Cold reading techniques and how these can be a powerful mentalism skill to learn and master
One of the standout mentalism techniques is cold reading. Perform cold reading and you’ll have the crowd believe you’re a psychic or a mind reader.
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Cold reading techniques used by mentalists include techniques like the Barnum Effect. Barnum statements are general statements that people ‘make fit‘ to their own circumstances. Other cold reading techniques include reading body language. Mentalist are also advised to choose willing subjects. Where these subject are open to believe in psychic abilities and the idea of the spirit world. Another cold reading technique is to use statements in the negative. Or to use statements stated using both sides of the coin that when put together they cancel each other out.
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What is a cold reading?
Before we look at how you can use cold reading for your mentalism performance, lets explain what it is.
Cold reading has a couple of meanings, one of which is used by actors for rehearsal, which is referred to as theatrical cold reading.
But for this article that’s not what we are talking about.
The cold reading techniques I am referring to in this article can be performed on a theatre stage. But these cold reading techniques are not only used by mentalists, but are also adopted by psychics, fortune tellers and mediums.
The illusion created by cold reading implies that the ‘reader‘ knows more about the person than they actually do.
Some of the psychics and mediums are actually scam artists. Most psychics and mediums know exactly what they are doing, which his to trick people into believing they can read their minds.
They use the cold reading technique to impress their audience that they are talking to the spirits. They use clever techniques similar to how mentalists work, which have people really think you’re speaking with a loved one who has died.
Derren Brown on what cold reading is and how to use it
An interview with Derren Brown with Richard Hawkins explaining what cold reading is and how to use it.
Cold reading is used by mentalists including Derren Brown. But cold reading is also used by psychics, spiritualists, palm readers and graphologists.
Mentalists and others use cold reading as a way of communicating. When they use cold reading, it comes across as though they know everything about you. They are able to reveal facts seemingly about your life. Plus describe your character in ways that you’ll be amazed by.
But cold reading is a linguistic trick or a set of linguistic tricks, where the mentalist is saying words and the subject is constantly supplying the meaning to those words themselves.
Cold reading in mentalism
When mentalists include cold reading amongst their mentalism tricks, people genuinely believe that they are reading people’s minds.
Mind reading or telepathy is not known to be possible. However, the techniques mentalists use convince people that telepathy is possible. People are convinced that mentalists have some kind of sixth sense or possess the power of extrasensory perception (ESP), when in fact they don’t.
Learn the cold reading techniques and include them into your performance and you’ll wow your audience.
When you’re mastering mentalism, you’ll learn how to pick up on things like your subjects body language. But when you use cold reading you’ll also pick up on their age, their gender, how they dress and the way they speak and where they live from their accent.
A larger part of this technique is having the confidence to go with your gut. Use guess work and most of the time the subject will go along with you. They will tend to make the words ‘fit’ their life and lifestyle.
Combine these tricks and you’ll be able to demonstrate mind reading.
Barnum statements form part of the cold reading toolkit
Barnum statements are a cold reading technique which forms an important part of the cold reading technique.
A Barnum statement or Barnum Effect, named are the showman P. T. Barnum. The Barnum effect is also known as the Forer effect, and is a psychological phenomenon where subjects provide high accuracy ratings to a description about them and their personality.
This statement is supposedly tailored specifically to them, but when the statement is scrutinised they are vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people.
Watch the video below of an interview with Derren Brown where he uses such a statement on a group of subjects. In his example the same statement was used for all subjects. Also, the Barnum statement had been prepared weeks before.
Derren Brown also comments that even though the statement was very general, some gave it between 85-95% accuracy rating. They also confirm that the statement is very accurate and that it isn’t at all vague or ambiguous
Barnum statements explained by Derren Brown
In an interview of Derren Brown with Richard Hawkins he explains what a Barnum statement is.
How to get hits using cold reading using negative statements and statements that cancel each other out
A ‘hit’ in cold reading is when you make a statement about the subject, which may be an outright guess, and they agree to the statement. It may be that in some cases the subject has ‘made the statement fit,’ or in other words their willingness to believe makes the person keen to have statements made by the mentalist apply to their situation.
When you learn to cold read you need to include statements that are either expressed in the negative or carry both sides of an outcome or statements that together cancel each other out.
