8 Tips for Reading Faster
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We live in a world where knowledge is key. We need skills that will help us sort through all the information we face, in an effective and efficient manner. Learning to speed read is one of the best skills we can develop. Not only will it help us process all the information we need, it will set us apart from others because of our ability to process knowledge quickly.
We all have a capacity for reading faster than we typically do. Our reading speed changes as we go through life. When we are in high school, we typically read at about two hundred words per minute. If we go on to university, we start to read faster because we have more to read. Most people in university average about 400 words per minute. After university, we don’t read as much, so we drop back to about 200 words per minute.
Here are eight tips to improve your speed reading abilities:
- Avoid focusing on every word. Rather, look at groups of 2 to 3 words. For instance, this sentence could be grouped in this manner:for instance / this sentence / could be grouped / in this manner
- Improve your vocabulary. Familiarize yourself with new words so you don’t get stuck on them when you read them again.
- Stop moving your lips. If you move your lips when reading, force yourself to read faster by following tip 1 above so that you can no longer move your lips.
- Read more. 15 minutes a day of reading a novel equals 18 books a year at an average reading speed.
- Know why are you reading. Figure out your purpose before reading. If you only need main ideas, then skim the material. Don’t feel you must read very word.
- Speed up. Spend a few minutes a day reading at a faster than comfortable rate (about 2 to 3 times faster than your normal speed). Use your hand or an index card to guide your eyes down the page. Then time yourself reading a few pages at your normal speed. You’ll find that often your normal reading speed will increase after your skimming practice.
- Break it down. If you have trouble concentrating when reading, practice reading for only 5 - 10 minutes at a time and gradually increase this time.
- Learn. There are many books
and courses on increasing reading speed. If you are serious about increasing your rate you may want to work through one of these programs.
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These are good tips. Now, check out some cool tools: Spreeder and Zap Reader. Consider making use of one of their Bookmarklets; I’ve used both and don’t have a favorite. I appreciate that you can modify the settings for the Spreeder module without having to move to another page, I just wish it would not reset your copied text.