Read the full transcript of mentalist Oz Pearlman’s talk titled “The Art of Reading Minds”, recorded at TED2025 on April 11, 2025.
OZ PEARLMAN: I am billed as the world’s greatest mind reader, but guess what? I can’t read minds. What I can do is read people. And people ask a question all the time, which is, were you born with this? And the answer is no.
Of course not. Absolutely not. I do not possess any supernatural powers. I am not a psychic. This is a learnable skill that I feel anyone could do, but I’ve applied for about roughly three decades at reverse engineering the human mind.
If I know how you think, I know what you think. And I want to ask each and every one of you in this room a question. But before we do, take a deep breath in. Take a deep breath in. Exhale out, and close your eyes.
Little Zen mode. Okay? I see the people with trust issues, eyes wide open, holding their wallets and phones. Fellow New Yorkers. Here is my question.
The Dinner Question
If you could have dinner, hypothetical, with someone famous. Right? Some of you have heard this question already. I didn’t invent it. I love asking people.
Someone famous, dead or alive, past or present, man, woman, whatever, I like to ask people, who would that person be for you? It’s fascinating. Everyone’s different. And if you’ve already done it, open your eyes. Some of you have done it.
Some of you are quick. I see nods. I see people that are decisive. If you haven’t, you always need a deadline for creativity. Three, two, one, crunch time.
Open your eyes. Everyone out there, give me a big clap over your head if you can see your person in your mind’s eye. Give me a big clap.
One more big clap. Notice the technique.
Elbows locked on this man. Michael Phelps would have been jealous of that streamline. Stand up, please. Stand up, please. Introduce yourself.
“Sorry. I’m Ian.”
Ian, question for you. Before you walked in this room and sat down, did you have any idea who I was or what I was going to do?
“No, actually.”
Sorry. Okay. That’s cool. Nobody reads the agenda. Totally fine.
Totally fine. Give me another clap. Give me another clap. I like that. Right here, you not only clap, but through a little belly dance, I reward extra credit.
She’s hiding her name tag. She’s like, I’m giving the mentalist nothing. Tell us, what is your name?
“Oh, hi. I’m Najira.”
Najira? Right. Stand up, please. Did I say that correctly? Najira?
“Yeah.”
Wonderful. Wonderful. Give me another clap. Give me another clap.
One more clap. This man and I just locked eyes. When we made eye contact, he closed his eyes tightly as it’s activating a camouflage shield where if he doesn’t see me, would I still see him? I still see you, Jeff Johnson. Stand up, please.
Give all three helpers a round of applause. Notice the question and the way it was phrased. Dead or alive? Fifty fifty, like flipping a coin. All three of you, please, I don’t read minds.
Reading People, Not Minds
I’m telling you the truth. I read people. Try not to react. If the person you thought of is alive, then their heart is beating in their chest. The room is getting warm like the blood flowing through their veins.
They’re happy. They’re smiling, alive, warming up, warming up. Cold, you feel a shiver down your neck. Clear cut. Hundred percent.
Hundred percent. Jeff Johnson, your person is alive and well. Am I right?
“You’re right.”
The boisterous smile, the effervescence, hundred percent. Versus Ian, dead guy vibes written all over this guy. Is it a dead guy?
“Yes.”
Classic Ian. Classic.
Ian, focus on this. Now also the lingering hands and pockets always indicator of another guy. Guy to guy interaction. Is it a guy?
“Yes.”
Of course, it is. If it’s a female, hands in front of the crotch. I don’t know why. A few of you are going to get home and you see your husband like this, and you’re like, who is he? Ian, think of his first name.
Think of his last name. First name, last name. Come back to me. The first name, try to count the letters. This doesn’t make sense.
Listen to me. This doesn’t make sense. He was confused when I asked about the last name. He tried to shield it, but I saw it. Why was he confused?
Then I asked the first name, count the letters. It was too long. Sit down if it’s Alexander the Great.
“What?”
