PRESENTATION

I'm going to try to read the minds of everyone in this room. I'll tell you now I
won't succeed with everyone, but if I'm lucky it will work with a few of you. S
o everyone please think of a random word right now. Any word at all -- long or s
hort, noun, verb, adjective, preposition, gerund, whatever floats your boat.
Everybody got one? Good. Now if I could go through and start picking people out
and telling you the words you're thinking of well, I'd be a lot better than I am.
The reason I can't do that is because you're not focusing on the word in the wa
y I need you to. There's a particular kind of focus that I'm best able to work w
ith and hone in on. And I've learned that because different people's minds work
differently, some people are naturally better at it than others. I'll show you w
hat I mean
The random word you just thought of, picture that word written out in big letter
s in front of you, like on a giant screen. Everyone picturing that? Now pick out
just one letter in that word and focus on it. Doesn't matter which one. Just pi
ck one out and make it bigger and brighter, and let all the other letters fade a
way. So now you're picturing a screen with just one big letter on it, right? Now
here's the important part. Whatever letter you're picturing, think of a new wor
d that starts with that letter, any word you can think of, and raise your hand w
hen you've got one.
Good. Now that was easy. If you looked around, you notice that pretty much every
one's hand shot up pretty quickly. That's because you had your choice of any wor
d that started with the letter you thought of, so it's easy to come up with one.
But now I'm gonna make it a little harder. This new word you're thinking of now
picture it written out in front of you on a big screen, just like you did before
. Now focus on, let's say the last letter of the new word, whatever that is. And
just like before, make that letter big and bright, and let all the other ones f
ade away. So once again, everyone's picturing just one random letter, right? Now
again, whatever letter you're seeing, think of new word that starts with that l
etter, BUT this time don't make it just any word; make it one of the fifty states.
And again, as soon as you've got one, raise your hand, and please keep it raise
d.
Now you see, hands are going up a lot more slowly this time. That's because comi
ng up with a word that fits a particular category is harder than just any random
word. You can put your hands down.
So some people are better at coming up with those kinds of associations than oth
ers. And what I've found is that people who are good at it are the ones whose th
oughts I can read the best, because of the intensity of focus it requires. You'r
e trying to think of a word that fits, and when you finally do and it pops into
your head, for that brief moment it's like it lights up your entire brain. That'
s the kind of focus I need, so that's the kind of process I like to induce.
So let's keep going. If you were able to think of a state just now, picture it w
ritten on on the big screen in front of you. If you couldn't think of one, ordin
arily this is where I'd start eliminating people, but I'll give everyone one mor
e chance now that you know what's going on. So if you couldn't think of a state
before, just pick one now, it doesn't matter which one. And everyone picture the
name of the state written out in front of you.
Now everyone focus on, say, the second letter of whichever state you're thinking
of. Make that letter big and bright, and let the others fade away. Everyone foc
us on that letter, and think of a new word that starts with that letter, but thi
s time don't make it just any word, make it a fruit. And when you've got one, rai
se your hand and leave it up.
[Brief pause]
And stop. All right, if your hand is up right now and you thought of a fruit, yo
u're still in the running, and I'd like you to keep playing along. If you didn't
come up with fruit and you don't have your hand up, then this particular thing
probably isn't going to work with you. That doesn't mean you're defective of unw
orthy, of course; it just means this isn't the best way for me to read your mind
, so please don't raise your hand from here on out. Make sense? Great. So those
of you with your hands up, you're still in the game. Go ahead and put them down
for the next round.
Those of you still in the game are thinking of some kind of fruit, which you arr
ived at by a random letter that I couldn't possibly know. Picture the name of th
e fruit written out in front of you on the big screen. Now focus on, let's say,
the last letter of the fruit, whatever it is. Picture that letter big and bright
, and one more time let all the others fade away, so that one letter is all you
see. And once you've got that letter firmly in your mind, think of a new word th
at starts with that letter, but this time don't make it just any word, make it a
breakfast food, something people eat for breakfast. And as soon as you've got on
e, raise your hand.
All right, you, you and you. You were the first three I saw, which means you're
all really good at making these kinds of associations, so I'd like to use you th
ree. You don't have to come up onstage, but would you be so kind as to just stan
d up for me where you are? Thank you.
What are your names? Anne, Brian and Christine, thank you. Right now you're all
thinking of breakfast foods, which you arrived at by a random series of thoughts
that I couldn't possibly know. From here I'm gonna have you each think of diffe
rent kinds of things, and I'm going to try to tune into you while you do it and
see what I can pick up, all right?
