← Back to Scam Awareness Hub
Cold Reading Tactics

Shotgunning: The Numbers Game of Mediumship

A technique where a psychic fires off a large number of vague statements or common names to a crowd, waiting for someone to claim a hit.

The Deep Dive

Shotgunning is the primary weapon of the stage medium and the live-stream psychic. The reader fires a broad 'scatter-shot' of information into the ether: 'I am getting an older male energy with a J or an M name. He had issues with his chest or his breathing before he passed.' In an audience of 100 people, the mathematical probability of someone having a deceased grandfather or uncle named John or Michael who died of heart disease, lung cancer, or pneumonia is near absolute. Once a vulnerable audience member raises their hand and accepts the hit, the medium ignores all the misses and focuses entirely on that individual, claiming the connection.

How to Spot It

Shotgunning is immediately recognizable by its rapid-fire delivery and reliance on statistical probabilities. The reader will ask questions rather than making statements: 'Who is the Mary? I'm hearing a Mary. Is there a Mary here?' They are fishing. A true mediumship connection, if one believes in the practice, should theoretically be targeted and specific, not a multiple-choice quiz administered to a room full of grieving people.

The Skeptic's Verdict

This is a statistical parlor trick masquerading as spiritual contact. If you are receiving a one-on-one reading and the psychic begins shotgunning common names or causes of death ('I'm seeing a sudden passing, or maybe a slow illness...'), do not supply the answers. Remain silent. If they cannot narrow down the 'J name' without your help, they are simply playing the odds.