I paid $497 via irisreading.com on 22 May 2025 for an in-person speed reading course scheduled on 24 May at The Ritz London. Late on the night of 23 May, I received an email from the UK organizer (Alex) saying the course was cancelled due to a conflict with the instructor. Since then, I've sent four refund requests via email -- both to Alex and to the CEO, Paul Nowak -- and received absolutely no reply. Their listed phone number (+1 312-857-4747) does not work either. This lack of communication and accountability is unacceptable for a company that presents itself as professional. I have submitted a formal complaint to Citizens Advice UK and plan to escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I'm also in the process of requesting a chargeback through my bank. Extremely disappointing experience. I strongly advise others to avoid this company. read more

See all

Took the one day live course this past weekend. Small intimate group, there was only 8 of us in the class. Granted I was the oldest person there (everyone else was in high school or college)--my Instructor Christopher did a great job with flexing to give examples that would cover both academia and workplace situations. Although I read pretty quick to begin with (about 300-310 wpm), I did walk away with a lot of great tips and techniques and they emailed all the extra's the following day as promised. I didn't go into the class expecting it to be jam-packed with a bunch of scientific life changing information and found the class to be perfect to get you started in speed reading. For me, I don't think I need all of the background information to fill up extra class time--just tell me what needs to be done and let's get to it. This class would've been great had I had it in high school or college--but even so with all the technical, dry reading I have to do--the information I left with will definitely come in handy. This is the first time I've taken a speed reading class so don't have much else to compare it to--so for what it is--I would recommend it. Of course since not all instructors for anything are created equally---YMMV (Your mileage may vary)! read more

I took the free intro course and the $50 "Speed Reading Fundamentals" course. All the sessions were online so I don't know what in-person workshops are like. The strategies you'll learn in Paul's webinars are really helpful. Once you beat the habit of subvocalization, you'll see your reading speed grow substantially. Doing the speed drills every day even for just 15 minutes is really helpful. It helped me grow my speed by more than 100 words per minute. Paul tends to repeat a lot of the same information from webinar to webinar. He always gives the example of how you wouldn't read the words "New York City" one by one, and he even tells the same joke about subvocalization every time. It's almost like a theme song. Nothing is wrong with that, and repetition is actually helpful for remembering things, and to be fair, each webinar has at least some new information, like the Numeric Peg System. My point is that since Paul covers the meat and potatoes of speed reading in the fundamentals course (hence the name "Speed Reading Fundamentals"), I don't know if there's a point in buying any more courses for my purposes. And most of your improvement will be from speed drills and independent practice. read more

You can learn 10x more from this one article than you can from taking this course... my instructor was a simple regurgitator and held no expertise whatsoever. Just read this. http://www.wikihow.com/Learn-Speed-Reading read more

Speed reading is something I had been trying to work at for sometime with an online course and a book, but taking this class gave me the confidence I was on the right track. My instructor was Paul Nowak, he's also the founder of IRIS and he knows his stuff inside and out. I can't speak to what the other reviewers have posted about lack of information. But Paul understands the who, what and why of speed reading. He's also very passionate about teaching people how to read faster. The course was a full day, but I learned a ton. Besides speed reading info, he also provided some amazing online resources to help with reading online which is even more important than reading a book faster. I use the online tools he shared every day. If you've got a lot of information to process quickly this class will pay you back in spades. read more

Found out that he gives free webinars and teaches same things there, for which I paid 100$ disappointing

I took Iris' speed reading course in Toronto and was quite happy with it. As the instructor explained before the seminar, it's not something that will change your academic/professional life overnight. But it does teach the basic techniques that, with practice, will make you a better (ie quicker) reader. A few weeks have passed since I've taken the course, and the techniques I learned have definitely improved my life as a PhD student. I do recommend this course to anyone interested in quickening their reading! read more

