Inner Secrets Of Cold Reading by Fred Crouter

The INNER SECRETS OF COLD READING Series is the re-release of three monographs that have been touted as classics by professionals for many years. I first learned of them from Jon Riggs about twenty years ago, and they were extremely helpful for me in developing my own personal approach to private and public readings. At that time, they were only available in physical hard copy form, but in their new incarnation, they have been digitized into a convenient Adobe PDF format.

The Big Picture

Each monograph in the Series is self-contained and free-standing, but together the three monographs comprise a formidable combination. You could easily base a consultation practice on the information found in this series, as many readers have, in fact. There is a LOT of information in this Series, and while the old chestnut of "If you find one good idea, it's worth the price" certainly does apply here, I know for myself that I found many useful concepts and techniques that I use every day.

In each monograph, Fred introduces key concepts in a concise manner, and then supplies you with a ton of tried-and true lines that he has developed and used in his professional practice. In addition, Fred lays out a fascinating array of facts and statistics that can be used to gain an uncanny insight into the lives and minds of your clients.

Here's the breakdown of each monograph in the Series...

Monograph #1: Somatotypes and Colors

This 35-page monograph starts by teaching you Fred's take on body types. This system shows you how to discern key information about your client before they even open their mouth, and then provides you with page after page of actual lines from Fred's repetoire. It's your choice, of course, whether you disclose this information upfront (and establish yourself in their minds as The Real Deal) or save it for later in the reading to validate your favorite oracle.

Next up Fred looks at Color Readings, which would play well in either a walk-around situation or as part of a longer reading, and supplies you with a complete mini-reading for each color.

The third section is devoted to Fred's expansion on the time-honored Ken de Courcy system (made popular by Richard Webster and Ron Martin). As good as the original system is, Fred improves on it by tying it to the body type approach taught earlier in the monograph, which increases the potential impact by adding a level of accuracy not available in earlier letter-keyed systems.

Finally, Fred gives you a quick and easy way to get started with this material by using a simple tick sheet, which is included as a fully-editable Microsoft Word document. For some people, this tick sheet will be worth the price of admission alone, since you can modify this to use with any oracle you like. Don't like the wording of a particular tick item? No problem -- just change it to something you think is more appropriate.

All in all, this first monograph is chock full of good, usable material, and I'm sure you'll see why I was blown away by it when I first encountered it. But wait ... there's more:

Monograph #2: Type Graphology

In this 39-page e-book, you'll find a perfect example of how Fred can combine two normally unrelated disciplines into an ingenious new system. In this case, it's "Myers-Briggs meets Graphology". With four simple questions, you'll be able to identify what category your client falls into. Furnished with this information and a sample of their handwriting, you can then apply Fred's list of handwriting attributes and give a very accurate reading that will resonate deeply with them. And, as in Monograph #1, Fred gives you plenty of real-world lines that you can modify for your own style or use as-is.

The following section of the monograph details the characteristics of the 16 types found in the Myers-Briggs system, as well as interesting facts that you can use with devastating effect.

In the section titled "Oldies But Goodies", you'll learn the twelve phases of a classic reading system that was taught by a Golden Age psychic institute. Don't be fooled into thinking this "old-school" approach is outdated, though -- as every professional reader knows, "the more things change, the more they stay the same" -- and you'll be able to apply this system with the same powerful results it's had, year after year.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Robert Nelson, so you'll understand why I was very interested to see that Fred includes a selection of Nelson gems -- lines and concepts to apply to your readings -- that are just as timeless and useful today as they were in Nelson's day.

Monograph #3: Advanced Psychic Readings

As the title suggests, this 49-page monograph is intended for the reader who has progressed to the point where they are comfortable with their basic approach and are interested in that "something extra" that will add texture and meaning to their readings. Starting with how to interpret subtle visual features and cues, this work moves into the arcane study of head types and how to identify which of three categories a client is likely to fall into. And -- you guessed it -- there are plenty of lines and insights provided for each category, so after reading this, you certainly won't be at a loss for words when applying this system.

In the section titled "The Eyes Have It", Fred discusses a simple technique that will help you figure out which of two major personality groups a client belongs to, as well as a way to determine whether a person is open to suggestion or not. The sections on clothing and handshakes will provide you with valuable clues to your client's personality -- right down to the likelihood that they are a Democrat or a Republican!

There's a lot more in here, including the three thoughts that every person is concerned with (and no, we're not talking about the usual "love, health and money" -- these three themes go deeper than that). Fred also shares his Cradle to Grave readings for a quadratic system that dates back several centuries (but is extremely useful to the modern reader) plus a review of Tom Palmer's system, which could easily be called "Ten Safe Answers" (information that can get you out of more than a few sticky corners, to be sure).

A Little Bit About The Author

Fred Crouter was a retired psychologist and teacher who also engaged in private practice for over 40 years. His teaching experience included positions at Bellevue University, the University of Nebraska, Nebraska Psychiatric Institute, and Iowa Western Community College. At Creighton University Medical School he taught medical hypnosis as continuing education for physicians.

Throughout his career, he maintained an interest in mentalism, and was particularly interested in one-on-one psychic readings. After retiring from the field of psychology, he became a professional private reader, and among other things, worked a four year engagement as the resident psychic at CasinOmaha, an Omaha Indian casino.

As you can see, Fred accumulated quite a bit of life experience that is invaluable in the field of private consultation, and it enabled him to write on the subject with a great deal of real world authority.