The Secret Story Behind the Birth of the 'Speed Reading' Zoom Seminar: Reading a Book in 30 Minutes ~The Trajectory of 200 Participants!!~

In 2000, when the COVID-19 pandemic began,
I started a speed reading seminar on a whim,
and before I knew it, I had been quietly continuing it for over four years,
and the other day, the number of participants finally exceeded 200!

To commemorate this, I would like to summarize the journey so far.
I hope this will be helpful for those holding seminars as individuals.

The original source was a single in-person event held in 1999.

I started going to the library about 11 years ago.
Work became slow,
and it all started when I began scouring books at my local library.

I learned that I could use libraries other than my local one,
and I became interested in how many libraries I could visit along my commute,
at my peak, I was utilizing eight different libraries.

Currently, I have read over 4,000 books in 11 years, but
back then, when I would talk about my reading history of over 2,000 books in 5 years...
people started asking, "How long does it take you to read one book?"
It was a hassle, so
I just casually said, "I can read one in 30 minutes," and that was the beginning lol.

So, can I actually read one in 30 minutes?
I wanted to verify it myself, and what I systematized
is the 'Speed Reading Method' for reading a book in 30 minutes.

I didn't learn speed reading skills anywhere myself,
(although I did go to an expensive one-day photo-reading course, but it didn't work lol),
I just got reasonably fast while reading a large volume of books,
so I didn't even recognize that I possessed any special skills.

To teach others, it has to be a reproducible 'skill' (technique) or it won't get across.
At a presentation meeting I was doing with friends, half as a joke,
I asserted, "The key points of speed reading are these three things."
That has become the framework for the 'Speed Reading Method' for reading a book in 30 minutes that continues to this day.
The content hasn't changed even now.
What I said on the spur of the moment turned out to be quite essential.

For now, try stating it in a single word.(It was three points here, though)
It proved that ideas that well up from the subconscious are surprisingly correct.

It wasn't that the seminar content existed first,
but rather I shaped what I had been talking about vaguely after the fact.
I feel there is a commonality here with the development process of new services.

Rather than creating it by design, it took shape after doing various things,
which I think is a typical example.

And although I received a lot of positive feedback,
there were parts I wasn't convinced about myself,
so this material was shelved.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I received a request, and it restarted!?

The trigger for restarting was a request from an acquaintance during the COVID-19 pandemic to hold the 'Speed Reading Seminar' again.
That was the catalyst for the restart.

Even though more than a year had passed since the in-person event, they remembered it,
and furthermore, they said they couldn't attend back then, so they really wanted me to hold it again!
It was a delightful request.

Since gathering people and coordinating schedules takes time,
I held an individual Zoom seminar for that person.
Of course, it was free lol

After the seminar, they said, 'With this, I think I can finally clear my backlog of unread books!'
I received their joy directly, and they looked super happy,
and I remember that it made me happy too.

When I tweeted about it on Facebook, it turned into a huge deal lol

At the time, I just thought, 'That's great,' and left it at that, but
the next morning...
'Could it be that there is a need for this (speed reading)?'
I woke up suddenly thinking about that.

I have the content, and Zoom makes it easy to do,
if it's free, maybe two or three friends will come??
With that casual feeling,I tweeted, 'I'm holding a free speed reading seminar!'
and within less than an hour,I had comments from over 10 people!!

After that, the comments didn't stop,
and in the end, in about four days, I ended up in a situation
where I had requests from over 100 people.

From there, I held it three or four times as a free monitor session.

After that, as a paid seminar,
I made my debut on Street Academy!

The flow of gathering prospective customers before holding the seminar was good.
In my case, it was a lucky start
where I coincidentally had over 100 prospective customers gathered ^^)/

When one person asked me, I thought, 'Is there a need for this?'
I think that was an important turning point.

It took a long time to go from 100 to 200 participants; it took four years.

My Facebook connections include many Small and Medium Enterprise Management Consultants,
and they are an unusually book-loving group.

They buy many books and can't finish reading them,
so it seems the problem of unread books was very common,
and the reaction to 'speed reading' was amazing!

In less than six months, I surpassed 100 participants!!
However, the road after that was long.

After the demand from acquaintances had run its course,
I only got occasional bookings via Street Academy,
and there were many times when I scheduled a session but didn't hold it because not enough participants gathered.

Until the day it becomes widespread in the world...

There were many days without bookings, but
the reason I didn't quit along the way was because of a vague sense of mission
that I still hadn't met the world's needs for speed reading
was the thought I held.

I want to level up the world's basic skills!
That's just my own selfish desire lol

If everyone could read books more easily,
the possibilities for improving creativity, thinking ability, and action would expand,
and I believe it would make for an interesting world.

Since my promotion is done at a modest, individual level,
it ultimately took four and a half years to surpass 200 participants.

I think that if I keep going, there's a possibility it might break through again due to some trigger.

Speed reading is a basic skill I recommend to every business person!

Recently, I've been scheduling it once a month,
and it's about half acquaintances and half people I'm meeting for the first time.

I'm happy when acquaintances book as if they just remembered it.
I'm also happy when people I'm meeting for the first time say, 'I'm glad I found you!'

There are various speed reading courses and seminars in the world, but
I am particular about the simplicity and persuasiveness of the mindset and techniques,
and the high reproducibility that anyone can achieve.

It seems to look like a higher price on Street Academy, but
that actually seems to be a factor that makes it stand out (laughs).
It's still much cheaper than other speed reading courses in the world, though.

As for me, I want to spread it more!
While fantasizing about it breaking through explosively somewhere,
I am continuing it as my life's work.

The schedule from the beginning of the year looks like this.
If you send a date request, I will adjust as much as possible.

For now, I think I'll keep going as long as my stamina holds up.
I am also accepting requests for training at high schools, universities, and companies
(for those who are serious about wanting to read books).

I am looking for ideas to develop this further!

This article was written by
Shigeki Kawahara, a 'Future Realization Partner' for increasing revenue streams
https://mousoubiz.com/
https://twitter.com/mousoubiz