Read Faster

A.     Definition

Faster reading is an acquired ability to read faster than average, without losing reading comprehension, by changing the way that you read.

The secret to read faster at blinding speeds is to get over your reading FEAR. What slows your reading speed is the fear of missing stuff as you go. But nobody ever said you could only read it once! You will increase your reading performance by layering your reading comprehension i.e. reading it once, twice, three times super fast with less overall time.

To improve reading you must get a handle on your FEAR of missing stuff as you read fast. When you feel the FEAR remember - Forgetting Everything is All Right. And You must Forget Everything And Remember more. It's no different from the fearful rush you felt when you first took off your bicycle training wheels or first took a car on the road. The more you do it, the better you get at it, and the less scary it is.

The physiological reading speed limit so far in the Guinness book of records is 25,000 words per minute with good reading comprehension. Mr. Average reads about 100-200 words per minute. There is no reason you can't aim for 1000 words a minute easy. But you have to practice to improve reading by faster reading just like you did to ride a bicycle or learn to drive a car.

B.     Benefits of speed reading

• Increases average reading speeds.
• Allows absorbing information much faster.
• Increases overall comprehension.
• Increases knowledge in many fields of interests.
• Allows recalling information more effectively.
• Promotes visualization while reading.
• Delivers reading strategies to handle today’s information overload.
• Encourages unlearning some bad reading habits from school.
• Organizes the reading process more effectively.
• Promotes concentration and discipline.
• Allows reading material in less time.
• Improves time management.
• Encourages to learn memory techniques; all applicable in daily life.

C.     Fast Reading Techniques

The best time honored faster reading technique is the Evelyn Wood speed reading method popularized by President Kennedy. Evelyn coined the term "speed reading". Her reading technique involves pushing your eyes through reading material faster by using your finger, hand or other marker to pull your eyes through the reading material instead of wading through it becoming lost in the details.

Photo reading is the new kid on the faster reading techniques block. The signature style of this technique is using peripheral vision and unconscious perception to blaze through reading books.

D.     Fast Reading Skills

There are three primary faster reading skills that separate faster reading from average slow reading. To successfully become a fast reader you MUST master these fast reading skills.

Fast Reading Skill 1: Force your eyes to move through the written page faster than it feels comfortable. This forces you to bundle packets of words into bigger chunks. Counter intuitively, faster reading actually helps you grasp the gist and concepts faster than traditional reading.

Fast Reading Skill 2: Shut up. Stop trying to hear the words as you read. Lab tests show that when you verbalize words in your mind, you also do it with your vocal cords - it's called sub vocalization. If you sound out each word as you read you'll never get past a reading rate faster than you can talk.

Fast Reading Skill 3: See the action, not the words. The final step in fast reading skill mastery is to see the words on the page in your real eyes but see the action represented in your mind’s eye. When engrossed faster reading you see the words on the page but are unaware of them, aware only of the mental movie they are creating in your head.

E.     Read Fast Comprehension

Studies on reading comprehension using fast reading systems universally show a fall in comprehension with increase in reading speed. But these studies are typically conducted right after test subjects complete a fast reading course and read a passage once. In fact, the more often and longer you practice reading faster, the better you get at it. And the better your reading comprehension becomes. Even more powerful, is that if you read some text once really fast, then do it again, your reading comprehension is just as good as slow reading it once but in half the time.

F.     Fast Reading Tools

The reading tools you can use are a timer, baseball cap, and a pencil. Use the timer reading tool to keep yourself on target. Use a baseball cap as a reading tool to limit visual distraction around you. And apply the pencil as a fast reading tool to carry your eyes down pages rapidly and to quickly jot, circle or underline important stuff as you go.

Keep your fast reading tools together in one spot on your reading desk for quick access.

G.    Bad Reading Habits That Need Little Effort To Change

1.    Attitude.

Develop a positive attitude towards speed reading. You can use positive affirmations or simply visualize reading very fast. You can visualize skimming material, reading chunks of words or transforming words into pictures. You can visualize all the techniques and tell your mind on what to focus.

2.    Convenient environment.

A work space or room with bright light conditions will benefit your reading experience and also protect your eyes. You can speed read everywhere, however, noises and any kind of distraction tend to decrease your reading efficiency. Keep distractions on a manageable level.

3.    Attention and concentration.

You probably know this kind of stuff when you had to prepare for exams. Concentration is just about discipline unless you are very tired. If you lose attention you will simply refocus and go back to the task or reading. If you lose attention again you will refocus again.

4.    Word group reading.

These habits may require some time to break them. For example, you will need to invest some time to learn reading in groups of words. Once your brain has managed to do so, you’ll actually have learned a powerful speed reading technique. Single words barley can hold an idea; four, five or six words can carry a lot more of information. This technique will improve reading speeds, decrease focus stops per line and also save your eyes from tiring.

5.    Previewing.

One of the first steps of speed reading is to preview material. It’s a useful technique, because as a reader you want to know specifically what the main topic is about. Find relevant information before reading page by page; determine whether the text is of value or should go back on to the shelf. Previewing techniques include first sentence reading, name, number or overview scans. Places to look at are the content page, the back page, graphs, images, diagrams or headlines. To extract information quickly ask yourself six simple questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.

6.    Sub vocalization.

Do you speak the word in your head as you read it. This is called sub vocalization and (almost) everyone does it. Unfortunately, it slows down your reading speed as you cannot read faster than you are able to speak. You can lessen this process by learning how to read groups of words. Another method is to conceptualize words as objects so that when you read them, the associated meaning will instantly come into mind without having to vocalize it.

7.    Skipping back.

A skeptical attitude towards reading techniques as a way to slow down reading speeds. You may have also experienced going back in text, because you think you have missed something. Skipping back in text along with unconscious re-focusing are probably the most common habits that keep readers from performing faster. Note: This is simply discipline. Stop going back! If you do so get aware of it and simply continue reading. It is the same method as with refocusing when losing attention. Stop it! Over the time you will realize you actually have not missed anything and even if skip back occasionally you will get on track in the next paragraph.

Bad reading habits are not as bad as the words may imply. They actually point out where to improve your fast reading skills. Get started with an introduction about speed reading. Learn techniques such as skimming, previewing, word group reading or using a pointer and you will actively turn these “bad” habits into good reading skills.