Price$23.95
Media TypeBook
CategoryPhilosophy
Date AddedFeb 03, 2006
Win The Crowd
Steve Cohen
(Based on 1 review)
Would You Like to Become More Commanding, Convincing, And Charismatic?
In this book, Steve Cohen, master magician and star of the long-running Chamber Magic show in New York City, will reveal the secrets of all great showmen and magicians - how to persuade, influence, and charm, and ultimately accomplish the things you've always wanted to do. As Cohen writes, "You'll discover how to take over a room, read people, and build anticipation to a feverish pitch so people are burning to hear what you have to say."
Win the Crowd will teach you Steve Cohen's Maxims of Magic, simple rules you can use to take charge of practically any situation, from on-the-job disagreements to dating to important cocktail parties. The Maxims of Magic will wash away insecurities and hesitations, and replace them with confidence, poise, and leadership. What's more, Steve Cohen will show you:
- How to Create a Magic Moment. Capturing people's imaginations and attention so they listen carefully to every word you say.
- How to Command a Room. Showing everyone in the room that you are speaking right to them, making them all feel unique -- and completely focused on you.
- How to Read People. Learning to sense what people are feeling and thinking as you speak, what they want from you, and how to make them feel like they are getting it.
- Misdirection. The most important trick in all of magic - getting inside people's heads, and directing what they are thinking at every minute.
"If you think magic is just about tricks, you probably think business success is about nothing but spreadsheets and long hours. At long last, Steve Cohen reveals the secrets of both. No sleight of hand, just practical miracles!"
- Seth Godin, author, Purple Cow
"The secrets in Win The Crowd have helped me capture some of the toughest crowds of all - hardcore businesspeople. I now have the ability to convey my message in a powerful way to both large and small audience, and you can learn how to do it too."
- Stephen Messer, CEO and chairman, LinkShare Corporation
182 Pages
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Steve Cohen and I competed in the junior close-up competition at the IBM Convention in 1987. It took place in Nashville and it wasn't even close. Steve won first place easily. He was as polished and professional as a teenager than most performers twice his age. The rest of us tucked out tails between our legs and went home to our finger choppers.
So it doesn't surprise me that 20 years later Steve Cohen has been hugely successful, performing for the world's rich and famous at private parties while holding down a weekly one-man parlor show in New York.
He's parlayed this success into this book for Harper Collins. It's a book for the public, but the mystery entertainer will find much to chew on in the 182 pages. Steve is really good at preparing the reader to perform for real people. Most of Steve's audiences are no doubt salespeople and business speakers looking for an edge.
The first few chapters deal with Steve's "Maxims of Magic" which deal with Steve's philosophy for preparation. Steve feels in magic, and in life, one should be bold, be prepared and expect success. He gives examples of boldness, namely, talking to strangers on elevators and loading a quarter on someone without them noticing. I felt these chapters offered a decent general overview of how to be more confident in your one-on-one interactions with others, but didn't offer anything substantially different than one might read in other motivational business books.
Okay, I did find one gem which I've since practiced at every movie I've attended since reading the book. It has to do with standing in front of the entire movie audience. I won't tip it here, but it's a wonderful exercise that's easy to take advantage of.
In the next section, Steve addresses how to prepare your body, voice and appearance. These tips are similar to things that can be found in other books for actors and in Esquire's Big Black Book (a style reference guide). Steve has a very strict view of his appearance on and off the "stage" and feels that performers should always dress the part as you never know who you'll run into. Some of you may disagree with this. In fact, I'm not totally sold on it. Steve works for high society and walks the streets of New York City. If your audiences are the typically in Smalltown, USA, I doubt the effectiveness of constantly dressing to the nines will garner more shows or leave a more "favorable" impression. Your friends, business associates and audiences surely realize you have a life offstage and what you're wearing will reflect that. Some of these tips are common-sense general care tips that you, if you've been performing for any significant time at all, would likely know. However, it's a good, condensed primer for what follows.
Chapter six, "How to Command a Room" was easily my favorite. It covers many things that I've never seen covered in a magic book. "How to float into a room" and "Own the Stage" are my favorite passages here. Steve simply tells you how to walk in and take over. He tells you what to do with your body, what to do with your eyes, your head, your hands, you name it. This is required reading and I feel will be of most interest to performers.
There's also a nice chapter on misdirection and one pagers sprinkled throughout of Steve's "anecdotes" from his years of performing. They're fun to read. In fact, they were such a nice break between sections that I read the entire book in one afternoon.
The bottom line is, this book is a valuable tool to performers, especially magicians, everywhere. Cohen is in elite company. Along with Derren Brown, Ricky Jay and Marc Salem, he's performing at a very high level, putting the "A" in art, while garnering positive attention from the public for this thing we love. We should probably listen to him.
So it doesn't surprise me that 20 years later Steve Cohen has been hugely successful, performing for the world's rich and famous at private parties while holding down a weekly one-man parlor show in New York.
He's parlayed this success into this book for Harper Collins. It's a book for the public, but the mystery entertainer will find much to chew on in the 182 pages. Steve is really good at preparing the reader to perform for real people. Most of Steve's audiences are no doubt salespeople and business speakers looking for an edge.
The first few chapters deal with Steve's "Maxims of Magic" which deal with Steve's philosophy for preparation. Steve feels in magic, and in life, one should be bold, be prepared and expect success. He gives examples of boldness, namely, talking to strangers on elevators and loading a quarter on someone without them noticing. I felt these chapters offered a decent general overview of how to be more confident in your one-on-one interactions with others, but didn't offer anything substantially different than one might read in other motivational business books.
Okay, I did find one gem which I've since practiced at every movie I've attended since reading the book. It has to do with standing in front of the entire movie audience. I won't tip it here, but it's a wonderful exercise that's easy to take advantage of.
In the next section, Steve addresses how to prepare your body, voice and appearance. These tips are similar to things that can be found in other books for actors and in Esquire's Big Black Book (a style reference guide). Steve has a very strict view of his appearance on and off the "stage" and feels that performers should always dress the part as you never know who you'll run into. Some of you may disagree with this. In fact, I'm not totally sold on it. Steve works for high society and walks the streets of New York City. If your audiences are the typically in Smalltown, USA, I doubt the effectiveness of constantly dressing to the nines will garner more shows or leave a more "favorable" impression. Your friends, business associates and audiences surely realize you have a life offstage and what you're wearing will reflect that. Some of these tips are common-sense general care tips that you, if you've been performing for any significant time at all, would likely know. However, it's a good, condensed primer for what follows.
Chapter six, "How to Command a Room" was easily my favorite. It covers many things that I've never seen covered in a magic book. "How to float into a room" and "Own the Stage" are my favorite passages here. Steve simply tells you how to walk in and take over. He tells you what to do with your body, what to do with your eyes, your head, your hands, you name it. This is required reading and I feel will be of most interest to performers.
There's also a nice chapter on misdirection and one pagers sprinkled throughout of Steve's "anecdotes" from his years of performing. They're fun to read. In fact, they were such a nice break between sections that I read the entire book in one afternoon.
The bottom line is, this book is a valuable tool to performers, especially magicians, everywhere. Cohen is in elite company. Along with Derren Brown, Ricky Jay and Marc Salem, he's performing at a very high level, putting the "A" in art, while garnering positive attention from the public for this thing we love. We should probably listen to him.