Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer I still cannot photoread.

I read the book, The Photoreading Whole Mind System. I cannot photoread. I am no skeptic. I want this to work for me, and I want it badly. However, I do not have the money to shell out on the course. I am only a junior in high school, and my spendings are required elsewhere, to more "practical" applications. I don't know which of the five steps keeps me from photoreading properly. I have to ask: is there some vital component of the photoreading process covered in the personal course (which costs around $250) that isn't touched on in the book? Is this why I cannot photoread? Or is it only a question of practice? Any response would be extremely helpful. I will personally contact through e-mail anyone who is willing to have a conversation with me on the subject.

There is nothing more in the course that is not in the book. The course is like someone holding your hand guiding you through the process.

It is a question of practice. If you're not sure which of the 5 steps you are having problems with, make a note of what you are doing for each step. You can post it here on the forum and collect some tips and insights from everyone on the forum. My email is available if you want to ask me questions personally (click the envelope for my email address). Dana from LSC can also be contacted by email... he likes it if you've tried everything else first

Alex

Blue,

Your right.

You almost have the equation complete. I'll finish your quote if you don't mind.

"I cannot photoread YET and I want this to work for me badly!"

It would seem to me you have acknowledged you have work to do and that you truly desire this skill ... these qualities are all the making of a fine photoreader, keep at it!

The courseware does 'hand hold' you through the steps, however, think of this forum as an EXTENTION to or REFINEMENT to the steps listed. The answers to many new photoreaders ARE within these threads. Search and you shall find! Not only will you find, but you will find more ... you'll understand after spending time here.

Love Light and Laughter,

Michael Saikali

Okay, thanks for the replies everyone. Now, since I'm in the process of working everything out, let's start at the beginning: preparing and previewing. Now I understand that for a person to achieve a goal, he/she must have direction of some kind. So this is preparing. Right? Seems to me like this first step is mostly motivational, like turning off the criticism and opening up to possibilites, right? Or is there more to it? Simply stating a personal goal to one's self before photoreading reminds me of those self-esteem-boosting workshops. But perhaps this is the intention of Preparing? And what's with previewing? If I have an history textbook and I want to preview it, I am supposed to find key words in order to "map" out the text, so to speak.

There are a hell of a lot of key words and phrases in a history textbook.

And yet Paul S. cautions against using too much time previewing, and that in such a case you should just photoread and then postview. Does this sound right?

My goal is not to anger anyone, but from my perspective, the beginning steps of photoreading sound more attitudinal than practicable. What's everyone else's take?

Hi Blue

You are both right and wrong.

When just learning how to PR I would forget about text books and find a book (maybe 200 pages or less) on a subject that really interests you. If the book has bold sub-headings or italic(sp) fonts thats even better. (I think Paul says "Set yourself up to succeed at first".)

Follow each step in your book

1.Prepare-
State Your Purpose- (tell you mind what you are going to do)
Enter into the Ideal Learning State (hint relax, 3...2...1) tangerine technique

2.Preview -read front page back page, table of contents,first paragraph last paragraph.
turn to the front of the book and grab about 20 pages and turn, anything catch your eyes (anything in bold, any word on the page catch your eye, write it down) do this for the entire book --These are called trigger words

Look at your list of words, and ask questions about them, i.e What do they mean by...,how does...fit in, what do they mean by...

3.Photoread... follow the rest of the steps.

ps do a search on "preview and prepare"

thats just my 2 cents

look in the Thread "can't think of a good subject" Alex gives a more detail answer to the Prepare and Preview steps

[This message has been edited by Dan (edited September 02, 2002).]

Blue, Some extra pointers from me

Prepare: This is knowing why you are going to read the book. Ever listened to a small child who was told to do something a ..."Why?" reply "Because I said so" and the child says, "Why?" reply "because if you don't do it I'm going to get very angry" Well with that the child half heartedly does what he's been told but now has a dislike for what he has to do because he doesn't know why 'he' has to do it.

That is how the mind works if you give it a good reason to do something it does it with enthusiasm, a vague 'because I have to', equals vague results. So I'm reading this because I have to, because the teacher told me to is too vague because it something someone else told you to do. However, to say I am reading this to get 'my' best passing grade in this course will produce better results because you stated 'your' purpose and what 'you' expect from 'yourself'.

You need to be able to say I want to know what the author has to say about subject of the book and feel excited/curious or at least interested about it.

You said

quote:

---

Seems to me like this first step is mostly motivational, like turning off the criticism and opening up to possibilites, right? Or is there more to it?

---

This is why the tangerine techniques is important it helps you to enter a more productive state of mind.

Review. While learning to gain mastery of photoreading it is best to obtain your trigger words before you photoread. Spending about 8 minutes for an average book.. (200-400 pages) is enough. If as you found there are so many significant trigger words it means that you will need to treat each chapter as a book. In any case remember the trigger words are intended to help you get started when it comes to activation. You can find more later or even use other trigger words that you find during activation.

At this point you may further refine your purpose. E.g. to gain an understanding of one specific chapter rather than the whole book. Or if it is/was a book intended to satisfy your curiousity and now you don't want to read it, fine, give yourself permission to dump it .

The first 2 step set the stage for more successful activation. There is more to them than having the right attitude. They are training the mind to be proactive in your reading/learning techniques. They help even the non photoreader to gain more from his or her reading experience. Many students close a book thinking... I don't know why I just read that, what's the point of it? They don't understand the material and have no idea what they need to get out of it. That is why stating you purpose and previewing is so important.

Alex

Not only are the steps so important for the reasons just mentioned, but the truth is - they are not going to be anything later on. Previewing is not something you have to do.

The steps of Previewing, PhotoReading, and post-viewing are flexible, and often times PhotoReading the book is suffecient.

Of course that's just me, I could be wrong.

-youngprer

Yes with experience, it becomes unnecessary because it becomes second nature. However most folks have learnt to study the old fashioned way and now have to retrain a lot of thoughts and experiences. Some have learnt to do it the hard way too well and it takes some discipline to relearn some old skills.

Youngprer, you have a distictive advantage. You learnt the system before starting high school

Alex

So would you all say that, at least to begin with, photoreading is very much a process of outlining information in order to better understand and absorb it? Such as giving yourself a mental plan, even if in the future you may be so proficient at photoreading that you won't need to follow that plan completely?

quote:

---

Originally posted by blue:
So would you all say that, at least to begin with, photoreading is very much a process of outlining information in order to better understand and absorb it? Such as giving yourself a mental plan, even if in the future you may be so proficient at photoreading that you won't need to follow that plan completely?

---

Yes, your inner mind starts taking over some of the steps so you may not be following the plan consciously yet inwardly you still know what is expected. Like a habit.

Alex