Learn to quiet your mind through meditation or sitting quietly for short periods of time. Concentration is key to the PhotoReading learning system. Paul Scheele will guide you to clear your mind at the beginning of each PhotoReading session through CDs provided with the course, but knowing how to keep your mind quiet for longer periods of time will be helpful.
Purchase the PhotoReading whole-mind system. The system consists of eight CDs and three DVDs. To gain the full insight of the program, watch each DVD carefully. At first, the system will seem foreign to you because it employs a different system of reading and learning than what you may be used to. Don't let this discourage you. You may have to complete the program more than once before you become proficient.
Learn how to properly position yourself for reading. The PhotoReading system suggests sitting straight in a chair, feet flat on the ground with the book at a 45-degree angle to your line of sight. This will aid in the PhotoReading process.
Preview each work thoroughly. This is an important first step beyond preparing your mind to PhotoRead. Previewing the work involves looking at the introduction, the headings and subheadings, the index and other parts of the book that pique your curiosity. You should have some familiarity with the main idea of the book, article or writing that you are reading by the time you finish the preview.
Read each text using the PhotoReading method, which basically involves learning how to use your "soft gaze" to read the text and, in essence, photocopy the page in your mind. PhotoReading is built on the concept that each person has a photographic memory that they need to learn how to unlock. The soft gaze involves staring through the page, rather than focusing intently on the actual words. This is similar to the way you stare off into space when you daydream. Read at a pace of about one to two pages every one to two seconds.
Rest your mind. Scheele recommends an incubation period in which your mind recovers from the PhotoReading session. This is where your unconscious mind makes sense of the material that it has just read. After your mind takes a break from the text, you then activate the material or bring it into your conscious mind using techniques like mind mapping or skimming the book. The entire process can take as little as 30 minutes (minus the incubation period) and is more efficient than traditional reading methods.