In this envelope, I have
 the portrait of an extraordinary person
 who has helped me a lot to understand
what I'm going to tell you about right now
 But allow me to come back to this in a moment
if you don't mind
 Just let me warn you 
I'm said to be a bit...
 ...How shall I put it...special
I'd say the family I come from is special
My father was a magician, my grandfather a diviner and healer
my uncle clairvoyant and hypnotiser
 A few of my aunts were fortune-teller
a cousine of mine was a psychic and so on..
Yes I know, it sounds a bit like the Addams family
What I also know is that
all of this didn't really help me to find 
a place in a society which is so rational
I am not complaining, far from it
As a consequence, I always have a little problem
when I'm asked, and it happens quite often
what is in my opinion
the most paranormal phenomenon
That's a real problem, because ever since I was a child
I've always considered the paranormal
as something perfectly normal
Still, I'm going to tell you a secret
I've explored many aspects of the universe
extra-sensory perceptions
mediumship, synchronicity
haunted houses, ghosts
And I came to the conclusion
that the most paranormal phenomenon
I have ever encountered 
is simply the human being
Even though they're endowed with reason
human beings are certainly
the most irrational phenomenon I know
They are fascinating
or, at least, the way they relate to the world
is fascinating
To understand them better, 
to study them better
I chose to become a mentalist
more than 20 years ago now
Well, that was the first thing
the second thing
 is that we've all already dreamed one day
to read other people's minds
But if tomorrow, you had such a power
what would you do with it?
Would you use it simply to entertain other people?
Would you use it to impress them?
Or on the contrary, would you use this ability
to improve and change your lifestyle?
Well, there are several ways
to catch and read other people's minds
Let me tell you about body language
According to many studies,
it seems that body language
the language of gestures
is infinitely more significant than verbal communication
Well, as an image is better than 1000 words
To illustrate my talk
we're going to try a little test
I can see that some of you are taking notes
I'm going to ask you, if you don't mind, to participate
You do not have to
We're going to do this little experiment
As we are in France, we're going to talk about cooking for example
I'm going to ask you to write on a piece of paper, notebook, scratch pad, it doesn't really matter
You're going to think about your favorite dish
and write it down on a piece of paper, scratch pad, whatever
Then you're going to write down the name of a second dish you don't like
or you're indifferent to
as well as the name of a third dish you don't like and are indifferent to
Well, raise your hands if you want to participate
I'm going in the back
Well please, young lady
with applause from the audience
I'm going to take the microphone
 What's your name?
Viviane
So, we're going to do a little test
So, three dishes
among which one is your favorite
Well, you've written that,
Have you got the sheet with you?
Well, perfect
First, I'm going to ask you to name, to read out
these three dishes
Just, read them out clearly when I tell you to do so
All right Viviane? Now
Polenta, rabbit and lasagna
Well, one more time?
Polenta, rabbit and lasagna
Good
Well, the experiment I'm going to do now
is a challenge
It's a challenge because to read someone else's mind
there is always a rule you should always follow
you have to allow people to behave as naturally as possible
And the simple fact that you've come on stage
to take part in the experiment
whether you want it or no, has changed your behaviour
obviously
So, there is a challenge
but we're going to try to overcome the difficulty
Here are the rules of the game
Viviane, in a few seconds
I'm going to ask you a question
always the same
In fact three similar questions each including one of the three dishes you've named
And I want you to answer no to every question
even if the real answer is yes.
All right?
It means that, at a given moment
you're going to lie to me.
And I'm going to ask you
not to show you're lying
You'll try not to give me any clue
that could help me to detect you're lying.
Do you think it is possible?
I'll do my best.
Perfect
Because the truth is
that lying can be detected
from the tone of your voice, your face
there are many clues.
Well.. are you ready Viviane?
No
Well, she's got it !
Great
You've understood, always say "no"
Viviane, is rabbit your favorite dish?
No
Is polenta your favorite dish?
No
Are lasagnas your favorite dish?
No
Well, we're going to start over, but faster
Are lasagnas your favorite dish?
No
Rabbit?
No
Polenta?
No
Rabbit?
No
Lasagnas?
No
Your favorite dish is lasagnas, isn't it?
Yes, that's correct.
The experiment is a success
but you do hate eating rabbit.
Oh yes definitely
It really puts you off
Well, thank you very much Viviane
applause from the audience
So..
So, I started studying body language
at a time when the Internet was not as developed as it is today
Consequently, I started with a few books
and above all, I watched people around me
But still I felt something was missing to comprehend all this
to have a more intuitive understanding, 
deeper,
more complete,
more global
Because, you see, after reading
a few books
my understanding was mainly intellectual
And then one day, this understanding
became instantaneous, abrupt
obvious.
