Groups of people tend to be more persuadable than single individuals.  From history, we have seen how public speeches can persuade mass groups of people to be and do more than single persons would choose to do, either positively or negatively.  The key aspect has to do more with the facet that when a herd or a flock is together, they tend to become a larger life entity than merely a sum of its parts.  Just watch a flock of birds in flight.  It looks like a blob of stuff, flowing through the air...and ATTENTIVE people in crowds function in the same way.  They become aware, perhaps on a subconscious level, of others whom are standing about them, and thus, tend to react similarly.

Therefore, it is far easier to hypnotise or perform AIM with a group rather than an individual.  The difference is that with AIM, you bring your entire script, published, in advance, so your audience can read it and decide if they fully want to participate or not.

Now, there are some things of which you need to be very aware, if my site hasn't been blunt enough.  First of all, words must mean exactly what they say.  "Cool" means "cold" while "Hot" refers to Temperature.  If you intend to have them mean otherwise, you need to say, "You look so great" or "You feel sexy." You cannot rely upon slang.

You need to have an understanding of trust from your participants.  This cannot be from acting.  If you have limitations and hesitations, TELL YOUR AUDIENCE.  The more honest that you are, the more trust they will give.  This is not an ego trip, for there is no POWER in hypnosis at all, only trust.  They are going out on a limb for you.  Be very careful to remember that the people here are the stars, NOT YOU.  You must not ask them to do anything which would offend them, for you can do permanent psychological damage to them if you offend them enough to awaken and leave without you removing your suggestions.

I'm leaving out the induction part for I am finding that each person has their own favorite.  Mine is published here.

Intermixed with your induction, be sure to say,"...and you only hear my voice..." from time to time.  This removes the possiblity that they will become merely suggestable to everyone.

I HIGHLY recommend that you do hypnosis with one single person, do stagework with them alone, and then wake them up so they can watch you do someone else.  In this way, you don't take on too much work in one session.  Five people going screaming crazy because you suggested that they're all nuts can be way too intense, and if you panic, you're screwed, because they are going to feed off your emotions.  I did single person sessions for about two years.  I'd go to parties and announce that I was learning hypnosis, and did anyone want to try it.  Everyone wanted to try it.  So, I did little 30 minute sessions, one right after another, some in public, and some just with their friends watching in a room.

I HIGHLY recommend that, after the induction but before you actually go and do anything, you set an ANCHOR.  The purpose of this is for YOUR SECURITY!!!  Say to them,

The surest way to get a person deeply into their subconscious is through a couplet:  Make an OBJECTIVE statement, and follow this by one or more SUBJECTIVE questions.  Such as:

"You see a tree.  What color is it?  Is there fruit of any kind?  How tall is it?"
"There is a house on a hill.  What color is the house?  How tall is the hill?"

Start by testing the person's sensory imagination with their eyes closed.

My favorite is to go with known cartoon or TV/Movie characters which would be impossible to actually meet.  Such as

"In your mind, you find yourself on a hill, surrounded by wilderness.  Do you see it?  What does it smell like? There's a clear stream nearby.  What does it look like?  How does the water taste?   How do you feel about being here?"

Now, toss in an impossiblity.

"Oh look.  Mr. Spock has just beamed down.  What is he saying to you?  He hands you something.  What is it?  Mr. Spock is here to meet someone.  Oh look, it's..."  Here's where you toss in an impossible character from a cartoon.  A two-dimensional cartoon, or even worse, a black-and-white one that is walking around in a color environment. "Felix the Cat, but he's in black and white. Mr. Spock starts talking to Felix.  Tell me everything they talk about."

These get goofy as hell.  Two totally, radically different fictional characters having a conversation.

During the conversation, you can steer the content by tossing in additives.  "Mr. Spock tries to tell a joke.  What is it?"

Hypnosis like this is similar to having cartoons for people to live within.

If the person is showing good imagination, we should move to the next step.

Tell them,"I now want you to open your eyes, but NOT wake up.  You will find that things I suggest will happen and be real.  Your mind will merge your imagination with your reality to create an altered reality.  You have this ability, and I will show you how to use it."

They will likely open their eyes very slowly, but look like a person whom is very relaxed, almost spooky and zombie-like.  This is normal, for they are essentially sleepwalking.  You need to take care of them, for they are most vulnerable.

