a simple introduction to cold reading

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A Simple Introduction ToCold Reading

by Ian Rowland


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The author teaching an Applied Cold Reading(ACR) class in central London.


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This is a free booklet from...

www.thecoldreadingconnection.com

The Cold Reading Connection is maintained by IanRowland. The aim of the CRC is to bring you the bestinformation, training and resources about cold readingand related fields.

This is a copyright document and all rights are reserved.However, you can copy and distribute it as much as youlike so long as you keep it intact, give full credit, anddon’t make money out of it or use it to add value to apublication or website.

— Ian


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Publishing Details

A Simple Introduction To Cold Reading

First edition.

Copyright © Ian Rowland Limited, 2015, London England.All rights reserved.

Published by Ian Rowland Limited.

All rights reserved. This publication may not be copied orreproduced in whole or in part by any means or in any way

whatsoever without the specific written permission of theauthor.

This publication is free. It is supplied from this website:www.thecoldreadingconnection.com

The author’s personal website is:www.ianrowland.com

Dedication

I dedicate this simple introduction to cold reading to all mymany friends in what might loosely be termed ‘the coldreading community’. Thank you for all the good times shared,and for all those yet to come.


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Contents

Statement Of Values 8

An Enduring Fascination 9

The Joy Of Cold Reading 9

What Is Cold Reading? 11Non-psychic Flavours 13

What is Applied Cold Reading (ACR) ? 14

Historical Perspective 15

Who Learns Cold Reading And Why? 15

How Do People Learn Cold Reading? 16

How Does Cold Reading Work? 20Seven Steps 20

The Great 'Psychic' Debate 23

Related Subjects 25Non-verbal communication (NVC) 26Clear communication 26Voice training 26Pure language 27Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) 27

Persuasion skills 27The Ethics Of Cold Reading 27

My Story: How I Got Into This 28

The Cold Reading Connection 29Your Comments Are Welcome 30


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Statement Of Values

This publication is supplied primarily from:www.thecoldreadingconnection.com

Cold reading is sometimes used to give personal readingswith a psychic, psychological or mentalist flavour. In thiscontext, I only promote cold reading which is:

· positive, responsible and benign

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intended to help people to make sense of their life, aswell as providing entertainment

· intended to help people to feel relaxed and confidentabout themselves, their potential, their relationshipsand their future

Cold reading can also be used in other contexts, such as sales,management and therapy. I call this Applied Cold Reading, orACR for short. When I teach ACR, I say its purpose is to:

· promote good communication, rapport andunderstanding

· ensure that each conversation results in a positiveemotional gain for both parties

These are my values, and the values promoted via The ColdReading Connection.


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An Enduring Fascination

Welcome to what I believe is one of the most fascinatingsubjects in the world!

Cold reading has been part of my life for over thirty years. Ithas proved to be an enduring passion, as well as an endlesssource of fascination and fun. More importantly, my interestin this beautifully curious subject has enabled me to meetcountless wonderful and interesting people from around theworld, many of whom I’m lucky enough to count as friends.

They come from many walks of life, but share my interest incold reading and related arts.

Cold reading is one of those areas where the more I know, themore I’m aware how little I know, and how much there is stillto learn! I look at this in a positive way. It would be a shame toever reach the stage where there was nothing left to learn orshare.

In this short introduction to cold reading, I want to tell you alittle bit about the subject and clear up a few commonmisunderstandings. I also hope I can convey some of my ownenthusiasm for the subject, and help you to appreciate howcold reading (in its many different forms) may touch on manydifferent aspects of your personal, social and professional life.

Perhaps you will find that cold reading becomes for you, as ithas for me, an enduring fascination!

So, let’s get started…


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I have seen the fun that cold reading can create — the smiles,the happiness, the laughter. In some ways, cold reading is agift you can give to more or less anyone, more or less

anywhere.

