The Best Way To Become A Speed Reader - Three Tips To Get You Going
The faster you read, the more books, magazine articles, online content and so forth you can take in. You may have heard of speed reading, which is a relative term -the average person reads at about two hundred and fifty words in a minute. A proficient speed reader may be able to absorb a thousand -or in some cases, even several thousand!- words per minute, which might seem incredible. You may not aspire to become a super speed reader, but you could certainly benefit by learning to double your reading speed, which isn't nearly as hard as you might think. Speed reading takes practice, but if you try the techniques we'll be sharing in this article, you'll find you can start reading faster in a short time.
A good starting point for your speed reading efforts would be to learn how fast you presently read. By learning your current reading speed, you can easily tell if you're getting faster, and, if so, how much faster. It's not hard to find out your reading speed, either by using a stopwatch or even a regular watch or by going online and finding a reading test. The easiest way to test your reading speed manually is to take a relatively easy book and set a timer for three minutes. Try to read at a natural but swift pace, with the aim to understand the material and when the time goes off stop immediately. You can then easily figure out your per minute reading speed by counting the number of words you read and dividing the number of minutes that went by accordingly (e.g. 750 words in 3 minutes = 250 words per minute). If your results are average, you'll find that you read somewhere around 200 or 250 words per minute, but you can easily get faster.
Most of us get into a habit of rereading what we have already read. Habitually rereading material prevents many people from reading fast, though it's fine to do this if you have a good reason to. We find our eyes flitting back to reread a word or a passage because we aren't certain we read it right the first time. Your mind finds it harder to understand what you're reading if you frequently have to go back, so this reduces your comprehension as well as slowing you down. If you want to become a faster and better reader, then, try to reduce the amount of time you spend rereading.
Taking a break, many of them, can actually help your improve your ability to read fast. Your mind is only capable of focusing on material for a limited amount of time before you reach overload. This is why you need to take breaks to help your progress. If you really want to read faster than ever, you must allow yourself to have at least a five minute break in between training sessions.
You can gain many benefits by speed reading, so it's an ability worth cultivating. This is not a mysterious or difficult skill, but one anyone can learn if they're willing to apply themselves to it.
A good starting point for your speed reading efforts would be to learn how fast you presently read. By learning your current reading speed, you can easily tell if you're getting faster, and, if so, how much faster. It's not hard to find out your reading speed, either by using a stopwatch or even a regular watch or by going online and finding a reading test. The easiest way to test your reading speed manually is to take a relatively easy book and set a timer for three minutes. Try to read at a natural but swift pace, with the aim to understand the material and when the time goes off stop immediately. You can then easily figure out your per minute reading speed by counting the number of words you read and dividing the number of minutes that went by accordingly (e.g. 750 words in 3 minutes = 250 words per minute). If your results are average, you'll find that you read somewhere around 200 or 250 words per minute, but you can easily get faster.
Most of us get into a habit of rereading what we have already read. Habitually rereading material prevents many people from reading fast, though it's fine to do this if you have a good reason to. We find our eyes flitting back to reread a word or a passage because we aren't certain we read it right the first time. Your mind finds it harder to understand what you're reading if you frequently have to go back, so this reduces your comprehension as well as slowing you down. If you want to become a faster and better reader, then, try to reduce the amount of time you spend rereading.
Taking a break, many of them, can actually help your improve your ability to read fast. Your mind is only capable of focusing on material for a limited amount of time before you reach overload. This is why you need to take breaks to help your progress. If you really want to read faster than ever, you must allow yourself to have at least a five minute break in between training sessions.
You can gain many benefits by speed reading, so it's an ability worth cultivating. This is not a mysterious or difficult skill, but one anyone can learn if they're willing to apply themselves to it.