Q : Why should I learn to read
faster?
A : The information volume is
doubling every 9 months, while we are taught to read no faster than people 100
years ago. Result : we are not keeping up-to-date with new information. We solve
this problem but trying to specialize our field of reading and study - we become
specialists about less and less and we become ignorant about more and more.
See The Law of Diminishing Enlightenment
Q : What are the benefits of being able to read faster?
A : Firstly, TIME - the average
person spends 2 hours a day on work-related reading. If you can simply DOUBLE
your reading speed, you can save 260 - 360 hours a year. Secondly, MONEY - if
your total cost to your company (salary, office space, office equipment, perks
& benefits) is $100k per year, and you work a 40-hour week, your cost to the
company is $48 per hour. If you save 260 hours a year in reading time, this
saves your company $12500 a year - and this is if you simply double your speed.
If you increase your reading speed by a factor of 3, 4, 5 or even 6 to 10, the
time and money savings become huge.
Q : What happens to the time
& money saved by reading faster?
A : Work shorter hours & play
more golf or do more fishing. Improve your skills and earning ability by
studying or taking on new job-functions. Improve company productivity and
profitability. Complete your specialist depth-reading in less time and allocate
the free time to collateral reading - avoid "Knowledge Implosion".
Q : Explain depth-reading,
collateral reading, information explosion and knowledge implosion.
A : Information is data that has the capability to inform us about something.
Once we acquire that data, it becomes knowledge - information
'known'. The total information known to mankind is doubling every 9 months - an
information explosion - 300,000 new book titles every year, 3000 -
4000 new websites every week. The problem is the individual - your ability to
process information today, is no faster than it was a century ago. See
The Learning Curve and also
The Rate-to-Purpose Bell-curve
As a result, individuals specialize their knowledge acquisition
and absorption and individually we focus on depth-reading -
reading deeply into our area of specialization. We end up knowing a huge amount
about very little, and very little about most things outside our area of
specialization . We no longer have time for collateral-reading -
reading widely into new subject-material - new subjects, other aspects of our
work, other aspects of the environment in which we are workings and studying. If
you have too many people each individually focusing on their own area of
specialization, and these people are not adequately communication laterally, no
single person gets the 'big picture' - he has not joined the 'dots' to get the
big picture. A good example occurred recently - some people heard that the USPS
was issuing a new postage stamp with an image of Dale Earnhardt. Others new that
the announcement was made on April 1. Still others knew that April 1 is April
Fool's day and still others knew that you have to be dead for at least 10 years
before your image can be immortalized on a postage stamp. And because so many
people failed to join the 'dots', thousands of people spend hours and hours in
lines at post offices waiting to buy the new stamp!
Knowledge Implosion
occurs when the 'big picture'
is so fragmented across so many people, that the benefits of having knowledge
are destroyed - the Enron knowledge implosion is the most recent example.
Similarly the 9/11 disaster and the attack on Pearl Harbor. In all of these
examples, the knowledge existed to have prevented the tragedies, but was simply
too spread out to have been of any use. If you are manufacturing widgets, it
helps to be a specialist and to know everything about manufacturing widgets. But
it is also essential to know how your people are pricing, financing and
marketing your widgets. Also what your competitors are doing in the widget
market and what the consumers are saying about the widget market and what is
happening to the widget raw-material market and what is happening in the
widget-substitution market.
Q : Why classroom-based SpeedReading training instead of
'packaged' courses in book, audio or video format?
A : Reading is a physical skill - it needs to be learned
and practiced. Few physical skills have ever been mastered without practice.
While there is nothing essentially bad about packaged courses, you get what you
pay for - a course only and not a skill. The skill comes from practice and the
packaged course does not ensure that you will do the practice. In a
classroom-course, you have an instructor who has traveled the road before you -
he is there to explain the What, Why and How of the skills-development; to
motivate, encourage, cajole and pressure you into doing the practice; to praise
you for progress made; to answer and address your concerns; to make sure that
you acquire the skill. And to keep working with you until you HAVE the skill.
Q : Why
Speed Reading International courses (as opposed to another
classroom course)?
A: In any training course, there are TWO essential
elements - the COURSE and the TRAINER. The course must be successful in getting
results and the trainer must be a specialist and able to engender confidence
from those being trained. Speed Reading International has been around since the
mid 1970's and has a sound track-record with numerous blue-chip organizations. But
this is not enough. If you are considering a classroom course, you need to ask
yourself "Just how good is the instructor? How long has he been teaching
this course? What level of results does he achieve? Do I feel comfortable with
him or her as a person, as a teacher, as an advisor? Do I find the instructor
credible, knowledgeable, sympathetic to my needs? In addition to buying a seat
in a classroom, am I buying the right instructor?
Q : Can
ExecuRead be taught to children?
A : Yes. The ability to read is not linked to age. Accelerated
reading is based on 2 requirements - that you can already read and that you have
sufficient vocabulary to read, for example, the editorial column of your local
newspaper. If you do not have vocabulary, then you cannot read ... at any speed.
Q : What is the best age for introducing children to
ExecuRead for Students?
A : Generally, about the 9th grade. Students at this age are
comfortable readers, have a reasonable vocabulary level and are usually mature
enough to appreciate the merits of accelerated reading skills - they usually
want the training and don't have to be 'pushed' by parents.
Q : Pros and Cons of
ExecuRead HomeStudy versus audio versus video versus CD-Rom format?
A : The key to learning the new skill is a well-designed course and regular practice. Thus, presentation is critical - the course format must lend itself
to flexibility - enabling you to do the lessons and practice sessions anywhere,
anytime. ExecuRead HomeStudy is fully portable - a course manual
including lesson-plans and practice exercises. Audio courses need a cassette-player, video courses need a TV and VCR and CD-Rom courses need a
computer. This may or may not restrict your flexibility of being able to learn and
practice the new skills while on the move. Generally, busy people are always
on the move and demand flexibility - the course must be able to travel easily.
Classroom-based training has always proved to be more effective than 'packaged' home-based courses. If you want to further improve your skills, by
attending a classroom course, does your audio / video / CD-Rom course offer any upgrade option?
ExecuRead HomeStudy is 100% upgradeable - a 100%
credit of your investment against the cost of the classroom course when you decide to upgrade.
If you have a question you would like answered, send it to us and we will reply to you personally and also include it here.
|