TheLetter

The Letter

This is a way of reframing a reading so when the participant leaves they will
have a visual representation of what the reading consisted of but so they can
only ever point out the hits.

This is great for many reasons A) it is super powerful B) it is the gift that
keeps giving C) it makes you sound incredibly strong when anyone else reads
the letter and will generate more business as a reader (should you want to
pursue that path).

When you are giving a reading every time you get a hit and let the
participant expand upon the hit - [I.E (excerpt from an aforementioned
reading) - Medium: “I am getting a feeling there is something that is stressing
you right now it’s almost like everything is against you having some down
time. Does that make sense to you?”

Sitter: “yes”.

Medium: “What is getting you down?”

Sitter: “I am writing a paper at the moment, and I have left it till the last
minute”.

Medium: “Which for me is strange to hear as you didn’t used to be someone
who put things off till the last moment you always were organized with things.
What paper are you sitting?"

Participant: "Psychological".

Medium: "I am sensing there was something that happened that pushed you
so close to the edge that things took a back seat for a while and when you
finally got yourself out of that hole, which I appreciate you will never fully be
able to forget about your passion for things dwindled does that make sense
to you?”]

I would take a piece of paper and write, 'I feel that you are presently writing
a paper at university, and it is directly causing you stress, this stress is ultimately
putting strain on everything in your life and I want you to know that in the end
it will all be worth it. This aspect of your life will soon come full circle, and you
will be ultimately happy that you made the right decision to stick with it.'

A Note to people reading: The letter would contain much more than this
based on the other aspects of the reading and answers the participant gave
during the reading, but look what I did, I cheekily slipped in that I felt that
they were writing a paper and then a few key points from the reading I gave
them.

When I was halfway through the reading, I would then pretend to be
reiterating to myself.

SELF REITERATION

I thought this would be a great place to slip this principle in, as it
contextually fits beautifully with this presentational idea.

I would stop and take a breath,

Performer: "One moment.... (Start to talk to yourself at an audible level) ok so
we’ve talked about the stress caused from the paper at university and how it
is having an effect on the social life".

All I am doing is reiterating the things that we have talked about to myself
adding in the participant's answers into my reiteration the reiteration would
last anywhere from 10 - 30 seconds (depending on the length of the reading,
the longer the reading, the longer the reiteration).

All this does is further mushes up who said what during the reading, lots of
times people are so willing to want to believe that they will attribute the
things that you have said as coming from their mouth.

Again, if you want to test this theory out just ask anyone you know who
considers they have had a good reading what they were told and see how
much of it you think the actual reader said - Of course don't point out that
you don't believe the reader said it.

More importantly when you have recapped this, then you hand them the
letter based on the things you have talked about during the sitting when they
read the letter back they will A) remember it happening that way and have
proof of how great the reading was or B) Just think that you wrote a recap of
what was written down so they could refer to it at any point. Either way it
really doesn't matter. If anyone asks whether the reading was good and
another person reads the letter, they will always attribute all of the intricate
details added into the letter as something you picked up on.
If you place the letter into an envelope with a couple of your business cards
and that way you are easily reachable for anyone that would like a similar
style reading. Remember though I DO NOT do this, this is if someone wanted
to solely make a living as a reader.

Just for clarification this letter would not be handed to the participant during
the reading, it would be given afterwards with the accompanying line -
Performer: "I don't want you to open this today, or tomorrow, I want you to
wait a couple of days before opening this so that you have a few days to
digest what we have talked about."

I would usually add a summary at the bottom of the letter if I was going to
hand something like this out. Something we didn't discuss in the reading so
there is an additional something for them to read a smile about a few days
later - The gift that keeps giving.

Here are a few examples of the sort of things that I might mention in a
reading,

“You are a great minded person, with an untapped resource of knowledge
and passion to offer the world”.

“Your biggest enemy for a while has been yourself and I want to remind you
that there is nothing you can't achieve if you put your mind to it”.

But don't put so much pressure on yourself; always be you and follow your
heart and things will always be the best they can be.

- This is the type of sentiment I might leave as the summary of the letter. There
is nothing wrong with reminding the participant of things like this. You are
tactfully complimenting the person who got the reading but at the same
time not being over complimentary to the point that it comes across as an
arse kissing session - Hence the worst enemy line.

These are a few of the only times I would use stock or prepared lines. I would
however be very careful to write specifics about the person who got the
reading into the summary and try to find the stock line that fits them the best.

I would always be mindful also when using something like this to find out how
the participant found out about me. If their friend had a letter or they have
read one of the letters I would be writing a personal summary as there would
be nothing worse than them comparing the letters and they are the same.

I love the idea of giving the participant a gift to take away after a routine has
finished. You may have seen me hand a billet out at the end of a reading in
my performance videos. This is a routine I call 'the fortune cookie' it's outlined
in its entirety in 'The Book of the Demons'.

I love watching any routine that ends with handing out a gift - Whenever the
participant has something to remind them of an experience you created the
routine doesn't end when you finish your time with the participant.

Always leave your participant’s world better after you have left, even if you
were only in it for a short period of time. Your job is to be an ear for them to
talk to, a person for them to hug should they need to and someone they feel
‘knows and understands them’. Make someone’s day don’t break it.