crowd doesn’t have time to question what’s being said, they say it and believe it automatically. |  “A what?” |
| T. HARV EKER:That you’re gonna be very healthy, that it has a good chance that’s going to support that health, Yes or yes?CROWD:Yes!T. HARV EKER:
I’m not saying that it’s gonna turn you over night and do, you know, magic. But it’s a lot better than thinking you’re not gonna be healthy. Yes or yes? CROWD: Yes! |
T. Harv Eker’s crowd engaging technique works both ways. He can make the crowd finish his sentences, by shouting “A what?” and pointing at his ear, non-verbally asking the crowd to repeat what he just said. At the same time, he can also pick the thread up automatically, without loosing his rhythm, and tie his sentence into what he just made the crowd say seamlessly. This way people almost feel they’re actively taking part in a one on one conversation with him. |  “Yes or yes”? – notice how the hand movement gets more intense. He uses the right arm now, for the second “yes or yes” so as not to appear monotonous.
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| T. HARV EKER:Allright, so, very important the way we think here. And raise your hand if you had the privilege of being at this year’s wealth and wisdom. Was that hot? Yes?CROWD:Yes! | T. Harv Eker is a very skilled speaker, so he can hammer the same point home for the fourth time without feeling repetitive. He also uses a causal linking pattern, and links a command with what the crowd is agreeing to be true, by saying “very important the way we think here and raise your hand if…”, immediately followed by a double bind. |  “Raise your hand”“Yes?” |
| T. HARV EKER:And they’re all hot. So one of the things we did there and I did at <…>’s event is I asked you how you were and the answer is you’re what?CROWD:Awesome!T. HARV EKER:
You’re awesome. What’s the word? CROWD: Awesome! |
Instead of saying “What we’re going to do now”, is he pulls in an outside reference. He says “one of the things we did there”. This adds credibility to what’s about to happen while at the same time rewarding the people who’ve been participating in his earlier event. Then the usual engage-and-repeat patterns ensue. |  He is in a neutral position when he first brings in the “Awesome” keyword. |
| T. HARV EKER:Now we say that for a couple or reasons. Number one, is because why are we awesome? Okay first of all, give me a reason as to why you’re awesomeCROWD:(Incomprehensible)
T. HARV EKER: Yeah because you’re alive and breathing right now. Yes? CROWD: Yes! T. HARV EKER: And there is some beings that don’t have that opportunity, yes? CROWD: Yes! T. HARV EKER: And secondly, you’re in a great place, yes? CROWD: Yes! T. HARV EKER: And thirdly, you have much to be appreciative for, yes or yes? CROWD: Yes! T. HARV EKER: And fourthly you’re awesome because you what? You said so. You decided it. That’s what makes you awesome. So you don’t become awesome because you are awesome. You become awesome because you decide to be awesome. You don’t feel good just because you feel good. You feel good because you decide to feel good. Yes or yes? CROWD: Yes!
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Although he is a speaker with huge routine, sometimes his old habits take over, and some regular sentences slip through the cracks. The first sentence is an excellent example of a sentence structure where he just starts talking normally, and then in the middle of the sentence he realizes how what he’s about to state is in no way going to engage the crowd, so he modifies the structure of the sentence on the fly, resulting in really weird grammar and repetition.He’ll start a sentence saying “Now we say that for a couple of reasons. Number one”, and then when he realizes this is not going to be a very influential sentence, he changes directions in the middle of the sentence and turns it into a question “is because why are we awesome?” and then goes on to give a direct command to the crowd, most of which has gotten used to obeying him by now. So they’ll just say incomprehensible things, apparently not making much sense.While the crowd mutters Eker realizes his mistake and starts giving the crowd obvious statements they can reinforce with a “Yes!”.These statements are all paces and leads: “you’re alive and breathing” is an obvious fact everyone will simply say “Yes!” to. After all of what’s happened so far, they will also say an automatic “Yes!” to the suggestion of being in a great place, followed by another pace “much to be appreciative for” which is a statement that also sends a lot of the crowd inside, to perform their trans derivational searches.
He then goes on to put words into people’s mouths and giving blunt commands. The crowd, already in a very strong “yes-mood” will comply unconditionally. Commands are to become awesome, decide to be awesome, feel good, and decide to feel good. All strengthened by the usual yes double binds. |
 When Harv says “You’re alive and breathing right now” he actually points to himself, making you identify with him. “Yes?” “Yes?”
“Yes?” “Yes or yes?” Now Harv has made a habit of putting one of his arms up at least once in every 10 seconds, so when he gets to “you become awesome because you decide to be awesome”, he actually raises his hand, and nothing happens. Then a “yes or yes” double bind:
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| T. HARV EKER:So literally, you know one of the things I’ve had since running wealth and wisdom is that it’s true that you know the truth is that sometimes I don’t feel fantastic. Sorry, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I’m a little upset, I’m a little frustrated. I have the emotional parts to come out. Anybody else relate to this, yes?CROWD:Yes! | Adding 4 credibility elements at the same time, by saying “literally”, “you know”, it’s true” and “the truth is”, T. Harv Eker paces the crowd very intensely at this point, by admitting he doesn’t always feel fantastic either. He does it by telling a very short story about what’s happened “since running wealth and wisdom”, and then admitting his failure himself.This shows he is a human being, shows he is just like the rest of the people in the room, and makes him easier to relate to. He is also pacing the crowd by saying something everyone can easily identify with.Now this by far would have been enough for the crowd to identify with him, but he makes it even stronger by specifically asking everyone to “relate to this”, and making them say, “yes” after. | When he says “fantastic”, he’ll raise his hand again, out of habit, without asking anything from the crowd.Again, nothing happens. When he says “anybody else can relate to this, yes?”, and when his going gets more emotional, he makes an exaggerated hand movement because he wants you to actually raise your hand:
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Click here for part 2 of this article…
11:03 am
I love your site. Thank you for sharing this amazing video. It illustrate how the use of NLP techiques, including the use of double binds to persuade people in purchasing a product, for example, without exercising obvious direct control or coercion over the individual.
6:07 am
Eker’s really an excellent motivator. Even I started to lighten up watching and listening to him through a digital video, let alone a live audience. I like how he reinforces his key point in a different expression. It really leaves a very deep impression.
7:16 am
I read his “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” before and was kind of blown away by some of the features he highlighted. I think it’s kind of ironic how the reality of the world actually works on peoples’ thoughts and emotions, but he’s no doubt a great role model for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow!