How to Read Fast & Understand
Regularly consuming books, magazines and articles is a sure-fire way to increase your cultural literacy, career expertise and general well-roundness. According to Tim Ferriss, who taught a speed reading seminar at Princeton, the average adult reads 200 to 300 words per minute, which is about one page. This means a 300 page book would take at least five hours to read. However, with proper speed reading techniques, readers can learn to read fast and understand the text nearly as well, increasing their speed up to 10 pages a minute.
Instructions
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Eliminate any distractions around you before trying speed reading. Find a quiet, comfortable place where you can relax. Distractions will almost certainly lower your chances of rapid comprehension of the material.
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Start off by reading as you normally would. Notice that, rather than reading a single word at a time, you take in a whole block of words simultaneously. Observe if you skip up and down the page between blocks, which is how most adults read.
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Avoid re-reading or skipping backwards along the page, which slows most readers down dramatically. Force yourself to forge ahead through the text, even if you miss some material. Prevent yourself from looking back, and your mind will gradually acclimatize to fuller comprehension on the first read-through.
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Start reading each line by focusing on the second or third word rather than the first, and stop reading the line at the second to last word. Try to observe the first and last words using your peripheral vision rather than looking at them directly.
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Increase how quickly your eye moves across the page by pointing at a line of text with a pencil or pen and tracing across as you read. Follow the pen or pencil with your eye, even if rapid comprehension initially eludes you. Limit yourself to one second per line and then move on.
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Practice reading with a pen or pencil and skipping a few words per line at the same time. Emphasize speed and avoid looking back, regardless of comprehension. Practice these techniques continually and your mind will acclimatize to the speed and reduced focus, bringing your rapid comprehension back to normal levels but greatly increasing your reading speed.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice, practice, practice. Your reading comprehension will drop greatly when you first apply these techniques, but your brain will gradually adjust over a few hours. If you have trouble reading more words in each block, try holding the text slightly farther away from your eyes.
Do not use speed reading techniques for mission critical documents, such as medical records or contracts. Speed reading usually sacrifices some degree of comprehension, especially on the first several attempts.
References
Resources
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