Ask me about being a professional psychic

[bwana devil]

do you watch the show Psych? great show.

also, the mention of john edwards reminded me of a clip i saw of him years ago where he was reading a couple and fishing for info. the couple was asking about their deceased daughter.

-john says, "im getting something about her heart. focus on her heart. her heart was a problem?"
-mother very confused says, "but she died in a car accident."
awkward pause
-john says, "i think she had heart problems too"

the guy just brazenly carried on no matter what. hilarious.

[wildzer0]

[ QUOTE ]
do you watch the show Psych? great show.

also, the mention of john edwards reminded me of a clip i saw of him years ago where he was reading a couple and fishing for info. the couple was asking about their deceased daughter.

-john says, "im getting something about her heart. focus on her heart. her heart was a problem?"
-mother very confused says, "but she died in a car accident."
awkward pause
-john says, "i think she had heart problems too"

the guy just brazenly carried on no matter what. hilarious.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I love that show too.

That's a funny John Edwards quote, because that's a really common trick and he screwed it up. The exchange should have gone more like this

john: I'm getting something about her heart, some sort of heart or breathing problem, something with her chest.
mother says: but she died in a car accident
john says: Yes, that's it. I see the impact to her chest killed her (and then move on quickly before she can contradict)

I basically won't say anything about anyone dead, so nothing like that comes up for me. But it's pretty basic stuff and the first statement is no more vague than most of his stuff.

[bisonbison]

Good thread.

You're a little closer to the ethics line than a pro poker player. Not by much though. I think a decent person doing this is essentially just a counselor to the sad and lonely and scared.

[n.s.]

[ QUOTE ]
First I do the hook, this is where I switch the tables and make them feel like they're the ones on trial, not me. If what I'm saying doesn't fit, it's their fault.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you give an example of this part? I'd love to see how you turn things around like this.

[Tryptamean]

What's the longest call you've taken? If it's longer than 20-30min, then what the hell did you talk about for so long? Do you get many repeat customers?

[Tryptamean]

You say you won't "talk to the dead" or about health issues... does it come up very often? Do you ever specifically instruct someone to call a doctor or therapist?

[wildzer0]

[ QUOTE ]
Can you give an example of this part? I'd love to see how you turn things around like this.

[/ QUOTE ]

The easiest way to do this is to tell them something along the lines of "What I see will be clearer for you than to me, so in order to get the most accurate reading possible, I need your help interpreting what I'm seeing" .This gets them in the mindset to find more meaning in vague statements than if I just went ahead and started. They feel it's on them to find meaning in what I'm saying, and they also volunteer more information so that I can be more accurate (you'd be amazed at how often people completely give away information, and then are amazed when I say it back to them)

[ QUOTE ]
What's the longest call you've taken? If it's longer than 20-30min, then what the hell did you talk about for so long? Do you get many repeat customers?

[/ QUOTE ]

The longest call was about 90 minutes, and it was actually the first call I ever took. I was ready to jump out of a window by the end of it, it was a nice lady, but it was definitely a trial by fire. I pretty much talked about anything I could think of, work, family, love, etc. I really was running out of stuff to say. I occasionally get repeat customers,probably about 20% of my calls. So I keep a little text document open with everyone's names and a brief description fo what we've talked about so I can pretend to remember. My notes my look something like "John Smith, 35 years old. Is looking for a new career in graphic design, has an interview Aug 1st"

[ QUOTE ]
You say you won't "talk to the dead" or about health issues... does it come up very often? Do you ever specifically instruct someone to call a doctor or therapist?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's only come up a couple of times, and each time I've politely refused. Because I kind of screen my calls before I actually start a paying session, I can choose not to take the session if it seems like the person should be taking the issue up with a doctor or psychologist. .

[Quicksilvre]

Do you see a custom title in your future?

[KneeCo]

Was your father a police detective who trained you constantly leaving you with a very heightened sense of observation but also pushed you too hard so you ended up a slacker despite your mental acumen and have fallen into a position where you use said observational super-abilities to con people into believing you have psychic abilities which leads to a series of mis-adventures where you make money, have fun, do good in the world and, most unexpectedly, reconnect with your long lost father who, despite his pronounced disagreement with what you are doing, is secretly proud of how good you are it and happy to be rebuilding your relationship?

Also, is your best friend that black kid from the West Wing?

[wildzer0]

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Do you see a custom title in your future?

[/ QUOTE ]

I can only hope.