Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Steve Cohen holds a degree in psychology from Cornell and performs his critically acclaimed Chamber Magic at luxury hotels around the country and overseas. His weekly act at the Waldorf-Astoria sells out months in advance. Cohen has been featured in many publications and on television, including the New York Times, CNN, and CBS's The Early Show.

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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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Win the Crowd

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

The Maxims of Magic

The art of magic has been around for thousands of years. Archaeologistshave even found hieroglyphics depicting magicians performing sleight-of-hand tricks. Interestingly enough, those same tricks still baffle audiences today. We must be doing something right.

Think back to the first magic trick you ever saw. Maybe your cousinshowed you a card trick at a family barbeque. Or you might've seen a magician pull a rabbit out of an empty basket. Or perhaps you saw a TV magician levitate a woman in midair. Can you remember your sense ofwonder?

These tricks worked because the magicians followed a set of rules.Fortunately, anyone can learn and apply these rules to influence others. Iuse them not only onstage but offstage as well -- with my family, friends,and business associates and in my community.

I call these rules the Maxims of Magic. Magicians follow them to conveyconfidence during their performances. Once you make the decision todo the same -- to think like a magician -- you will feel more confident yourself. People will sense your new positive attitude and respond by wantingto be around you and follow your lead.

Here, then, are the Maxims of Magic.

The Maxims of Magic

1. Be Bold
   Take risks -- don't be shy about the actions you take or the words youspeak.


2. Expect Success
   Start every personal encounter with the expectation that it will succeed.


3. Don't State -- Suggest
   Use the power of suggestion instead of flat-out statements.


4. Practice, Practice, Practice
   Work hard privately so that you appear effortless in public.


5. Be Prepared
   Stay several steps ahead of your audience at all times.

Let's examine each of these rules in detail so that you can get started using them right away. Before you know it, you'll be casting your own spell over people whom you interact with on a daily basis.

MAXIM 1: BE BOLD

One of the things that separates beginning and experienced magicians isguilt. An important part of magic requires the performer to hide an objectin his hand while keeping a perfectly straight face. This is tougher than itseems. It takes nerve. If you don't believe me, try it now. Clip a coin betweenyour fingers so that no one can see it from the front. Now keep itthere for the rest of the day, doing all of the things that you normally do.Eat meals, have meetings, speak to your family. Don't grip the coin sotightly that your fingers turn purple! Be natural. By the end of the day,you'll understand how hard it is to pretend that nothing's there.

Beginning magicians feel guilty that they are hiding something andunconsciously give off telltale signs. Audiences may not know exactlywhat the magician is hiding, or how he's hiding it. But they know he's hidingsomething. His guilt betrays him in the form of awkward gestures. The beginner may keep his arm frozen in place instead of letting it swing naturally.Or he might glance in the direction of the hidden object. This attitudespoils the illusion of magic, and audiences walk away with a big, fatquestion mark.

Experienced magicians are able to keep secrets from audiences withoutfeeling guilty. We've learned how to act naturally, even when peopleare staring. I learned this early on when I was a child. I remember swipinga cookie from the cookie jar. I heard my parents approaching and had tomake a quick decision. Should I fold my arms and hide the cookie so thatmy parents can't see it, or should I swing my arms naturally with thecookie in full view? I decided to hide it in full view. I took a deep breath,relaxed, and acted as if nothing unusual were occurring. It's counterintuitiveto think that you could hide an object in plain sight. But it worked.Nobody expected me to be so bold. Cookie in hand, I walked past my parents,and they had no clue that I was anything but innocent. This simpledeception hooked me on magic.

I'm not suggesting that you hide things from people on a regular basis.That's not the point. I'm suggesting that you learn to stretch your comfortzone. It's not easy to act natural when you're the center of attention. Ittakes guts. The first step at making this maxim part of your life is to stopbeing afraid of other people and what they think of you.

When you're bold, you will get results that you've never had before,because you're doing things that you've never done before.

When I read the previous sentence to a friend of mine, a successfulbusinesswoman, she said, “That is so true!” She lives by the followingaphorism: “Don't ask first; just apologize later.” Instead of running a newidea by her boss, she just goes ahead and tries it out. According to her, toomany “managers” are entrenched in their ways of doing things and arelikely to say no to something new. She just plows ahead and does it onher own.

This is boldness in a nutshell. If your new plan doesn't work, you canalways apologize later for running with it. If it does work, though, you're ahero. Are you willing to take risks like that? If you are, then you're on yourway to understanding boldness.

Risky Behavior at the Bank

Magicians know that the rewards can be so much larger when you challengeyourself to take risks. Legendary Las Vegas magician Jimmy Grippoproved this one evening when he was in a bank. At 6:00 pm, Grippo noticedthat the vault door was being closed for the night. Thinking fast, heremoved a playing card from his pocket and scaled it into the vault as thedoor was being sealed shut for the evening. His aim was perfect, and thecard slid inside, unnoticed by the guard.

Excerpted from Win the Crowdby Steve Cohen Copyright © 2005 by Steve Cohen. Excerpted by permission.
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