Speed Reading: How to Quickly Read and Remember What You Read

Speed reading is a skill that may be developed if wanted; it is not a talent. The ability to absorb information quickly is no longer just a unique skill but, rather, a necessity as we live in a society where time is at a premium. In adulthood, few people are interested in reading speed, but it can still be important.

Scientific, technical, economic, and business literature can all be read quickly. Using such methods to interpret financial contracts is obviously not worthwhile, as well as art books.

How to Assess Your Speed Reading Level  

Online tools let you monitor your reading speed and comprehension of what you’ve read. To do this, you must read a brief, unknown paragraph while keeping a timer going, followed by a series of questions designed to gauge both how quickly you read and how well you remembered what you had read.

Adult readers typically read between 200 and 400 words per minute. More than 1000 words per minute can be read by those who have developed their speed reading abilities.

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, received specialized training in speed reading and could read and comprehend up to 2-3 pages of text each minute, being able to retell the content word by word. As a result, the President read a relatively large book for up to two hours, taking no more than a second glance at each paragraph.

What Is Necessary for the Development of Speed Reading  

Speed reading is important to develop in combination with skills such as:

• the concentration of attention;
• lack of habit of pronouncing the text in mind;
• wide field of peripheral vision;
• the ability to quickly highlight valuable information in the text;
• good memory;
• high speed of thought.

Only then will reading be not only fast but also productive.

How to Learn to Read Fast  

Even if you’re not looking to set world records for words per minute, you might find tips on how to read faster.

Read Without Regressions  

Regressions are the most frequent error that lowers reading speed. These are eye movements used to return to previously read words, phrases, or sentences. Regressions are frequently brought on by attentional defocus or text complexity. But to read more quickly, it is crucial to avoid going back to what you have already read—at least until the entire text has been read. The need for rereading might then disappear.

Read Without Articulation  

When you read, articulation refers to “speaking” the text aloud in your head. Additionally, people occasionally move their lips discreetly while reading aloud, which significantly slows down their reading rate. By biting the tongue or holding something in the teeth while reading, one can avoid the mechanical motions of the lips and teeth. It is more challenging to overcome word pronunciation in mind. Reading to specific rhythmic noises could be beneficial (but not music).

Use Vertical Eye Movement 

It is suggested to broaden one’s consciousness in order to comprehend a challenging philosophical work. For example, expanding one’s area of vision while reading more quickly. It will enable you to read more material more rapidly and comprehend it over the entire page rather than just line by line from left to right.

Schulte Tables Will Help To Read Faster And Develop Concentration Skills

The Schulte table is a 25-cell table with randomly arranged numbers from 1 to 25 in each cell. It is your job to locate them in either direct or reverse sequence as rapidly as you can. It improves the focus of visual attention and teaches how to pay attention to multiple items at once. Utilize a different table each time, and keep track of the task’s time.

Focus On Reading  

It’s not a good idea to read a book while being continually sidetracked by social media. One of the main causes of delayed reading and inadequate information retention is inattention. Consider reading a serious task that requires time to be dedicated to it in your routine. Take a seat comfortably in a well-lit area. Set your smartphone as far away from you as you can when reading if you have a bad habit of checking it repeatedly, even if there are no new notifications.

Popular Speed Reading Techniques  

You can also read fast in different ways – depending on what kind of text you need to read and what to learn from it.

• Classical speed reading is entirely reading the text using the tips listed above. This method can be used when high-quality and complete familiarity with the text is important.
• Selective reading – in this case, the reader scans the full text but fixes only the essential theses. This method is good to use when rereading the text.
• Reading-browsing is the same method often used in high school and university to have time to get acquainted with the book that should have been read at home during the break. Attention to the first page with the author and title, to the table of contents (in order to roughly understand what is being discussed from the titles of the sections), and to the conclusions.
• Reading-scanning is the ability to quickly scan the text and highlight key information, such as dates, names, and numbers.

All these ways of reading will only be effective using the tips above: if you read without articulation and regression, with a wide field of vision, and without distractions.