quote:
I have tried speed reading myself, ...
Could you tell us about your experiences with speed reading?
I do apply the techniques I learned from those books to Photoreading in the activation stage, especially if I'm rapid reading.
I'm sure the Buzan and Wood methods work well for some people but Photoreading is what finally got me to where I wanted to be.
My favorite part about PhotoReading, as compared to Evelyn Woods, is that it is so holistic. It seems so natural, once you understand the system and seems with your mind; instead of being a technique that forces your mind to strain itself.
Do consider photoreading, it's not "another" speed reading course - it's a READING course in general, one that should be taught from a young age, because it is truly how I believe our brains are meant to learn.
What I can apply from Evelyn Woods are some of the study and time-managment techniques for school (which are very similar to the PR ones). As well, learning to subvocalize can help while Rapidreading, or it can help you understand the concept of Superreading and Dipping more quickly. As well, learning to focus your mind and not regress in your reading is important, but Photoreading stresses that as well.
The PR course includes everything and is not as stringent as Evelyn Woods, but is more playful and encouraging. I highly recommend it over any other speed reading course.
The technique given for the RR step in the Photoreading book is to skim your eyes along the words slowing down when you find something of interest, speeding up when you hit something simplistic or familiar.
Essentially, Rapid Reading techinques are all that I got out of the previous speed reading books I mentioned. I would say that RR is the most "speed reading" like part of Photoreading. But Photoreading is a lot more than just Rapid Reading or traditional speed reading.
With speed reading I never felt like I really understood or could put to use what I was reading. I felt like I was reading words but I wasn't able to comprehend the ideas behind them. With Photoreading I feel just the opposite. After the initial steps of the process, (Preview, Photoread, Postview) I feel like I have the ideas but I'm not sure exactly how to put them in words or make use of them. Then after I Activate (step 4) and/or Rapid Read (optional step 5) everything gels and I really understand the material.
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Hey Scribe, since you've tried speed reading and you said that it didn't work for you, what have you learned from photoreading that you failed to learn with speed reading?
As far as techniques go, I failed at speed reading because I still had to go back and regular read everything I had sped read. I didn't see an improvement in speed or comprehension so I gave up. With Photoreading I was able to see improvement in my reading speed and comprehension immediately and it got better the more that I used it.
Subjectwise, I've learned a lot with Photoreading. There was a gap of a few years between my attempts at speed reading and my Photoreading so I didn't apply both techniques to the same material.
I'm in the minority here in that I didn't use the self-study course or the live seminar to learn Photoreading. I saw the book at the bookstore and picked it up.
Found PhotoReading and the idea that I could finish 3 books in the time that it took me to finish one sold me. Only to discover it gets even better than that 
Rapid Reading... imagine a kayak on a river... some parts are slow others are fairly fast and others you definately don't have time to look at the scenery you're moving to fast. What dictates the speed is the section of river you are on. That's rapid reading... like crusing down a river reading the book from cover to cover (or chapter from beginning to end). Your speed varies according to how the imformation moves you.
Alex
Thanks to all those who helped me by giving very detailed and thoughtful inputs, I appreciate it very much.
Anyway, one more minor question. Did you learn PR by course alone or by taking PR seminar?
007
Now it's considerably faster between 600 and 1500 wpm depending on what I'm reading.
693,000 wpm with a 75% comprehension has been recorded years ago. Although it's not reading. Different experience to regular reading in that conscious comprehension was being built as the questions were being asked.
Yes they are bordering on 1 million wpm photoreading. But for conscious comprehension as we are accustomed to from regular reading requires activation.
I learnt from the book. Then added the home Study course. I didn't attend a seminar until I did my Instructor Candidate Training.
Alex
[This message has been edited by Alex K. Viefhaus (edited May 04, 2004).]
Flipping pages and getting a sense of knowing that you've just taken in information that is being organised in your mind is different to any of the reading methods that I've tried.
Mega Speed Reading, Tony Buzan Speed reading, Evelyn Woods... few others that were similar in move the eye faster the comprehension will come promise.
PhotoReading works in reverse... Take it in at the fastest possible speed that you can. Then at the fastest speed that is faster than reading you superread and dip for answers to satisfy your curiosity and 'start' building the conscious comprehension for a few layers. Rapid Read is closest to regular reading thats where you start getting anaylitical type detail. In all in the end on a detailed book you can get it done in 1/3 the time.
Full conscious comprehension that is the same or often better than what one gets with regular reading.
Put into perspective if the book takes 9 hours to regular read you can do it in 3 and have detailed comprehension. Textbooks 30 hours done in 10. Or in other words in a book with 9 chapters in the time it takes you to get through to chapter 3 you can put the whole book together.
