A funny thing happened on my way to the island. (Not really just on my way to the island, but it sounds cute). I kept listening and anticipating the use of the trigger “chair”. I know that the phrase has not been universally effective on me when awake, but when under the suggestion reasserted itself. The checking distracted from my full involvement in the imagery.
So what is it with triggers? It may simply be that they cannot be too common. The R trigger phrases do not come up in normal flow of conversation. When used they stand out and then their effects kick in. If you did try them where their use fit the flow of the conversation they might not work. Even so, such constructs will probably sound strange and this requires more mental processing of them and might give a greater chance for the trigger to be recognized.
Just “chair” is common and fits with normal conversation. Speech is processed and recognized by multiple complex brain processes and it may be that such a common phrase used naturally gets “handled” before getting to the part that responds to triggers. An analogy would be “sight words” in reading – for example nobody ever reads the word “the” as its components, it is recognized as a whole and processed as such. When “chair” came up in later conversation it was used in a naturally flowing and quick conversation and did not cause any impulse when used or a few seconds later when I noticed that it had been used.
A good trigger probably needs to be unmissable but this does not mean that it has to be obviously a trigger. Complex phrases, uncommon words, or unusual sights such as you holding a particular object would probably work. If you want immediate hypnotic and compulsive compliance you could try something semi-shocking like a chime or bell.
Post-hypnotic suggestions are interesting. It would be nice to try variants such as one that has me raising my arm and leaving it there until you touch it. If I have awake awareness of the arm being raised it would be interesting to see if I manage to lower it or if the power of the suggestion wins.
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