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"No sleight of hand, just practical miracles."--Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow
Product Description
Would You Like to Become More Commanding, Convincing, And Charismatic?
In this book, Steve Cohen, master magician and star of the long-running Chamber Magic show in New York City, will reveal the secrets of all great showmen and magicians--how to persuade, influence, and charm, and ultimately accomplish the things you've always wanted to do. As Cohen writes, "You'll discover how to take over a room, read people, and build anticipation to a feverish pitch so people are burning to hear what you have to say."
"Win the Crowd" will teach you Steve Cohen's Maxims of Magic, simple rules you can use to take charge of practically any situation, from on-the-job disagreements to dating to important cocktail parties. The Maxims of Magic will wash away insecurities and hesitations, and replace them with confidence, poise, and leadership. What's more, Steve Cohen will show you: How to Create a Magic Moment. Capturing people's imaginations and attention so they listen carefully to every word you say. How to Command a Room. Showing everyone in the room that you are speaking right to them, making them all feel unique--and completely focused on you. How to Read People. Learning to sense what people are feeling and thinking as you speak, what they want from you, and how to make them feel like they are getting it. Misdirection. The most important trick in all of magic--getting inside people's heads, and directing what they are thinking at every minute.
When you strip away the sleight of hand tricks, magicians are essentially masters of attracting and holding attention and impressing audiences, exactly the psychological secrets you need to be successful in life and business.
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THe arT OF maGIC has been around for thousands of years. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THe arT OF maGIC has been around for thousands of years. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First off let me say I'm a performing semi-pro musician and writer of "How-to" gigging information for the music press.
A while ago a change in personnel in my band meant that we were without our regular front man, our extrovert who handled the majority of the audience interaction. I was looking for a guide that would help me and the rest of the band be able to deal with those sometimes awkward moments in between numbers. Something that would enable us to feel more relaxed ourselves and encourage the audience to have a good time.
Although this book is written by a performing Magician, Steve Cohen's book promised me I could "unlock the secrets of influence, charisma and showmanship". Perfect for any performer but a tall order to deliver in my case.
Cohen gives simple to follow guidelines which really help you to feel in control and less at the mercy of circumstances on the night. His whole approach is based around faking it 'till you make it. Basically, audiences want their performers to appear confident and in control. If you don't feel it at least pretend you do. This will relax both the audience and you.
Some of his gems include:
1. Practise the words and phrases you'll use on the night - beforehand, alone and in the dark.
2. It takes three attempts at "banter" with an audience before they succumb to you. It takes a little while to establish credibility, you can't do this in one phrase. So, don't worry if at first they don't respond to you.
2. Audiences don't want their performers to be too slick. Some top performers fail at certain things to show their fallibility. The audience generally wants you to succeed if they see a small failure. This was a great help in terms of taking pressure of to be word perfect when speaking to the audience.
3. If you're not offending some members of the audience you're too middle of the road (I liked that one!)
4. Don't take yourself too seriously
5. Establish eye contact with audience members to show you're in command
Other tips which helped me greatly were to raise my voice so that it sounded too loud to me. That way it would be about right to an audience. And, to slow my words down so they sounded unnaturally slow to my ear. Again that would be about right to the public.
A final killer tactic to get an audience going and which I can guarantee which works like a dream is this. Early on look for the most receptive members in an audience, anyone mouthing the words to a song, or dancing along etc. Play to them, in terms of your in between chat and you'll receive the best responses. As Cohen says, "it only takes a few to get the rest of an audience going". Using his advice, I would look for a couple of different groups or a handful of people scattered about every audience. These would also be the people I'd get up on stage later in the night or that I'd wonder off wireless to "serenade" if the mood took me.
All in all a great guide for helping you feel more comfortable in front of an audience and full of practical tips so everyone enjoys themselves more on gig night(including you).
A while ago a change in personnel in my band meant that we were without our regular front man, our extrovert who handled the majority of the audience interaction. I was looking for a guide that would help me and the rest of the band be able to deal with those sometimes awkward moments in between numbers. Something that would enable us to feel more relaxed ourselves and encourage the audience to have a good time.
Although this book is written by a performing Magician, Steve Cohen's book promised me I could "unlock the secrets of influence, charisma and showmanship". Perfect for any performer but a tall order to deliver in my case.
