Advanced Speed Reading Pacing Patterns

Did you know the average person reads at about 200 to 300 words per minute? A trained speed reader can read about five times that rate, and sometimes more. Speed reading a skill, which means it can be taught to most people, as opposed to some mutant-talent that few are born with. This means we can all learn to read faster to some degree.

There are two big elements to the mechanical aspect of this skill: Posture and Pacing.

1) Posture: You must be seated comfortably. While you don't have to have your back and neck rigid like a suit of armor, neither must you be reclining and so relaxed that you are liable to fall asleep. Sitting straight up at a desk or table without slouching helps ensure that you can sufficiently focus on reading, and reading at a higher speed.
The book must be held open flat. In the case of hardbound texts, they can be left open on the table, or the upper portion propped up a couple of inches, depending on your comfort (i.e. you don't have to hunch over the book too much). This is one of the reasons I don't always recommend a lap-pillow to place the book on, because some people find it hard to look down on the book without some tension in the neck. For paperbound texts, try to hold the book down, as flat as possible. Some instructors will tell you to go ahead and open the book open wide enough to make a crease along the spine, but this might not always be practical. I find that holding the book from beneath in my left hand, and turning pages with my right works best.

Two things to check for a suitable posture: (a) Are you comfortable but not sleepy? (b) Can you comfortably see an entire line of text without moving your head? This helps make sure that you will not be fixated on the page, word by word, trying to get through a sentence. And neither will you be holding the book so far away that it is hard to read.

2) Pacing - This is the simple act of pulling your finger (or if you like, a pen) across the page, so that your eyes will track the horizontal motion, and pick up the words along the way. The beauty of this technique is not only do you always have a ready reading tool (your finger), but you can also directly influence how fast you are reading by how fast you are running your hand across the page.

There are several patterns for pacing:

-Straight, line by line. This is a great beginner's pattern, not to mention the most instinctive. Holding the book flat, trace a line from the left margin to the right, underlining the words you are reading. Repeat with the next line, following with your eyes as you go along. See how fast you can use your hands to pull your gaze along with each line. You will find that you can go faster with practice.

-Mid-line only. When you get even more practice, it will reach a point that it's more efficient to cover just part of the line without losing any comprehension. Your hand will remain near the center of the page, making mini-underlines as you proceed down the page. It may even get to when you are holding your hand open, and vertically pulling down your hand in a wavy pattern as you read the page.

-Advanced with Zig-Zag or Lazy S. As you progress, you will find that you can probably read whole blocks of words, not necessarily in order, and still understand the material. Some patterns that are suitable for scanning asynchroniously may include a hard zigzag pattern, touching the left and right borders, going back and forth like a slalom skier proceeding down the page.
Another pattern used is a Lazy S, that describes a line, curves downward along the border, and proceeds towards the other border. It looks like a softer, curving version of the ZigZag pattern.

Most likely you will (as I did) find that you will use these patterns for different reading purposes, be it scanning a chapter for relevant data, or just enjoying a novel. Sometimes you will even use a technique that looks like a hybrid of these techniques. With practice you will learn to choose which pattern (or combination of patterns) will work for you. Read a little bit each day, push your speed just a little more than yesterday, and you will find your speed will improve.