PhotoReading by Paul R. Scheele

PhotoReading by Paul Scheele
Photoreading by Paul R Scheele was a real eye opener on how one is able to break away from the norm and engage their subconscious in the learning process.
Scheele book claims that upon learning the PhotoReading Whole Mind System one will be able to read with greater speed, comprehension, and enjoyment as they absorb complete books in minutes.
Sounds too good to be true right? Is that really possible?
I too had these questions running through my mind before I embarked on reading the book. What I have learned upon reading the book and attending the PhotoReading Workshop changed my opinion 180 degrees.
Before I share my thoughts on the system and the book here is a breakdown of the system for you to understand.
There are basically five steps which one needs to follow in this system.
- Prepare
- Preview
- PhotoRead
- Postview
- Activate
In each step there are certain steps to take note which gets you in the right state of mind to carry out the activities.
Prepare
At this step you would need to prepare yourself physically and mentally to start to read. There is a need to set your purpose to why you are reading the book and enter the ideal state for reading.
Preview
You look over the book and appraise the value for your purpose. You determine to go or not go further in reading the book.
PhotoRead
You prepare yourself physically and mentally through a series of relaxation technique to get your brainwaves down to the Alpha state. Affirmation of concentration , impact and purpose are mentioned before entering the PhotoFocus state. During PhotoFocus pages of the books are flipped as one unconsciously absorbs the information presented in the book while maintaining a steady state.
Upon completing the book you would close the process with a sense of mastery by acknowledging your feelings using ARC.
Postview
In this step one surveys the material and pick our trigger words which are used to formulate questions.
Activate
In this last step information that has been hidden in our subconscious is finally “called out” for us to process.
There are six steps to activating which are basically the following
– Let it incubate
– Review questions
-Super read and dip
– Skittering
– Create a mind map
– Rapid read.
Each technique has is own benefits and you use them to get the answers to the questions that we have drafted out during the Postview.
My thoughts
I found learning this technique has been really useful for me. I feel more focused and get less distracted each time I settle down to read something. I also find that I can read faster and cut down the time I need to digest various different materials.
I’ll certainly continue to PhotoRead and will be teaching part of the technique to the kids so that it can help improve their memory and retention of information.
Disclaimer: I got a copy of the book when I attended the PhotoReading Workshop here in Singapore in July 2014. All opinions are 100% my own.
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July 17, 2014 @ 10:00 pm
Fascinating post for I and yet another new idea to ponder ~ thanks, ^_^
artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)
July 18, 2014 @ 1:12 am
Very interesting post!
July 18, 2014 @ 6:07 am
Such an intriguing method. Reading, though, for me is my way to unwind at this point in my life. I could see this being very helpful to students…
July 18, 2014 @ 9:25 am
I’ve never heard of that before. Very interesting. My mind wanders so much that I often have to go back and read the same sentence more than once. Wonder if this would help?
July 18, 2014 @ 10:53 am
@Betty,
I think it will definitely help as I too have a wondering mind and get easily distracted at time. It does help me to focus and to get everything that I want out of that book within a shorter( self defined) time span.
July 18, 2014 @ 3:54 pm
Oh this sounds promising! I hope I remember this resource by the time my toddler is old enough!
July 18, 2014 @ 11:08 pm
I remember I’ve heard first about photoreading in my school days.. It’s nice to be reminded of this once again.
July 20, 2014 @ 1:16 pm
This is interesting. I should have learned this years ago while was still in school. But with so many distractions this days and how quick information is transmitted, I may still need to learn this.
July 21, 2014 @ 11:29 am
My sister and I were just talking about this kind of reading and memorization. I definitely need to exercise those muscles!
July 22, 2014 @ 11:52 pm
So interesting! I’ve never heard of applying those techniques to reading before. I’ll be looking into it further- thanks for sharing.
July 24, 2014 @ 3:34 am
I find this concept very intriguing.
I’d like to look into this more and give it a try.
All knowledge is interesting to me!
Thanks for sharing this idea for the letter I.
A+