Cohen gives simple to follow guidelines which really help you to feel in control and less at the mercy of circumstances on the night. His whole approach is based around faking it 'till you make it. Basically, audiences want their performers to appear confident and in control. If you don't feel it at least pretend you do. This will relax both the audience and you.
Some of his gems include:
1. Practise the words and phrases you'll use on the night - beforehand, alone and in the dark.
2. It takes three attempts at "banter" with an audience before they succumb to you. It takes a little while to establish credibility, you can't do this in one phrase. So, don't worry if at first they don't respond to you.
2. Audiences don't want their performers to be too slick. Some top performers fail at certain things to show their fallibility. The audience generally wants you to succeed if they see a small failure. This was a great help in terms of taking pressure of to be word perfect when speaking to the audience.
3. If you're not offending some members of the audience you're too middle of the road (I liked that one!)
4. Don't take yourself too seriously
5. Establish eye contact with audience members to show you're in command
Other tips which helped me greatly were to raise my voice so that it sounded too loud to me. That way it would be about right to an audience. And, to slow my words down so they sounded unnaturally slow to my ear. Again that would be about right to the public.
A final killer tactic to get an audience going and which I can guarantee which works like a dream is this. Early on look for the most receptive members in an audience, anyone mouthing the words to a song, or dancing along etc. Play to them, in terms of your in between chat and you'll receive the best responses. As Cohen says, "it only takes a few to get the rest of an audience going". Using his advice, I would look for a couple of different groups or a handful of people scattered about every audience. These would also be the people I'd get up on stage later in the night or that I'd wonder off wireless to "serenade" if the mood took me.
All in all a great guide for helping you feel more comfortable in front of an audience and full of practical tips so everyone enjoys themselves more on gig night(including you).
7 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is full of precious informations. Buy it! read it! Do the exercises and you dramatically will improve your self-confidence and charisma !!!!!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
27 reviews
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
You must read this book!
31 Mar 2006
Format:Hardcover
I am a professional speaker and I speak more than 120 times per year. These events include crowds from 5 to 5000 and I haven't come across a book in a long time that I really thought brought something new to the table. This does not mean that there are no other books I find helpful, it's just that most newer books simple say the same ol' thing about giving speeches and presentations. Some of the other reviews here are accurate when they say that the book is mostly about working the crowd, but what they have failed to do is put in the mental and emotional effort to apply the concepts to what they do.
In the world of speaking, there are those who know how to organize and deliver a speech and then there are those who know how to woo the crowd and ingrain the concepts into their minds through emotional and fact-based implanting. Most speakers have no concept of "Positional Communications: Having a specific spot for delivering certain important messages so the audience expects it without conscious awareness" or "Theme-ing: Having a consistent theme that is used to program the audience and ingrain long-term recollection."
While these specific elements are not directly covered, this book provides the possibility of these deep insights. Understanding that it's important to have credibility and not just the facts. Knowing that your confidence determines, in large part, their receptiveness. Grasping that the words you use will impact whether the group remembers, regards, or relies on you and your information for their use and success.
The point is that this book is not for the beginning presenter or speaker - he or she should get the basics of an organized speech down first (great opening; useful transitions; excellent ending; a body that is applicable, practical, and useful) then move onto more advanced concepts. This is a book you must read with the following question continually in mind: How does this apply to what I do? If you answer this question, the book will be beneficial to anyone who has to give a presentation and also for sales people, marketers, managers and leaders.
If you haven't read this book, you don't know everything you need to know about relating to groups and individuals.
In the world of speaking, there are those who know how to organize and deliver a speech and then there are those who know how to woo the crowd and ingrain the concepts into their minds through emotional and fact-based implanting. Most speakers have no concept of "Positional Communications: Having a specific spot for delivering certain important messages so the audience expects it without conscious awareness" or "Theme-ing: Having a consistent theme that is used to program the audience and ingrain long-term recollection."
While these specific elements are not directly covered, this book provides the possibility of these deep insights. Understanding that it's important to have credibility and not just the facts. Knowing that your confidence determines, in large part, their receptiveness. Grasping that the words you use will impact whether the group remembers, regards, or relies on you and your information for their use and success.
