A self-help motivation source has information on speed reading that can help students studying, lawyers, and anyone who needs to take in a lot of information. Seeing how to read quickly is not difficult.
Important information that needs to stick in the brain. Apart from reading quickly, what is also important is understanding the information read and how to retain the information.
What good is a speed reader if he does not understand what he reads? Thus, high-speed reading, together with complete comprehension, allows you to reach your highest potential as a leader in your field of work.
How to Read Quickly?
In the realm of leadership, knowledge is indeed power, and the ability to glean insights from vast amounts of information sets you apart.
Leaders excel not just in acquiring data but in discerning its relevance. Rapid reading becomes an essential ability, a hidden weapon for successful navigation in an information-rich environment.
To lead in your field, surpassing others requires mastering the art of swift comprehension. The most accomplished business leaders are, in essence, potential speed readers, efficiently handling the deluge of information vital for organizational success.
Their high-speed reading prowess is a silent force propelling them to the summit. While they may not openly share this advantage, it undoubtedly contributes to their achievements.
In the competitive arena of business, the ability to absorb and understand information swiftly is the unspoken edge that distinguishes leaders from the rest.
Factors that Reduce Reading Rate
Some of the factors that reduce reading rates include:
- a) Limited perceptual span, i.e., word-by-word reading;
- b) Slow perceptual reaction time, that is, slow speed of recognition and response to content;
- c) Vocalization, including the need to vocalize to achieve comprehension;
- d) Defective eye movements, including inaccuracy in the placement of the page, sweep in turn, in the rhythm and regularity of the action, etc.
- e) Regression, both habitual and associated with habits of concentration;
- f) Faulty habits of attention and concentration, the faulty process of retention, starting from simple inattentiveness during the reading process;
More Other Factors for Less Reading Rate
- g) Lack of practice in reading, simply because the person has read little and has limited interest in reading so that little reading practice can be done on a daily or weekly schedule;
- h) Fear of losing understanding causes the person to deliberately suppress his rate in the firm belief that understanding improves if he spends more time on individual words;
- i) Habitual slow reading, in which the person cannot read fast because he has always read slowly;
- j) Poor assessment of which aspects are important and which are unimportant; and
- k) Attempt to remember everything rather than selectively remembering.
To read quickly, a skilled reader adjusts his pace and strategy according to the needs of the hour.
Five Types of Reading are Classified
1. Skimming
Skimming refers to quick reading and getting a general impression of whether the texts are useful to you or not. You are not necessarily searching for a specific item, as this only provides an 'overview' of the text.
Skimming is somewhat like reading the morning newspaper. You don’t start at the top left corner and read every article on every page.
You read the headlines, reject many of the articles that you don’t find relevant, and read only those that interest you, sometimes in a hit-and-miss fashion—reading the headline and the first paragraph and skipping down to check out the names of the people.
Why Should I Skim?
The contents of most reading materials are not all important and relevant. Some of them are simple supporting details whose absence still makes the text complete.
In other words, they are only trash. You are not going to waste your time reading garbage, are you? Important items can be skimmed and scheduled for later reading.
The critical may be skimmed to confirm that they are critical. What's left in the "really important" stack will demand intensity.
Still, you may want to skim each one before reading in detail. Skimming regularly develops your ability to learn with this strategy.
It also improves other reading rates, such as studying and average reading (which will be discussed later in this chapter).
It builds your knowledge and vocabulary base, so you have the background to rapidly absorb these ideas as they appear in another context.
Skimming to Read Quickly
Read the title. It focuses your attention on the subject. Read the introduction. This could be the first paragraph or two. It usually explains, in general, what the entire selection will be about.
Read the first sentence in each paragraph. Often, as many as 80% of the sections start with a summary or topic sentence. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph are just detailed.
You may skip the elaboration unless it is necessary, such as the definition of a very important term. When you skim, you are only looking for general ideas.
Read the conclusion. This could be the last paragraph or two. It usually summarizes the article, defines an opinion, or makes some recommendations based on the general content.
Test your comprehension. Examine away from the article and tell yourself in a sentence or two what the entire article was about.
2. Scanning
When you're looking for a car service phone number in a telephone directory, for example, you don't read every listing, do you?
Instead, you skip over a lot of unrelated information and scan for a visual image of the company name on the relevant page. It is like looking for a friend at a basketball game. You do not look at each face across every row of seats.
Because you have a visual image of your friend's face, you scan the audience until you spot him. Scanning printed words is equal to this.
Why Should I Scan?
You can locate a single fact or a specific bit of information without reading everything in the whole text material or even in just a chapter. Maybe you have a list of words that you know are going to come up on the next biology test.
You've already encountered them during lectures in class, so when reviewing, you just look up each word in the index, go to the page number given, and scan for that word.
When you see them, you read the sentence in which they arise. If it's not clear to you yet, you might want a whole paragraph to read quickly.
Scanning to Read Quickly
Turn the pages to see how the information is organized. This can be alphabetical, chronological, topical categories from most important to least important, or the standard essay format of introduction, body, and conclusion.
- Turn to the section that is likely to contain the specified points.
- Keep a visual image of the keyword in mind.
Run your eyes through the content in search of that keyword-related visual image. Don't be tempted to stop and browse. You can do it any other time.
3. Light Reading
Reading for leisure tends to be 'light'. Thus, the main purpose of the reader in performing this type of reading is when he or she has ample time for such activity and no other obligations whatsoever.
Light reading is done as follows:
- Read at a comfortable pace.
- Read with understanding.
- Skim the boring, irrelevant passages.
The average light reading speed is 100–200 words per minute. This form of reading usually does not require extended concentration.
4. Word-by-Word Reading
How to read quickly? Word-by-word reading: this type of reading is time-consuming and requires a high level of concentration.
According to what it’s called, such a reading type is done by reading a word after every word. Some materials are not readily understood, so they require a slow and careful analytical read.
People use this type of reading for unfamiliar words and concepts, scientific formulas, technical material, etc. Reading a few paragraphs or chapters of the text can take up to an hour.
5. Reading to Study
The main method used to study by reading is called the SQ3R. It aims to understand the material in some depth.
The method 'How to read quickly?' involves five simple steps, namely survey, question, read, recall, and review, from which the name comes.
- Survey: Skim to get an overview instead of key points.
- Questions: Formulate questions that you hope the lesson will answer.
- Read: Slowly and carefully.
- Recall: From memory, note down the main points made by the chapter.
- Review: Revisit and answer the questions you've previously attempted.
Compare these with your memory and establish how well the text answers them. Fill in any gaps by reading further.
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