NOM

I see similarities between how Joseph Smith and Teresa Caputo (Long Island Medium) operate. Check it out and see if you agree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITiaiuOW5EQ

"...speaks to the desperation and anxiety..."

I don't think of Joseph Smith as a cold reader, but he definitely had a gift for understanding what kinds of things hopeful seekers wanted to hear, and then making it happen. When Kirtland members saw Chandler's papyri they REALLY wanted to use it as proof of Joseph's translation powers, so he obliged them. When members of his church were worried about the eternal fate of loved ones that died before the restoration Joseph came up with baptism for the dead. When people were starting to question his prophetic powers Joseph went behind a curtain for a few minutes and then poked his head out and declared that he had just talked to Moses, Jesus, and friends.

Another similarity might be the ability to fool yourself into believing that random thoughts in your head are voices from beyond, if it served to get you what you want.

When Josiah Stowell went from Pennsylvania to Palmyra/Manchester to get Joseph Jr. to help find a Spanish treasure mine, there is an account that sounds like Joseph was looking in the seer stone and describing Josiah's farm which Joseph Jr. had never seen. I can't find it yet but this one from the 1826 Glass-Looking trial is similar:
(JOSIAH STOWELL: I KNOW JOSEPH CAN SEE FIFTY FEET BELOW THE EARTH)
The next witness called was Deacon Isaiah [Josiah] Stowell. He confirmed all that is said above in relation to himself, and delineated many other circumstances not necessary to record. He swore that the prisoner possessed all the power he claimed and declared he could see things fifty feet below the surface of the earth, as plain as the witness could see what was on the Justice's table, and described very many circumstances to confirm his words. Justice Neeley soberly looked at the witness, and in a solemn, dignified voice said: "Deacon Stowell, do I understand you as swearing before God, under the solemn oath you have taken, that you 'believe' the prisoner can see by the aid of the stone fifty feet below the surface of the earth, as plainly as you can see what is on my table?" "Do I 'believe' it?" says Deacon Stowell, "Do I believe it? no, it is not a matter of belief. I positively know it to be true."

deacon blues wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 02, 2021 6:11 pm

"Deacon Stowell, do I understand you as swearing before God, under the solemn oath you have taken, that you 'believe' the prisoner can see by the aid of the stone fifty feet below the surface of the earth, as plainly as you can see what is on my table?" "Do I 'believe' it?" says Deacon Stowell, "Do I believe it? no, it is not a matter of belief. I positively know it to be true."

Knowing things to be true fifty feet under the surface of the earth sounds like a good standard for ward testimonies.