This is the story of an experience I had in Lexington Kentucky when a couple remembered meeting me for 5 minutes in Orlando, FL nearly a year afterward!
Why did they remember me after such a long time? The secret lies in my area of expertise!
On any plane, at any networking event, or any cocktail party I’m usually the most interesting person in the room.
I used to think it was because I travel the world, have great tour stories, worked on multiple TV projects, or have famous friends.
Nope.
Couldn’t be more wrong.
Here’s how it happens. Someone asks me what I do for a living, so I say, “I’m a mind reader.”
There’s a pause, and then 99% of the time the person says, “What am I thinking?!”
And that’s the secret. It was staring me in the face for years before I understood it.
They don’t care about my travels, they don’t care about my TV appearances, they don’t care about me. They care about what I can tell them. . . about THEM.
There it is. There’s the secret to being the most interesting person in any room.
I’ve spent 2 decades becoming an expert on their favorite subject: them.
Their first reaction isn’t to ask about how genuine mind reading would have on the field of physics. Or how cognitive scientists are just now digging into why this stuff works. Or how mentalism is part of a millennia-old tradition starting before the Oracles of Delphi.
No, it’s to demand I tell them about themselves.
They want to be seen. They want to be told they’re special.
We all do.
When we find someone who actually listens to what we say. Who isn’t constantly distracted by their phone. Who cares, we feel it.
That can be your superpower.
By completely focusing on learning as much about the person right in front of you, you instantly become one of the most important people in that person’s life.
That’s how I make indelible impressions on people who remember me for years after. It isn’t the trick. It isn’t the fact I can tell them what card they’re thinking about.
It’s that I show them they’re important enough to warrant my full attention.
So, for yourself, figure out how you can use your experience to dive into someone else’s experience, and you’ll finally have the secret to being the most interesting person in the room.
Be their mirror and they’ll love everything they see.