Cold reading, like music, can cross cultural barriers andprovide an international language of communication andpositive expression. I must have given readings to people offorty or fifty different nationalities by now, and while thecultural background may shift and change the results tend tostay the same: intrigue, fascination, hope, smiles, confidenceand a sense of delight. These are all good things to bring into

the world.

The joy of cold reading is the joy of connecting with people,and promoting feelings of self-belief and hope for tomorrow.It’s the joy of helping people to feel relaxed and confidentabout themselves, their potential, their relationships and theirfuture. It’s the joy of fun, shared laughter, good times andgood spirits.

Perhaps that’s why people have been giving readings to oneanother since forever. Perhaps that’s why they always will.


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What Is Cold Reading?

Because cold reading is a rich and complex subject, we coulddefine it in many different ways. Here is one good definitionthat will suffice for the time being:

Cold reading is the art of providing a personal reading — ofa psychic, psychological or mentalist nature — without priorinformation about the client.

The alternative is, unsurprisingly, known as ‘hot reading’.

This refers to cases where the reader (the person giving thereading) does have some prior information about the client (theperson she is giving the reading to). The reader might obtainthis information either openly or covertly. There are lots ofways to secretly obtain information about someone before areading — ranging from the very simple to the very devious!

By the way, I tend to use the female pronoun when I refer toeither readers or their clients. This is purely because mostpeople who give readings, and most people who go forreadings, happen to be female. There are of course malereaders and clients, but they just aren’t as numerous. It’sinteresting to speculate as to why this is so.

Cold reading is most commonly associated with the psychicindustry. Some readers use tarot cards, runes or a crystal ball.Others give readings based on the palm of your hand, asample of your handwriting or an astrological chart. In fact,readings can be based on just about anything. Many historical

types of ‘divination’ sound rather weird, to say the least. Forexample, ‘ophiomancy’ is divination based on serpents, while‘tiromancy’ is a form of divination based on cheese! I’ve neverseen anyone give a reading based on cheese, but I expect I’dfind it fascinating and hilarious.

The field of psychic readings is certainly wide and varied.Most readings are given personally, one-on-one, but readingscan also be given remotely, via phone, mail or internet. I get

the impression that as soon as any form of communication isinvented, someone, somewhere figures out a way to use it forcold reading purposes.


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Personally, I think that cold reading in the most accurate senseof the term involves real-time interaction between the readerand client, either in person or via phone or internet. Where

this sense of live interaction is missing, such as when a readersends a written astrological profile through the mail, I personally don’t think of this as cold reading in its truest sense.However, others would take a different view.

Non-psychic Flavours

Not every reader suggests that the readings they give are

‘psychic’ in nature. There are many readers who present andframe their readings in other ways. For example, some saytheir readings are psychological in nature, or spiritual. Youmay or may not feel this makes much of a difference — somewould say it’s a case of same bread, different wrapper. It’svery much a matter of personal opinion.

Cold reading also sometimes crops up in mentalism, so let metake a moment to explain what mentalism is. There are many

musicians in the world, but they make many different kinds ofmusic: classical, rock, soul, jazz… and so on. Similarly, thereare many magicians in the world, but they specialise indifferent areas and do different things. Some magiciansspecialise in close-up magic while others only do stageillusions or kids shows. One branch of magic is called‘mentalism’. This is magic of the mind and imagination, and itoften involves routines with a psychic or psychological flavour— demonstrating telepathy, predicting the future and so on.Many mentalists incorporate elements of cold reading intotheir work, or give readings in informal situations. Just for therecord, I’m a magician myself. I’m a member of the InnerMagic Circle, and mentalism happens to be the area in which Ispecialise.

There are many other flavours of cold reading, but in thisshort introduction I can’t mention all of them. The main pointis that not everyone who gives personal readings is necessarilyclaiming to be psychic. This is a common misunderstanding.


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What is Applied Cold Reading (ACR) ?