So to start, all of you think of whatever breakfast food you just thought of, an
d picture it written out on the big screen in front of you like we've been doing
. So everyone's seeing a word that describes a breakfast food, yes? Now let's mi
x things up. Anne, picture the first letter of your word. Make it big and bright
and let the others fade away, blah blah, you know the drill by now, right? Good
. Brian, picture the second letter of your word, and make that the only one you
can see. And Christine, you picture the third letter of your word, and make that
the only one you can see. Everyone seeing your letter big and bright? Good, kee
p focusing on it, because here's where the fun starts.
Anne, picture your letter and think of a new word that starts with that letter,
but don't make it just any word, make it some kind of gem or precious stone. Have
you got one? Good! That was great, I can tell this is gonna work with you. Reme
mber that gem stone, keep picturing the name of it in your mind and I'll get bac
k to you.
Brian, you're still seeing your letter? Good, think of a new word that starts wi
th it, but make it a musical instrument. It can be like a rock instrument, an orc
hestral instrument, any kind, doesn't matter. There, you've got one don't you? I
could tell. I think this will work with you too. Keep focusing on the instrumen
t and I'll get back to you.
Christine, you're picturing your letter? Perfect, think of a new word that start
s with that letter, but make it a weapon of some kind. Wow, that was quick. This
will work great with you. Keep focusing on the weapon for a moment.
All right, this is good. That round told me I've got a very good shot of making
this work with all three of you. So this round is for real. This is where I need
you to focus as hard as you possibly can, and I'm going to try to actually pick
up on what you're thinking, all right? Here we go
Anne, you're thinking of what was it, a precious stone, right? Only you know what
kind of stone it is. But picture the name written out in front of you on the sc
reen. Good. Focus on just the second letter, make it big and bright and all that
. Good. Now for real: whatever letter that is you're seeing, think of a new word
that starts with that letter, but make it a jungle animal of some kind. YES!!! P
erfect! Good! Just like that! Keep that animal in your mind, don't forget it, I'
ll be right back with you. This is gonna be awesome
Brian, you're thinking of some kind of musical instrument. Could be any instrume
nt. Picture it written out in front of you and focus on the second letter. Got i
t? Make that letter the only thing you can see. Now with everything you've got,
think of a new word that starts with that letter, but make it some kind of garmen
t or article of clothing. It can be something you wear on the outside, on the in
side, whatever There it is! Ha! Yeah oh this'll be good. Remember that piece of cl
othing, I'll get back to you.
And Christine, you're thinking of a weapon of some kind, yes? Good. Picture it w
ritten out in front of you, and let's have you focus on the last letter. Make th
at letter the only thing you can see. Have you got it? Great. Now with every fib
er of your being think of a new word that starts with that letter, but make it an
item of jewelry, something you'd buy in the jewelry department Oh that was beauti
ful! I mean, the others were good, but that was just like butter. I wish everyon
e's mind worked like that. This is gonna rock. Keep thinking about that piece of
jewelry.
All right! Now to recap: All three of you, and everyone else in this room, start
ed off by thinking of a random word that no one but you could possibly know. You
never told anyone else, you never wrote it down, it existed only on your mind.
Then you picked a letter from somewhere in this unknowable word, and used it as
a springboard to think of a new word. And since no one could have known which le
tter you picked, obviously no one could know what word it led you too, right? An
d then we repeated that process several more times, each time having you think o
f a letter from your word, and using it as a springboard to think of a new rando
m word that no one could possibly know, correct? Right.
Now Anne, obviously I know you're thinking of some kind of animal, but there are
a whole lot of animals you could be thinking of, and there's obviously no way I
could know which one you'd end up with. And Brian, I know you're thinking of so
me kind of article of clothing, but again, you could be thinking of anything in
the entire Abercrombie & Fitch catalog for all anyone knows. And Christine, you'
re thinking of some kind of piece of jewelry, but as a man who buys gifts for wo
men, I know there are more kinds of jewelry out there than I've even heard of, s
o it's entirely possible you're thinking of a word I don't even know.
Given all that, if I managed to get even one of these -- your animal or your clo
thing or your jewelry -- that would be pretty damn amazing. So bear that in mind
as I try, against all odds and good sense, to get all three. When I get to you
please give me a loud, clear, deep, boisterous, one-word answer: either YES or N
O. Do not lie to make me look good. For that matter, do not lie to make me look
stupid. Just answer honestly, yes or no. Everyone understand? Good.
