PhotoReading Success – Shahid Akmal
PhotoReading helps man give a speech
From Newsletter 15…
“Audience member thought I had a computer in my head!”
Shahid Akmal from South Harrow shows how PhotoReading can be a marvellous tool for helping with presentations and the inevitable ‘difficult’ questions that can follow…
When the mailing for the PhotoReading seminar came through the post, I looked at it and put it to one side. That evening, I discussed it with my lovely wife, Saemah. I told her that deep down I felt that PhotoReading was good and would work for me. She immediately backed my hunch and told me to go for it. With great trepidation, I booked the seminar. I arrived at the seminar feeling a little apprehensive. Paul Scheele was great everything all the material had said he would be. When I went home that night, doubts started to enter my mind: Is it worth it?, Is it working?. So before going to bed, I indulged in the dictionary game with Saemeh and got 6 out of 7 words spot on!
I felt really encouraged by this and I went to the second day with more hope. It was better but something was still not right. I was not concentrating: my mind was constantly distracted by the fact that on the Friday evening, I was due to be addressing the topic ‘Easter – A Christian and Muslim Point of View’. What was more disconcerting was that I was actually up against a Reverend who would be putting forward the Christian perspective.
So, at lunchtime, I raised this with Paul Scheele. He said that I should PhotoRead my material before going to bed, and believe in the process.
That evening I came home, sat down and wrote my speech ‘in case the PhotoReading doesn’t work’, I thought. Before going to bed, I PhotoRead the speech, and the two books that I had used for my research. The next day was the day of the symposium and the last day of the seminar, I tried to recall my speech on the way to the seminar – and it was all there!
I entered the seminar hall on a wave of high emotion and positive feeling. I spoke to Paul Scheele again and chatted about it to my success team and made myself believe that it was going to work. the seminar ended and I was on my way.
I arrived at the symposium venue feeling nervous, tense and confused. The Reverend spoke first, and to my amazement, I found that I was rebutting his arguments in my mind as he spoke! Then it was my turn to speak, I walked to the lectern, took a sip of water, and to my horror, my mind went blank. I took out my notes and started my presentation. It went well, and as I spoke, a couple of times, points that were not part of my written speech came in to my mind.
The first question was directed to me, and after I had answered it, on my way back to the chair, I suddenly realised – “Wow! what a great answer. I had quoted from the Holy Qur’aan as well as the Holy Bible to substantiate my response without having access to either of the Holy Books! This pattern lasted for the rest of the session and it is here that I realised the potency of PhotoReading. I had previously been consciously trying to recall material, but when it flowed from the subconscious spontaneously, it had the most impact and was most powerful.
After it had all finished, the chairman, a close friend, remarked: I didn’t realise you knew your stuff so well’. A member of the audience said, You’ll do your teacher proud if you carry on like that, while another asked, have you got a computer up there in your head? At home, Saemah, my wife, remarked that I had spoken with a fluency that she had not noticed before. the depth of information in my answers astounded her. For me, all the credit was due to that wonderful man Paul Scheele and his PhotoReading technique. And to Allah, of course! Whilst all this was going on, Saemah had been approached with a request that I address the subject ‘Universal Love’ as part of the Inter Faith Millennium Invocation that Sunday.
She did not convey the message to me until Saturday evening, leaving me, at best, a few hours on Sunday morning to prepare. Of course, my usual preparation techniques went out of the window, and I PhotoRead my material. I was recently touched to get a thank you letter from the organisers a few days later. It said: “Your contribution was just right and spoke to the hearts of so many present. You made a contribution no-one will forget. Thank you for all your time. It could hardly have been bettered for the nature of the celebration. I am profoundly indebted to you.”
Need I say any more?