Part of my fascination with cold reading stems from the factthat it can teach us a lot about successful communication. Thisis another of my passions, as well as being a large part of howI earn a living.

I have been a professional freelance writer for most of my life.When I tell people this, they tend to ask me what sort of thingsI write. The answer is: whatever the person paying me wantsthem to write. It really is as broad as that.

I’ve worked in creative media, sales and marketing, thesoftware industry and many other fields. I’ve helpedcompanies to sell everything from shoes to engineeringservices, and I’ve written plenty of those ‘User Manuals’ thatno-one ever reads. I’ve even ghosted complete books forpeople, which I rather enjoy doing!

A long time ago, when I was working mainly in sales andmarketing, I started applying some cold reading techniques tothe business world. For example, I found ways to use coldreading when meeting sales prospects, or handlingnegotiations. I called this ‘Applied Cold Reading’, or ACR forshort. I define it like this:

ACR is a set of communication strategies, to do with thepsychology of communication, that enable you to influencewhat others think, feel and believe.

The main purpose of ACR is to make sure that next time youhave any kind of professional meeting or dialogue, there is apositive emotional gain (PEG) for both parties.

When I started teaching ACR in 2008, I was pleasantlysurprised by the sheer range of people that applied to studywith me — sales professionals, therapists, students,entrepreneurs, business development managers, housewives,teachers, doctors, political advisors, charity workers… the list

goes on and on! Quite a few students said they just wanted toimprove their ‘people skills’.


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Historical Perspective

Whatever else you can say about cold reading, it certainly isn’tnew. It’s been around as long as cows.

You can look at every era in history, and every part of theworld, and you’ll find examples of ‘divination’ of one kind oranother. The specifics may vary, because there are fashionsand trends in cold reading as in anything else: tarot cardsmight be madly popular in one place, while elsewhere it mightbe runes that draw the crowds. Nonetheless, wherever you

look you will find someone offering readings and someoneelse willing to pay for them.

In every part of the world I’ve visited, I’ve found cold readingthriving in one form or another. From America, Australia andArgentina to Sweden, Slovenia and Singapore, I’ve seenpeople offering readings of many different kinds, bothformally and informally — and always with plenty ofinterested and satisfied customers. This shouldn’t come as asurprise. A fundamental component of human psychology isthe desire to know what lies beyond the normal scope of ourknowledge.


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Who Learns Cold Reading And Why?

I always enjoy sharing what I know and learning from otherpeople. I’m lucky enough to have made many friends aroundthe world who share my interests, and the internet makes iteasier than ever to communicate, share and keep in touch.

One thing I have found is that people learn cold reading, orACR (applied cold reading) for many different reasons. Hereare just a few common ones:

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they work in sales or management, and learn ACR toimprove their communication skills

· they perform mentalism routines, and want toincorporate a bit of cold reading into their act

· they are full-time therapists and appreciate that ACRcan help them to build instant rapport with their clients

· they have a background in counselling, and want togive personal readings as an adjunct to their other work

· they just have an interest in the psychology of humancommunication, and want to study cold reading indetail even though they don’t have any direct,immediate use for it


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How Do People Learn Cold Reading?

There are four different ways that people approach coldreading.

Formal Study

One is what we might call Formal Study, i.e. the readerchooses a discipline such as tarot and then studies it, either byattending a class or buying a course of some kind. There isnever any shortage of courses on offer, as you will see if youdo a quick search online.

This approach suits those who invest some degree of belief inwhichever discipline they choose to study, and feel they aregenuinely gaining some sort of insightful knowledge.

On a personal note, I think a fascinating aspect of thisapproach is what happens when you start to experiment withit and ‘test’ whatever you are taught. For example, suppose

you have formally studied the tarot, and then give a reading inwhich you deliberately say the cards mean the opposite ofwhatever they are officially supposed to mean. Somedemonstrations suggest that the reading will be just assuccessful as it would be if you read the cards ‘correctly’. Thesame goes for any other type of personal readings.