Since jewelry really is the thing I'm worst with, Christine, we'll start with yo
u. So out of all the pieces of jewelry people adorn themselves with, yes or no,
are you thinking of a necklace?
("Yes!")
Yes! Anne, out of all the animals in the world, are you thinking of a monkey?
("Yes!")
Yes! And Brian, out of all the clothes that people put on their bodies, you naug
hty boy, are you thinking of underwear?
("Yes!")
Yes!!! Please, a ginormous round of applause for Anne, Brian and Christine

METHOD
Say those words in that order. Or at least, something equivalent to them.
WHY IT WORKS
Each step appears to make people's choices even more random and unknowable than
the previous one. In reality, while the first couple steps do just that, the rem
aining ones actually offer a narrower range of choices each time, gradually funn
eling the choices down to a known outcome -- hence "choice funneling" or "chunne
ling."
The real chunneling happens with the "state" and "fruit" steps. If you think of
the second letter of any state, and think of a fruit that starts with that lette
r, chances are you'll end up thinking of a fruit that ends with the letter E. So
at the end of that step, most people with their hands up are thinking of an E bu
t not all of them.
So from there you ask for a breakfast food. Because eggs are such a ubiquitous b
reakfast food, people thinking of E will come up with eggs almost immediately, w
hereas people thinking of other letters will have a more difficult time and will
take longer. That's why you pick the first three hands that go up; you can be p
retty damn sure they're all thinking of eggs.
At that point, as far as anyone knows, all three people you call on are thinking
of different, random foods. You're the only one who knows they're all thinking
of eggs. Of course if you revealed that, and it was the same thing 75% of everyo
ne else in the room was thinking of too, it would be pretty obvious what was goi
ng on. So that's why you lead each of them in a separate direction for two more
steps -- to get them all to different words whose common origins are untraceable
.
(Note that you could, if you wanted, do a Hoy ending at that point and wrap thin
gs up early. "I'm getting corn flakes, eggs, and strawberry yogurt. If I just na
med your food, please sit down." But I like being able to unmistakably identify
each person's thought in a worry-free way.)
So from there you have each person think of a different letter in "whatever" foo
d they're thinking of, and lead them each on a separate gray elephant-like journ
ey to a known outcome. The steps are:
Person 1: 1st letter (E) > gem or precious stone (emerald) > 2nd letter (M) > ju
ngle animal (monkey)
Person 2: 2nd letter (G) > musical instrument (guitar) > 2nd letter (U) > garmen
t or article of clothing (underwear)
Person 3: 3rd letter (G) > kind of weapon (gun) > last letter (N) > piece of jew
elry (necklace)
Additional tips...
When forcing the guitar, I say, ...make it a musical instrument. It can be a rock
instrument, an orchestral instrument, any kind at all. As I say the words rock in
strument, I blatantly pantomime strumming a guitar, and I let the image linger fo
r a second before going on. I then pantomime a trumpet or cello or something for
the orchestral instrument, for congruence.
When forcing underwear, I say, It can be something you wear on the outside, on th
e inside, whatever. On the word "outside," I pat my shoulders with my hands. Then
on the word "inside," I pat my thighs, and again linger there for a second befo
re moving on.
I try to have at least one woman in the final three, and I then choose her for t
he gun > necklace force. This is because, in my experience, women are more likel
y to think of the generic "gun" rather than something specific like a "glock," a
nd theyll come up with necklace more easily than men.
I like to reveal the words in order of increasing humor. First necklace, which i
sn't funny; then monkey, which is just a funny word; then underwear, which appea
ls to the inner 12-year-old boy in everyone.
Non-USA performers yeah, you're kinda screwed, sorry. Try this though: think of s
omething you'd eat for dessert. Don't make it something easy that you'd have at
home, like ice cream or cookies. Make it something you'd order when you're eatin
g out -- something like tiramisu, that you probably wouldn't make for yourself.
Got one? Does it end in E? Most of them do. So feel free to work with that.
My original "Thought Chunnel" was a 1-on-1 effect that used the same idea, but h
ad a number of different "branches" that you'd have to take when someone couldn'
t come up with a suitable word. This eliminates the need for those branches by u
sing a bunch of people, and simply eliminating the ones who've thought of unsuit
able words along the way.