IRIS Reading teaches speed-reading strategies that you can easily and freely learn with a simple google search. IRIS strategies are all basic and intuitive-it simply isn't worth the $100-$200. The teacher also had very poor communication skills. She was unprepared, repeated what she was saying, and spoke at a glacial pace. Left after the first 30 minutes. read more

Last Saturday's class was a lackluster disappointment. The instructor, Ms. Yolanda Sanchez, was pleasant. But I had the distinct feeling that she was the worst kind of substitute teacher -- not conversant with the material and working from a step-by-step outline to keep the class heads-down busy until it was time to go. I offer these observations: The class convened at 10 am. Why did we take a 30-minute lunch break at 10:45? Why was there no agenda given to us when the class started? During the exercises, one of the students reported that he was reading faster aloud than silently. Ms. Sanchez said that was interesting, but could offer no other comment. Is that all she could say? Doesn't that sound like a real problem...one that should have been dealt with? Another student asked Ms. Sanchez ow much time he should devote to daily practice. She refused to give him an answer...finallly suggesting that if he had five minutes a day, that would be fine...15 would be good, and so would 30. That doesn't like an instructor conversant with the subject material and attuned to a student's needs. When we started our first exercise, Ms. Sanchez told us to fill out the boxes on the sheets she had given us. She told us to estimate our comprehension rate. What? Wy? She never asked us to estimate our comprehension rate again! Why? Why not? While the subject was of obvious interest to the class -- it was brought up several times during the class -- we never were tested on comprehension. When students asked about comprehension, Ms. Sanchez told us to keep reading for speed. She seemed to ignore the issue and skirt the question because she was not conversant with it. During our repeated exercises, Ms. Sanchez repeatedly told the class to use a finger or a pen on the printed page. This was the technique, she said. But she never talked about how to do it, why it was important, how it was supposed to work -- she just kept telling us to use the "technique." Our only attempts at "comprehension" (I think recall is a much more descriptive term) occurred when she drew a circle on the easel pad, put 15 lines coming from it and asked each of us to come up and write one thing we could recall from the first sentences of the New Orleans piece. Once that was concluded, we moved on. No comment. No discussion. No observation from her. What value was this exercise to any of us? She also asked us, after repeatedly reading one exercise sheet, to list ten things we could recall from that sheet. There was no discussion. No review. No comments from her. Nothing to suggest that this was an important exercise -- or to explain its value or purpose. It seemed to be yet another way to fill time. We did this twice. No feedback. No discussion. No reason for the exercise. And no validation that it was done correctly or that it achieved any purpose whatsoever. None. The "exercises" from our own supplied reading material were confusing. Read it once, she said, and count the words. Then read again, and read more than you read before. Repeat. No coaching...no suggestions...no discussion. Just timid exhortation to surpass the last marked point in your reading. She would inquire if we had read faster than before. A few students nodded yes. Most sat still. No discussion. Just another mention of the technique...which she NEVER explained...but frequently urged us to use. Throughout the class, Ms. Sanchez worked from what seemed to be a very detailed outline of what to say and what we (as a class) were supposed to do. She read the instructions, timed the exercise and moved on. Perhaps that's why we took several breaks and finished almost two hours early -- two hours early for a five hour class! That says as much about the value we received as anything I can write. At 1:20 pm, she passed out the course evaluation sheets and told the class that we would continue to do the timed exercises...and if students wanted to leave, they were free to do so! At 2 pm, I asked Ms. Sanchez what we were going to do for the next half hour or so....repeated six and a half minute exercises, she said. I left. Did my speed improve? I doubt it. My first speed was 550 wpm; my highest (after I had read the same piece what? four times? was about 850 wpm. My last rate was in the 700s...again, taken after I read the piece three or four times...and an increase in speed seems logical on the third or fourth time thru the same passage. Did I learn anything? No. Did I master a speed reading "technique?" No. Can I tell you what that "technique" is, other than moving my finger on the page? No. Am I a happy customer? No. A satisfied customer? No. Do I feel like I wasted a day? Yes. And am I convinced that I also wasted my money? Absolutely. Thanks, Groupon for the savings. read more