I’m not saying this proves that formal study is a waste of time.Some people get something from it and enjoy it, and that’s

fine. I’m just saying that it doesn’t seem to be essential in orderto give very good and successful readings.

Stocks

Some cold readers rely on stock lines, known as ‘stocks’ forshort. They can get these lines from many sources as well asfrom their own accumulated experience of giving readings.

These stock lines can be categorised in many different ways,e.g. demographic group, context, theme, age of the client andso on.


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Some readers find they can get by with quite a small set ofstocks, whereas others make it their business to build up trulyvast lists of stocks that they carry around in their head.

This approach is versatile, since you can apply the same stocklines to just about any form of personal reading: astrology,tarot, palm or whatever. People who use a lot of stock lineslike the confidence it gives them that they will always havesomething to say, and never ‘run dry’.

I know that using a lot of stock lines can work very well — I’vemet more than a few readers who love their set of stock lines,

which they have painstakingly acquired over many years, anduse them very successfully.

My only reservation with stocks is that they tend to involverecitation by rote, so you need to be a good actor to make thereading sound fresh and spontaneous. My other reservation isthat you can spend a long time learning stock lines withoutever understanding why they actually work. I’ll come back tothis point later.

Trigger Systems

A ‘trigger’ system, also known as an association system, is arefined version of Stocks. The easiest way to explain it is togive a simple example. Suppose that the reader has learned 26stock lines, and associates each one with a letter of thealphabet. She asks the client her name, and then deliverswhichever lines correspond to the client’s initials.

That’s the basic idea of a trigger system: associate preset lineswith common variables. The benefits of a trigger system arethat the reader is never short of something to say, and eachreading is different (or at least as different as the systemallows).

There are countless variations on this idea. They are not allbuilt around the client’s initials, and they are not all as

simplistic as the example given above. There are triggerssystems for giving palm readings, tarot readings, graphologyreadings and many other kinds of readings as well.


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My System

My approach to cold reading is a little different to the other

three. Let me explain the difference by using a couple ofanalogies.

Suppose I’m teaching you how to play the guitar (which I playmoderately badly). I could teach you the chords for Tune 1,and you would then know one tune. I could teach you thechords for Tune 2, and then you would know two tunes. Wecould carry on like this, with you just learning each tune byrote, but it would be a rather tedious process. Alternatively, I

could teach you a bit of basic chord theory and how it allworks. From that point on, you would be able to listen to anytune and find the chords for yourself. Instead of just learninglots of specific examples by rote, you would understand theunderlying patterns, and then you could play as many tunesas you want.

A similar thing happens when school children are learningabout mathematics. At first, the teacher puts up one specific

equation or problem, and the class learns how to figure out theanswer. Then it’s on to the next equation, and the next.Eventually, the teacher explains algebra, or how to think aboutcalculations in abstract terms, rather than dealing with specificnumbers. Once the student has understood algebra, she cansolve as many equations as she likes because she understandsthe underlying principles.

My own approach to cold reading, as it applies to givingpersonal readings, works the same way. It doesn’t involvelearning any specific lines or things to say. It involvesstudying the underlying principles involved, so you can giveany sort of reading you want.

This is the approach that I explain in detail in my book on coldreading. I’ve never given it a name, although I suppose I couldcall it the ‘Universal’ system or just stick my own name on it!

In the next section, ‘Seven Steps’, I’ll attempt to summarise my

system in the space of a page or two, which isn’t easy.


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How Does Cold Reading Work?

Let’s start with some common myths.

A lot of people seem to think cold reading involves shrewdobservation based on reading body language, fishing for clues,or just making vague guesses that gullible people will easilyaccept. In fact, these techniques have little, if anything, to dowith cold reading. However, these misconceptions seemimmovably entrenched in popular opinion.

