Derren Brown: Archive
| Message ID: 00462 | [ Previous ] [ Next ] [ Up Thread ] |
From: ganetauk
Date: Tue Feb 19, 2002 6:25pm
Subject: t cold reading part 1
1. Remember that the key ingredient of a
successful character reading is confidence.
If you
look and act as if you believe in what you are doing,
you will be able to sell even a bad reading to most
subjects. One danger of playing the role of reader is that
you may actually begin to believe that you really are
divining your subject's true character!
2. Make
creative use of the latest statistical abstracts, polls
and surveys.
These can provide you with much
information about what various subclasses in our society
believe, do, want , worry about etc. For example, if you
can ascertain a subject's place of origin,
educational level, and his/her parents' religion and
vocations, you have gained information which should allow
you to predict with high probability his/her voting
preferences and attitudes to many subjects.
3. Set the
stage for your reading.
Profess a modesty about
your talents. Make no excessive claims. You will then
catch your subject off guard. You are not challenging
them to a battle of wits - You can read his/her
character, whether he/she believes you or not.
4.
Gain the subject's cooperation in
advance.
Emphasise that the success of the reading depends as much
on the subject's cooperation as on your efforts.
(After all, you imply, you already have a successful
career at character reading - You are not on trial, your
subject is!) State that due to difficulties of language
and communication, you may not always convey the
meaning you intend. In these cases, the subject must
strive to fit the reading to his/her own life. You
accomplish two valuable ends with this dodge - Firstly, you
have an alibi in case the reading doesn't click; it's
the subject's fault, not yours! Secondly, your
subject will strive to fit your generalities to his/her
specific life circumstances. Later, when the subject
recalls the reading, you will be credited with much more
detail than you actually provided! This is crucial. Your
reading will only succeed to the degree that the subject
is made an active participant in the reading. The
good reader is the one who , deliberately or
unwittingly, forces the subject to search his/her mind to make
sense of your statements.
5. Use a gimmick, such
as Tarot cards, crystal ball, palm reading
etc.
Use of props serves two valuable purposes. Firstly,
it lends atmosphere to the reading. Secondly, (and
more importantly) it gives you time to formulate your
next question/statement. Instead of just sitting
there, thinking of something to say, you can be intently
studying the cards /crystal ball etc. You may opt to hold
hands with your subject - This will help you feel the
subject's reactions to your statements. If you are using ,
say, palmistry (the reading of hands) it will help if
you have studied some manuals, and have learned the
terminology. This will allow you to more quickly zero in on
your subject's chief concerns - "do you wish to
concentrate on the heart line or the wealth line?"