This concept is explained in the video below in an interview with Derren Brown.
Derren Brown explaining cold reading techniques and how to get cold reading ‘hits’
Body language in cold reading
With cold reading and mind reading, body language plays a part in the mentalists toolkit.
Understanding a persons body language can help to ‘read’ a person. People give a lot away through their body language. Where it can appear that the mentalist is reading the persons mind, they are not reading their mind, but instead reading what the subject’s mind is reflecting through their body language.
This body language reading plays a part in cold reading too. The mentalist will be able to pick up on body language signals, which will help to confirm statements they say to the person.
Another use of body language is that a persons body language can give clues about the person. Clues like their facial expressions and their posture can provide a wealth of knowledge about a person.
Choosing subjects willing to believe
Finding people who are open minded and willing to believe in mind reading or psychic reading, will give a better chance for a cold reading performance to be successful.
Avoid skeptics, and instead choose the people who are most willing to participate and open. One way to achieve this is to ask for volunteers, as anyone who puts themselves forward for a cold reading is more likely to believe in your psychic abilities.
What for visual clues in subjects
One technique to help ensure success in your cold reading is to begin profiling your subjects early on.
How people carry themselves and what clothes they wear can give clues to help you with your cold reading. You can also use a person’s ethnicity as another tool to profile a person and what characteristics that may apply to them.
Scanning subjects in this way, and by taking notes on the way people sit, what they are wearing and their body language will give you an advantage when you begin to use guess work to get ‘hits’ in your cold reading about them.
Another technique in cold reading is staging and performance
A big element to any mentalism act is about their performance and showmanship.
In your cold reading performance you need to convince the subject that you are really trying to read them or to connect with the spirits. Be dramatic and at certain points in your performance make out that you are finding it difficult to connect.
Use your arms and hands. Playing your hand to your forehead, and furrowing your brow will convince your subject that you are really trying to read their mind. It may be you are actually focused on reading their responses or body language, which would appear to the uninitiated that you’re trying to read their mind instead.
How do psychics know what they know?
Psychic mediums do not communicate with the spirit world. They are fake and scam people into believing they can speak to the other side.
Here’s Derren Brown performing a staged psychic reading:
As seen from this ‘fake’ psychic reading, it’s convincing that he knew things about this woman in the audience. However, all that he did was to use known cold reading techniques.
If you re-watch the video and pay close attention to the questions he asked and the statements he said. They are very general and could apply to most women of her age and for someone who’s lost a loved one.
The technique is extremely clever and can be learnt, either by reading mentalism books about the subject, or by taking a mentalism course to learn the skill. This is one of the most impressive techniques used by any mentalist, and it has to be said that Derren Brown is the master at this technique.
Psychic mediums don’t have psychic powers – they use the same techniques as mentalists
Psychics don’t actually know any more than the average person about you or anyone else. Unless they’ve somehow done some background research (which does sometimes happen too).
However, they use the same cold reading techniques describe above that is used in mentalism to ‘read’ people. This technique is not mind reading, but is finding general information about people, but that sounds specific.
They also rely on people complying and ‘getting things to fit.’ Some people are so desperate to speak with the spirit world that they find ways to make what the psychic says fit with their own life. This then seemingly makes it all sound real and convincing, when it’s not.
Psychics and mediums choose subjects who are willing to believe. They also use the concept of statement ‘hits’ where the psychic or medium uses a general statement, but that this statement is made to fit by the subject. When this happens, the subject feels the psychic or medium knows them and is somehow reading their mind.
Orson Welles cold reading
Finally, let’s take a look at an interview with the great Orson Welles talking about cold reading.
You’ll see that Orson Welles discusses ‘cold reading’, and makes reference to the type of analysis used by many phony psychics and fortune tellers. He talks about how they trick their customers into thinking they indeed do have special powers. He even goes so far as to call them crooks!
In then end psychics become so skilled at psychic reading that they actually trick themselves into believing they are truly psychic. When in fact they are cold reading.
Derren Brown video on how psychics use cold reading
Here’s Derren Browns take on psychics. He explains about the cold reading techniques used by them. This technique is used by psychics to fake their ability to read minds and speak with the spirits.
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I hope you enjoyed this article about cold reading techniques…
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