Learn that Training Material Faster!

Published: 26-Oct-2007

As trainers, we’re constantly in the process of learning. When you’re under pressure to read and learn a lot of material for a new training program, the stress levels can sky rocket!

Over my career as a corporate trainer and consultant, I‘ve been in numerous situations where I’ve needed to design and deliver a new training program with very little time to get familiar and comfortable with the material.

For me to get comfortable with a new topic, I typically read lots of books, reports, articles and other relevant information. Many times I’ve found myself “cramming” late at night, early in the morning and even on buses and trains, so I can get as much information as possible into my head before the first program.

Naturally I don’t believe I need to know “everything”, but the more information I can take in, the more confident I feel and the more I have to draw from throughout the course.

Trying to get across this information can take lots of time and effort. After several stressful experiences of cramming for a new training program or topic I found myself wondering if there was an easier way. What if I could take in the same amount of information quicker and easier than I was? I was desperate for a flash of genius around this because I found that I was allocating lots of time to work and losing time for me and my family. I then heard that I could save time and effort by learning to speed read, rather than ‘snail read’. This sounded like the flash of genius I was hoping for. I realized that if I learnt this skill, I’d be able to:

• significantly reduce my course preparation time,
• quickly eliminate irrelevant material and focus on the good stuff,
• experience less anxiety about knowing my topic in time to train it, and
• re-claim some of my time to do things for me!

It sounded too good to be true but I was willing to take the risk. So I set out to find a good speed reading resource. I looked high and low and finally found a 1 day course in speed reading which sounded like the answer to my prayers. I enrolled onto the course and prepared myself to be the next speed reading champion.

The course day came around and I was eager to absorb the skills that were going to make my training preparation a whole lot easier. I followed the instructions about ‘scanning’ the material in a specific way, and while in terms of scanning the material I seemed to be doing well, I realized that I wasn’t really comprehending what I was reading.

Now to be honest, there seemed to me to be a bit of a problem with the whole speed reading thing. What’s the point in scanning pages of printed words if I’m not taking them in?! I asked the trainer about how to comprehend better while speed reading, but the best she could offer me was to suggest I “practice”. Well at the time that wasn’t much help. I did try to practice, but try as I might, I didn’t feel I was getting it. I was definitely ‘scanning’, but definitely not remember or absorbing… At the time I lost interest, thinking it must be one of those myths.

So I must admit that I didn’t really get much benefit out of that course. I hadn’t walked out of there the speed reading champion that I’d hoped I’d be and with limited time to read the articles, reports and books that I needed, I had even less time to practice scanning without any understanding.

Then, a year ago, I found myself back in the same position of having to learn a heap of information for a new course in a very short period of time. So, still keen to find a way to absorb information faster and save myself some time, I was looking online to see if there was anything that would help me master this skill of speed reading. I came across a great resource that I was able to download immediately: The Extreme Speed Reading book by Julia Lee. It’s a quick and easy “no-nonsense” book that has really given me the straight-forward speed-reading techniques that I can use and actually believe anyone can learn.

This book has doubled my reading speed while maintaining my ability to comprehend what I’m reading. So it’s not a myth after all. I now have more time for me and my friends and family. I highly recommend that all trainers, and everyone else who needs to take information in quickly in this information overloaded world, get themselves a copy of Extreme Speed Reading and stop wasting valuable time reading too slowly.

Even if you’re already a good reader, I’m sure you’d find that the techniques that Julia Lee offers will help you to extend your reading and comprehension skills. You can find out more about Julia’s Extreme Speed Reading book by clicking here.

So make your job and life that little bit easier and increase your reading speed today!