Alex
Photoreading you do it and then one day you come to the realization one way or another that it's hard NOT to do it right and that purpose is everything and your set.
I can speed read and photoread and I move quick as hell through books. But speedreading just requires to much work to develop. I'm sorry, I just wouldn't do it. Stick with subconscious processing.
I can still speed read at about 1200wpm but I used to be 2132 when I used to practice everyday.
[This message has been edited by DaPhotoFinisher (edited May 07, 2004).]
I highly recommend it. It increases mental efficiency and spatial-awareness.
I'm at 1500WPM right now. I'm trying to reach 2500 so then I can get to 5000, and so on. One step at a time.
Remember that the mind is heavily programmed to keep the "brakes" on accelerated reading where it is. You have to work on achieving alpha states and perhaps even theta states to over-ride the barriers.
However, it has taken me time to get to this point, time invested in actually using the system. What I noticed at first was that the effects of the PhotoReading step were minimal, if anything. However, the more you become aware of your mind's true abilities, the more you practice the system and the more it becomes comfortable (in my case, understanding how layered reading works was what got me to a comfortable level) - then the more you understand the power of the PhotoReading step.
That of course doesn't mean you can't apply ideas learned from Speed Reading courses, such as moving your eyes faster while Rapid Reading. But what it all comes down to for me is that Paul already discusses how to make Rapid Reading flow --- rythmic perusual. Plus, rapid reading includes learning when to speed up and when to slow down for details.
Hope my two cents makes sense. Basically I'm trying to convey that PhotoReading is complete, and the only thing I think is applicable, possibly, from any speed reading course is moving the eyes faster, reading clumps of words, and stop subvocalizing - applicable to the Rapid Reading step.
I read at 1500WPM at maximum normal-reading speed. I've never really taken the time to learn speed-reading.
Photoreading at 1500 is ridiculous. When you learn how to photoread, the rates of 25,000-70,000WPM comes into play. However photoreading really isn't a WPM category. It's more of a strategy that becomes almost god-like with practice.
However to increase in reading speed, you must understand that it is like walking up a pyramid. One step at a time. From 400 to 600, 600 to 1000, 1000 1500, and so on.
Imagine our brains as cars. We read at a certain rate yet our potentials are progressively higher than that which we sustain.
We have barriers that act as brakes to our cars. Affirmations, believe it or not, can greatly help with progress up the eyeQ reading curve. What keeps us from reading at optimal speeds is our programming. The programming that we obviously cant remember being done to us because we were infants at the time.
I assure you, there are plenty of children in Japan right now who can read at rates well above 100,000. It sounds crazy only because we're limited by our self-concepts.
Rhythmic perusal will get you to speeds of about 600 wpm.
Anything higher is considered skimming. One needs to develop a good skill of dumping unimportant information and recognising what is important when we start pushing speeds over 800wmp. A byproduct of speed reading is poor retention. Because of the speeds going over the material the conscious mind does not move it into long term memory so while you can demonstrate good recall and comprehension just after reading most is forgotten because it is not placed into long term memory. PhotoReading places the information into our long term memory first that's why we have good long term memory of what we have PhotoRead. I'm still astounded by the fact that my memory from books I've PhotoRead is far greater than my memory gained from the old method of regular reading. (not speed reading).
Conscious reading really will not excede 800wpm due to the limited ability of the conscious mind. Remember the conscious mind has the ability to handle 5 plus or minus 2 bits of information per second. Using that figure you will note that the best reading speed is 540wpm. 9bits x 60sec(1 minute) = 540wpm
That said much of what is written in a text is superficial filler or long winded explainations
page turning of books will limit a PhotoReader to about 58,000wpm
Computer screens we are getting toward the 1 million mark (limited by the refresh rate)
693,000wpm 75% comprehension has already been recorded. That's PhotoReading not word for word reading. If we try to bring it back to our conscious comprehension with the conscious minds limitied maximum of 9 bits of information per second. We'd be at it for a few days considering out mind likes to get distracted by mumdane things like meal breaks, and other distractions.
The real point is the information is there it's a matter of prioity what we want to know consciously so if you can zoom over the words in a book superreading at 3000 to 6000 wpm my advise is don't slow down for what you already know you know and don't need to know consciously right now. You mind has already recognised it during PhotoReading again through superreading and dipping and if you need it in the future the book is there for the review, but time stops for no one.
So when you PhotoRead a book at 25,000wpm and get the feeling you don't need to read this, you already know it or wow this book I've got to read... You've way ahead of someone who is painstakingly reading every word the author wrote, you've prioritised your time.
Alex
[This message has been edited by Alex K. Viefhaus (edited May 13, 2004).]