Ten years from now, I’m sure I will still see magazine articlesand online ‘experts’ declaring that cold reading involvesdeductions based on body language. It is rather unfortunatethe way some ideas enjoy immortality even though they arebaseless and incorrect.

So, with those myths out of the way, how does cold readingwork? As this is only a short introduction to my own approachto cold reading, I can’t go into the subject in great detail, but Ican at least sketch the outline.

Seven Steps

I divide my approach to cold reading into seven steps, asexplained below. Please bear in mind that this is a verysimplified overview of a 220 page book!

1. The Setup

There are several things a good reader can do before thereading even starts to assist the whole process. These includecreating a suitable atmosphere, encouraging a co-operativeattitude, supplying a few pre-emptive excuses for eitherfailure or vagueness, and setting the client at ease.

The main point is to create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere and

to establish a warm, welcoming tone that encourages the clientto regard the whole process as something to be enjoyed andshared.


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2. Main Themes

Most people who go for readings want to hear about one or

more of these four themes or subjects: career, health,relationships or money (forming the acronym ‘CHaRM’).

The experienced reader therefore makes sure she touches oneach of these themes, and waits to see which one seems to beof greatest interest to the client. This doesn’t usually call forany great deductive skills. Most clients will be only to happyto openly state which theme or subject they want to hearabout. One client once said to me at the start of a reading,

‘What can you see about my trip to America — will it be asgood for my career as I think it will?’

There are other common themes as well, such as travel,education (in the sense of self-development) and aspirations,but these are not as important as the main four.

3. Main Statements

So, the reader tries to make sure the reading gets off to a goodstart, and is smart enough to stick to the main themes mostclients want to hear about. But what does she actually say?Well, having chosen a theme, she offers one or two statementsthat the client is likely to find meaningful. Note that in eachcase the reader offers the statement whereas the client providesthe meaning. This is an important distinction. In my book, Idescribe four types:

· statements about character

· statements about facts and events

· statements that are a disguised way to ask a questionand gain information

· statements about the future

In my book, I list about 36 different types of statements in all.I’m not saying this to advertise my book. I’m just pointing outthat it’s quite a big subject!


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4. Revisions

In cold reading, the reader is never completely wrong. If she

offers a statement that the client thinks is correct, or broadlycorrect, all is well. If she offers a statement that the clientthinks is incorrect, all is not lost. The reader can use what I calla ‘revision’ to turn things around, and make an incorrectstatement sound like it was right, or largely right, all along.There are eight different revisions, such as changing the time-frame or changing the interpretation of some words in thestatement.

5. Presentational Touches

In cold reading, what you say is important and so is how yousay it. There are many good presentational techniques thatreaders can use to assist the success of the reading, such asusing simple language that’s easy to understand, speaking at arelaxed yet consistent pace, and using sensory empathy toimbue the reading with some feeling and emotion.

6. Improvisation

Cold reading is an improvisational skill, and good readerstend to be good at ‘thinking on their feet’ and shaping thereading to suit the wants and needs of the client at the time.It’s not a case of drearily droning through a dry, preset script.For example, a good reader pays close attention to the clientand everything she says, even down to the smallest comment

or bit of feedback, so she knows when to expand on certainsubjects (that the client is really interested in) and not talk somuch about others (that she apparently isn’t bothered about).Another important idea is that of ‘bridging’. It’s supposed tobe one coherent reading, not just an assortment of statements,so a good reader looks for ways to link the parts of the readingtogether and bridge smoothly from one section to the next.


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7. Handling Sceptics

Experienced readers don’t often have to deal with sceptics or

sceptical attitudes, but every once in a while a client may turnup who seems to have a negative attitude towards the wholebusiness. This isn’t a problem for experienced readers, whohave several good ways to handle people like this. Forexample, they may use a bit of ‘re-framing’ to present thereading not as something the client won’t accept (e.g. amanifestation of psychic powers) but as something she will(e.g. a little bit of psychological insight).

