Every argument clarity score on this site is built from rows on this page. Each
question and answer was assessed with names hidden, the host's own answers included, on
four things from 1 to 5:
directness (does it answer the question asked), coherence (do the ideas follow),
precision (concrete details and clear references), compression (says a lot per word). The weighted
mix (30/30/25/15) is the exchange score. A person's published score averages their exchange
scores on raw tape only, at least 8 of them, shrunk toward the cohort mean.
Full method →
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.85
Q You've lived such a fascinating life. What question have I not asked you that you think I should? What story should I be asking for that I haven't asked you about?
A Well, I love the idea of Misogi, and you've talked about this a lot, right? It's this Japanese, this idea, this cultural idea that says you need to do something that's really difficult and challenging for you every year. Something that the probability of you failing is high. Maybe. 49%, you know, maybe 10, but, but it's possible that you're not going to be able to accomplish this goal. And I started doing this years ago and I didn't, without realizing it, cause I never heard of that. And then someone brought it up and I go, oh my gosh, fascinating. And Something that I did, ah, a couple years ago was, ah, the most difficult and challenging stunt of my career. I did an escape called Cold Shock. Ah, 100 pound weighted vest was chained and shackled to my body. I was then dropped into 39 degree ice water. And I had to hold my breath in the ice water and pick three locks, remove the locks, remove the vest under water, and then come back up to breathe again. And Originally, my idea was, I'm gonna fake it. I'm gonna get some fake ice, you know, we'll gimmick the thermometer, whatever, because I've done, I've done underwater escapes, we're gonna live stream it, like, we'll just fake it, right? And then as I looked into it, as I looked into it, it's like, well, fake ice, it's acrylic, it sinks, it doesn't flow. Oh, ok, so I went to a movie production house in, in Burbank that was like, …
AI assessment note: “Something that I did, ah, a couple years ago was... an escape called Cold Shock.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q So when you're thinking about who to pick, let's say you're on stage, you're going out, one, what are you looking for? Are you looking for somebody who is easy to manipulate, or are you looking for somebody who, okay, so, so what does it mean to look for somebody who is easy to manipulate? How can you tell?
A The biggest thing is that people making eye contact with me, because a lot of times people think when you go into the audience, I need someone from the audience, they go in, they'll go, And if they're kind of looking away from me, but with a little smirk, then I know they're up for a good time. You know what the worst person, I'll tell you who the worst person to pick for, for a magic show, or just any sort of, ah, presentation, doesn't just have to be magic, is the person who is the most eager to get up on stage. So if there's someone that's like, I wanna do it, I wanna do it, it's like automatic no.
AI assessment note: “The biggest thing is that people making eye contact with me”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q And so I wonder, you know, do you think that we are turning people off, we're losing people before we even open our mouths sometimes?
A Oh, 100%. 100%. And that's why first impressions is so important, right? I mean, these things seem so obvious, but before every one of my shows, the curtain's down, and I'll walk out, I'll get mic'd up, it's, Four minutes, three minutes till show. I'll walk across the stage and I'll listen to the audience. And I can determine, because I know how many, how many members we have that night, whether it's, you know, a couple hundred or whatever. And I can say, they're quiet. For this size of group, they're quiet. What does that mean? That means my first impression, I have to get them there. I have to raise their energy a little bit. If they're really loud, and they're chatting, and they're, you know, making a lot of noise, I'm like, they're a little rambunctious, and I'm gonna have to get their attention, hold it. I'm not gonna allow for them to Basically run away in their pockets of friends, and then I'm trying to catch them saying, hey, pay attention, pay attention. So it's constantly, you know, listening to the audience and, I suppose the best way to do it is to go out there and be genuine. Right? So even when I did mainstream of Wall Street, right? I was out there, come out for the very beginning, and it's like, hey everybody, let's get started. No one's paying attention. Right? There's hundreds of people in this conference room.
