Speed Reading

Increasing your vocabulary will improve your reading speed.

In my opinion, this is the single most important requisite for reading. Use a dictionary to look up any words you don't know. If you don't understand a key term or two, the work quickly becomes incomprehensible. Unfortunately, the only way to acquire a decent vocabulary is by reading. However, reading alone will not help. 

It may be quite a learning curve at the get-go, but soon you won't need to use the darned thing at all, especially as words start to acquire meaning through context.

Sign up for a speed-reading course or seminar ' many are available. Pare down your office reading to include only the most essential items. For example, try assigning subordinates to sift through material and mark only what is relevant so that you have a reduced reading list.

Articles about the eyes and speed reading

Understanding the role of speed in the reading process is essential. Research has shown a close relation between speed and understanding.

• Some facts about the human eyes
• How to check the eyes
• Speed reading links
• Read three words at one time
• Fonts, height and reading speed
• Take in more words at one time
• What people says about wide span eyes
• Eyes reading therapy
• How to determine current reading speed
• Tables of Shultz and speed reading
• Scan the text

Speed reading tip. Use all the Essential Reading Skills. This means that you must first preview skim your material for the main ideas and overall structure. Since previewing helps with basic comprehension, scanning, and study reading, it is an absolute necessity in rapid reading. You will never increase your speed if you do not begin with a "map of the territory." Besides previewing, remember the other essential skills. You will need to pay attention to important transitions and other signals, and notice organizational patterns--all keys to the "writer's path." Even when we read rapidly, our goal is to grasp the writer's message as accurately as possible.

Related articles

• Can anyone use speed read software?
• Make the rest while reading
• Exercises for the lucidity of mind narration
• Reading skills information
• Reading better and faster
• Read the words back to front
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming in Education
• How long does it take to learn speed reading?
• What you cover
• Reviewing learned information
• Speed reading ability inside of you!

Thought units help you move faster. This is where you group the words according to context. For instance, lets say you have, "He said something." It's easy to put that in a phrase, then you move to the next phrase. If I had this sentence, "It's safe to say that almost anyone can double his speed of reading while maintaining equal or higher comprehension." If I want to read that in phrases, "It's safe to say that almost anyone.......can double his speed........of reading while maintaining is equal or even higher comprehension." You move much faster that way.

Speed reading techniques

• There is little relationship between rate and comprehension
• Active reading with pen
• Vocalization and speed reading
• Speed reading (flash mode)
• Reducing skipping back

Remember these two things and enhance your reading speed:

• Make sure your text is fairly easy for you. You should know something about the subject matter and have no major problems with the vocabulary, style, or ideas. Don't expect to read Scientific American or Spinoza's philosophy rapidly and with full comprehension the first time through, unless you are a scientist or philosopher.
   
• Make sure your purpose for reading. Do you need to memorize the contents of the material? Discuss it in detail? Savor the style? Are you aiming at 100 percent understanding of new, difficult principles, as when you study-read a textbook? If so, don't expect a fast, once-through reading to be sufficient. Your purpose should not be study or analysis (although a single rapid reading prior to study or analysis is often very useful). Your purpose when you decide to rapid read should be general information and enjoyment.