Speed Reading

Speed Reading

By the end of this lesson, you are not expected to read faster.
But you will be introduced to speed reading and will be explained how to improve your productivity while reading.

Definition

Speed reading is any of several techniques used to improve one’s ability to read quickly.

Types of Reading

1. Mental Reading (Subvocalization): sounding out each word internally, as reading to yourself. This is the slowest form of reading.

2. Auditory Reading: hearing out the read words. This is a faster process.

3. Visual Reading: understanding the meaning of the word, rather than sounding or hearing. This is the fastest process.

On average, people read about 200 wpm.
Some studies suggest that you can’t read faster than 900 wpm (or it’s not considered as reading but as skimming).
#1 Stop talking to yourself

As we said earlier, mental reading is the slowest type of reading.

Try to stop sounding out each word and you will get closer to visual reading (the fastest type of reading).

#2 Cover words you’ve already read

This does not allow your eyes to “come back” to earlier words.

#3 Understand eye movements

You can only read when your eyes are not moving too fast.

#4 Train your eyes to make fewer movements

If you learn to make fewer movements per line, you’ll read a lot faster.

#5 Set a pace faster than you can understand

1. Move a pencil along each line at the same speed and try to understand what you’re reading in 2 minutes.

2. Rest one minute.

3. Repeat the first step, moving the pencil faster.

You may not understand everything in the beginning, but it will increase with practice.
(Optional) These tips are taken from the WikiHow article “How to learn speed reading”.
You can access it at the link below or in the additional readings section.
http://www.wikihow.com/Learn-Speed-Reading
The main controversy is about the trade-off between speed and comprehension.
Example:
The World Championship Speed Reading Competition (yes, it exists!) also rates comprehension.
The world champion is Anne Jones with 4,700 words per minute and 67% comprehension.
Jim Rohn Sứ mệnh khởi nghiệp