Speed
Is this person fast or slow? Diamonds and spades, the suits that come to a point, get to the point quickly. Hearts and clubs, the rounded suits, take time to build trust.
Personality Magic™
A keynote on reading people in the first few seconds, and giving each one what they need.
Kostya Kimlat teaches your team to read the person in front of them by watching two things, speed and temperature, and then to adjust how they talk to that person. He built the system over a career of performing for strangers, and he shows it live with magic.
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Watch the highlights
Personality Magic, live.
1:44 · Kostya’s keynote for BCD Meetings
What happens in the room
Your whole room takes part.
Kostya teaches the system with live magic and with the people in your room.
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01 Your team writes down someone they know for each suit and picks their own.
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02 Then everyone moves to sit with the rest of their suit.
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03 Each group describes itself while the other three chime in.
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04 Kostya brings one volunteer from each suit on stage for a card trick he built around what each one needs.
- Which suit is the person in front of me?
- Which suit am I right now?
- What does this person need from me?
Why teams book it
What gets in the way of reading people.
One way of talking to everyone.
Most people talk to everyone the way they’d like to be talked to, which only suits people who share their style.
Personality tests in a drawer.
Nobody walks into a meeting holding their 60-page Myers-Briggs report, so the training rarely helps in the moment.
Reading hesitation as rudeness.
The skeptic with crossed arms and the person who takes over the conversation both get written off as difficult.
Teams missing a voice.
A team made up mostly of one suit keeps missing what the other three would have caught.
TEDx Talk
How To Read Anyone In 6 Seconds
18 minutes
Speed and temperature
Every read starts with two questions.
Temperature
Are they warm or cool? Warm people reach for a high five or a handshake. Cool people nod and keep their space. The red suits are warm, and the black suits are cool.
The adjustment
Once you know the suit, you know what that person needs. Your team changes their words and pace to complement the other person, without imitating them.
A magician speaks first, then watches how people react.
The four suits.
Faster Cooler Warmer Slower
- Diamonds Warm and fast, the excited participants. They volunteer first and want recognition, participation and variety. Match their energy and use their name.
- Hearts Warm and slow, the supportive viewers. They watch their friends instead of the cards and care most about the group. Build trust slowly and never put them on the spot.
- Clubs Cool and slow, the careful observers. They check the props and hate being fooled. Give them facts, time and room to reach their own conclusion.
- Spades Cool and fast, the take-charge spectators. They want results and to know how long this will take. Give them the outcome and the choice.
- Diamonds Warm and fast, the excited participants. They volunteer first and want recognition, participation and variety. Match their energy and use their name.
- Hearts Warm and slow, the supportive viewers. They watch their friends instead of the cards and care most about the group. Build trust slowly and never put them on the spot.
- Clubs Cool and slow, the careful observers. They check the props and hate being fooled. Give them facts, time and room to reach their own conclusion.
- Spades Cool and fast, the take-charge spectators. They want results and to know how long this will take. Give them the outcome and the choice.
Check availability
Check availability
You’ll hear from Kostya’s team within one hour during business hours.
Outcomes
What your team leaves with.
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A read on the people they work with
On a one-page worksheet, each person names a colleague, client or family member for every suit, and picks their own.
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Four words the whole team shares
Diamond, heart, club and spade become shorthand in meetings, as in “I’m being too much of a club here. Let’s talk about the people.”
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An opener that reaches every suit
Kostya walks through the opening line he spent years writing, one phrase for each suit, and shows your team how to write their own for meetings and first calls.
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A plan for one conversation
Everyone picks one person they’ll meet with this week, the adjustment they’ll make, and how they’ll know it worked.
Client reviews
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Jeremiah F.
Leadership Seminole
I learned more about reading people and categorizing their personality than all the books and trainings I’ve had combined.
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Marc S.
Scorpion
He expertly delved into the different personalities of people and provided valuable insights on how to determine what kind of person you are dealing with.
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Karen A.
Prestige Global Meeting Source
He was able to entertain a room of 200 people non-stop with his humor, his talent, his magic and knowledge of people and their personalities.
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Robert M.
Event attendee
Really put reading people in a different perspective for me. I already used the ideas yesterday.
Logistics
What booking involves.
Personality Magic™
At a glance
The talk
- Length
- 60 to 90 minutes
- Format
- Keynote or longer workshop, in person, with a livestream option
- Built for
- Sales kickoffs, entrepreneur groups, cross-functional teams, and healthcare and service teams
- Room setup
- Banquet rounds or classroom seating, so everyone has a surface to write on
Customization
- Planning call
- Every engagement starts with one
- Materials
- A printed worksheet and pen for every attendee, plus a digital version for anyone joining remotely
- Same at every event
- The four suits, speed and temperature
- Built for you
- The examples and scripts, written for the roles in your room
Questions
What planners ask.
Is this another personality test?
No. Nobody fills out a questionnaire. Kostya teaches your team to read other people in the moment, by watching their speed and temperature, and to adjust on the spot. If your team already uses DISC or Myers-Briggs, the suits line up with them.
Doesn’t this put people in boxes?
The suits describe how someone is acting right now. Everyone has all four and shifts between them with the person, the setting and the situation. Kostya is a diamond on stage, a club running his business and a heart at home.
How is this different from Think Like A Magician™?
Think Like A Magician™ is about how your team explains its value. Personality Magic™ is about reading the individual person in front of them and adjusting how they talk to that person, whether it’s a client, a colleague or a new hire.
What’s the investment?
Keynote fees are in the five-figure range and vary with format, customization and travel. You’ll hear from Kostya’s team within one hour during business hours, and a specific quote follows once the format, date and travel are clear.
How far in advance should we book?
As early as possible, particularly for sales kickoffs and conference season.
Book Personality Magic™ for your event.
Check availability
You’ll hear from Kostya’s team within one hour during business hours.