AI assessment note: “Oh, 100%. 100%. And that's why first impressions is so important, right?”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 4 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.55
Q How, so I think for a lot of people, they're not even aware of their body language. They're not even aware of like what happens when they present to somebody. How can somebody change their body language and the way that they engage with people if nonverbal is so important?
A Well, there's a book that I read, and it's like a fascinating book, but it was geared for magicians. It was called Magic and Showmanship, ok? It was written 80 years ago, who knows? And it literally broke down in diagrams of how to stand, how to turn, if you drop something, and I remember reading that as a teenager, and it immediately was like, oh, I'm doing things so wrong. Like, if I drop something, people usually just bend over like this. Like, that looks awful. You know, what you should do is just bend at your legs. Kind of like what, what ladies have to do with a dress on, right? You're not bending over, you're kind of bending at the knees, reaching down, and that way your body and your torso is straight and flat to the audience. And it's the same idea. And so, I think being comfortable with, with who you are, it goes back to that competence. I have to say, I have to keep going back to that because I believe in it so strongly, is that Practice in front of a mirror something also. I mean, this sounds silly, but what I would do every, I entered magic contests, and I won some magic contests as a teenager and even in adulthood, and something that I would do is I'd rehearse at night in front of a mirror. No props, no music, just basically one light on just in front of a mirror, and I'd practice An eyebrow raise, a smirk, a look. So in my room growing up also, I had like playing…
AI assessment note: “Practice in front of a mirror... I'd practice An eyebrow raise, a smirk”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 4 · P 4 · Cm 3 4.15
Q go up to a woman at a bar, and they'll, they'll lean in, and they'll be loud, and, um, you know, kind of close the space between the woman, and then they're sort of rude if, if it doesn't work out. And so this projecting is actually a sign of a lack of confidence, as opposed to they think it is confidence. So instead, how do you project individual confidence?
A Well, I think the best answer can be summed up in one word. Competence. Confidence is just competence. So when you know your stuff, I don't have to try to impress you, right? If I ask you all about business, you're not going to go, well, I, I'm, well, I think that you're just going to go, this is what it is, right? I mean, and so someone asks me about performance, about show, I've literally done thousands of shows for millions of people live, not including media, right? Live. So I can just sit there and go, oh, I know this audience. Why? Because I've been in front of this kind of audience. A thousand times, right? Here's the best move for picking up a girl, especially, so I work in a casino, and I've been working in casinos for years, and so what happens? There's nightclubs in the casino, and then I'm a resident there, so I have a show there, people know me, I'd walk in, and they just let me in, and whatever, and this was the best way, and it's so funny, is I'd wait, I would see some guy try and hit on this girl, and this girl's always just like, oh god, Every time. Every time. They're loud. They're, you know, spitting all over her because they're drunk, and it's like, oh my gosh. And then the guy would leave, and she's like, ah, turn away, roll her eyes, and I'd just go over to her, and I would just, like, put my hand on her shoulder and just say, I just have to apologize for …
AI assessment note: “Well, I think the best answer can be summed up in one word. Competence.”
Partly raw tape
D 3 · C 4 · P 3 · Cm 3 3.30
Q And you just shared it. And then two, you know, if you're going to engage with somebody and ask them for something, it's like, how do you soften, soften the ask? Do you think about that? Like, if I want something, how can I use my face, my tone, my intonation in order to make the other person want to give it to me?
A Wow, that's such a great question. I mean, I'm gonna, I'm gonna describe this in, in magic scenario, ok? So a magician knows all sorts of different little ways to get you to behave and do something specifically that I want you to do whenever I want you to do it, ok? And I think if we're going psychological here, the way to control someone's behavior mostly is to eliminate the motivation from the opposite behavior. For example, If I want to, if I want to hand you something, and I want you to use your right hand, as opposed to going, oh, here, Cody, and it might be a little awkward, I might cut off the motivation for you to use your left hand. Does that make sense?
AI assessment note: “the way to control someone's behavior mostly is to eliminate the motivation”
