Teens Talk Hypnosis Part III: The Good, the Bad and the "Unfunny"

For the past few years the health educator at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, MD has solicited feedback from her students after I visit her classroom to talk about hypnosis as a tool for health, wellness and confidence.   

She is kind enough to share this candid feedback with me, which is helpful as I am constantly and evaluating the content and delivery style of my talk.

Here are link to past articles I’ve published on this blog with student feedback:

Teens Talk Hypnosis – the Good, the Bad and the “Boring” (February 2015)

Teens Talk Hypnosis Part II – the Good, the Bad and the “Interested” (March 2018)

I’ve included below a selection of direct comments from high school students after my most recent on-campus talk in September.  As always, it is an interesting mix of the good, the bad and the “unfunny.”

The Good

The class went by very fast.  I was entertained.  The jokes were funny and the things I learned about hypnosis were interesting.

It was so cool!  Great ways to think about stress management.  The balloon and sand bucket trick was amazing!  I went home and showed it to my family.  Overall, a great class and performance.  I wish he could come again!

It was nice being hypnotized.  It helped me feel more relaxed.

I really liked him.  I can use the information he shared about hypnosis and stress management because it is relevant to my life.

Loved it!  I was super in to the hypnosis.  It would have been even better if the introduction was shorter and the hypnosis was a bit longer.

It was fun and I learned a lot about controlling stress.

I liked the hypnosis presentation because I am into mindfulness and practicing relaxation.  I’ve done meditations with music playing and that usually helps me get more relaxed.

I wasn’t expecting the hypnosis to work, but I fell asleep immediately and it was a really cool experience.

The Bad

He had pretty good jokes, yet it felt weird when I was participating.

The guest speaker had a positive attitude, but after being hypnotized I felt dizzy.

I thought it was scary and kind of creepy.

Hypnosis was very strange and felt like I mostly just zoned out.

The hypnosis made me tired.

I don’t know how people actually experience hypnosis.  For me, nothing changed the whole time and I felt the same way afterwards.

I did not feel comfortable with him whispering because I didn’t expect it.

The Unfunny

It was engaging and entertaining, yet parts of his talk felt too scripted.

I thought the guest speaker was nice and positive.  Some of his jokes were funny, though some were not.  I liked his energy and thought the hypnosis was cool.

Overall, I enjoyed the performance, but some of the jokes fell a little flat.