Win The Crowd By Steve Cohen – Unlock the secrets of influence, charisma and showmanship. An amazing book i must say, I have personally got the book, read through it repeatedly at least 5 times which required me to go to the library quite a number of times to renew it’s loan, but it’s all worth it as it’s almost as if it’s a bible to me, something i can’t live without.

Win The Crowd By Steve Cohen promises to teach you how to unlock the secrets of influence, charisma and showmanship through the life of a millionaire magician – Steve Cohen himself. At the very beginning he promises you that he’s going to make you more commanding, confident and charismatic (love the use of alliteration here). He lives the entire book by 5 rules, which he calls “The Maxims of Magic”, cheesy, but it makes sense.

The 5 maxims of magic are :

1. Be bold.

2. Expect Success.

3. Don’t state – Suggest

4. Practice, Practice, Practice.

5. Be prepared.

In the ensuing ten chapters of the book, Steve Cohen explains how he uses these 5 maxims of magic to convince entire auditoriums of people that his tricks are all magic – no, it’s not all about setup, i thought it was at first but after reading more into it, i realized that the book is much deeper than that, it actually teaches you how to be commanding, confident and charismatic. Here are a few examples of the stuff he teaches.

In this chapter Steve Cohen teaches how leaders should move with confidence, because no one likes a hesitant leader. – Move With A Definitive Purpose

“When you move, move with precision and accuracy. You will assure the audience that you know exactly what you are doing. Remember, you are being observed by audiences all the time. Fumble or stumble, and you lose credibility… Remember this rule : Think before you move. I applied this to my magic, and you can apply the same rule to your life. Before you even lift a pinky, think of how you will start, execute, and finish the action. All your thinking should take place before you begin.” After which, he requests that you try two things.

Trial 1 – With your right hand, pick up a pen that is on the right side of your desk. Now reach across your body to your left side and place the pen down on your desk somewhere off the left. It doesn’t matter where. Just place it somewhere on the left side of your desk and leave it there.

Trial 2 – Repeat the action as in Trial 1, but this time, decide exactly where you will place the pen on the left side of your desk before you begin. remember, don’t make a move until you’ve already decided where the final destination will be. Now pick up the pen and move it directly to that spot.

“Did you feel the difference? In Trial 1, you had to make a decision as your hand was in transit. “Where should i put the pen down? Over here, or perhaps over there?” Sure, it’s a quick decision, but it required thought nonetheless. In Trial 2, you knew exactly where the start and finish points were, and you moved more efficiently… Strive to make all your actions decisive, as you did in Trial 2. Think before you move. Whether you’re handing a pen to a colleague for his signature, or flipping pages in a sales brochure for a client, make your actions precise. Mentally “feel” your body cutting through the air. Visualize the action, and then carry it out.”

Phew, there you go, one long point he was making on how leaders seem to move so confidently from place to place – they make the decisions beforehand and simply act it all out. Commandingly and confidently.

Throughout the book, Steve Cohen also includes many other ways to improve your charisma, one of which is my favorite and i’ve even created a video about : The Sweetest Word In The World – The Person’s Name. Yes, it’s about using the person’s name as appropriately often as possible as that is in fact, the sweetest word in the world to them and hearing it more will only make them like you more.

There are also articles on how to appear confident and commanding, here’s one of my favorite articles. – Which Foot Steps first When You Walk Onstage?

“Magician Vito Lupo takes this thinking further by applying a classic actor’s technique. In his lectures, he offers the following advice : When entering from the left, take your first step with your right foot. when entering from the right, take your first step the your left foot… This stage technique presents a more open view of your body when walking in front of a group. If you violate this advice, the first thing that audiences will see is your shoulder and your profile. If you follow this advice.. They see a broader, frontal view of your chestmand you appear to take up more space. You appear more commanding because you are more visible.”

There you go, a simple article on how to make an entrance into literally anywhere. With your torso facing the audience – as that would make you seem bigger and thus, more commanding. In other articles, he also teaches on how to “float” into a room gracefully,  a technique to walk into the room as natural as can be, the most commanding and comfortable posture and how much you should be leaning forward – all leading to a more confident and commanding image of you.

Then, Steve Cohen also goes on to explain how to almost magically influence people to do what you want -again, here’s one of my favorite examples. – Series Of Three.

“Whether you are aware of it or not, your life is governed by the “series of three.” When you were a small child, this psychological principle was hardwired into your innermost psyche. Think back. All your favorite stories had a beginning, a middle, and an end. There were three bears, and Aladdin was granted three wishes. Running races began with “Ready, set, go.” When you needed to pick up something heavy, you learned to “lift on three – one, two, three, lift!”. And if you believe in Christianity, you learned about the Holy Trinity… Something just “feels right” when we hear or present information in chunks of three. Surely this feeling of comfort arises from familiarity. And since we are used to this triplicate format, we respond favorably when information is presented to us this way…”

Steve Cohen goes on to explain how with this principle in mind, he goes on to convince many people when presenting points to them, and how you can do the same for your presentations, your arguments and more. Really tricky and deep, feels like you got a magic trick up your sleeve to pull out if you need anything (: Steve Cohen also explains many other similar principles where our minds are trained to accept the norm like movements from left to right and stuff, and how we’ll be more accepting to information when presented in a left to right manner. Really wonderful stuff. (:

Phew, That Was Tiring

There you go, a nice little review on Win The Crowd by Steve Cohen. All in all, he delivers what he promises  – how to be confident, commanding and charismatic. Plus how to use such techniques like the one above (Series Of Three) to influence people without them knowing. Wonderful stuff, haha. Personally, to me it’s almost like it’s my bible. I can’t seem to get enough of it and keep re-reading it to revise on the techniques and to improve myself, like one of the maxims of magic – Practice, Practice, Practice. Definitely a wonderful book to have to turn your life around and get you charming your way through life and seemingly breezing through leadership roles successfully like how a magician glides around stage seeming to know how everything would be a success.

If you all wish to buy the book, and i highly advice it if you wish to turn your life around and flow with the charisma and confidence of a magician, you can always  check out what amazon offers here : Win The Crowd By Steve Cohen. Cheers people (:

Yours sincerely,
Desmond L.