Planting anchors should be fun and simple. There’s no reason to use lots of different anchors for different people. Use standard anchors, and always use the same one for joy, or determination, for example. This way you won’t have to remember any more than necessary. You should make a habit of using your joy anchor (a certain touch, combined with a certain word, spoken a certain way) the moment somebody is very happy, no matter who it is. You will soon have put the same joy anchor in most of the people around you, and since you’ve been using the same one, you’ll always know how to trigger it. You won’t need to think about what you did for a particular person. And besides, if you always use the same anchor for the same emotion, no matter who the person is, and you’ve planted it in lots of people, what do you think might happen if you trigger the anchor in a room that has several of these people present? That’s right: you’ve just triggered multiple emotions. How’s that for a nice surprise!
* * *
Perhaps you still find all this anchor stuff a bit odd or mystical. If that’s the case, I suspect you may have skipped the last exercise. Because it’s actually very simple: you create a reflexive association in yourself or in somebody else, an association that links a behavior (the anchor) to a previous emotion. That’s it. Words really can’t do it much better justice. To understand how well it works, you have to go out and try it yourself.
Remember, just like when you practiced rapport, you can’t really ever have a “negative” result. The worst that can happen is that you don’t manage to establish the anchor very well and that nothing happens when you try to trigger it. You simply have to keep at it until you get the knack. When you succeed you will be making yourself and others feel happy, filled with creativity, and all the other positive emotions that you’ve anchored, like a good little cunning, thought-manipulating mastermind.
* * *
Your basic mind-reading training is almost over. Because of your knowledge of rapport, dominant senses, and subtle emotional expressions, you are now aware of what people are actually saying to you, what they’re thinking, and what they’re really feeling. You can tell when somebody tries to hide that they’re feeling pressured or being untruthful. You can easily interpret and respond to unconscious signs of acknowledgment and interest that you see in others. You’ve also mastered techniques for implanting ideas, opinions, values, and thoughts into the minds of others, and for the same reason, you are more alert to people who do these things to you. You know how to use anchors to get yourself into the exact emotional state you want to be in, and you can do the same to the people around you.
But there’s something missing.
You can’t call yourself a mind reader unless you can prove to people that you can read their minds. To finish, I will therefore teach you some neat mind-reading demonstrations that you can use to impress people. So get your mesmeric stare ready, cue the dramatic music, and light the red lights. The stage is yours.
11
Show Off
IMPRESSIVE DEMONSTRATIONS AND PARTY TRICKS
In which you learn some delightful mind-reading
tricks that you can use to impress your friends and
cause fear and panic wherever you go.
Thought reading as a form of entertainment is a little different from the everyday variety, of course. But for once, there won’t be lots of new techniques to learn, because these demonstrations are all based on the methods (or variations of them) that you’ve learned in this book. The only difference is that we present them differently than before, and to far more spectacular results. Just as with everything else, these tricks will take practice to give good results. Don’t expect to manage all the demonstrations perfectly the first time you try them. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. But with some patience, you won’t have any trouble mastering them. In fact, without being aware of it, you’ve already started practicing some of them.
Just remember that these demonstrations can have a very strong impact on the people who experience them. You know what you can and can’t do, but your participants won’t know the true limit of your “powers.” Feel free to explain that you can’t see straight into their minds or manipulate them at will—not quite. These party tricks can make you either a very popular person or extremely lonely, depending on how you handle the reactions of your friends and family.
Visible Thoughts
You know the thought somebody has in her mind.
This demonstration is basically about getting someone to think of an image, a sound, or a feeling. By secretly observing her eye movements, you can see which of the options she is thinking of. As you’ve probably realized, this involves using the EAC model from here, to determine which thought she has in her mind. We needn’t concern ourselves with whether the model is scientifically valid or not. For this trick to work, it is enough that you know what to look for. It’s a really simple trick, but it can have quite a shocking impact on the person you perform it for.
The following example is not intended to be repeated word for word. I’ve written it to allow me to explain the different stages of the demonstration in a clear way. When you’ve understood the principle, it’s up to you to pick suitable “themes” or thoughts to use. But for the time being, let’s imagine that you’re in some social situation where there are several other people around. Just one would be enough, of course, but there’s no harm in having an audience. Let’s imagine that someone has volunteered to take part in an interesting experiment in mind reading. You start out like this:
We’re going to conduct an experiment in mind reading. Thoughts are obviously very personal things, so we’ll stick to thoughts that we’ll create now, together. That way I’m certain not to uncover any private thoughts that you’ve been having. Just relax and follow my instructions.… Are you ready? Then let’s begin! Here comes the first thought. I want you to visualize your living room as clearly as you can. Do it now. Visualize the room. Try to include as many details as you can—furniture, pictures—build up an image of the whole room.…
Here, check for definite eye movements, for instance up and to the left. Any sign will work, as long as it is clear and consistent.
