How Mentalists Read Your Mind The Art Of Cold Reading or Mind Reading | Page 34

“I get an impression of a particular interest or subject you were keen
on in your younger days: some field where you showed lots of
promise. I feel it was something on the creative/artistic side, where
perhaps your parents felt you might even have gone on to great
things, but somehow it was not to be …”

The anxious parents
“While all children have a few minor illnesses, I can sense something
more significant here. It may have been an illness, it could have been
an injury or an accident, but it was actually quite serious. I sense that
your parents were very worried at the time. Maybe more than they
really had needed to be, given that things turned out O.K.”

The lucky job
“Moving on in time, I’m looking now to around when you got your
first proper job, or made your first real career move. … mmm … This
is difficult … I get the sense that there was something lucky or
fortunate about it; maybe a strong coincidence or a fluke in your
favor. … Anyway, something not quite orthodox about how you came
to get this job … I think perhaps this makes sense to you?”
The concept builds on experiences which are common to people
raised in a given culture, and hence share a lot of common themes.
Thus generalities may sound specific, but remain ambiguous,
general or vague in nature and application.
“I sense a memory of an early experience in school, getting a special
compliment or even an award or something. There are letters
above the board – maybe your name. The teacher calls you … You
still remember the feeling … Proud … You can feel that pride even
now. That same sense of pride. That was a significant experience. You
felt so good about yourself. And that is part of the confidence that
you can feel now, as an adult.”

30