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Extrasensory perception (ESP) - Extrasensory perception, also known as ‘sixth sense,’ is the recognition of information sensed through the mind, rather than through the traditionally recognized five senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. Psychics claim to have this paranormal power.

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The business of predicting the future - According to payscale.com, a psychic in the US earns an average of US$80.00 per hour. But psychics are also big business in Europe. In the UK alone, the industry is worth an estimated £40 million, The Sun reports.

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Why people believe in paranormal powers - If you think that believing in psychic powers has anything to do with IQ or education, you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, a study showed that about three in four Americans have at least one paranormal belief. Why? According to the British Psychological Society, lack of analytical skills seems to be culprit.

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Setting the stage - An aura of mysticism is always a plus when you’re going to tell people what they want to hear. A wide range of accessories are used to persuade the sitter to believe in the psychic’s professionalism.

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Setting the stage at home - If the reading is being done privately, the room is usually cozy and well decorated with a variety of props. Some old books, candles, and dim lighting never fail to impress.

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Performance - It’s fairly common for psychics to put on their own show. Whether in front of a live audience in a big theater, or in a more intimate environment with a small group of people, they sure can put on a great performance.

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Why they’re so convincing - Psychics and mind-readers alike usually make statements about their clients to imply that they can ‘read’ them. These statements sound eerily personal and will leave clients wondering how the psychic could have known that information if they didn’t possess paranormal powers.

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Techniques - Professionals use a wide range of techniques to convince clients that they know information about them. After all, they couldn’t possibly know these facts unless they had special gifts, right? Well, not quite.

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Hot reading - Hot reading is all about getting information about the sitter beforehand. The more information a psychic has, the more accurate the reading can be.

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How hot reading works - In this day and age it’s easier than ever to get information about an individual. Most people have a great deal of information about them easily accessible online and a quick Google search can be enough to collect a vast amount of data. This information can then be used to wow the client with facts about themselves.

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How hot reading works - Before the digital age, assistants would hot read clients. More elaborate schemes would be applied when the readings involved larger groups of people. These would involve having people infiltrating the audience. These insiders would then gather information and pass it on to the psychic.

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Cold reading - This is another widely-used technique. It involves analyzing clients in a variety of ways, including their body language, physical appearance, race, religion, among others. It’s basically fishing for any information that the sitter might give away unintentionally.

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How psychics apply cold reading - The psychic then uses high-probability general statements based on the information gathered, which more often than not, resonate with the client.

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Why cold reading works - The reason why this technique is so effective is because of a cognitive bias called subjective validation. This means that the sitters assign meaning to the words the psychic tells them. The words become personally meaningful to the client.

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Barnum effect - Barnum effect, also known as Forer effect, is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people accept and validate statements made about them as accurate. These are usually vague general statements that can be applicable to most people, yet sitters often believe these personally apply to them.

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Horoscopes - Several studies mentioned in a ThoughtCo. article point to the Barnum effect as one of the reasons why so many people believe in horoscopes.

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Sounds familiar - The Department of Psychology of California State University, Fullerton gives us a few examples of how general statements might sound like they apply to us. These include statements such as "you have a great need for other people to like and admire you," or
"you have a great deal of unused capacity, which you have not turned to your advantage."

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Yes, that sounds exactly like me! - What if someone told you that "sometimes you’re quite critical of yourself," or that "sometimes you’re not sure if you’ve made the right decision." Sounds familiar, right? This is why these generalizations work.

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Shotgun statements - Groups of people are screened beforehand. Research is conducted to find out more about the people attending the show. But many cold reading statements resonate with the audience. For instance, a middle-aged audience is more likely to respond positively to statements such as “I know that someone in this room has lost a close one recently.”

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Time-shifting - This is when the psychic asks the client a question and then says that the spirit of the client’s loved one has just given them the same information. This reinforces the illusion that the psychic is actually getting the information from ‘the other side.’

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Negative questions - A psychic can also make use of negative questions. If for instance the client is visibly out of shape they can say something along the lines of “you don’t like to exercise, do you?” The client is likely to confirm the statement as true. This is when the psychic will tell the client that, once again, the client’s deceased loved one has just told them that.

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Confirmation bias - If the client has a preconceived belief that the psychic has in fact the capacities it claims to have, then it will be even easier for these statements to sound accurate.

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Selective thinking - This is when the sitters focus on the information that they believe to be applicable to them while disregarding any information that may contradict this belief.

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Information manipulation - Any information clients give to psychics can then be used to the psychics’ advantage. They will repeat the statements back to the clients in key moments so that they will get the impression that the psychic knew it all along.

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But that’s not right! - Sometimes psychics get it wrong. They usually tell clients upfront that their readings are not 100% accurate and obviously depend on the quality of the ‘communication.’ This allows them to bypass any factually wrong statements.

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Mind-altering techniques - More sophisticated techniques can also be used by psychics. A commonly used one is neuro-linguistic programming, also known as NLP.

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Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) - NLP is a technique used to influence one’s mind and consequently change the person's behavior. This technique is widely used in the self-help industry as well as in sales and training, among others. Sounds like something psychics can make good use of, right?

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How does NLP work? - The idea is that neurological, language, and behavioral processes are connected and therefore behavioral patterns can be programmed. It’s a great skill for any psychic to have in their toolbox!

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How to avoid being conned -

Be skeptical about it. If people had the ability to predict the future or communicate with the dead, wouldn’t missing people be found? Or wouldn’t major crimes and catastrophes be preventable? Not to mention the casinos that would go bust.

See also: Terrifying urban legends that are actually true

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