Good. Now you can erase that image. Instead, I want you to imagine the chorus of your favorite song. Take your time. I want you to really hear the music or the tune playing in your head.
Now check for a clear (and different) sign for sound: for instance, the eyes to one side, and perhaps even the head to one side. If you don’t get a good reading for sound, perhaps because your participant isn’t very tonal, just continue with a kinesthetic question as though nothing happened. Remember, your volunteer and the people watching you have no idea where this is going.
Let the music fade now. The last thing I want you to think about is how it feels to take a shower. Feel the nice warm water spraying over your body, feel the slippery floor or the bathtub under your feet.…
Now that you have noted eye signs for at least two of the three senses, you can ask her to go through the sensory experiences once more if you like, to make sure that her eye movements are consistent. If you don’t seem to get the same readings in the control round, tell her that it’s important that she see the room clearly, and feel the water against her skin (or whatever you’ve chosen), so that she doesn’t suddenly change her sensory experience of the different impressions you have given her. But if you have picked up some good, clear eye movements, you can proceed.
OK, now you’ve got some randomly selected, but quite different thoughts in your mind. Next, I want you to think of one of these: the living room or the shower. [Or one of the three, if you got good readings for all three.] Don’t tell me which one you’ve chosen; think about one of those two. If it’s the room, you can see it clearly in front of you again, and if it’s the shower, you can feel the warm water on your skin again.…
Now, all you need to do is pay attention to which way her eyes move, since that reveals what she’s thinking of. Tell her what thought she is conce
ntrating on. Prepare for screams. Let her try a few more times, and freak her out every time by always being able to read her mind.
Remember: throughout the demonstration, what’s going on will be very obvious to you, but believe me, it won’t be to anyone else. No one knows where you’re headed when you ask about the different sensory experiences, and any onlookers will merely be watching an interesting process. Your volunteer won’t know that she is moving her eyes, just as you probably weren’t before we discussed the EAC model. When we think, we are focused internally, and have no idea of what our bodies are doing. We know still less of what we’re doing with our faces, which, of course, we can’t even see.
* * *
The previous example involving rooms and showers would probably be a little strange if you tried to replicate it word for word. I just used it to demonstrate the principle. Because your choice is entirely free, as far as the different impressions are concerned, you can make the mind reading as personal and intimate as you like. The trick is just to divide the impressions into visual, sound, and sensual/physical sensations. One example for very good friends might be (in somewhat truncated form):
I want you to see your current boyfriend clearly in front of you.… Now I want you to hear the voice of your last boyfriend as he speaks to you.… And now I want you to remember what it was like when you hugged your very first boyfriend.… Now I want you to think of the one of these three men that you love the most, just as you did a moment ago, but don’t say anything.…
The possibilities are endless. The important thing here is for you to understand the principle. After that, you’re only limited by your imagination as to the sorts of thoughts you choose to use. In many situations it’s probably best to use impersonal thoughts, of objects or music. But if you think the situation and the company are right for it, you can use something like the last example to make the whole experience a lot more entertaining; let your volunteer choose the thought she has the most emotional involvement in. The thought that means the most to her, what she most wants to do, what she’s the most afraid of, and so on.
The good thing here is that you don’t actually need to know the contents of the thoughts. You don’t need to know what her favorite song is or what her boyfriend looks like in order for this to work. You just need to pay attention to how the eyes are moving. What makes this demonstration so effective is that your volunteer can think about things that are never revealed to you—yet you can still tell her what she’s thinking about.
A Bird in Hand
You know which hand an object has been concealed in.
This demonstration involves you repeatedly guessing which hand somebody has hidden a small object in. I will give you three different ways of doing this. I suggest you do this in sequence, and use a new method each time you repeat the demonstration. The more times you can repeat this, the more impressive it gets, since you do have a 50 percent chance of getting the first attempt right after all.
If you do it three times, one incorrect guess won’t hurt you too much, either. After all, this mind-reading stuff is difficult. Apart from demonstrating mind reading, you will give a demonstration of influence and control. Your participant will, to everyone else’s delight, and his own mild frustration, be completely defenseless in your hands.
The basic setup is to ask somebody to conceal a small object in one of his hands. Something you can hold inside your hand, like a ring, coin, rock, or a piece from a game. Then, you ask him to put both hands behind his back. Explain to him that he is free to switch hands as he likes, then he should choose which hand he will finally conceal the object in. When he has decided on a hand, ask him to close both hands into fists, behind his back, and then bring them out, in front of his body. Let the games begin!