I completely agree with Joe B, and I hope he didn't come all the way from Libertyville for that class. I was also there on Saturday the 18th and experienced the same frustrations. I looked into speed reading techniques before the class so I would know what to expect, and I could see hints of them along the way, but they were never fully explained and sometimes barely mentioned. The only useful piece of advice was a website she gave us to use for practice, but you can get that on your own with a quick Google search. She did mention that she was teaching the class as a favor to the guy who started the company, so she probably just didn't know what she was doing. Pretty much a waste of a day. In the end, I have practiced a fair amount, and I have seen improvements, so I guess I got what I wanted. However, I wouldn't say it had anything to do with the class; I was just motivated to read faster. read more

I am a full-time nursing student and I can say that this class is worth every penny. I took the online course and literally cut my reading time in half. This allowed me to have more time to do my other class work and even go back and reread the material several times with ease, which helped with retention. The books that I am reading are dense and technical, which attests to the effectiveness of this program. An important part of being successful with this program is immediate implementation and continued practice of the techniques to increase BOTH speed and comprehension. For medical textbooks I am currently reading at between 300-400 wpm (starting at about 150 before the class) while still maintaining comprehension. This is a Chicago based company that definitely deserves our support. I took the online course for the sake of convenience and I found it very thorough. The founder of the company came and did a free information session for my student organization at our school, which was really cool. You can tell that this is a labor of love for him, and he has done his homework. My goal was to shave 30 minutes off my reading time a day, and I have far surpassed that. I couldn't be more grateful! read more

I completed the 1 day 5 hour speed reading course yesterday. I am more than pleased with my experience. I highly recommend this class to just about anybody! After 5 hours (30 min lunch and a 15 minute break) I came out of this class with: *A new approach/strategy for reading *Some simple and quick (10 min) speed drills that I can do on a regular basis to improve reading speed *Some great tools and resources that I can see myself using on a regular basis Prior to taking this course, I had read a few books I got out of the library on the topic of speed reading. Reading about speed reading wasn't every effective for me. This course covered some of the topics I had read prior, but the demonstrations (actually being "taught" the techniques) made all the difference. I'm comfortable stating that I just about doubled my reading speed after attending this course. Going forward, I'm confident that if I keep working at it my speed will continue to improve. Give it a shot! read more

I took the speed reading class to help me with the dense and unstructured reading on the LSAT test. I learned speed reading techniques that increased my reading over half the speed i was at previously. Not only was i able to get through the reading content on the test on time, but i was able to do it confidently with increased comprehension. After the class, i was able to apply the techniques to the test without sacrificing critical details. I strongly encourage LSAT test takers to add this step in their test prep process......it helps. read more

Paul, is very personable. I enjoy the extent he goes to provide a comprehensive picture of what he's trying to convey. Totally amazed at the level of specificity demonstrated. He provides such an indelible impression of how our memory functions-I began using his examples the same day. I look forward to more from Iris Reading. I plan on recommending IR to my kids school as a potential summer program. KUDOS to IR! read more

I've felt that my slow reading speed has really held me back in some ways and prevented me from both reading for pleasure and pursuing my dreams of working in education. After this class, I can honestly tell you that I feel like I have a new lease on life and I'm devouring articles and books at a rate I didn't think possible. I read a number of articles online about speed reading and they didn't do anything for me, I'm the type that needs a bit more context than just printed exercises on a page. My instructor was the founder, Paul Nowak and he was excellent. You could tell how passionate he is about teaching and he's a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Not only did he explain speed reading techniques, he explained why they work, which totally clicked for me. He tailored the class to the needs of the audience and also covered some great memorization techniques. To build on your progress, you are given access to a number of awesome online training tools and I've been using them every day since. Im looking forward to practicing and getting even better. I have a bookshelf of half-finished and never-started tomes. After the class, I came home, pulled them out and promptly started tearing through them with excitement. I would recommend this class to anyone. read more