The point is that this book is not for the beginning presenter or speaker - he or she should get the basics of an organized speech down first (great opening; useful transitions; excellent ending; a body that is applicable, practical, and useful) then move onto more advanced concepts. This is a book you must read with the following question continually in mind: How does this apply to what I do? If you answer this question, the book will be beneficial to anyone who has to give a presentation and also for sales people, marketers, managers and leaders.
If you haven't read this book, you don't know everything you need to know about relating to groups and individuals.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A Book on Holding Your Audiences Attention
6 July 2005
Format:Hardcover
Magicians have an interesting job. Unlike a talent for singing or telling jokes, their performance has to depend on the setting of an expectation in the part of the audience and then performing something that you would normally think impossible. When you strip away the sleight of hand tricks, magicians are essentially masters of attracting and holding attention and impressing audiences, exactly the psychological secrets you need to be successful in life and business.
In this book Mr. Cohen talks about, not the magic tricks themself, but the staging of a magic show. How do you keep the audiences attention where you want it? How do you prepare them for something unexpected so that they will remember your point later? How do you make them listen to you carefully so that they won't miss a word, and thus remember it better? How do you sense what people are thinking, and perhaps more important, feeling while you are presenting so you can make them feel like they are getting your points?
Remember, he's talking about showmanship, not magical tricks. For those you need a different book. For some interesting tips on how to hold attention while making a presentation, this is the book.
In this book Mr. Cohen talks about, not the magic tricks themself, but the staging of a magic show. How do you keep the audiences attention where you want it? How do you prepare them for something unexpected so that they will remember your point later? How do you make them listen to you carefully so that they won't miss a word, and thus remember it better? How do you sense what people are thinking, and perhaps more important, feeling while you are presenting so you can make them feel like they are getting your points?
Remember, he's talking about showmanship, not magical tricks. For those you need a different book. For some interesting tips on how to hold attention while making a presentation, this is the book.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Good Primer
2 Dec 2007
Format:Paperback
Win the Crowd is a good primer for people who want to understand some of the skills necessary to be effective presenting yourself with confidence and being persuasive in front of groups of people. The book categorizes what is needed to be effective with crowds (there are one-on-one discussions as well) and suggests some tricks to help strengthen the skills which may need to be improved.
Steve Cohen obviously has worked for many years perfecting his stage presence (he is a successful magician), and how he presents himself to smaller groups at private functions. His opinions on how to improve presentation skills in front of people come from his successful trial and errors. The most helpful portion of the book is when he gives practical advice on how to be more engaging, confident and improve ones appearance when on stage giving a speech.
However, the book has a lot of filler that contains generalizations merely touching on other important aspects that reader may want to study further. These sections also tend to mutate into references of magic that are interesting but not necessarily informative. His sections on building a better personality, charisma and reading people just scratch the surface of what can be done, and offers no enhancements from what someone could find in a psychology text book. His build-up to the chapter "Misdirection" led to a major let down. Although I did try the magic trick he teaches to my children and failed miserably. Practice, practice, practice is a major theme. Obviously after the magic trick failure I need to be reminded of that more.
Win the Crowd has good stuff and does identify the secrets needed to be effective with crowds (both large and small). It's only fault is that it does not dig deeper into some areas. However, once these areas are identified, more research from other books can be found if the reader wants additional advice.
Steve Cohen obviously has worked for many years perfecting his stage presence (he is a successful magician), and how he presents himself to smaller groups at private functions. His opinions on how to improve presentation skills in front of people come from his successful trial and errors. The most helpful portion of the book is when he gives practical advice on how to be more engaging, confident and improve ones appearance when on stage giving a speech.
However, the book has a lot of filler that contains generalizations merely touching on other important aspects that reader may want to study further. These sections also tend to mutate into references of magic that are interesting but not necessarily informative. His sections on building a better personality, charisma and reading people just scratch the surface of what can be done, and offers no enhancements from what someone could find in a psychology text book. His build-up to the chapter "Misdirection" led to a major let down. Although I did try the magic trick he teaches to my children and failed miserably. Practice, practice, practice is a major theme. Obviously after the magic trick failure I need to be reminded of that more.
Win the Crowd has good stuff and does identify the secrets needed to be effective with crowds (both large and small). It's only fault is that it does not dig deeper into some areas. However, once these areas are identified, more research from other books can be found if the reader wants additional advice.
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