Mind you, if you speak German, French, Russian, Czech, or even Klingon (the new Universal language), please use words that work for you and your participants.  The words "ANCHOR" and the character "Mr.Spock" are subjective to my intellect.  Use whatever is natural for yours.  Let your imagination be totally FREE within the confines of the job of hypnotist.  Please avoid playing the role of hypnotist, with the waving of arms and seeming superficial.  You do yourself no limit of harm, for people have great fear of the unknown, and hypnosis is deeply feared.

With eyes open, ask the person to watch you.  Tell them that your face is made of putty.  Now, grab your nose (slide your fingers off your nose) and *pull* it so that it's long, like Pinocchio, while saying "So I can pull my nose out here, and then grab my ears and pull them way up here, like an elephants, and pull the bottoms way down here."  Place the palm of your hand on your forehead, and push upwards, sliding over your forehead into your hair, then say, "And then move my forehead back here.  And then grab my cheeks..."

By this time, if they are not totally freaking out, they aren't seeing you like this at all.

Before moving onwards, you need to move your hands around your face and say,"Okay, I'm back to normal."
 
If they were not freaking out...Skip to *HERE*.

Test for visual applied imagination.

Find someone the hypnotised subject knows and then say,"I'm going to introduce you to someone you've never met in your entire life."  And then bring the friend forward.  Watch the exchange.

"And now you recognize (Him/her)"

Watch for a moment

"Uh...no, it's not who you thought it was.  You don't recognize them after all."

Watch this...

"It is said that when approaching death, some people don't even remember their own family or friends.  Recognition is a tiny mental switch, and it can turn on or off.  Now, you do recognize who it is, which is the truth.  How do you feel about that discovery you just made about your own mind?"

Look up and point to the ceiling.  "How did that happen?  The floor is down there.  We're upside-down."

This is even more intense outside.  Have the person lie down in the grass or on a chaise.

"Consider the following."  Point to the ground.  "This is the ceiling and that" point into a cloudless, starry sky "is the floor.  Feel yourself drifting off into space.  How does that feel?  From this perspective, how do you see yourself in relation to the whole universe?"  (much like experiencing the "Total perspective vortex," as coined by Douglas Adams in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.")

Between things, such as going outside and coming back in, be sure to say "Okay, everything is back to the way it was yesterday."

Faux intros.

I don't recommend doing this with real names, but I've done it and it's still weird.  Bring up some people and introduce them as someone they're not.  "I'd like to introduce you..."  What I don't recommend is the name of a musical group that the person really wants to meet, for they will be upset that it really didn't happen (I know this from experience, but if you want to do it anyway, I understand about experimenting to learn things yourself).  Instead, I'd recommend an impossible group, such as characters from a comedy. "...to the guys that starred in 'The Full Monty.'"

One of the things you can do with people-to-people suggestions is to toss in sexual or denuding comments.  Whatever you do, I highly recommend that you know well the limits of your patient before suggesting that they are naked.  Everyone else can be, but not your patient because you don't want to embarass them.

Last suggestion I learned most recently while watching Jerry Harris doing hypnosis here in town.  These are not a quote of Jerry's words.  They are just my interpretation on how I would word it.

"Close your eyes.  Now, for a little while here, you will find that I am totally invisible.  You don't see me, nor recognize my existance, though you still will respond to my words, you won't take any notice of me, as if I'm not there at all.  Your mind will edit me out of your reality."

I saw Jerry pick up a hat off one guy, straight up, and moving as if it were floating away...and the guy believed it.  To him, it looked like his hat flew away from him.  You can have lots of fun with this, but remember who is vulnerable here.

When you're done, say,"And as I pack away my cloak of invisibility, you find that I can be seen again, just as I had been before we met today."

My favorite among this is to play adventure games with someone whose invested time in this, but you can do the same by letting them take a break and have a character from their favorite TV show or movie (so long as the entity/personality is of good and not evil, or you may find yourself in a world of hurt).   "I want you to close your eyes, and you will, for a time, take a break, while Mr. Spock (or whoever you should choose) takes over your body."

Then you can talk to this person, and note how deep their ideosycracies change to that of the new character.  By understanding this, you can see how someone could believe they were a reincarnation.

If you did this with someone who was very studied upon a world leader, good or bad, you might find yourself dealing with a very difficult situation, so I suggest limiting it to TV or movie characters.

At the end, just say ANCHOR and then tell them their name, adding "You have returned to control, and that experience will never happen again.  How did that feel?"

*HERE*

Other senses...

Give the person a glass of water.

