Too many emails?

Every once in a while I get an "unsubscribe" request from someone who wants to be removed from my email list. I email my former students - and those who have signed up for newsletters at www.readfast.org - regularly with practice tips, notices of classes, etc. Anyone can unsubscribe at any time. The notices I get include the reason the person gave for unsubscribing and they range from "moved away" to "don't need any more help - thanks." That's all fine.

But I am always surprised when someone gives as the reason "too many emails." Wait a minute! Aren't you applying your speed reading skills to everything you read? Some folks go away from class thinking that these speed reading skills are just for books and articles. The reality is that these skills can usher in a whole new way of looking at the world if you let them.

Use them when looking at email, no matter how many you get. First, create folders in your email program for different categories of email. Have a folder for important stuff, one for moderately important, and one for "if I have time." The subject line tells you most of the time what you have to do and you can usually do lots of sorting that way. Many email programs like Outlook let you create "rules" so the sorting is done automatically.

After sorting, go to your "Important" folder and start reading, but apply the speed reading process! Use your pacer (pen, finger, or cursor) and Overview the email. Washing those words across your subconscious is important. Next, do a Gist read. Next, go for the remaining Details if you have to.
Use the process on everything - menus, captions at a museum, newspapers, magazines, assembly instructions, everything. This will dramatically accelerate your mind's acceptance of the new techniques and remove the conditioning from all the years you read the old way. Next thing you know, you are just glancing at paragraphs and understanding the meaning without using any process.

Like with anything, new skills and new life changes come with intention and practice. Practicing your speed reading is simple. Just use it with EVERYTHING you read!

Jackie

What should I read?

In response to a recent speed reading mailing, a student wrote back: "Thanks Jackie, I'm still at it, practicing here and there. It's those expectations of what it is to study or read that I'm trying to get over ;)." Here's what I wrote back:

"Thanks for your note. Don’t stress about expectations. Just perfect your technique and read everything! It is the DEPTH of reading that you vary. So you have a 20 chapter text and you surmise that chapters 2,4,6, 12, 14, and 18 are the ones to focus on. Well, you use the process and “read” the whole book – Overview and Gist – but you go back and do a details pass on just those chapters.
As your eyes – and your conditioned brain – relax, you see all around the page and take notes all along the way. You go for deeper detail when you need to. You get to choose."

Just dive in, read everything, and delve deeper into those things that you think are important.
Best of luck!

Jackie

Why isn't speed reading taught in schools?

This question comes up all the time and it is an important one. Reading programs in most elementary, middle, and even high schools in the US are tightly controlled by the school districts. In some districts, teachers can be disciplined and even fired if they stray from the approved curriculum.

Most elementary reading education is fundamentally flawed and igores the last 50 years of research into educational principles and critical understandings of how the brain works. For example, most elementary reading programs teach students to:

1. read one word at a time
2. sound the words aloud in their head while they read
3. read slow when they want to remember what you read

Turns out that this is nearly exactly the opposite of what the brain wants. Yet year after year, schools turn out students, good and not-so-good, who hate reading, who fall asleep and lose their place, and who miss the ideas of what they are reading. What a tragedy, especially in a world saturated with information coming at us from every direction.

It's maddening.

Time after time, I have had students in my speed reading classes from middle and high school who have been classified as poor readers and bad students. What a crime that these brilliant people - as most people are whatever their grades have been - have been classified as some how "less than" others because their minds reject the way they were being taught.

This is NOT the fault of teachers. Teachers are wonderful beings doing a miraculous job with our children. They can relate to children in a way that few can. But teachers don't always get to teach what they want or the way they would like. They are forced into state and federal standards (often created by committees well versed in old, outdated modes of teaching) that tie their hands. Just a few days ago, I attended a "Curriculum Night" at my son's middle school and saw presentations by his 6th grade teachers. Every one of them were constrained by a giant notebook of standards that put the brakes on their creativity, especially in language and science classes.

The good news is that if a student finds his way to my class (or is driven there with a parent who also takes the class), in just a few hours I can turn all this around and begin the process of restoring confidence, self-esteem, and the love of learning that so many mass education schools dampen. The human mind, spirit and heart are flexible and can change or be repaired.

We are there to help.

Fantastic Speed Reading Class!

Just finished up a fantastic speed reading class on Saturday! Incredible people who chose to spend a day in a place they have never been to before with a guy they have never met - while the Sun was out in Seattle - to learn something new that could change their lives! My kind of people! Great thinking went on in that room and the day flew by. People left energized and hopeful that they could transform their lives in any way they choose. They now have a process to learn where they can learn anything about anything, any time, any place.

What if they don't believe you?

Hello New or Soon-to-be Speed Reader,

As you tell people about your interest in speed reading, I'll bet that some of your family and friends have rolled their eyes when you tell them what you are learning or exploring. In one of our "Audio Tips" called "Coping with speed reading disbelievers," I address what to do when you get that look from a disbelieving family member or friend. When you are making a profound life change - like bringing speed reading into your life - you must surround yourself with supportive people who see the greatness in you.

