As a human being, you are equipped with a special mind that enables you to react to situations quickly and process other people’s thoughts, intentions, and emotions. On a social basis, children learn to read people’s minds from an early age, which enables them to make informed guesses about the emotions, thoughts, and objectives underlying the behaviors of others.
Mind reading cannot be an odd skill. It will carry you through different situations and make you look like a sage mystic who knows things other people cannot afford to discover. Playing free solitaire with no ads? You will analyze the opponent’s actions and mood to be the winner. Got in the crossfire of conflicts? Your guesses and words will let you remain dry in the deepest waters. Have to build relationships with new people you know zero facts about? Yet again, mind-reading tricks will make them gasp seeing your mastery.
In this article, you will learn the top 13 mind-reading tricks and their explanations.
Mind-Reading Tricks with Numbers
These are mind-reading tricks with which the mind reader combines their mastery of math with an element of magical fun. When performing these tricks, you will ask your subject to pick any number between 0 and 9 in their head. Once they’ve picked the number, you will tell them the exact number they’ve picked. Here are some of the best mathematical mind reading tricks:
1. Touch Head Trick
This mind-reading trick involves asking your spectator to pick a piece of paper and write a secret number. You are not supposed to see the number. Then, read the spectator’s mind by touching their head. Assure them that you are going to read the number from their mind. Then, correctly reveal the number.
To perform this trick successfully, you need to choose a subject who is close to you like a family member or a friend so that you can have a strong connection. That way, it will be easy to read the number from the subject’s body through the head, which is the point of contact. If the subject subconsciously clenches three times, the answer is 3.
2. Multiplication by Number 6 Trick
This mind-reading trick involves asking your spectator to multiply an even number by 6. The answer will always end with the same number while the number in the ten’s place will be half of the number in the one’s place. For example, 6 x 4 = 24, 6 x 8 = 48, and 6 x 2 = 12.
3. Multiplication, Addition, Division, and Subtraction Trick
In this trick, you ask your spectator to pick any number between 1 and 9 and multiply it by 3. Then, ask them to add the answer to 6 and divide the answer the get by 3. Finally, ask your subject to subtract the initial number they had picked from the final number. The answer is always 2. For example, 2 x 3 = 6, 6 + 6 = 12, 12 ÷ 3 = 4, 4 – 2 = 2.
4. Same 3-Digit Number Trick
To perform this trick, you need to ask your subject to pick any 3-digit number in which every digit is the same. The best examples include 222, 666, 888, and 999. Once they’ve correctly picked a number, ask them to add the three digits. Finally, they should divide the 3-digit number by the answer they get in step 2. Regardless of the number they pick, the answer will be 37. Example: 7 + 7 + 7 = 21 and 777 ÷ 21 = 37.
5. Six Digits Become 3 Trick
With this trick, you should ask your subject to take any 3-digit number and write it twice to form a 6-digit number, such as 370370 or 440440. They should then divide this number by 7, then divide the answer by 11, and finally divide the last answer by 13.
It is important to note that the order in which you divide the numbers doesn’t matter, the answer will always be the 3-digit number they picked in the first step. Example: 370370 ÷ 7 = 52,910, 52,90 ÷ 11 = 4,810, and 4,810 ÷ 13 = 370.
6. The Eleven Rule Trick
This trick offers a simple and quick way to multiply 2-digit numbers by 11. So, ask your spectator to separate the two digits in their mind and add them together. Then, they should place the answer between the initial two digits to get the answer. For instance, 32 x 11 = 352 while 3 + 2 = 5. If you place 5 between 3 and 2, you will get 352.
7. Memorizing Pi Trick
This mind trick makes it easy for you to remember the first seven numbers of pi. To do this, you just need to count the number of letters found in each word of the sentence. Example: How I wish I could calculate pi (3.141592).
8. Digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 Trick
Ask your subject to choose any number between 1 and 6, and multiply it by 9. The answer should then be multiplied by 111. They should further multiply the answer in step 2 by 1001 and then divide the final answer by 7. The number they get will have digits 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8. Example: 6 x 9 = 54, 54 x 111 = 5,994, 5,994 x 1001 = 5,999,994, 5,999.994 ÷ 7 = 857,142.
Mind Reading Tricks with Words
These mind-reading tricks are based on the belief that when people are confronted with certain questions or situations, they are most likely going to choose specific words. This enables you to have your subjects play right into your hands. Here are some common examples:
9. Grey Elephant from Denmark Trick
This is the easiest trick to commence your mind-reading career with. It is based on the belief that when people are presented with a question; they are likely to give a certain answer. Therefore, it enables you to, correctly, guess the answer your subject is likely to give.