To understand what happened,
we need to go back in time
and focus on that special day
This day, I was sitting at the terrace of a café
deep in thought 
when suddenly I lifted my head
and then, I saw facing me
a man who, just like me, lifted his head
He was staring at me
as I was staring back looking as surprised
Astonishing
This man .. was myself
Or rather I have been so absorbed in my thoughts
that I had been surprised
by my own reflection in the window
of the shop opposite the café
It was as simple as that.
And I clearly remember what I thought
at that exact moment
The other was just a reflection of myself
Obvious
But, you see,  as simple as it seems
it enabled me
to become aware of something essential
and pushed me to further question myself
The other is only a reflection of myself.
Indeed, I realized
that we all tend
to see the world as the reflection of what we are
We project ourselves
in the same way as a mirror does
For instance, have you ever noticed that 
jealous people are the first
to accuse other people of being jealous?
Have you noticed
for instance
there is a difference between what people do and what they say when they are lying to you
Quick example..
15 years ago, I sometimes spent moments with the highly superficial world of jet setters
You know, this world where people are nice and sweet
congratulate each other
and above all, come for the petit-fours and champagne
Well, anyway
At one of these receptions, a friend of mine introduced me
to one of his acquaintances
And once introductions were made,
the lady told me with a large smile " I love what you do"
Yes, of course...
I was confronted with a blatant liar
Why? For two reasons 
The first reason was the obvious contradiction
between her words and the way she was
shaking her head
The second
is that her smile was fake
purely and simply because
her expression was limited to the lower part of her face
Indeed, when a smile is genuine
it shows in the whole face
especially the forehead which moves
as well as the small creases and wrinkles round the eyes
Well, what can we draw from this? 
Simply that our emotions, our reactions
are common to all humanity
They are universal
You can feel what I feel
I can feel what you feel
When we are happy, we smile
When we are sad, we frown
When we are depressed
more generally, melancholic, when we feel insecure
we tend to close up.
On the contrary, when we are happy
or when we feel confident
our body tends to open up.
And you can try
You know what, let's try right now
I'd like everyone here, to please
close up, to wrap yourself up
please, go on, I'm looking at you, I'm watching you
Go on, take a deep breath
then breathe out
And pay attention to what you're feeling right now
Record the emotions you feel at this very moment
Weel-done !
Now, you're going to do the exact opposite
You're going to open up as much as you can
stretch out towards the others
Take a deep breath...
...and you breathe out
Can you feel the difference?
Don't you feel happier in this posture?
Well, were do we go from here?
Once again, this mirror made me understand
that copying
someone's facial expression or body language was not enough
to feel the same.
Remember, the other is a reflection of oneself.
But imitating other people's reactions
was not enough.
To be able to understand
other people's behaviour and reaction
I had first of all to understand my own behaviour
and my own reactions.
Not superficially of course,
But I had to explore
the deep causes of my behaviour
and my emotional reactions.
And as a mentalist
I have relied on a fundamental law of mentalism
which is : everything is spiritual, the universe is mental
Indeed, let's stop for two seconds..
Our mind interprets the world in which we live.
Our mind creates thoughts
These thoughts will turn into emotions
which themselves will turn into reactions
Our mind tells us how to behave.
Do you want me to prove it?
Try to be sad, or happy
without thinking about something sad or pleasant.
You can try, it is impossible.
But all of this was not enough to understand the other.
I still had to know
the various stimuli that provoke these emotional reactions
and there are several of them
But remember, the other is just a reflection of oneself.
So, if I could identify
and define why some stimuli make me react
then, eventually
I would certainly find out
why some stimuli also make other people react
And when we assert that other people
or outside circumstances
are the cause of our emotions
we are wrong
Outside stimuli act like a trigger, for sure
but are not the cause
We react subjectively
to what we hear and what we see.
Our reactions are just the patterns of our past
that conditioned us
to react in certain ways.
And by triggering some stimuli
I know that the range of possible reactions
is not infinite.
The reaction resulting from a specific stimuli
and above all the intensity of this reaction
will enable me to have a better understanding of my interlocutor's thoughts
And it's impossible not to react
Even the absence of a reaction
is a reaction in itself.
And doing so
I will get closer to what reading people's minds is
Understand other people better
to better understand myself.
Better understand myself to understand you better
This constant exchange between you and me
will enable me to be more empathic
and consequently maybe
to help build a better world
And mentalism
has taught me that better than hundreds of books would have 
And I sincerely think
that the best book that has been written on this topic
is the book we'll write ourselves
for ourselves
And mentalism whose body language
is one of its many aspects is above all practice,
an experience to live and to share
a vision of the world
Well you know..
... some people feel they have
to isolate isolated for the rest of their life high in the mountains
and meditate in the lotus position
hoping they will comprehend who they are
and understand the world
I am not convinced
that it is the right choice.
On the contrary, I think
that we should open up to other people
to find ourselves.
I think that we should open up to other people
to understand ourselves.
So, if like me
you decide to follow this path
Do not forget a fundamental rule,
an essential rule
The other is just a reflection of oneself.
