How to Initiate Hypnosis Without Your Subject Knowing

Have you ever had a deep, meaningful conversation with someone, to the point where you were so absorbed that you lost track of time and were completely focused on the discussion?  Most all of us have.  That intense state of focus, where your concentration is centered on one thing to where you can't even be distracted, is what Milton Erickson believed to be the trance state.  It is the place that all hypnotists want to get their subjects, as it is the state in which you are most susceptible to the power of suggestion.

Creating  what professional hypnotists call "rapport hooks" is the best way to initiate hypnosis in a subtle way that won't let the subject know you are even attempting to hypnotize them.

Rapport hooks are conversation starters, attention grabbers.  They are a way to grab the subject's attention from the get go.  By appealing to your subject's interests, you establish yourself as a good listener and someone who can be trusted.  Give some information, then pull back and let the subject re-engage you.  For example, if you are telling a story about a vacation you took to some exotic locale, describe the scenery, how pretty the sea was, etc.  But don't tell them where specifically it was you went; instead, let them prompt you for that information.  Get them interested in finding out about you.

By creating these rapport hooks - these initial conversation lighters that can form the foundation for future conversations - we establish and strengthen rapport.  Strengthening rapport builds trust, which in turn makes it easier for us to induce trance in a subject.