Face to Face Reading 'Gig' - Advice Please

So, in a few month's time I have my first face to face reading opportunity in a long time. And it's in a medieval castle!

Last time, same location, I did a couple of readings. I don't know what went wrong, but I think it was nerves which meant I could barely string a sentence together just a load of parroted keywords. I don't have this problem by email, so it must be when I am in a face to face situation.

I don't want it to deter me, and I want to try again but I want to make sure that everyone who wants one gets a good reading.

I think also the spread I used was too big (15 cards!) and they were general readings.

Does anyone have any advice for me please? Do I do a specific spread for everyone? Ask that sitters give a question? Do I offer a choice of decks? Any other considerations gratefully received!

Mids

With as many people as you are probably expecting to receive a reading, it's very wise to keep the readings to 3-4 cards. You can always pull covering cards if you need to make clarifications...but ask your sitters to pose one question and answer it in the 3-4 card spread.
If you're able...find time to do a few live readings before you go...find friends, neighbors, co-workers and get comfy with reading them.
Before you start, look each sitter in the eye and make contact before you launch into your reading...ask if they've had readings before, if the understand the process...that may help you feel more comfortable too! Meditate first...center and ground yourself...and take breaks every once in a while!!!
Good luck!

I'd just pick a deck that you feel the most confident reading with. I never offer a choice because after all, it's me doing the reading. The sitter wants a good reading, not a choice of decks. Most sitters don't know one deck from another anyway. They just want their questions answered.

Then just use a small spread---no more than 7 cards, but some folks insist you can get all the information you need from three cards.

Practice making up your own spreads as you go before the big event. For instance, if someone wants a general reading, just do a past, present, future spread with from 3 to 6 cards. Or a body, mind, spirit spread.

If they want to know which is preferable in a multi-option situation, use a what if I do, what if I don't spread---putting down three cards for each question.

Making up your own spreads is very easy.

Then take a deep breath, meditate for a moment, ground yourself if you believe in it, and off you go.

Middy1452 said:

So, in a few month's time I have my first face to face reading opportunity in a long time. And it's in a medieval castle!

Last time, same location, I did a couple of readings. I don't know what went wrong, but I think it was nerves which meant I could barely string a sentence together just a load of parroted keywords. I don't have this problem by email, so it must be when I am in a face to face situation.

I don't want it to deter me, and I want to try again but I want to make sure that everyone who wants one gets a good reading.

I think also the spread I used was too big (15 cards!) and they were general readings.

Does anyone have any advice for me please? Do I do a specific spread for everyone? Ask that sitters give a question? Do I offer a choice of decks? Any other considerations gratefully received!

Mids

Click to expand...

I haven't done many face to face readings, but I do find narrowing my focus helps. When I read face to face, it is always with the deck I am most comfortable with and prefer a specific question, which makes it easier to focus on what the cards might be suggesting over a general spread.

You may also want to do a smaller spread. Less confusing.

I can't offer you advice from experience, but somewhere here there is a thread with tips about putting thoughts into words. One of the tips that might help is to do readings aloud to a stuffed animal to give yourself practice and then maybe practice with a friend even if by phone.

Gia said:

With as many people as you are probably expecting to receive a reading, it's very wise to keep the readings to 3-4 cards. You can always pull covering cards if you need to make clarifications...but ask your sitters to pose one question and answer it in the 3-4 card spread.
If you're able...find time to do a few live readings before you go...find friends, neighbors, co-workers and get comfy with reading them.
Before you start, look each sitter in the eye and make contact before you launch into your reading...ask if they've had readings before, if the understand the process...that may help you feel more comfortable too! Meditate first...center and ground yourself...and take breaks every once in a while!!!
Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you Gia! Good advice. I think I will have at least 10 readings to do, and I was too ambitious before with such a large spread so it makes sense to do 3-4 cards.

Also, I like your advice on making eye contact and asking whether people have readings before. I've probably assumed in the past that everyone's had a reading and/or knows what to expect and this isn't always the case is it?

And, I will take the advice about centering and grounding - I probably need to consider booking time slots so I can achieve this as last time was a bit impromptu and my mind was on other things.

Thank you again, good advice!

Grizabella said:

I'd just pick a deck that you feel the most confident reading with. I never offer a choice because after all, it's me doing the reading. The sitter wants a good reading, not a choice of decks. Most sitters don't know one deck from another anyway. They just want their questions answered.

Then just use a small spread---no more than 7 cards, but some folks insist you can get all the information you need from three cards.

Practice making up your own spreads as you go before the big event. For instance, if someone wants a general reading, just do a past, present, future spread with from 3 to 6 cards. Or a body, mind, spirit spread.

If they want to know which is preferable in a multi-option situation, use a what if I do, what if I don't spread---putting down three cards for each question.

Making up your own spreads is very easy.

Then take a deep breath, meditate for a moment, ground yourself if you believe in it, and off you go.

Click to expand...

Thanks Grizabella! Firstly, yes you are right I should choose a deck I am most comfortable with. That could have been part of my struggle last time. And I am not doing justice to the reading or the sitter if I am uncomfortable or struggling with a deck.

I think I would be comfortable with up to 7 cards - 15 cards was just so overwhelming for me and I had got into my head that I should be card counting/using elementals and so forth and I was so tied up in this that it just killed my intuition. Not that there's anything wrong with card counting etc. it's just I was trying to run before I could walk and made a complete mess of it!

I like the idea of having an arsenal of spreads for different subjects, so am thinking I should have general (as you suggest past, present, future), one for relationships, one for decisions/crossroads, one for work etc etc. I will get this list built up well in advance of the event, and get practicing on them!

Thank you again!

EyeAmEye said:

I haven't done many face to face readings, but I do find narrowing my focus helps. When I read face to face, it is always with the deck I am most comfortable with and prefer a specific question, which makes it easier to focus on what the cards might be suggesting over a general spread.

You may also want to do a smaller spread. Less confusing.

Click to expand...

Thanks EyeAmEye, I think I have tried to offer too many options in the past when really I should be taking one deck and asking what the sitter would like the focus to be. And yes, smaller spread is definitely the plan - too confusing and too pressured otherwise.

Thank you!

ann823 said:

I can't offer you advice from experience, but somewhere here there is a thread with tips about putting thoughts into words. One of the tips that might help is to do readings aloud to a stuffed animal to give yourself practice and then maybe practice with a friend even if by phone.

Click to expand...

Thank you Ann823, this is my biggest problem - I know what I want to say, but can't string it into a meaningful sentence that the sitter could actually understand! I wonder if my cat would mind having a reading! That's if she'd sit still for long enough!

Thank you again!

Do you have anyone else you can practice on? Maybe you can give some free readings to some real-life friends before the event. You can get in some practice that way.

Something that might help you is to remember that you don't have to fire off a reading as soon as you see the cards. You can take your time with it and figure out what the message is. When I first started, I thought I had to give the message as quickly as I would have if it were a blinking red sign written in words, but it's not like that. You can take a little bit of time to understand what the cards are telling you and then relay it to your sitter. And don't be afraid to admit it if there's a card you just can't quite figure out. It happens. The more you relax and take your time, the easier it will come to you.

Also, try not to just lay out cards without positional meanings. Very experienced readers do that very successfully if they feel like it's appropriate, but when you're just beginning, it does help to have definite positional meanings, in my opinion.

Good luck! I think you're going to do much better this time, and that you'll have a happy reading career ahead of you.