There are a few ways to install triggers in your subjects. Here are some tips to do so effectively.
Gauge your subject's suggestibility
Try to test if your subject is suggestible first, for example by doing a simple test where they can't move their hand, or feeling their hand rising into the air. You could also test for things like amnesia or visual hallucinations, though those tend to be harder especially in the beginning.
Keep it simple
It's easier to have one trigger do just one thing first, especially if you are working with someone you're not that familiar with yet. For example, a drop trigger should only drop the subject. Also, think about what could be a good basis for what comes next. The drop trigger could be a lead in to other triggers, or even associations for what comes next.
One new trigger at a time
Ideally, one or two new triggers maximum during each session would be easier to start with. This would be easier to keep track of.
Link it with a reward
"Every time I say X, you would feel Y" - where Y is a pleasant sensation of your choice. If you are specific about Y, it will work better. This could be specific in the type of sensation or the body part you want them to feel it in. For example, instead of "feeling good", you could go for:
- "feeling like you've just taken a hot bath"
- "feeling a sense of achievement"
- "you will feel a hand patting your head soothingly"
- "you will feel a tingling on your hand"
It could also simply be praise, or their favourite form of degradation. Or both - for example, saying that they're "a good little toy for me" can be both praise and degradation. It doesn't have to be tied to a trigger for it to be pleasant.
Link it with other triggers
If there are other triggers already there, you could use them together to create a complete experience. I suggest using a basic reward trigger and use it as a phrase for positive reinforcement. For example, having "good girl" as a reward phrase, and when the subjects react to the new triggers, using that old one to reward the subject.
Test that it works
During the session, keep using the trigger and listen or watch out for your subject's reactions to see if they work. If it's not working as well as intended, that's okay - have the subject describe how it feels to you and work from there.
Keep repeating the trigger
Keep emphasizing and practicing the trigger with your subject. Remind the subject of the intended effect, and go into specific details of what kind of effect it should have. You could also suggest that the trigger becomes easier and more automatic each time as it is used more and more.
Let the subject choose
On the other hand, if you would like to take a "softer" approach, you can use a trigger and keep it vague. For example, in the "feel good" trigger above, don't specify how it should feel like, but get the subject to explain how it feels to you. From there, you can choose to build it up alongside the subject, making this approach more collaborative. Encouraging subjects to introspect also helps them to focus deeper on the trance.
Conditioned response
You can also ask the subject to purposefully recreate the sensation you want, and then eventually it will become automatic, similar to classical conditioning. I've had this work for a "drop" trigger where the subject simply pretended to go into trance by flopping down and relaxing their body. But, it eventually became real - I executed the trigger once without warning, and the subject's body flopped on cue.
Be consistent
It is ideal to have a session at least once a week to practice the same triggers. Anecdotally, it takes about one month of weekly sessions for subjects to get used to going into trance easily. Depending on the subject, triggers may never stick at all after the session, but you will find installing them each time easier and easier.
Trigger by association
With enough repetition it would be easy to have subjects start dropping just from shifting into the right tone of voice as a hypnotist. So sometimes you do not need explicit triggers to get a certain result.
Be safe
Only have the triggers work with trusted people and only when it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Have fun!
Approach this with a mindset of play and exploration, and inviting the subject to see what would happen when a trigger is used. This takes pressure off any "performance" required and can help you both to enjoy the process.