PhotoReading is a slightly gray area in the world of speed reading. Is it an absolute scam? Well, it is very possible, but it still has advocacy and redeeming qualities. Is it a good tool for those of us in high school, college, etc.? No, probably not. Let’s first take a look at the pros and cons for us at school, then we’ll look at the scam side of Photoreading, and finally a better solution to incorporate photo-reading into your speed-reading routine without wasting any time.
First, straight to the dirty low facts:
Learning curve: Much more than other speed reading methods, Photoreading requires a great deal of training, exercises, and learning before you can get to “photoreading” a book. If you get the “Classic” course, which by the way, costs $ 245, plan to spend about 10 hours going through the various course materials, doing the exercises, and so on. If you get the Deluxe course, plan to spend double the money and at least another 4 hours in addition to the Classic course, plus time to use the extra paraliminals.
Time needed to read: Plan to spend 30-40 minutes on the “photo reading” portion, depending on your level of experience and the length of the book. Then plan to spend another 40-3 hours on the “activation” part, depending on your level of experience, the length of the book, the speed of reading words per minute, and so on.
Comprehension / Comprehension: Almost none for me personally. Although I have not read 500 books as the advocates say, I have read a good 15 at least and have never had any understanding of the photographic reading part. Almost everything came to me during “activation” where I practically rushed through the entire book and mentally mapped it.
Bottom line: Don’t use Photoreading if you need to read a book in a day (they suggest waiting at LEAST one sleep cycle between photo-reading and activation), and don’t use it if you need to understand the book, remember details, or something like that. Basically, there is no reason why SchoolDestroyer.com users want to use Photoreading.
Positive things: Photo reading, during the course, DOES teach good reading technique at normal speed or two, and teaches mind maps, a very effective note-taking process. It also does a very good job of teaching the right mindset, but it spends too much time there to be considered “efficient.”
Read on to see how to use the basics of photorereading for an EFFECTIVE study!
Is reading photos a scam?
It depends on what you call a scam. It certainly doesn’t live up to the promises made in the sales newsletter, it doesn’t work for many people, and some even claim it’s a copy of the ZOB speed reader system. It’s probably a scam. Let me give you some examples of RIDICULOUS claims made in the sales newsletter that the product DOES NOT measure up:
- In fact, we teach you to “mentally photograph” the printed page at 25,000 words per minute.
- You’ll even read a dictionary, think of any word, and know where it is on the page!
- The PhotoReading technique is part of a larger system, called the PhotoReading Whole Mind System, which makes it very practical for everyday use.
(note that these are all copied / pasted).
HOW CAN I USE THE PRINCIPLES OF PHOTOGRAPHY FOR MY OWN GOOD?
Ahhh, here’s the juicy part of the post! The good thing about Photoreading that we can extract and check. First, keep in mind these two principles they teach:
1. Maintain an ideal state of mind for reading.
2. Create a mind map of a book once you have finished reading it
You can easily apply both techniques to your reading right away. If you would like a shortened version of the actual “photo reading” process to be put to good use in an effective and efficient reading system, see [Reading Genius 2.0 by Ed Stracher]. In that course, one of the steps you need to take when reading a book is “photocopying” it, which is essentially a photographic reading, except it takes less than 2 minutes instead of 40 minutes. 2 minutes seems pretty efficient to me!
Otherwise that’s it for this photo reading post, SheeleThe speed reading solution any student should KEEP AWAY from. But don’t worry, there are AMAZING speed reading solutions (including Reading Genius) that will make speed reading easy, fast and effective for you (that is, comprehension!). We will talk about them very soon.