[bbgapril]

The process can take a few minutes, perhaps as long as a half hour, the first time. Have water handy, because this can amount to a lot of talking, and taking a break to find a drink will ruin the effect. Subsequent hypnosis goes faster; in a sense they've learned the mental pathway that leads to trance and they rapidly get better at walking it. And, yes, you can teach them a trigger word which will put them under in a matter of a second or two, once you've induced them a few times. If you do this - and you will, simply to save time - be extremely clear about what the trigger is: "Listen carefully. When I, and only I, say the word 'Trangie' to you, you will immediately fall into a relaxing, deep trance." I don't know if the "and only I" phrase is necessary - people do not become idiots under hypnotic suggestion and they can probably be counted on to understand the context of your statements. But I don't take chances. Hypnosis opens up vulnerabilities in people and I'd never risk having a trance happen by accident.

For trigger words, I like town names that the subject isn't likely to visit or talk about. It allows trances to be triggered with natural sounding sentences. "So. Should we take a trip to... Trangie?" But any word or sound is as good as any other, as long as it's only used by you and your subject for this purpose.

There's another form of induction - rapid. I don't use it. The hypnotist forcefully and quickly snaps commands and demands at a subject, creating stresses that make it attractive for the subject to retreat into a suggestive state. This is how stage magicians operate; it works well when the subject is in view of many people and feels pressure to conform to the expectations of the hypnotist and crowd. The effect of being overwhelmed and suddenly giving over control, can be very erotic for some subjects, but it has downsides. The stage hypnotist might hold someone in a trance for a few minutes and will never see the subject again, so it doesn't matter if the hypnotic effect is fragile and inconsistent, which rapid induction is likely to produce. It clearly works fine for getting someone to cluck like a chicken. But a slow, steady and in a real sense seductive induction is going to get better and more interesting results.