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