Most people can get everything they need right from the self-study. But, sometimes it is simply easier to learn in a structured environment, such as a seminar.
When you have a question, the answer is provided right away from an instructor. You don't need to seek out the answer.
The instructor is there to make sure you stay on track and go through the processes.
You're in with a supportive group of like-minded people trying to accomplish the same thing.
About half of the seminar attendees have the self-study. They are there because they either didn't get enough from the self-study--for whatever reason, or they simply want to improve their skills.
PhotoReading is generative meaning each time you go through the program--whether the book, self-study, seminar, or retreat, you are learning the course with the benefit of your experience and from the perspective of having explored it before. It can take your skills to the next level.
If you take the seminar, absolutely repeat it some time in the future. Maybe 6 months or a year down the road. It will be like a new course. And, if you can, take it from a different instructor. In most cities retakes are free. We save room for at least five graduates in each class. You Certificate of Completion is your pass.
The Retreat is like a Level 2 for PhotoReading where the emphasis shifts from learning the basic system to mastering it, to getting the most from it.
More focus will be on various activation techniques and processes to build your confidence and competence.
When I coach someone after having attended the seminar or done the self-study, breakthroughs usually happen when the PhotoReader simply uses the system.
Most people I coach have never fully activated a book. Oh, maybe they spent five, ten, or fifteen minutes with the book, but they say "I didn't feel I was getting anything from the book."
When I refer them to the article in the PhotoReading section of the web site called "works on all material," when they actually activate until it gels, then they get it.
Or, when I refer them to the 5-day PhotoReading test on page 76 of the third edition of the PhotoReading book (which comes with the self-study and the seminar), when they actually do the 5-day PhotoReading test, then they get it.
At the Retreat, we provide the structured environment and the direction to PhotoRead until it gels. You'll activate books in a variety of ways from in one setting to over multiple days.
By the end of the five days you will have wired in the process and have generated enough internal motivation to continue your exploration of PhotoReading.
And, because it is generative, it never ends. You'll always be able to learn more about using your remarkable brain to process information. You'll always find ways to process books a little easier and a little faster.
You'll learn to adapt the techniques in unique ways. You might just find that bringing skittering into the rapid reading step works better for you--on some topics.
And then you have the applications of syntopic reading or direct learning.
And what happens when you look at PhotoReading not merely as a information processing machine but as a gateway to the greater resources of your inner mind?
The possibilities are limitless.
