Cold reading is a psychological strategy which enables you to influence what someone else thinks and feels about you. It is most commonly used to give apparently 'psychic' readings, and to convince people that you have some sort of psychic ability. (Note: Hollywood actors use 'cold reading' to mean 'tackling an unseen script at audition'. This is an entirely separate subject, and irrelevant to this web site!).

Cold reading does have uses outside the psychic industry, although these are not well-documented. It can also be used in everyday life for ethical purposes. It has uses in sales and business, especially if your job involves negotiation. In short, if you ever want or need to influence how someone else perceives you, then cold reading is the most powerful technique at your disposal.

Returning to the psychic industry, cold reading is so-called because the reading is given 'cold', that is, without any prior information or clues. The alternative term, 'hot reading', is used to mean secretly obtaining information about the client before the reading begins.

Without doubt, cold reading is very versatile, and can be used for many different kinds of readings:

• astrology: based on the influence of stars and planets
• tarot: based on the interpretation of tarot cards and their symbolism
• palmistry: based on the lines and `character' of the subject's palm
• graphology: based on a sample of the subject's handwriting
• psychometry: based on physical objects handled or owned by the subject
• mediumship: based on the medium's ability to communicate with the spirit world
• clairvoyance: based on the psychic's sensitivity to various psychic energies

The cold reading process is usually inter-active - you meet with the client and manipulate the dialogue in real-time. However, it is also useful for pre-set or remote readings, such as sending someone a reading by post.

I have given more test conditions demonstrations of cold reading for the media than any other performer in the world. You can read about them here.

"The fact that people have religious experiences is intersting from the psychological point of view, but it does not in any way imply that there is such a thing as religious knowkledge
... Unless he can formulate his 'knowledge' in propositions that are empirically verifiable, we may be sure that he is deceiving himself"
- A. J .Ayer