Philadelphia, PA - February 6, 2009 - Free peed reading workshops and comprehensive courses are now being offered by the Iris Organization in Philadelphia. Free speed reading workshops are scheduled for Thursday, February 19. A comprehensive weekend course is also being offered on February 21 and 22. Those interested in attending the speed reading classes and workshops can enroll and see the current schedule at www.irisreading.com/philadelphia. 

Speed reading techniques were popularly introduced in the United States by Evelyn Wood, who is famous for teaching John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter to speed read. Evelyn Wood’s speed reading courses were offered at many college campuses throughout the United States up until the 1990’s. When she passed away in 1995 at the age of 86 many of the speed reading classes disappeared from most college campuses.

“We’d like to pick up where Evelyn Wood left off,” said Paul Nowak an instructor and class coordinator with the Iris Organization. “We’ve refined the foundational speed reading skills to take into account things like computer-based reading, through a new technology called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP).”

The speed reading courses in Philadelphia are open to high school students, college students and business professionals. Iris offers speed reading courses in the following cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Columbus and Madison.

Students and business professionals interested in learning more about speed reading can view free speed reading tutorials through the Iris website. Students can also view upcoming speed reading classes by visitingwww.irisreading.com/speedreadingclasses.

About the Iris Organization

The Iris Organization teaches speed reading courses to students and business professionals to help them save time and increase productivity. Workshops and classes have been taught on numerous college campuses throughout the United States to thousands of students. Iris provides corporate training workshops to help business professionals read faster and increase efficiency. Previously participating companies include Ariel Capital Management, a Chicago-based mutual fund, Lehman Brothers, the former Wall Street investment bank and HSBC, one of Europe’s largest banks. Numerous Chicago public schools are also partnered with Iris to help their students prepare for college and standardized tests. For more information, call 312-436-2001 or visit www.irisreading.com.