What is speed reading?
Speed reading is, quite simply, the art of reading quickly. While the average reader reads approximately 250-300 words per minute, a speedreader can read up to 1,000 words per minute, and some even more than that. Speedreaders thus comfortably read at about three times the speed of the average reader.
Why speed read?
The obvious benefit of speedreading is to be able to read more quickly. This means ploughing through information at a much faster rate. By being able to go through information swiftly, more books, reports, articles etc can be read in a certain period of time. Or, if you are more inclined, you’ll have much more free time after reading all you need to read :).
How does it work?
The general problem with the majority of us, is that we subvocalise whilst we read. This means that, even if we are not reading aloud, we are ‘reading aloud’ in our heads, vocalising each word. This dramatically reduces our reading rate. Speaking takes time in whatever form, and even if you rush through the words as fast as you can, you will still need to draw breath. Try it! Read out a passage aloud. Time ourself for a minute. Now count how many words you’ve read. That is your reading rate per minute. Not that high, huh? Now read another passage as fast as you can for a minute. Your reading rate might be much higher this time round, but nowhere near to the speedreaders’ highs. More importantly, how much of the passage did you take in when you read quickly? Did you understand it all? Or did you miss most of it in the haze of rapid word fire? Getting rid of our habit of subvocalising is really, really hard, but it can be done.
Another problem we have with reading is that we tend to unnecessarily, reread parts of the sentence or page we’ve already read. Our eyes dart back to this portion, reducing our reading rate by a further 20% or so. Similarly, our linear reading style does not help. By reading a line by a time, we only read a word at a time, yet our eyes have far more scope.
Try reading the above paragraph again, this time focussing your eyes in the middle of the paragraph as you read. What did you notice? You got all the salient information from the paragraph and managed to read it in a block rather than having to read line by line. This amazing ability of the eyes can be used in something as simple as reading to amazing effects. Learning to read by blocks is hard, but it easier to do then getting out of the habit of subvocalisation. All it takes is practice.
And that is the ultimate key to learning how to speed-read. Practice.
So here it is:
How to Speed Read:
1). Stop subvocalizing.
This can be really hard. One of the best techniques I’ve found is to repeatedly say “A-E-I-O-U” or count “1, 2, 3, 4″ as you read the text. This will help you stop subvocalising forcing you to read not with your voice but with your mouth. This trick can increase your speed in only a few minutes.
2). Stop rereading.
Many people reread words they’ve already read by backtracking, darting their eyes of the sections they’ve just read, often unconsciously. This best way to stop this is to use a pointer, your finger will do! Use your finger as you read, continuing across the line and through the passage at a slightly faster pace than you normally read. You can only look at the tet in front of your finger. Follow your finger throughout and you won’t backtrack, thus increasing your reading speed.
3). Use your peripheral vision.
As we saw by the experiment above (focussing on the middle of the paragraph), your brain can read several words at one time. My reading several words at a time, instead each word individually, you will be able to increase the speed at which you read dramatically. There are number of ways to do this. Firstly, as mentioned above, rad in blocks or chunks instead of by lines. Focussing on the middle of a block will enable you to read the surrounding words at the same time, giving you the gist of a paragraph in a far quicker time than reading from the bottom down.
Another method, and one which I find extremely helpful, is the zigzag technique. Simple put, instead of reading linearly, read a passage in a Z shape. That is, start of by reading the first line on the page normally. When you get to the end of the first line, sweep your eyes backwards, from right to left diagonally across the second line until you get to the beginning of line three. Continue repeating this Z pattern. Your brain will be able to process all the surrounding words, even though you are reading backwards, diagonally and diagonally backwards!
Final Thoughts
Speed reading is really great if you have lots of things to get through, especially for students of the arts, philosophy or social sciences who work through lots of texts mainly of other notable people’s opinions. When you need the general gist of something, or someone’s ideas, speedreading is an excellent tool.
If you are student, then reading more technical texts may open itself up to some speedreading, but in general it’s always better to take your time with such works to make sure you have understood everything thoroughly. You may abandon subvocalisation here, but rereading over portions is probably helpful and perhaps even recommended.
Finally, though I try to practice speedreading with some novels, (especially those I feel obliged to read after purchasing them on a whim and realising they weren’t up to scratch, but hey, I’ve paid for them so should not waste!), there are many that I don’t try to speed-read with. I want to savour the words, enlighten my imagination, let the colours burst in my mind. I find I can only do this by taking my time, subvocalising every syllable, rereading the most vibrant passages again and again!
Speedreading usually serves my purposes where I want a little more than skimming, usually when I am reading a textbook out of general interest (rather than a technical one), or reading opinion articles/editorials in newspapers, which I find interesting but not compelling enough to spend too much time on.
Aya Khan 