To perform this trick, you should ask your subject to choose a number between 1 and 10. Then, they should multiply that number by 9, and if the answer is two digits, add them up and subtract 5 from the answer. Ask them to correspond the final number to the letter it denotes in the alphabet (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C, and so on).
They should then think of a country whose name starts with the letter. Then, take the second letter in the name of that country and think of an animal whose name starts with the letter. And finally, they should guess the color of that animal?
In most instances, people will choose Denmark as the answer, making E the second letter. Moreover, they will choose the elephant as the animal, and correctly choose grey as its color. This trick throws your spectators off and leaves them trying to figure out how you did it.
10. Black Magic Trick
This trick is perfect for parties and other occasions with huge crowds. However, you will need an assistant to help you play the trick. When you are performing this trick, ensure that nobody knows they are part of the trick. You can even make the guest of honor part of the trick just to make it funnier.
This trick includes gathering the spectators together and asking them to, collectively, pick one object while your eyes are completely covered. When you uncover your eyes, ask your assistant, who is unknown to the guests, to name the objects at the venue. Assure your spectators that you will magically tell which object each of them picked.
As your assistant is naming the objects, they will name something that is black. The object that your assistant names immediately after the black object should be the object that the spectators have picked. This means that you have to discuss the intricate details of the trick with your assistant beforehand so that you can be on the same page.
11. Triangle and Circle Trick
This trick requires you to draw a prediction of a probable answer that your spectator will give on paper and keep it. Then, you will ask your spectator to draw two shapes on paper, with one shape inside the other. Once the spectator is done, ask them to compare their shape with your prediction. In most cases, the triangle shape is always inside the circle.
As a mentalist, you have to use every means to make sure that the spectator draws what you want them to draw. You can give them a hint indirectly by illustrating what you want them to draw visually. For instance, you can draw a triangle inside a circle in the air while explaining to the spectator what to do.
Other Mind Reading Tricks
12. Red Hammer Trick
This trick involves giving your subject a piece of paper with a prediction of the final answer they are likely to give to the questions you ask them. They are not supposed to open the paper until they are done answering all the questions. Here are the questions you are supposed to ask your spectator:
• What day is Christmas?
• What number is between 1 and 3?
• What are hamburgers made of?
• What side of the road do they drive on in Europe?
Then, ask them to name one color and a tool quickly and loudly. The spectator will most likely name a red hammer, which is your correct prediction.
13. Ashes on the Arm Trick
To perform this trick, you need a deck of cards. First, you should write the name of the card you will choose on a piece of paper. Then you will ripple through the deck and ask your spectator to pick a card in their mind. Make sure they lock it well in their mind. Then show them your prediction, which should be wrong.
Burn the paper with your prediction and rub its ashes on your arm, and the image of the card they picked will appear on your arm. To be able to perform this trick successfully, you need to draw the image of the card you want your spectator to pick on your arm with a colorless lip balm. Then choose black cards because they show up clearly on the arm.
Also, choose a random card and trim a small part of its top. Place the trimmed card in front of the card you want the spectator to pick so that the target card becomes more visible when you ripple through the deck. Make sure the prediction you write on the piece of paper is wrong so that you can burn it to get the ash to rub on your arm.
What Is the Secret of Mind Reading?
In the course of your life, you are going to interact with all kinds of people; some have good intentions and others have ill motives. So, the only way you can successfully interact with everyone is to know what is on their mind before they even utter a word. This is the art of reading people’s minds. But the fundamental question is: How do you do this?
According to Professor Nicholas Epley, a social psychologist at Chicago University and author of the book Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want, a human being is the most complicated thing on the planet. That’s why people spend a lot of time thinking about why other people behave the way they do and what motivates them.
Professor Epley adds that to understand other people’s minds, you have to understand your mind first. He adds that the human mind functions at the level of consciousness, which he equates to a movie screen. According to him, it is easy for the human mind to report what is on the screen but very difficult to explain how it got there.
So, for you to succeed as a mind reader, you need to perfect the art of forcing a thought onto the spectator and pretending to guess the forced thought. You also need to know how to divine a genuine choice using trickery. By forcing a thought, you will be able to force the spectator to make an inevitable choice.
This means leading your participant into picking a certain number or word while making that “free” choice appear convincing, without making it look forced. The other option is to be opportunistic. This means tricking the spectator into leaking crucial information.
With the second technique, you allow the spectator to make a genuinely free choice. In this case, you must acquire the information through subterfuge. This means reading the spectator’s body language cues and unconscious feedback. A successful mind reader can ingeniously combine the two techniques.
In Summary
With these mind-reading tricks and tips, you should be able to mesmerize different crowds. However, you need to practice exhaustively to perfect your skills and techniques. It’s always good to start with the easiest tricks and move on to the advanced ones as you progress.
