cold reading

Unprepared script performance

Cold reading is a technique used by psychics, fortune tellers, and mentalists to give the impression of knowing things about a stranger without any prior information.

The practitioner makes high-probability guesses, reads body language, and picks up on subtle cues from the subject's appearance, reactions, and responses to refine their statements.

The medium's cold reading was convincing enough that the widow believed she was truly channeling her late husband.

The term distinguishes this from "hot reading," where the performer has gathered information beforehand.

psychic

mentalism

Doctrine of primacy of thought

fortuneteller · medium · séance · clairvoyant · mark · subject · skeptic · debunking · manipulation · guessing

performance

script

Written words for performance

first take · run-through · blocking · stage directions · monologue · dialogue · casting · callback · actor · prompter

Categories
Opposites
preparation and prior knowledge

cold readinghot reading

Pre-gathered info for fake psychics

background check

claimed source of information

cold readingdivine revelation

Deity communicates to humanity

information source

cold readingself-report

Information one provides themselves

Family

cold, read, reading, reader, coldness, reads, unread, reread, colder

Familiarity
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