So i've been enjoying the art of mentalism lately. Still at the beginning stages but i am building a Routine and although small, it's going quite well.

Billet sleight of hand, in hand writing, card manipulation are all skills that can be easily learned in front of the mirror which i do quite often. Yet i would love to learn skills like muscle reading and cold reading which i need people to practise on. My girlfriend is getting a bit sick of me trying to find which card she's thinking of while holding her arm.

I found some website about practising cold reading with people to play the 20 questions game... "Think of a person and with Y/N questions i'll guess who it is" after which you'll try to read their body or something.
Muscle reading is even harder, i've tried to show people muscle reading but i fail too much so people are not interested anymore.... so i have no way to practice...

How do you practise these skills?

Honestly? Look for alternative methods that make it look like you are achieving these skills, force a card and present it to your girlfriend as if you are using cold reading. Unless you were using progressive anagrams, lots of decent closed question and the knowledge of a rough ordered stack so you can estimate where the subject took the card from within that stack you don't really have a chance.

(Mixing so many methods will still look SH*T so don't try learning the above).

Forget what you think you know about mentalism and build mentalism routines around what you know....Have someone write down where they have hidden an object, (billet switch) now you know where the item is, try to get them to lead you to it.

(because you know where the object is you can't fail, they will be impressed when you find it and you get to practice what it feels like when they move you in certain direction) 2 birds one stone.

Presentation is the key to any good mentalism performance the method is irrelevant (use the most direct method keep it simple and play it big)

Hope this helps (before shunning it try it)

Pete

thank you so much for the reply... strange how I didn't come up with that myself... I've used it before... just hasn't passed my mind for a while I guess.

I know that it's all about presentation and I work on that a lot as well. I'm taking acting courses and a practise speech in front of the mirror and on video (video gives rewind possibilities which are great to really analyze my appearance)
but i'd really love to be able to coldread on a high level.

thx again, the musclereading is covered