PhotoReading Questions Answered

I’ve received some follow-up questions about my recent PhotoReading recommendation and the StevePavlina.com discount offered by Learning Strategies, so here’s a bit of Q&A to give you more details.

Some of the questions are best answered by Learning Strategies, so I contacted them to get answers as needed. I’ll point out when the answers are coming from them vs. me by adding the initials LS or SP in front of the answer.

How long does it take for most people to complete the PhotoReading program?

LS: It takes around 16 hours to complete the course. The developer of PhotoReading, Paul Scheele, recommends you do one study session at a time and give yourself a 5-10 minute break before the next one. You can do as many sessions in a day as you like, or you can spread it out over a few weeks. He also recommends drinking plenty of fresh water to keep your brain well-hydrated.

Does PhotoReading work with technical books (medical, engineering, etc)?

LS: Yes! PhotoReading works on any type of printed material. When you PhotoRead, you are “speeding up” your brain’s ability to build new connections in your existing knowledge base. So you’ll see your ability to learn and comprehend written material improve anywhere from 3 to 5 times faster than regular slow reading.

We have an article on our website too, which explains how PhotoReading works on all materials.

Can you use PhotoReading with fiction books?

SP: Yes, you can. However, your experience of the story will probably be different because you won’t be reading in a single linear pass.

Personally I wouldn’t use the end-to-end PhotoReading system for fiction if my goal was to experience the unfolding storyline from a first-person perspective, although some of the PhotoReading tools will still help you read the book faster and get more out of it.

If I wanted to enjoy the suspense and plot twists of a story, I’d slow-read it. But if my intention was to absorb the book’s ideas and concepts, like plowing through a large collection of Greek Mythology, I’d use PhotoReading.

I read mostly non-fiction, but the neat thing about PhotoReading a fiction book is that you’d experience the story in new ways. You’d still absorb the story, but you’d gain a more global sense of the book’s themes, patterns, and ideas. In my opinion a fiction book that would adapt nicely to PhotoReading would be The Richest Man in Babylon, a parable about wealth where the ideas are more important (and more memorable) than the plot.

How long will it take for the PhotoReading package to arrive after I order it?

LS: Through normal UPS Ground, you can expect delivery within 5-7 business days. For an additional charge, a customer can request UPS Next-Day or 2-Day delivery.

If shipping a package outside the USA, UPS typically delivers within 7-14 days. We also offer Airmail shipping which can take 4-6 weeks for delivery, and it is not trackable.

What are the details of the money-back guarantee on the PhotoReading system?

LS: Each customer receives a full moneyback satisfaction guarantee for 30 days from the day they receive their order. And with UPS delivery we track the date when the customer receives their order. If the customer needs more time, they are welcome to contact our customer service department with that first 30 days to receive a free extension. We also offer toll-free support for any questions along the way and for getting the best results.

Can I buy PhotoReading as a gift for someone?

LS: Yes. We can ship the course to any address. UPS does require a physical address – no PO Boxes.

What can you tell me about the free lifetime phone coaching? Are there any limits on how many questions I can ask?

LS: We limit each coaching call to 10 minutes each. So a customer can call in and discuss all their questions with a PhotoReading coach at any time. When the call reaches the 10-minute point, we’ll ask for a final question to bring the call to a close.

SP: In addition to the free lifetime phone coaching, Learning Strategies also provides free discussion forums, with their PhotoReading forum being the most active (over 5000 threads and over 29,000 posts as of today). So there’s lots of free help and support available for you as you learn PhotoReading.

Steve, do you get an affiliate commission when someone buys PhotoReading using your discount code?

SP: Of course. Directly or indirectly, I generate income from pretty much everything I write. When I encounter a book or product I think is worth sharing, I’ll use affiliate links if they’re available, or I may work out a host-beneficiary arrangement with the publisher. Consequently, I earn affiliate income every single day, mostly from the Amazon affiliate links (such as when I mentioned The Richest Man in Babylon earlier). Last quarter I earned $1420.16 in Amazon commissions, so while it doesn’t bring in nearly as much as the Google ads, it does pay for our organic groceries. 🙂

I’m aware that some people get bent out of shape when there’s a financial gain to be realized from a product recommendation. Those people, however, don’t see the hundreds of hours I invest in evaluating personal development books and products that never get mentioned here. Some of these products include substantial affiliate commissions. However, I will only recommend products here that: (1) I’ve personally evaluated, and (2) I’ve found to be of significant benefit, improving either my thinking or my behavior.

Recommending PhotoReading was an easy decision because it taught me a new skill I’m actively using. I just PhotoRead another book last night in about an hour.

Was there anything you didn’t like about the PhotoReading system?

SP: This may not be an issue for you, but since I’m a hyper-visual learner, I found Paul Scheele’s rate of speech a bit on the slow side. After listening to thousands of hours of personal development audio over the past 15 years, I prefer very fast-paced programs (more New Yorker, less Texan). So if you have a similar need for speed, here’s my suggestion:

Use an audio player that lets you adjust the playback speed. I usually play human speech at 2x speed. Whenever Paul introduced a timed exercise, I’d return to normal speed, do the exercise at normal speed, and then return to 2x speed for the educational portions. Think of this as PhotoListening. 🙂

Will you be arranging more offers like this one?

SP: Most likely I will. Over the past two years, lots of people have asked me for recommendations of worthwhile personal development books, audio programs, self-study courses, and seminars. During the summer I posted my recommended reading list, and I’ve reviewed a few seminars as well. Now I’m taking a deeper interest in self-study courses and audio programs, especially the kind that promise to teach you practical skills. This takes a serious amount of behind-the-scenes effort, but it’s a real joy when I find something I think will help a lot of people, as in the case of PhotoReading.

Seriously if I could find more products I could genuinely recommend, I’d be doing this sort of thing more often. Unfortunately, most of the items I’ve evaluated over the past couple years were too fluff-ridden and forgettable for my tastes. It probably won’t surprise you that there’s a line of authors and publishers wanting me to recommend their products due to the sheer size of this audience. I don’t want this to become a general product announcement site though, so I have a pretty long waiting list because I must personally evaluate every single product. And some of these products take a long time to evaluate. I first got the PhotoReading system in mid-August.

The hardest part is when a friend of mine writes a personal development book, and I read it but don’t get much out of it. Then I have to tell them I can’t recommend it on the site because it didn’t meet my standards. It pains me to do this, but I’m a real ogre when it comes to giving personal recommendations.

If someone offered me more money than I earn in a year to personally endorse a product I thought was worthless, I’d turn them down in a heartbeat. If you’ve read my story from the Meaning of Life series, you’ll understand why this is such a big deal to me.

Now I can’t guarantee you’ll like everything I recommend — we all have different tastes — but I can at least guarantee that I like what I recommend.

What if I have more questions about PhotoReading?

SP: Feel free to contact me if you have questions about my personal experience with PhotoReading. If you have questions about the PhotoReading system itself or the discount, please direct those to Learning Strategies. You can email them at info@learningstrategies.com.

Learning Strategies also has a FAQ on their site with some additional info about PhotoReading that applies to their PhotoReading seminars as well as the self-study course.

And for the full details on why I decided to recommend PhotoReading to you and how to get it at a deep discount, visit the special PhotoReading page on this site.

Hope this helps!

Now if someone would just invent PhotoWriting!!! 🙂