Speed Reading Tips

 

• Once you start reading, don’t stop! Read the text straight through. If you have any question after you have completed reading the material, go back and reread the relevant sections.
• Reread the marked sections of the text (the items you indicated that you didn’t quite understand).
• Write a small summary at the beginning of the chapter – consisting about 3-4 sentences. If you ever need to return to the text, the information is much more easily found with summary markings.
• Read once. You can’t read everything all at once (and wouldn’t want to). If it’s important, read it now. If it’s not, let it wait.
• Read the title and the first paragraph more carefully than the other parts of the section.

• If there is a summary at the end of a chapter, read it.
• Get a grasp of how the material is organized.
• If you need more background, seek another source.
• A paper and a pen at hand while reading are helpful. Make sure to have both beside you before beginning to read.
• Use the cursor on computer as a pointer when you read text on the screen. The cursor will then act as a finger, and your eyes will most likely follow for moving object.
• Use a guide (pencil, finger, ruler, etc.) to stop regression.
• Train yourself to bypass your automatic response to mentally speak each word. Instead, read words and phrases at a time, using only the peripheral vision.
• When you are reading, it is often useful to highlight, underline, and annotate the text as you go on. This emphasizes information in the mind, and helps you to recall important details after reading the material.
• Underline relevant information in a section as if you were preparing brief notes from which you could study.

• Underline all definitions of terminology.
• Mark or label examples that represent main ideas.
• Circle and box special vocabulary words and transitional words and phrases.
• Number important or sequential ideas.
• Jot down paraphrases, questions, and summaries in available spaces within the text.  

 

What Causes Slow Reading?

• Reading word per word
• Longer time in reading chunks of words
• Eyes going back to a word or sentence previously read
• Unable to recognize and respond immediately to the material
• Slow vocalization and comprehension
• Incorrect eye movements and regression
• Slow reading habits due to past reading experiences
• Inattentiveness and absent-mindedness during reading
• Lack of practice and interest in reading
• Spending a lot of time on individual words to be able to sustain comprehension
• Poor recognition of important and unimportant things
• Remembering everything rather than selectively

Notice that these conditions also act to reduce comprehension. Thus, increasing your reading rate by eliminating all these may also result to increased comprehension.

Tips for Increasing Reading Rate

• Improve your vocabulary. Expose yourself with new words so when you encounter them, you won’t spend more time figuring out what they mean.
• Know your reading purpose. For main ideas only, skimming the material is already enough.
• Read faster by reading with the mind instead of with the lips.
• Read more! Take 15 minutes of your time a day reading an average size novel, magazines, or other books. 
• Everyday, increase your reading rate by reading faster (about 2 to 3 times faster) than your normal speed.
• If reading concentration is poor, practice reading for 5 to 10 minutes only at a time. Gradually increase this rate over time.