Speed Reading

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Consciously force yourself to read faster

The fact is that what most people need to improve is reading efficiency - that is, reading with a purpose, practicing skimming, looking for main ideas so that you can read them more carefully, and taking notes. If physical reading speed remains a concern, the best and most effective way to increase it is simple: consciously force yourself to read faster.

You already know 90% information of that you will read

Our brain uses schema for decoding text. Each of us has a lifetime of experiences stored in our memory map. Stored experiences that writers expect us to possess and use while reading.

Probably the best way to demonstrate schema's important role in making text meaningful is by giving you a paragraph to read that is completely lacking any schematic clues. Although the words in this passage taken from my Advanced Learning and Speed reading software is simple and familiar, you will find them almost impossible to read.

Let's use an example to learn how you use schema to interpret text. Imagine I wrote a story and told you, "The woman wore a red dress." I would expect you to know what I meant by the word woman. As a reader, you don't expect me to explain to you that a woman is a female. You already know this information. You are using your schema or life database to read this text.
 

Keep practicing

You’ll be conscious of using it and that may very well distract you a little from comprehending what you’re reading. But keep practicing and the technique will become automatic, no longer requiring your conscious attention, allowing you to put your full attention on the content of the written material. At that point, you will have gained an increase in reading skill to enjoy for the rest of your life.

Speed reading is voluntary self-improvement. When you taught yourself to ride a bicycle or play a sport - that was voluntary self-improvement. When you succeeded and did it well, it felt good. Self-improvement is self-development; it feels good and it is good.

Sharper focus

The only way you are going to read faster and understand your reading better is to learn to first tap into this incredible brain power you are gifted with and then second, to build a sharper focus. Once you focus better, your comprehension improves, your recall and memory improves and your appreciation and enjoyment of the reading process are more likely to improve. And the reality is you were probably never taught to focus in school, at work or in college.

If you think about reading faster, you will make an effort to pick up the pace. Reading speed is something you must work on and concentrate on until it becomes a habit.