There is a very good reason transcripts of cold reading sessions aren't readily available - and that is because a trasncsript can rarely convey what happens in a session. I could write one up, but you would lose a lot of what happens. Let me attempt an explanation and give an example.
I do cold readings on a regular basis using the techniques as described in Ian's book, and have done so for a few years now. I have created my own divination system, called Tauromancy, because when I did the readings with Tarot or Astrology, people said that even though I was telling them I was a fraud, the system was still working. So I constructed my own system based on small gold masks and various patterned chop sticks, into which I built the cold reading elements. Let me describe a session which happened a few weeks ago at a Psychology teachers' conference when I was doing readings on teachers so they could feel what it was like to have the experience. The word 'feel' is very important.
A mid-twenties woman sat down. She laid out the masks and I did all the preliminaries as described in the set-up section of Ian's book. I take that section VERY seriously. But you can't see the laying out of the masks and the way I twist my wording to match them - so a transcript immediately loses the way I work. OK, I said that she was hoping to have children one day. Pretty standard. She said: "Yes, we do." There's the transcript. Here's the key: she said it with a reserve and a sadness in her face. Something there. The 'we' told me she was in a steady relationship. I sidetracked and a minute or so later came to a mask which represents health. I said there was a health issue concerning her. That is the start which can almost always get me a hit with further effort, depending on how she reacts. She reacted very fast so I knew it was close to her. She said nothing. Hence - not a word in the transcript. Had she reacted slower, I would have headed for older people in her family.
At this stage I went straight for the big hit. I said, with warmth and compassion: endometriosis and nodded knowingly. (For the guys - this is a very common female condition which is a major cause of fertility worries. Mid-twenties women are usually pretty healthy otherwise.) She said, with the required shock and loud enough for all those watching to hear: "But no-one knew that except my husband and doctor!" and the classic line which is my measure of success with a reading "There is NO way you could have known that!"
There were two other possibilities: she had been tested for endometriosis - which would give me a hit anyway. Almost a certainty if he had fertility concerns. Note - I did not actually say she had endometriosis. I merely named it. She heard it as if I had said it and in my reply I went on as if I had. Had she said 'no' I would have suggested, quietly, she talk to her doctor about it. I would have nodded and she would have nodded and the audience, unable to hear quite what I said, would have seen all the nodding and I still had a firm hit - the believers would have been convinced I knew something.
The reading went on for ten minutes but by this stage I had her so much convinced and had so much key information, I had complete control and could have gone 'in for the kill' which is what I consider the TV psychics do as soon as they sense the tears. A transcript of the actual wording would tell very little of what happened and someone reading a transcript could not get the full effect.
Unlike those who exploit in order to entertain and make a personal profit and reputation, I could not go on when she was clearly emotional affected by what I had done. So I stopped the reading and debriefed on exactly what I had done. I always do that. I guess it is all about how ethically you use cold reading skills.
cheers,
Lynne
