Whether for professional or personal reasons, there are a lot of advantages to being able to increase the speed at which you read. These are some of the ways in which you can improve how fast you’re able to do it.
- Time yourself so that you know what your starting point is. Set a timer and see how many pages you’re able to read in a minute. Keep practising with the techniques in this list and timing yourself on a regular basis so that you can see how much you improve.
- Stop re-reading what you read in your head. Unfortunately, we are often taught to read by reading what we see on a page and repeating in our heads but this can significantly slow you down. Instead of this continuous inner monologue, just read the words on the page and move on - your brain will still be able to process the information.
- Use word chunking as a tool. This is the technique of reading a group of words together and it can significantly improve reading speed. Practice this by looking at groups of three words and reading them in one go as you would a road sign.
- Try using your peripheral vision. This is probably the most difficult technique for reading more quickly but also one of the most effective. Instead of reading the entire line, look at the centre of the line and then use your peripheral vision to read the rest. Scan the rest of the page in the same way and you’ll find that when you get to the end of it you’ll have understood everything without reading every word.
- Keep moving forward. Don’t re-read words and don’t go back in the text. One of the simplest ways to do this is to move your finger along the text as you read and don’t stop.
- Use a marker to stay focused. In the same way as your finger can keep you moving in the right direction, a marker can ensure you stay focused on the page - this could be, for example, a bookmark that you move down the page line by line.
- Create a speed reading goal. Set a specific number of words or pages to read per day or week and then stick to it - the motivation will help you to achieve more as time goes on.
- The more you read, the easier it will be. Practice makes perfect and if you’re reading more often then you will get into the habit of reading more quickly.
- Expand your vocabulary. The more words you know, and understand, the easier it will be to push through any text without getting stuck and having to look elsewhere for explanations.
- Skim read the essentials. Start with the index, the chapter headings and subtitles, as well as the captions under photos or diagrams. Then move on to the first and last paragraphs of every chapter. Skim reading is not always the best option but can be the fastest choice if you’re in a real rush.
These are just some of the ways that you can start reading at a faster pace. Find out more by booking onto our Speed Reading and Information Management training course...