People have an internal “script” for hypnosis: swinging pocket watch = hypnosis. You're exploiting their expectations. A swinging pocket watch is a “point of eye fixation.” People pay closer attention to your words when they're staring at something. A swinging pocket watch tires out their eyes.

Do hypnotists use a watch?

Fixed-gaze induction or eye fixation - This is the method you often see in movies, when the hypnotist waves a pocket watch in front of the subject. The basic idea is to get the subject to focus on an object so intently that he or she tunes out any other stimuli.

Is Pocket Watch hypnosis real?

If you've ever zoned out while watching a movie or daydreaming, you've been in a similar trance-like state. True hypnosis or hypnotherapy doesn't involve swaying pocket watches, and it isn't practiced on stage as part of an entertainment act.