Obviously by any means you can teach yourself how to speed read, but an actual speed reading programs will help you accomplish this in even less time and make you a more effective reader above your expectation. The usual problem with most of the self-taught speed readers is that they've acquired certain bad habits that prevent them from fully comprehending what they've read - which totally hinders the purpose of speed reading.
On the other hand, speed read programs will show you the techniques of proper speed reading so you do not sacrifice comprehension for time. With a conventional program, it becomes also a lot easier for you to track your progress and see where you need improvements. As speed reading students have various needs and uses for the skill, the conventional speed reading programs are designed to cater to the needs and goals of particular demographics. Your very first step in choosing from the different programs is to determine what you need this skill for.
Are you attending med school and law school and would like to be able to master several chapters in one evening? Are you a professional executive who would like to be more efficient at work? Would you like to teach your child how to read or help your child improve his or her reading proficiency? Its about determining your needs and goals, it will be easier for you to decide which of the many speed reading programs can be of help. The program on training of speed reading can be taken as seminars, but the overwhelming busy demands of everyones schedule make it more cost-effective to take classes at home through a computer software or website.
In those programs actually, you'll find drills that will teach you speed reading techniques and make you "unlearn" certain bad habits at the same time. Generally speaking, there are three bad habits that make people take longer to process information from a written text. Its very true that, the effectiveness of these programs depends on how much you follow up and practice your speed reading skills. Your approach should be, don't just only depending on these programs to become an efficient reader - make it a daily habit to use your learned reading skills. But if you're an active student with mountains of books to read, or a professional with a pile of emails to go through, then practicing your speed reading skills should not be a problem.
Now the speed reading programs are not expensive and can cost as much 50 bucks. But just think about how much time you'll save and how efficient you'll be afterward. No matter how much they cost, these programs are a worthwhile investment to make in the end. The Rapid reading trains you to read a document or a text in a shorter period so you can still attend to equally important tasks. With more information available every student or professional is understanding the needs of speed reading.