How to Perform Psychological Tricks?

The audience that filled the hall sat in suspense and silence as the mentalist held both hands to his temples, concentrating on the object on the table in front of him. Suddenly, the object moved, and a loud gasp of amazement rose from the crowd. Is this magic? Superpowers? Perhaps a spell? You probably know it’s none of these. But do you know the psychological tricks that mentalists use in their performances? And can you learn them yourself? All this and more in the following article.

What is a Psychological Trick?

An experienced and professional mentalist possesses a complete toolbox containing all the techniques, methods, and psychological tricks that make up their performance. From the audience’s perspective, a mentalist’s show can look like a magic show. But the truth lies elsewhere—it’s rooted in years of rigorous, systematic, thorough, and professional training.

This toolbox allows the mentalist to use various methods to make the audience believe they are seeing something specific when, in reality, something entirely different is happening. How does a mentalist achieve this? Among the various tools, we can find sleight of hand, reading body language, and different psychological tricks such as telepathy, mind reading, thought implantation, and more.

What Are Some Examples of Psychological Tricks?

Different mentalists use different psychological tricks. What all professional mentalists have in common is that they have acquired their tricks through hard work and long practice. Some common psychological tricks include:

Reading Body Language: A professional mentalist may use body language reading more than any other psychological trick. In fact, every mentalist must be an expert in reading body language. With this skill, many tricks can succeed.
Thought Implantation: A common psychological trick among mentalists is implanting a thought into the subconscious of the audience. This means the mentalist ‘plants’ a thought in a certain way in the audience’s mind and uses it later in the performance.
Distraction: Sharp movements, shouting, etc., are often ways a mentalist will draw the audience’s attention. The goal is to ‘place’ the audience’s attention on a certain area or point, allowing the mentalist to use another surprising part of the space.
Mental Illusions: A mentalist uses psychological and mental illusions, often making the audience think they saw one thing when in fact, they saw something else.

Can You Learn Psychological Tricks Yourself?

The answer is yes, but—the real secret lies not in learning or understanding the psychological trick, but in serious and professional practice that will give the mentalist complete control over each trick. Today, it’s easy to go on YouTube or various websites, watch videos, see performances by great mentalists, and gather information relatively quickly. However, while the information is available to everyone and anyone would like to read body language perfectly, the key to success lies in persistence and experience.

How Important Are Psychological Tricks in a Mentalist’s Life and Performances?

Psychological tricks are part of the foundation on which every professional and successful mentalist stands. The ability to perform and mastery of psychological tricks and additional techniques are what make the performance spectacular and successful. Many performances by experienced and professional mentalists are built on psychological tricks and incorporate them in almost every minute of the show. If the psychological trick doesn’t work on the audience or if the mentalist doesn’t do their job well enough in this regard—the performance is simply destined to fail. It will lose the crucial surprise effect, and even more importantly, it will lose the audience’s trust and their focus on what’s happening.