The First Test
This method is a good one to begin with, as it is almost embarrassingly simple. All you need to do is use your ability to observe subtle physical changes in your volunteer. When he is holding his hands behind his back, switching the object back and forth between his hands a couple of times, you stand with your back to him. Ask him to hold his empty hand straight out, and raise the hand with the object to his temple.
This might sound strange, but I want you to fill your thoughts with feelings, the sensation of this hand. Take a couple of seconds to create a mental image of it, and then imagine it filling up your entire brain.
What you’re really after is to get him to hold his hand to his temple for five to seven seconds. The things you’re saying are just there to mask this fact.
Ready? Then you can take your hand down again, and put it next to the other one.… Do it NOW.
Right after you say “now,” you turn around and take a quick look at her hands. Don’t turn around too soon. You don’t want your audience to believe you snuck a peek while he lowered his arm. Give his hands a quick glance; that’s all you’ll need. One of the hands will be much paler than the other one. It hasn’t had the same blood flow, because it was held up to the temple, so you know that the pale hand is the one with the object in it. But don’t give this away at once.
To deepen the mystery, you should wait until the hands are both the same color again. After having quickly checked to see which hand it is, you look your volunteer in the eyes and are silent for a few moments, before dramatically revealing which hand holds the object.
I can see it clearly; there is a crystal clear image in there … an image of your … right hand! Open your right hand, please.
The Second Test
This time, your volunteer will be perfectly still, which will make the trick all the more astounding. This method demands more of your observational skills, however. Ask her to hold her arms extended in front of her and to look straight ahead. Make sure her arms are high enough and close enough together so that both of her arms are within her immediate field of vision. Now ask her to concentrate hard on the hand holding the coin or other object, without giving anything away, then wait for a few seconds.
If you’re lucky, you may already have seen a slight twist of the head, or even a quick glance, at the hand holding the object. These movements can be very small, however.
Here’s a tip: look to see if the tip of her nose starts pointing in either direction. If you observe any such movement, you can end it here and reveal which hand has the object. If not, you can proceed by asking her to create an image of the hand in her mind and to visualize it clearly in front of her. She won’t be able to resist taking a quick, almost undetectable look at the correct hand. It’s in the periphery of her field of vision, and the temptation to just take a quick look at it will be too big to resist. This will either happen unconsciously, after which you mind-read your way to finding the object, or she will realize that you made her look, which is a good reaction, too. After all, this is mind reading and influence we’re dealing with here.
Ask her to place her hands behind her back again, to switch the object around a few times. When she’s done, just as before, you ask her to extend her arms with closed fists.
The Third Test
The last method is completely based on suggestion. If you’re not sure it will work, have somebody try it on you first. You’ll see it works really well. It’s a true classic in the world of suggestion. Your participant has switched the object around for the last time and is holding her arms out again. On the first couple of attempts, the angle of the arms wasn’t such a big matter, but now you ask her to hold her arms straight out, parallel to the floor. Then ask her to close her eyes. This is the first stage of the suggestion:
I’m going to tell you a couple of things. All you need to do is listen. Try to imagine what I am saying as well as you can, but make sure not to move your arms. Hold them absolutely still. OK? Now, relax.… Good. Now I’d like you to imagine the object you’re holding slowly getting heavier … and heavier … and heavier. It’s as though it were made of solid lead.… It’s getting so heavy you can barely hold it anymore.… Feel it getting heavier.… It’s twic
e as heavy as it was when we started.…
You should have a result by this point: one of the participant’s arms will sink toward the floor. As soon as you see a small motion in one hand, small enough that only you can see it, you can end the demonstration with mind reading if you want:
Why not just open your right hand and let that awful heavy object fall out?
The spectators, who will have been a few feet away, will swear the hand never moved. But if this is your last demonstration, you might as well make it a really powerful one, and continue with the next step:
Now I’d like you to imagine that there is a string tied to your other arm. At the other end of that string, there is a helium balloon. It’s a big balloon, and it’s making your hand feel so light … so light. It doesn’t weigh a thing; it wants to fly.… The balloon is trying to lift you toward the ceiling … but you’re held in place by the lump of lead in your other hand, which just keeps getting heavier.… In fact, by now you’re actually holding a whole bucket of those heavy lumps of lead.…
Keep making one hand heavier and the other one lighter. In the end, the participant will be standing there with her arms wide apart, one pointed down and the other one pointed up, like a big letter “K.” How far apart the arms go will vary from person to person, but it is very rare for the difference to be too small to notice.
The Art of Reading Minds Page 19