You don’t have to hold the applause inside, Ted. You can let it out. Now you’ve seen a taste of what I do, and this is used primarily for the purpose of entertainment. But what I’d like to show you now is how you could apply the principles of my craft, which is known as mentalism, to your everyday lives, at home, at work, in your relationships. How would guessing a celebrity out of a stranger’s mind help you? Well, frankly, it really can’t.
The Name Memory Superpower
But I have a situation, a scenario where knowing someone’s name would be incredibly valuable. Let me paint a portrait. You’re at a party. You’re at a work event. You’ve walked up to somebody new.
You’ve looked them in the eye. You’ve shaken their hands. You’ve introduced yourselves to each other. And right at that moment, you realize that you have completely forgotten the person’s name who just told it to you one second ago. Raise your hand if you can share this experience.
You raised your hands to you, liar. She’s like, not me. Not me. I want to give you a superpower from this day forward where you will never ever forget the name of someone you just met, ever. And how am I going to do this?
Using, can you guess, shampoo. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? The back of every bottle of shampoo is a master class in brilliant marketing. Three words in the instructions, lather, rinse, repeat. Right?
Lather makes your hair smell good. Rinse makes it clean. Repeat, we got to sell some product. I want to repurpose that catchphrase that each and every one of you will remember and take with you for the rest of your days. Listen, repeat, reply.
Say it with me. Listen, repeat, reply. Listen sounds like the most obvious thing. Well, of course, listen to the name, But that’s where most of you falter. At the moment the person tells you the name, you are actually not listening.
You are thinking about what you’re going to say back. Do I know this person? Or what am I going to say next? Or am I hungry? Or a million other thoughts that pop into your head.
It’s not a memory issue. You didn’t forget the name. You never knew it. Imagine I give you a twig, and I tell you, write my name in the sand at the beach, and you try with the twig. First wave washes it away.
But if I give you a thick branch, you carve it in, you repeat those letters, it’s going to take a whole lot of waves until there’s no trace. So here’s what each of you is going to do. I challenge you. When you meet the next person, make your mind a blank. For all of two seconds, when they say their name, truly listen.
And now repeat. Everybody say it with me. Repeat. Repeat. We are going to say their name twice back to them.
Right? “Ashley? Is that right? Great to meet you, Ashley.” This serves two purposes.
One, it’s kind of repetitively ingrained in our memory. Second, you know how to pronounce it correctly. “Najira. Am I saying that right? Najira?”
See, there was a reason I did that. Third, reply. Listen, repeat. Reply. Reply is where we fully cement the name in.
Here’s how we do that. I’ll give you three examples. First one, a compliment. Everyone loves a good compliment. Right?
“Ashley, those earrings. I love those earrings, Ashley.” Now she’s Ashley with the earrings, a visual indicator. Next up, spelling. “Do you spell that Ashley with an e-i-g-h or with an e-y?”
“E-y, of course. That’s the right spelling, Ashley.” I knew. I knew. Or third, a personal connection.
“Ashley, that’s so funny. My cousin’s married to an Ashley.” Is my cousin really married to an Ashley? Absolutely not. I’m a total liar.
But none of you will forget the name Ashley, and neither will I, and neither will we forget Najira after I said her name multiple times. Najira, I think, again, ruching of the cheeks, little sweat, your person is alive also. Am I correct?
“Correct.”
Breaking Down the Impossible
Now what I do in my profession is I take things that appear to have limitless possibilities and break them down. People that are famous, there’s several kind of categories. I’m going to say them quickly. You don’t have to nod. But we had a conqueror. Let’s call it a historical figure.
We have singers, movie stars. We have athletes, comedians, politicians already registered a hit. Too funny. Too funny you did this. Alright.
Shouldn’t have smiled. Tighten it up, Najira. Three days ago, I did a show in Dallas, Texas. Dallas, Texas. And the last person standing thought of a singer.
It’s always singers where this happens. I got his singer correct, and he didn’t sit down. And do know what he said to me? I go, sir, you know, why isn’t he sitting down? He goes, “Oh, yeah? What song am I thinking of?”