Check out SPEED READING PRACTICE WITH DR. JACKIE AUDIO TIP #7: "Coping with speed reading disbelievers" to get some ideas about what to do.

Call or write anytime if you want to talk about what you are experiencing.

Have fun!

Jackie

Hello Speed Readers and Future Speed Readers,

If you know anyone who is an active, inactive, or retired member of any branch of the U.S. armed services (or Veterans Administration), please let them know that they now can get a deep discount on our speed reading programs at any time.

For only $55, they can take our critically acclaimed One Day Speed Reading Workshop (normally $249)! Just sign up at www.readfast.org and select "Armed Services" during the online registration process.

Please help spread the word (this does not apply to group, corporate, or executive programs) to these very deserving men and women.

 Jackie

The Groupon is ON

Once again, we have decided to do a screaming-deal through Groupon. Our $249 1-day speed reading workshop is only $55. How can we afford that? The answer is simple, really: we have to. It is so important that these speed reading skills get out to as many people as possible. The skills aren't tricks or techniques to use occasionally. The system is designed to allow you to bring information into your life in a way that your brain likes. That means that you don't fall asleep anymore while reading, you don't lose your place, and you remember everything you need to. 

I have also decided that our Groupons will NOT have an expiration date. To me, having a certificate expire in 6 months or a year is totally unfair. Why should a deal have an end date except to maximize the profit of the merchant. You either offer a deal or you don't. So don't worry about being busy right now. You can take a class anytime you want, for the rest of my life (I think I have at least another 50 good years left!).

Please consider having your entire family take the class. For 13 years of age and up it is a wonderful experience to have a family learn something new together. If you have younger children, you can teach them after you learn.

Check out the Testimonials at the readfast.org website. They are all real and they tell the story best.

Buy extra Groupons for gifts. They are great for someone in school, in a demanding job, or unemployed. Having taken the class looks great on your resume. It shows how dedicated you are to personal and professional growth.

Call or write anytime with any questions.

Jackie

Great Seattle public classes this past weekend . . .

Wonderful speed reading classes this past weekend! Sixty more people were set off into the world with the skills learn how to read anything and everything they want.

It so pains me to think of how many people conclude that they aren't very good learners, that school isn't for them, and therefore, they are limited in career choices and in the heights they can achieve. Most of the time, nothing could be further from the truth. I have found that the only thing holding most people back from achieving their hopes and dreams is their perception of themselves. Too often, this perception has been created based on false assumptions.

The way most of us were taught to read is actually nearly the opposite of the way our brain works. Getting sleepy while you read, losing your place, and even hating to read result from your brain being totally bored with the way you read. 

It is troubling to think of all the people who have settled for a job or given up on a dream because they thought that studying or learning wasn't for them. Such a waste.

The good news is that for two hundred and fifty bucks (less when we have a sale), you can change your entire way of learning and reading and become anything you want to become. It takes some practice, to be sure - anything worth doing does. 

It is something worth considering.

Speed Reading Phone App for the iPhone

I was recently contacted by the developer of an iPhone app that could be useful for our speed reading program practice. Called Quickreader, it comes with 25 full copyright free books to practice on. You can select your desired reading speed and practice! No Android or Windows app yet, but hopefully in the future. See the app in action in a video at the site.

Speed Readers Don't Use Laptops In Class

There has been considerable discussion lately about the use of laptops in the classroom. Sadly, many students are using them to surf the web and as an excuse to not pay attention. Some have said that if the teacher is not engaging them, they feel justified doing other things. This attitude is not only sad, it is disrespectful of the instructors' time and their own as well. Why would you want to pay thousands of dollars for a college class and then not pay attention?

This attitude also reflects the classic misconception in education that it is somehow the instructor's responsibility to get the student to learn. This has never been true. The student, especially the older adult, is completely responsible for the success of their learning experiences. You decide what you want to get out of a class and how you want it to contribute to your life. The teacher gives you the means, shares examples, explains concepts, but you are responsible for using a system of information capture that facilitates your learning.

The laptop may seem like it is a help, but it is actually a hindrance. Even if you are using it to take notes, it takes you out of the discussion. You cease being engaged with the teacher and the other students. It also locks you into to a linear, left-brain notetaking technique that is rarely useful. When you try to study notes taken in this way, you find them of little use.

Teachers are finding that students who bring their laptops to class perform as poorly as students who didn't bother to come to class at all.

Speed readers from our program learn a powerful right-brained note taking technique that serves them in any situation. It turns them into very  active listeners and they are always very present for the conversation. Many students have said that the note-taking method alone is worth the price off the class.

The best part of the method is that you do not need a computer. In fact, it doesn't really work with a computer - you hand write the notes in such a way that you can fit an entire day of lectures or create a study guide of excellent notes on an entire book on just one page. Teachers who see notes taken in this way after their lectures often ask the student for a copy!

It doesn't matter if you think your teacher is boring or doing a good job. This note-taking technique transcends all of that and makes you the engaged listener and thinker you need to be for your education and your career to be successful.