"Taste this.  What does it taste like?"
Water, is the answer.
"Now it's milk.  taste it."
"Now it's beer.  What type?"
"Now it's wine.  What type?"
"Now it's ____..." (you take over)
"Now it's the greatest flavor in the world.  What is it?"
(This is the best part, for the answer is totally unique for each person)

Open a book and hand it to a person.
"Smell this.  What does it smell like?'
"Now it smells like flowers.  What kind?"
"Now it smells like candy.  What type?"
"Now it smells like ____..."
"Now it smells like the greatest flavor in the world.  What is it?"
An additional question you can ask is "Remember the first time you smelled this.  Where were you and what were you doing?  Tell me about it."

The ultimate hypnosis trick isn't a trick at all.  It's a will of skill, and you need at least six people to do it correctly and safely, as well as two chairs with backs that have flat, wide tops of the backs.

What you are going to do is to have a person become so rigid that they will become stiff as a board, and then, with helpers, you will lift him/her and place him/her with only the backs of the ankles on one chair top, and only the shoulderblades on the other, in the middle of the shoulders.

Make sure to turn the chairs around so that people can sit backwards on the chairs to spot the person.  Now, with the other four people nearby, you begin talking to your subject.

"What I want you to do now is to prove to everyone here that you are stronger than they ever thought you could be.  To do this, I need you to stand up straight.  Now, put your ankles together.  Now tightly close your legs together.  Put your arms tightly to your sides.  Now, close your eyes.  With these helpers, I want you to slowly fall backwards into their awaiting arms (MAKE THIS HAPPEN VERY SLOWLY), and as you are gliding, you are getting stronger and stronger, always becoming more rigid and stiff.  You are getting stronger and stronger and stronger."

Anywhere you see that he/she is loose, touch there and say,"Make this stronger NOW, stronger than you have ever been before."

The person will become totally rigid.  So, just like a board, have your helpers pick him/her up and then adjust the chairs so that the supports are there.  Once he/she's in place, move all but the two sitting spotters away.  Take a video camera and shoot this!!!

"Now, I want you to get even stronger than before.  Arch your back up  to here."

Touch his/her belly and back at the same time, so they know where to arch up.

"Now, your Left leg is getting even stronger, but your right leg is getting lighter.  So much so that you lift it, higher and higher.  You back muscles are tighter and stronger than ever, but now your arms are also getting lighter and lighter.  Let them lift up, too."

Photograph or video this...it's amazing.

Move all helpers around the persons, for now the person is about to go totally limp, and needs everyone's help.

"I'm going to count from three to one.  When I get to one, I want you to totally relax, unlike you have ever relaxed before."

Make sure everyone is in place, lifting him/her off the chairs and standing him/her up.

"Three...two...one...relax."

Gently, bring the person to a sitting position on a chair, or lying down somewhere

"And now totally relax."

This is a good place to end.

"Now, before we finish, since you have done all this work, learning how to do self-hypnosis, let's set a key word.  You will be the only one that can use this.  No matter who says this, or even if it comes into converstaiond, and not even I can induce this.  But whenever you want, all you need to do is to decide that this is the time you want to return to at least as relaxed as you are now.  So, what you will do is to make this decision and then take a deep breath and exhale whenever you desire.  Now, take a few normal breaths, taking care to move and make yourself as relaxed as you can wherever you are standing, sitting, or lying down, and then close your eyes, take a deep breath, and as you exhale say this word, which will immediately trigger a response of a very deep and restful relaxation.  And that word is..."

Choose an uncommon word from a foreign language.  I use "Quid" (from Latin), but anything will work.

"From now on, whether you are stressing out, about to take a test, or just need a time-out from your emotions, this will give you a needed break.  However, please, never do this while driving a car.  Pull over or stop the car and take it out of gear, unless it's absolutely necessary, for it will be unsafe to do while driving because you may lose touch with reality for a minute or two.  Also, if you are ever doing this, and you become aware that something is wrong...if you smell smoke or have any emergency, please notice how much energy you have to go and deal with your problem now.  There will be time to relax later."

"So, now, after I count from three to one, I want you to wake up.  I want you to remember whatever you want to remember, and not remember whatever you don't wish to remember, but find that you really had a good time, and if given the chance, you'll want to do this again.  Three...two...one...Wake Up."

That's it.  You've just completed the basics for stage hypnosis.  In time, you may want to take on the whole crowd, but that's your choice, your concern, and, if you do it, your responsibility.  However, check your local laws.  Stage hypnosis is Illegal in Texas, and it may be, as well, in your town.