Interview with Thorsten Havener

People and Their Thoughts - Experience Thorsten Havener live at the Stuttgart Knowledge Forum

1. Mr. Havener, one could say you professionally read minds. How do people react when they meet you for the first time after introducing themselves? Well, usually they tell me their name and greet me. 2. Have you ever experienced someone refusing to speak with you out of fear of being figured out by you? On the contrary, usually a lot of people come to listen to me. And that practically happens every evening. I am not someone who spreads fear. 3. Your talent: Magic, hard training, or a bit of both? And much, much more... 4. You say anyone can learn to read minds. Are we humans really that transparent? We humans are not that transparent - we are simply very communicative beings. I have the impression that many of us have forgotten this by now. Most people prefer to stare at their smartphones rather than take an interest in their fellow human beings. 5. Conversely, could one also train to avoid revealing body movements? Or are we inevitably easy prey for trained eyes? Energy follows attention. This means that if we suddenly focus on our ticks and body movements, we end up looking really strange. Body language is unconscious and should remain so. The key to a relaxed performance lies in your thoughts. If you have them under control, your body will automatically follow. 6. What should laypeople pay particular attention to in a conversation? The right sequence. At the beginning there is always a thought, then secondly body language comes into play, and only thirdly does the mouth speak. I call this the 'body reader triad'. We automatically get it right when we don't think about it. Only when we start thinking about our body language do we start to look odd. I'll give you an example: If someone is genuinely happy to see you, they will first have the thought, "Nice to see this person." Secondly, a smile will appear, and then - thirdly - that person will say, "Nice to see you." Completely wrong is saying "Nice to see you" followed by a smile. If we see that in the person we're talking to, we intuitively realize immediately: "Something's not right." 7. Are there moments when you would rather not know what the other person is thinking? There are many. For example, when I say to my children, "Please put your phone away" or "Have you already learned your vocabulary?" 8. Would you say people are like novels, with some being more interesting to read than others? Of course - but unfortunately, some are more like a dime novel to read. Visit the profile of Top100 Speaker Thorsten Havener: https://www.speakers-excellence.de/redner/thorsten-havener-koerpersprache.html You might also be interested in: https://www.speakers-excellence.de/se/blog/wissensforum-thorsten-havener/