Speed Reading Fundamentals
Have you found it absolutely astounding how people on TV can take a book and seem to finish it off in just a few minutes? Would you like to learn how to do that yourself?
The fact is speed-reading can be taught, and there are multiple platforms that will allow you to learn to speed read. Here is five quick notes to help you get started speed reading.
Learn to pre-read your material by taking the time to visually inspect. For example the inside and outside covers of a book you should be able to form an opinion about what the book will be about. Often times, you may even learn the plot by simply reading the back covers. Pay attention to the author, if you know the author of heard of the author then you have some premonition about what the book is about. This will help you to mentally pre-read the book. If it's not a book, say an article, read the title. The title of an article should tell you what the body of the article will be about. Assimilating information from the start, may help you to quickly skim the article or book to pick up and comprehend the major points.
What the skeleton of the book can tell you. By skimming through the table of contents, which is included in many various books. You should be able to get a taste of what the book is about. Other things to look for are the subheadings. In some chapters, they will be longer or shorter. This is an excellent clue as to what the author has devoted time to. Usually the longer the chapter, and more subheadings the more detailed information that will be contained in those areas of the book.
Assume the speed-reading posture. Although, you may not realize it by sitting at a desk in a straight, but comfortable manner you assume a position that allows the maximum benefits of speed-reading. You will need to pay careful attention to placement of your book. It should be flat or slightly elevated, and at a distance where you can see all the words, but without having to move your eyes from side to side.
If you are reading a workbook or school book, stopping at the chapter break first, will provide a plethora of information. In short, if you are studying for a course. They're typically will be questions at the end of the chapter go there first. By stopping at the chapter break and examining the questions you will learn the pertinent information that is required for you to extract from the chapter.
Accurate speed-reading means consistent pace-reading. Pace reading is nothing more than using a pacer such as your finger pencil or other pointing type device to move across the page in order for your eyes to follow. You may not have ever noticed, but using a pointing device in increasing or decreasing the speed will typically increase or decrease the amount that you read. It is often a great exercise to read using a pointer. This will increase in the blocks of words you read at a time. To maximize your speed reading abilities, you will need to be able to read larger blocks of words throughout your speed reading studies.
Speed reading can be a time saving and informative way to collect information from books or articles. As it is also a skill, it can be taught. It will typically take an individual, consistent patience and practice to achieve noticeable reading results. |
