To hypnotise someone, is really easy to do. How come it's never worked for you in the past when you've tried to hypnotise your friends then? Did you expect it to work? Did they expect it to work? No? That's the reason. Whether a person becomes hypnotised or not depends on how they perceive you, the hypnotist. If you seem totally confident, if you act like you've done this 100 times before, if you're calm, answering questions cooly and taking everything in your stride, then your subject will have faith in you, if they have faith in you, they'll feel relaxed at the idea of going under hypnosis with you, if they feel relaxed and comfortable, then they're already on their way into a trance. Hypnosis depends on a subjects subconscious perceptions and expectations, as I mentioned before, the subconscious is a tricky thing to alter at will. If you seem to have no hypnotic skill at all, a person can't just decide to believe in your abilities and be hypnotized by you, they have to be persuaded that you know what you're talking about. Bottom line, if someone expects to be hypnotized by you, then they will be, almost regardless of how much you actually know. This means that certain people will have less trouble being hypnotized than others. Someone who's open minded, who sees no reason why you shouldn't be able to hypnotise them, who feels that they will have no difficulty entering trance with you, will have no difficulty entering a trance with you! Such open minded people are fairly hard to find. A lot of people feel hypnosis is fake, or that you need to have years of training to be a good hypnotist, these people need their opinions swayed before you even attempt to hypnotise them (unless you've gotten very good) if someone feels that you know nothing about hypnosis and that it will not work, then it will not work. "How can I be a confident hypnotist when I've not hypnotised anyone yet?" you ask? "Fake it till you make it" is the phrase I saw on someone elses site. Fake your confidence, don't let your subject know that this is your first time, or that it's never worked for you before. If you say things like "I dunno if this will work" or "This probably won't work" that isn't going to do you any favours. These are actually negative subliminal messages, you're telling your subject before you begin that they won't be hypnotised by you. Instead use positive phrases such as: "After I've hypnotised you", "Once you are hypnotised" and "When you're hypnotised." This makes you look like you already expect them to be a good subject, and if you seem to believe in your abilities, then their belief will follow. What do you actually need to do and say to hypnotise someone then? Well it varies from person to person, generally it's a good idea to help them relax and become comfortable first, so have them kick off their shoes, remove any tight clothes or jewelry, sit back and relax. Most people that are interested in being hypnotized will be fairly easy to hypnotize, so just keep track of how they're feeling, and follow these guidelines. Easy Subjects. Some people will very much want to be hypnotised, they will find hypnotists entrancing and hypnotic from the word go, and will be relaxing into a trance before you even begin your induction, someone that is hypnotized, or lightly hypnotized, is suggestible. So suggest. Tell them things that they already know: "You enjoy the idea of being hypnotized" "You're looking forward to becoming responsive to my words" This will make them feel you're perceptive and / or powerfully hypnotic. If they reply, that "yes" they do feel that way, then try telling them something they don't know yet: "You feel your body relaxing now, and your legs becoming still" if they feel that, then try a hypnotic suggestion: "Already your legs are too comfy, and too relaxed to move" Add a few reassuring relaxing encouragements in between all this, and you can have easy subjects in a trance in under 2 minutes, just tell them once they find their legs this relaxed, that their mind will follow into a similar state of relaxedness and receptiveness to your words by the count of 5. Then count. That's it, they're hypnotized. Deepen them, and try suggestions out. (More on what kind of suggestions to give them in the "what hypnosis can do" section) Normal Subjects Even if people aren't hyper receptive to your words straight off, once the session begins they'll be expecting to relax and become calm, so that'll happen. Most subjects can be in a light trance in 4 minutes, and a reasonably deep one in 8. Here's a sample induction. Add comma's and pauses for subject responses, and this will hypnotize almost anyone that wants to be: Sample Induction Right. Sit back and relax, get yourself comfortable. Now. Start off by breathing like this: in for 2 seconds, hold for 1 second, out for 2 seconds, and repeat your breathing in that way. As you breathe, let your body relax, let your muscles loosen and become comfortable. Breathing in relaxation, breathing out all your tension, feeling the tension flowing out of your body now with every breath you take, there, feel yourself becoming more calm and more comfortable with every breath. The relaxation just flowing through your veins, seeping through your muscles, loosening them, relaxing them, making everything feel chilled out and calm. Feeling calm now? Good. You like the idea of becoming responsive to my words, the thought of being entranced by them is appealing, and you can feel how relaxed you're getting in response to my words already, can't you? Good. You're getting so relaxed now, and so calm, that as I type / talk about your legs, you'll feel them relaxing and growing heavy, becoming calm, comfortable, relaxed and limp. There, feel the muscles in your legs loosening now, that's good, they're getting too calm, too limp, too relaxed and too comfy to move much at all. Go ahead, try to move them a little now and fail. Can you move them much? If at all...? (no trouble moving) they feel very relaxed and comfy though, right? Good. And you do want to go under, so that's fine. (can move a little) that's fine, feel them relaxing more and more for me, good. (can't move at all) Great, you're doing really well. Once your legs and body are this responsive to my words, your mind soon follows, I just have to count to 5, by the time I get to 5, your mind will be as comfy and calm as your body. Want me to count now? okay. 1 2 3 4 5. There now, totally comfy and calm, completely receptive to my words, feeling totally chilled and relaxed. Responding is easy, even if thinking clearly is not. [Main trance and deepeners / triggers given out here.] Wake up after 3 remembering the trance just fine, feeling refreshed and alert, 1, 2, 3. Wide awake now, fully alert feeling fine.