Another smart strategy is for the reader to praise the cautious,sceptical attitude and say she welcomes it, as it indicates avery intelligent, enlightened mind. There’s always a chancethat this kind of gentle flattery might soften the client’sattitude, and at least the reader is making sure the tone isn’tconfrontational or argumentative.

That’s a very broad, very loose and very generalised overviewof how my approach to cold reading works.


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Interlude: Please Sneeze

Please tell your friends about this booklet.

In fact, please tell everyone you know. I’m serious: everyperson you know, or have ever known, or live with, workwith, love, can’t stand or just met at the grocery store whileyou were buying a cucumber. Tell everyone.

Tell them about this booklet, and about the website itcomes from:

www.thecoldreadingconnection.com

Why? Because ‘word of mouth’ advertising is veryimportant to a small business like mine. One of myfavourite authors, Malcolm Gladwell, uses the term‘sneezers’ to refer to people who are good at spreadingnews and information so it reaches as many people aspossible.

So please, sneeze for me. I’m asking nicely, and I’ll evenbeg if you want me to.

After all, I’d do the same for you.

Thank you!

— Ian


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The Great 'Psychic' Debate

As I have explained, not everyone who uses cold reading isnecessarily claiming any psychic ability. Nonetheless, sincethere is often an association with the psychic industry, peopleoften ask me whether I think psychic powers are real.

I’ve been around long enough to have met many differentpeople with strong views on the subject. I’ve chatted withpsychics, scientists, believers, sceptics, researchers and peoplewith interesting tales to tell all over the world.

Some people say, 'Psychic powers definitely exist'. The problemwith this view is that there is very little credible, peer-reviewed scientific evidence to support it.

Some people say, 'Psychic power definitely do not exist'. Theproblem with this view is that in every era in human history,and in every part of the world, you find people reporting'psychic' experiences of one kind or another. That's an awfullot of human experience and testimony to simply ignore ordismiss as meaningless.

My view is that it's a mistake to say that psychic ability is athing, like the chair you're sitting on, that either exists ordoesn't exist. In my opinion, psychic ability is a construct ofemotion, experience and perception. I say the truth is bestexpressed in eleven words:

Psychic powers are as real as you want them to be.

The good thing about this view is that I’m not asking you totake my word for it. All the available evidence supports thisview, and none of the available evidence contradicts it.


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Related Subjects

I have mentioned that I am fascinated by the subject ofcommunication. As a professional writer-for-hire, I have hadto learn a great deal about the difference between successfuland unsuccessful communication.

For this reason, I never see cold reading in isolation. I see it asone fascinating area of study among many others, and Ibelieve readers can tell the rest of us a great deal about good,clear and successful communication.

Here are some of the other areas that I have explored.

Non-verbal communication (NVC)

This includes, but is not limited to, body language and whatare referred to as ‘tells’: small, involuntary ‘giveaway’ cluesabout what someone is thinking and feeling.

Clear communication

A professional writer’s job often comes down to one simpleability: to say what you mean, mean what you say, and get ridof everything else. This looks like a very simple formula, but itcan be very difficult to achieve in practice. It applies to thespoken word just as much as it applies to the written word.

Voice training

We tend to take speech for granted, but it is in fact a ratherremarkable and impressive human faculty. The sad thing isthat very few people ever learn how to speak clearly, or to usetheir voice to their full advantage. This is a shame, becauselearning to use your voice to its full potential can reap bigrewards. My friend Anthony Wade, who works professionally

as ‘Dr. Voice’, helps people from all walks of life to use theirvoice to its full, rich potential.


