Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Help convince a skeptic

Hello all!
This is my first post on this message board. I came by this site as I was searching for web pages with information on study skills, learning techniques, and speed reading. I must say from the testimonials on the site, the product sounds great, but I'm still not sure. I have to remind myself that Learning Strategies is a business and despite the good intentions of the corporation in helping people learn, it's number one priority has to be selling tapes (or else they don't eat!). Having said that, I have viewed the web pages of other courses and I have to say that this one looks the most reasonable. I followed a link posted on this board to mind-tek products and that stuff looked pretty far out (as well as expensive). I would greatly appreciate it, if anyone who has used any of these products could share with me their experience with them. How long did it take to learn? Do you have the same success as the testimonials on the website? How do you apply what you have learned to you life? Do you know of any sources praising or discrediting the products that are not affiliated with the company? There is one specific item that I am concerned with. Some of the testimonals (i.e. the one about the girl who could write better because she subconciously acquired the styles of the authors that she read) have lead me to believe that this is some type of hypnotic course. Am I to believe that after taking this course and using the techniques, that I will be able to take a test and get the answers right, without knowing anything simply because I learned the answers subconciously not conciously? I feel as if I am mis-interpreting the claim, but I would like some clarification. Thank you in advance for any help. For all you college football fans,...

GO HOKIES!!!!

I got the Home Learning course about a week and a half ago in the mail and I can say it is highly worth the money. Even if you don't intend to actually use specific photoreading, which would be outlandish, there are so many other strategies that the course teaches you to aid in learning and reading. This isn't hypnotic at all, I personally have not had any spontaneous activation yet (conscious info from photoreading without manual activation). The course reiterates constant relaxation, which if you are a more traditional person like me, can take quite a bit of getting use too. I treat the system as a skill, Micheal Jordan didn't get how good he is from occassionally bouncing a ball, he did from practice, and thats what this course takes.

The course has definantely changed the way I will read material forever even in this short amount of time. I am going to be going off to college this fall and I will imagine that Mind Maps and everything else taught will greatly increase my studies.

Hello, fellow Hokie.

I originally shared some of your skepticism as well. I learned Photoreading through the self-study course. I am still a novice, but I am convinced that Photoreading works.

In my opinion, the some of the ads for Photoreading are a bit exaggerated, but then all advertising is, right? I also think it fails to explain how Photoreading works. Then again, you have to focus the ads on what people understand. Let me see if I can explain....

Have you heard of the book "Drawing on the Right-Side of the Brain"? When I explain to someone else about Photoreading, I say it's kind of like "Reading with the Right-Side of the Brain". With Photoreading, you're not reading in a logical manner (i.e. linear, word-after-word) trying to understand as you go. In a way, when you Photoread, you are telling your brain, "Hey Brain, I am going to flip through this book and I want you to bookmark the sections that are relevant to me."

Let me illustrate with another example. I have this thick 2000 page technical book. I know it is filled with tidbits of useful information. I Photoread the book and then I read normally, except I trust my instincts to tell me which pages, paragraphs, etc. are important to me. In this book, the author tends to make jokes or tell stories. My instincts tell me which part are unimportant and I therefore read faster. I was able to through a forth of the book (500 pages) in three hours. I know this would have taken me week maybe more to do this. You speed will depend on how familiar you are with the topic.

My belief is that a person's results with Photoreading will depend on how honed your instincts are. As with any skill, Photoreading requires practice. At first, you might stumble a lot and get frustrated, but if you keep at it you will gradually get a bit better.

If you are still skeptical, I suggest the following. Purchase the Photoreading book. You can do it here or on Amazon.com. Read it and if you feel a bit more sure, go for the course or the live seminar.

If you have anymore questions, please ask.

Scott

Yes, but can you actually learn enough from the book, untill you can actually photoread.

And has anyone successfully learnt to photoread just from using the book alone?

Yes, but can you actually learn enough from the book, untill you can actually photoread.

And has anyone successfully learnt to photoread just from using the book alone?

Hey ScottH
I think I just may get the photoread book and see what I think of it. Are you still at Tech or have you graduated?

Welcome. I just got the book - and only the book - a few days ago. First of all, buy it. It's a very interesting read, and it is layed out in a way that is so different that I just had to read it to "Level 3" .. -chuckle-

Although I haven't had time to really start practicing, I can, after reading the book Rapid Read. Don't ask me exactly how it works, or why it works after you finish reading the book, but that alone will save you enough time to be worth the cost! When you read the book, you will understand that it isn't quite as outlandish as it sounds... it's a little more down-to-earth than they sell it as maybe, but it's definately very cool.

Sebastian... my first post =)

And the nice part is, the more you play with the techniques in PhotoReading, the easier it gets. On Tuesday this week, I went to Barnes & Noble, sat down with two books on effective time/management. About 300 pages in each book. PhotoRed both of them in about 5 minutes. Then spent about 20 minutes activating both books cover-to-cover and got everything I was looking for.

I know of a couple people in the last 5 years who bought the PhotoReading book, read it, played with it, called in for some coaching, and they got it! You really don't know until you try it out.

But, I will say this. The progress you can make with the PhotoReading book alone over several months can be accomplished in a few weeks with the homestudy course, or just one weekend in the live seminar.

Keep us posted with how your skills develop, Sebastian! We're all supportive.