Real Life Jedi Mind Tricks — The Subtle Art of Pacing and Leading

Have you ever wished you could use actual Jedi mind-tricks on people? That you could turn someone dangerous or powerful from threat to an ally?

I sure have.

As it turns out Jedi mind-tricks are real. They are commonly known as the art and science of persuasion.

If you are sufficiently skilled in persuasion you can pull an Obi-Wan on the scary Stormtroopers in your life, and turn them to your way of thinking.

I want to share the most powerful strategy, I know of, to turn people to your way of thinking, namely Pacing and Leading, and it is what will enable you to use Jedi Mind Tricks as you see fit.

The Original Jedi

Milton Erickson is renowned as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.

He was well-versed in the art of persuasion, and used it regularly as a way to help his clients. One of the key therapeutic practices he used was pacing and leading.

He was the Original Jedi.

He was the first person to experiment with pacing and leading.

The technique is simple, and straightforward to use.

Here’s how Erickson used it.

First he would empathize with the client, and align himself with their way of thinking. He would tell them things that lined up with the way they saw the world.

For instance he would say something along the lines of: “sometimes, you feel insecure, and that insecurity can lead you to do things that are not always helpful.”

Because he is stating something that the client knows is true, he is creating a mental bond between himself and his client.

This is the pacing part.

What comes next is leading.

When leading a client, Erickson would say something to the effect of “as you are sitting in the chair and breathing, you might want to relax and open your mind to the possibility of change”

The bold part is the leading, where he suggests to the client what to do, and leads that person where Erickson wants to go.

Erickson used this method in a therapeutic setting and as you probably noticed, this is not a very applicable use of the method in everyday life.

Luckily for us though, there are strategies to use this method in a less obvious way.

Jedi Mind Tricks part 1

The first time I ever used Pacing and leading at work, I didn’t fully realize what happened, until I reflected on it some time later.

I had a meeting at work, where I was clearly at the bottom of the totem pole. After the meeting an important person engaged me in an argument, because he felt like I had went around with an important email.

I told him that if I was him I’d be upset too, and that he had every right to feel slighted.

This is pacing.

I asked him how busy he was, and he answered that he was very busy. Then I asked him how much detail he would like to involved in in the future. He answered that he had no need to be involved in the nitty-gritty details of everything, but for the bigger stuff he’d like to be involved.

I let him know that he would be involved only in the higher-level communications from now on. This is what I wanted from the start.

This is leading.

During the course of this scene, the guy went from huffing and puffing initially and acting in a somewhat threatening manner, to being meek as a lamb and figuratively eating out of my hand.

By the end of it, he was 100% on my side, saw things my way and agreed with everything I had told him.

This is the epitome of the Jedi Mind Trick, and shows the true strength of pacing and leading.

Jedi Mind Tricks part 2

Since I became aware of the power pacing and leading as a strategy, I have done my best to use it whenever it makes sense. Whenever I want to sway someone to my way of thinking I use it. One of the best settings I can think to use pacing and leading, is in a job interview.

I recently went in for an interview for the most interesting position I have ever been called to an interview for. The guy who interviewed me was intense and asked hard-hitting questions.

It was an internal interview, and I had recently moved from one job to another in the same organization, so he asked me why I wanted to switch jobs again. He said he looked at it as flaky and what I had to say for myself?

I first paced him and said, yes I realize that from were you’re sitting, it looks very much like that. If I was in your shoes, and sitting were you’re sitting, I would see things exactly the same way.

Then I led him to where I wanted him to go.

However, this is not the case. I’ve always been interested in this job. In fact it was the reason I chose to study what I studied in school. It’s not because I want to try as many things as possible. I want to do this and only this.

I got the job.

Pacing and leading is an insanely powerful, and if you try it in your own life, I bet you’ll realize the power of this strategy for yourself.

Then you can use Jedi Mind Tricks yourself.