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Pure language

My friend Judy Rees teaches what she refers to as Pure

Language. Normal, everyday speech involves lots ofmetaphors. You probably use half a dozen metaphors everyminute, without even realising it. This isn’t normally aproblem, but it can be very unhelpful in some contexts, suchas some forms of therapy. Pure language is about speakingwithout the needless clutter of unhelpful or distractingmetaphors.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)I’m not a huge fan of NLP, because I think some practitionersmake rather exaggerated claims on its behalf, or make claimthat have been checked out scientifically and found to be lessthan well substantiated. However, I don’t see it as my role toget very sceptical about these things. If you study NLP oranything else and get a few good insights out of it, and if ithelps you to communicate more successfully, then all to thegood. I take the view that good ideas are always welcome,from any source.

Persuasion skills

Persuasion is a subject I’ve studied in great depth, all the wayfrom Aristotle’s theories of motivation to meme theory; fromGestalt psychology to sales techniques such as SPIN and ‘yessets’. In addition, I know about persuasion from the point of

view of mentalists and other stage performers, whose workoften depends on being able to make people do what they wantthem to do, while seemingly exerting no control whatsoever!


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The Ethics Of Cold Reading

Cold reading necessarily invokes some ethical issues. This iswhy, on The Cold Reading Connection website, there is aseparate page about ethics. It summarises pretty mucheverything I want to say on the subject.

I am quite sure that discussions and disputes about the ethicsof cold reading will rumble on until the end of time, and therewill never be complete consensus. I try to treat everyone in afriendly, kind and respectful way, even if we disagree about

things. One thing I do know is this: friends can disagree aboutthings, and people who disagree about things can learn to befriends. In my opinion, this is far more important than gettingsnared and tangled in arguments and debates that never goanywhere, and never will.


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My Story: How I Got Into This

I often get asked about my own story, and how I came tostudy cold reading. Here’s the short version.

I got into magic when I was a youngster, and in my teens Istarted to specialise in mentalism (mindreading magic). A fewmagic shops sold booklets on cold reading, so I bought a few. Istarted giving readings at parties, and found that I bothenjoyed it and was fascinated by how and why it works.

When I started working, initially in the world of creativemedia and marketing, I started using some cold readingtechniques in my business life. This is what I eventuallynamed Applied Cold Reading, or ACR.

And that’s really all there is to it: I’ve been studying, using andpracticing cold reading ever since!

I have sometimes been asked by TV shows and magazines todemonstrate how effective cold reading can be. I’ve beenasked to act as an astrologer, tarot card reader, clairvoyant andspirit medium. I am the only person in history to havedemonstrated for TV, under test conditions, that I canapparently relay messages from the dead using cold reading.(Talking to the dead is not something I go around doing inreal life.) I have three small claims to fame:

· I taught mindreading to the FBI (including a sessiondevoted to cold reading).

· I was hired by the British Ministry of Defence to teachthem how to tell if people are lying (which involvedtouching on cold reading theory).

· I was hired to teach persuasion skills, including a bit ofcold reading, to the coaches who work with the BritishOlympics Team.


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The Cold Reading Connection

The main idea behind The Cold Reading Connection is simplythat final word in the name: connection.

I want to help people with an interest in cold reading andrelated fields to be able to connect with one another.

I want to explore how cold reading connects with a range ofother subjects, such as communication skills, persuasion,counselling and entertainment.

I also want to explore how cold reading, in many ways,connects with people’s personal, social and professional lives.

I hope that you will sign up for the website Newsletter. I knowthat you are wary about signing up for things, but I won’tsend you any spam or pass your details to anyone else. TheNewsletter is my way to:

· give you a lot of free information about cold readingand related subjects

· let you know about genuine discount offers from otherpeople that are worth knowing about

· help you to connect with one another

It’s true that I sometimes also tell you about new items I’moffering for sale, and I’m not trying to hide the fact. But this is

only one, small part of what the Newsletter is all about.


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Your Comments Are Welcome

This is a living document. I hope it will grow, develop and

evolve over time.

I welcome your comments. If there are other things you think Ishould include, or if you have notes or corrections for me, Iwould love to hear from you.

Smiles and magic…

— Ian Rowland

a simple introduction to cold reading

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