Speed Reading – Learn How To Speed Read

Speed reading is a skill that if one master, will let him absorb a great amount of information and knowledge in a very shorter period of time. Speed reading will not only help you gain knowledge but will also help you in increasing your career opportunities. It is just like any skill which one can learn through practicing. Here in this post are some of the methods and techniques through which you can learn how to speed read.

First Get An Overall Look:

Before starting to read get a bigger picture of what the text is really about. Skim through the main headings, titles, and keywords written in the text. Scan and preview items such as lists, points, graphs and indexes within the text. This will help and give you a central idea that will be covered in the text.

Reading Words In Groups:

This technique is considered to be the most important and beneficial way of speed reading. This technique emphasis on reading chunks of words rather than reading individual words one at a time.The main objective of this technique is to reduce the number of stops your eyes perform while reading a text.

Use A Pointer While Reading:

Well most of us were taught to use our finger while reading during our school days. However, as we grew up we stopped using that technique. Evelyn Wood the creator of speed reading developed the pointer method. According to which moving or sliding the index finger or a pointer below the sentence, you are reading will increase the overall focus and speed of reading. So get back to the same technique you used in schools and read while using either a pencil as a pointer or your index finger.

Stop Sub-Vocation:

Sub-Vocation means to say the words in your head or try to pronounce it through your lips while reading something. This is a bad habit that we developed during our early school years and are still following. Sub vocation leads to slowing down the reading process as the mind is reading and also trying to pronounce the word at the same time. So practice reading more while not saying words in your head.

Don’t Re-Read:

Resist the urge to re-read a sentence which you have just read. People often reread a sentence in order to understand its meaning again. This breaks the reading momentum as the eyes travel back and forth which results in reducing the reading speed.

The more often you practice these techniques, the quicker your reading speed will get. So just practice, practice and practice. Learn More about speed reading from Wikipedia.