I’m like, buddy, this is not Netflix. Always singers. Tell us all. Who in your mind is sitting across from you having dinner?
You’re on the edge of your seat. Tell us all. What’s their name?
“Bob Dylan.”
Bob Dylan. I couldn’t hear you.
“Bob Dylan.”
Bob Dylan, can I ask you a question? I always like this. Everyone listen to me. I call this the grass is greener approach. I can always see it when someone’s eyes shift. She goes, I like Bob Dylan, but I actually have someone else in my mind. You thought of someone else. It’s in the back of your head, but you just shifted.
Can you tell me? I can folks, this is not my first rodeo. Who is the first person you thought of? Tell us.
“Trevor Noah.”
Oh, he’s not a singer. Don’t ever doubt me again, Ted. Don’t you ever doubt me again. Jeff, do you know what the most common question I get at the end of a show is? I get the question, other than, of course, how do you do it?
Is “aren’t you afraid of getting it wrong?” That’s what I get asked because people understand that there is risk involved in what I do. This is not sleight of hand card tricks that work every time. And so the answer is, yeah, of course. Of course, I am.
The Power of Belief
You know what? Because what’s fascinating to me is people can feel the element of risk. And I think the number one factor in success, both on stage and in every facet of my life, is an unshakable belief that it will work. It’s self fulfilling. And in this case, it’s not a belief that I’m going to guess your person.
Been there, done that. I don’t plateau, Jeff. I peak. So I am not going to read your mind. I want to empower someone in this room to do it instead.
This Frisbee was purchased on Amazon Prime, free two day shipping, zero eight seven. It has a one point five star review. This is literally the worst Frisbee in the world. Please, sir, grab that. Tell me your first name.
“Dylan.”
That’s correct. Stand up, Dylan. The frisbee is made out of mesh, everybody, which means if it hits you in the face, it will not hurt, but it will hurt your pride if this goes viral on TED Talks later. Everyone, hands up in defensive posture.
Dylan, close your eyes so you can’t even try to aim this piece of junk. Throw it. Catch. Someone catch. Someone catch.
Give it a throw. Please go. Oh my god. It’s that far. Mike, runner.
Run. Run. Run. Run. Run.
Stand up. Stand up. Please stand up. Please stand up. Please stand up.
What is your name? Do you say Brett?
“Yeah.”
Brett. Brett, have you ever met or spoken a word to Jeff Johnson before?
“I actually haven’t.”
Okay. Maybe more networking at the next breakout session. Please, Brett, come on up. Give him a huge round of applause.
Make your way out, Brett. Two Ts. I like the way you roll, Brett. Not going to forget that name, are you now? Pleasure to meet you, sir.
Brett, I’m bringing you front and center. All right. Let’s adjust this to the height my wife wishes I had. Okay. She is watching this now live and saying that’s true.
Brett, here’s what you’re going to do. I’m going to ask you in a moment, have you ever spoken to me a word in your life?
“I haven’t.”
He seemed happy about that. That was weird.
The Final Demonstration
I’m going to ask him in a moment to close his eyes. You need to believe it in order to achieve it. When you close your eyes, I’m going to ask Jeff to uncap a marker, and you’re going to write the person. Now very important. Jeff, you thought of one person.
Is that correct?
“That’s right.”
Okay. Because, you know, Najira is, like, having dinner. She’s like, load it up. Let’s get a six top. Brett, close your eyes. His eyes are closed. Brett, keep your eyes closed. Jeff, open up your marker, please, as big as you can so we can’t see it.
Write down the first and last name of the person you are imagining sitting down to dinner with. Brett, open your eyes. You have to believe it in order to achieve it. Look not into his eyes. Look into his soul.
And when I snap my fingers, tell him, who is he having dinner with?
“Barack Obama.”
Turn it around. Show everybody. Show everybody.
Thank you, Brett. I am Oz Pearlman. Thank you very much, everybody.
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