I really enjoyed this class. I was originally skeptical about what type of results I would have, but the instructor (Paul) was taught us several intuitive, practical techniques for reading and analysing material withough loosing comprehension or retention. I'm a college student, so these skills will definitely be helpful when I start classes agin in the fall! read more

This class is great for all ages. A high school student was attending my class. Wish I would have done speed reading in high school. This skill is an asset for under graduate, masters, and at the doctoral level. Increased my reading 2x and practicing daily to increase 3x. The course gives you the basics, but you have to commit to practicing daily to achieve speed reading. read more

Taking this class has been one of the best uses of my time on a Saturday morning (10 am to 3 pm). They have classes on a Sunday too but this particular one was on a Saturday. I attended only because I had a Groupon for it so I said to myself....why not...I have several certifications I need to study for from time to time given my job needs (compliance and legal stuff). And who doesn't want to read faster and better! Especially for me. I am a very visual person and I hate to read unless I am forced to...I actually need to read more than I have ever had to, even back in college and graduate school. And I thought, hey if I don't like it....okay...no biggie...it will be another one of those 'been there done that' ..but without the added guilt because it was a half price deal after all. I was very pleasantly surprised. The instructor, Paul Nowak (who is the founder of this company and a native Chicagoan) was a fantastic instructor! He not only knows his stuff inside out but also knows how to present it in a very logical fashion...very methodical....now you will say...of course...if you present the same material over and over and over again, you get darn good at it right! yes there is a lot of truth to that BUT there is one thing I believe - you can be an expert in your field and you could have written a zillion best sellers, but actually 'teaching' it to a group of people in the most efficient and effective manner possible such that it actually makes sense 100% of the time and sticks....is a totally different ball game...almost an art form...not all college professors are the greatest 'lecturers' although they have the best degrees in their chosen field and have a PhD and whatnot. Paul 'knows how to teach!' - hands down. Also, he is very pleasant to speak with and extremely professional and courteous - it's not fake! it's a real genuine passion for the topic! it shows! I would definitely take another course with him any day! the course content itself was very well layed out and well timed. He gave us two breaks...one 30 minute lunch break and one 15 minute coffee break. That was perfect. Not too long not too short just ideal for a 5 hour one day class on a weekend. He started on time on the dot and that is another thing I really appreciate. We all have lives, we are paying to attend this class and we are making time to travel from wherever it is, to this location, the least an instructor can do to show us respect for the patronage, is to start the class on time and keep it moving in an orderly logical fashion. Paul did a great job making sure we got our money's worth. He talked about starting a free non-fiction book club at some point this year...I am sold man! I mean...like I said earlier,,,I hate to read...being more visual....but this guy has me so intrigued I would join the club just to learn more from him. And non-fiction/self help kinda topics rock! There are a dime a dozen book clubs for fiction...we need some good high quality non fiction readers....my two cents. I was reading up on some reviews here and one of them mentioned a really bad experience with some instructor called 'Ms Sanchez'. Man I am really sorry to hear that...if I were you and had that kind of an experience, I would say that too...I have only thing to say t you...please just take one live class from the man himself and I am sure you will agree with me 100%. I have one thing to say from a constructive feedback point of view - please have some hot coffee available in the kitchenette area Paul! I need my morning cuppa joe! ha! Heck just have a coffee machine and some coffee around (even Folgers will work) and I don't mind making the coffee for me and for anyone else attending your class! That was the only thing that kind of sucked for me....but like I said...not really your problem...just an added bonus for my 'value added experience' so to speak! read more

I went to the 5 hour course in DC and found it very helpful. I liked that in addition to speed drills, Paul also focused on comprehension. He gave us some great tips about reading in general that I know will come in handy with the amount of material I have to read! read more