'You may not be able to hear me very well - I have a very soft voice. It is probably the result of four and a half years of whispering'

Brian Keenan need not have worried; even the wind held it's breath to create the silence that allowed every one of his words to touch and move everyone in the group. When we embarked on our Pioneering Excellence Programme I was very excited about the prospect of what we would achieve when we applied the NLP skills of modelling to our invited Pioneers. I had read 'An Evil Cradling' Brian's book about his experiences as a hostage in Beirut. This was not the kind of book that I would normally choose to read but once started I was unable to put it down. It was his profound ability to accept the truth for himself in those impossible circumstances and to reach a lucidity of thinking and writing that grabbed hold of my emotions and wrung them dry.

Brian honestly and generously allowed us to explore with him his strategies, past, present and future. I have goals of understanding, co-operation, honesty and

influence that I work towards every day with myself and with the work that I do with others. These goals are supported by the NLP thinking and skills that we teach. Brian Keenan embodies every one of these goals and has done so in the sort of circumstances in which every thread of identity and belief is torn and stretched to its point of collapse. He is what I aspire to. Since that meeting I have reached a truth and lucidity in thinking that were previously distant dreams. Excitement no longer describes the feelings I have about what we are achieving in these meetings with our invited Pioneers. It is humility, respect and soul searching.

'Was there anyone who didn't fall in love with the man within the first few minutes of meeting him ?' commented one of the delegates. I hadn't dared to hope that his presence today could match his awesome ability, through his writing to capture his reader with him in those prison cells in Beirut. The doubt need never have crossed my mind. The compelling truth of his words about change and communication and love have surfaced parts of those of us who met him in free flowing and heart searching ways. 'I seem to touch the hollows in people' he said. Well I think there must have been a few caves around in each of us that day, and not only did he touch them but he bathed them with light, filled them with sound and reverberated love into every crevice.

Sue Knight