So, you wanna be a psychic ?

So, you wanna be a psychic and give psychic readings, just like John Edward ? Pretty simple. All you have to learn is cold and hot reading techniques, an understanding of probability, a slick tongue to fall on your feet gracefully, and you'll be on your way to scam lots of people.

Cold reading, the most important tool in your arsenal, is basically the study of a person's appearance and movement. Depending on the kind of scam you want to run, this may be more or less useful. All you usually need to observe are :
* the age of the person - The older the person, the more likely you can get hits on deaths and children. The younger the person, the more you should orient on personal problems and parents.
* mode of dress - The more well-dressed the person, the more likely that his problems are not monetary.
* body language - You can observe a person's reactions during the reading. A person who nods or changes posture suddently is in agreement with your reading.

Here is a good application of cold reading techniques, which also illustrates how one initial hit can develop into a wonderful reading

This page explains the slick scam of cold readings, such as those done on the John Edwards show

Cold Reading Techniques