How to Speed Read

Speed reading is a technique that can be utilized by anyone in society and can be quickly learned if you follow a few simple guidelines. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a method of photographic memory. The difference is that you will remember main ideas and thoughts from speed reading but you will not be able to recall a picture of the page in your mind.

This article is intended to give you the first steps in how to read quickly. There are speed reading courses you can take to improve your reading speed and comprehension. This article is based on the author's experience.

Benefits of Speed Reading
Speed reading is more beneficial than photographic memory for a one main reason. You will retain actual content from the book or documents, not just have a mental picture. If you have a photographic memory, you will probably agree that if asked about content, you have to mentally go back through the document and "re-read."

Speed reading is very beneficial for those who need to read something quickly and only need to retain basic concepts. It is good way to begin if you are planning on reading documents many times, such as for law briefs, so you can get the overall analysis.

This is also a great method of reading for enjoyment. If you have limited free time and love to read, you will find you can get through books quickly and still enjoy them by speed reading.

The more you work at speed reading, the more your vocabulary and knowledge will grow. This is an incredibly valuable benefit of increasing your reading.

Drawbacks of Speed Reading
If you have to read for details and depth, this is not the method of reading you should use. You will most likely skip important details you need.

It is also a poor study method unless you are cramming for an exam. Speed reading will give you basic concepts but generally, it is a method that utilizes short term memory and you will not retain the information long enough.

History of Speed Reading
The average reader usually reads about 200-300 words a minute. This is based on the presumption that readers actually read and process every word on the page including parts of speech, conjunctions, et cetera.

It was a teacher in the 1950's, Evelyn Wood, who first discovered a helpful and more reliable test for speed reading. She was curious as to how and why some people were just faster readers than others. She attempted to teach herself to read faster and discovered that by using her hand as a guide on the page, she read faster. This method was known as the Wood Method and she was the first to coin the term, "speed reading."

Today, many companies have developed courses in order to teach speed reading. Even presidents have been known to take courses in it, such as Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy.

While it is a very difficult feat to gauge accurately, the world's fastest reader arguably is Howard Stephen Berg. He claims 25,000 words per minute with 100% comprehension. He has been tested extensively and his claim seems to hold, although he has yet to be tested by an educational source. However, in the World Championship Speed Reading Competition, the judges stress comprehension as a critical point. The average champion reader has only managed 1000-2000 words per minute with 50% comprehension.

How to Speed Read
There are many methods but if you want to start out with a smaller goal in speed reading, here are some easy steps to follow.

1. Choose a book close to your current comprehension level. (For example, if you are reading John Grisham mystery novels, do not choose English novelist Agatha Christie or early English literature like Beowulf.)

2. Start as you normally would then begin picking out what the important words are. You do not need to read every single word for comprehension. Skip the "the", "a", "and", et cetera.

3. Use your hand if necessary to guide you. Your hand can move quickly and guide your eyes to the important words or phrases.

4. Build a rhythm. Once you have a feel for the way the author writes, the font, the way the chapters are set up, etc., you will find you can read faster. Allow yourself a good amount of time at first, so that you can feel the build to the rhythm.

5. Practice. If you do not read often, it will be harder to gather your speed. Practice until you can move onto more difficult books.

Many readers who begin working at speed reading find their level doubles quickly. They go from 200-300 words per minute to 600 words. Avid readers will find this number keeps going up until they find their plateau number, or the number at which they can read with comprehension. But if you find you are not reading much faster, do not be discouraged. Sometimes all your brain needs is a release from thinking about it. If you do not force it, maybe then it will happen.

There are 864 words in this article. Now...how fast did you read it?

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading