Speed-reading

TheComprehensiveGuideToSpeed-reading–IncreaseYourReadingSpeedBy300%InLessThan24Hours

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER1:SPEED-READING

CHAPTER2:GETREADY…GETSET…

CHAPTER3:SPEED-READINGTECHNIQUES

CHAPTER4:SPEED-READINGEXERCISES

CHAPTER5:SUPPLEMENTALSTRATEGIES

CHAPTER6:HISTORYOFSPEED-READING

CHAPTER7:BENEFITSOFSPEED-READING

CHAPTER8:SPEED-READINGEXPERIENCEENHANCERS

CHAPTER9:HOWTHEHUMANMINDWORKS

CHAPTER10:THE30MINUTERULE

CHAPTER11:FIXINGYOURCURRENTREADINGISSUES

CHAPTER12:SPEED-READINGMYTHSANDFAQS

CHAPTER13:GENERICTIPSFORSPEED-READING

KEYTAKEAWAYS

CONCLUSION

IINTRODUCTION

t has been said that haste makes waste. If you consider the popularity ofAesop’sTheHareAndTheTortoise fable, you’d quickly get the impression thatdoingthingsfastisn’twisebutthat’snotnecessarilythecase.

In today’s day and age, productivity is theholy grail of just about everythingfrompersonalactivitiestobusinessones.Butwhatisproductivity?Itsimplymeansgettingasmuchthingsdoneasbestastheycanbedoneandasquicklyastheycanbedone.Infact,given2activitiesorprocessesof equalquality,theonethat’sfasterwinsthecompetitionhandsdown.

What lends credibility to the earlier saying and the fable is speed for speed’ssakeandatthecostof quality.Indeed,hastecanindeedmakewastewhenqualityissacrificed.Speedwithquality,however,isaveryvaluablecommodity.

Whenitcomestoreading,speedisof utmostimportance.Yourabilitytoreadandcomprehendrapidlycanspellthedifferencebetweengoodgradesandexcellentones,betweenamediocreself-publishedbooktoabest-sellingoneandbetweenaso-sobusinesspresentationtoonethatcommandsastandingovation,amongmanyotherimportantthings.Thise-bookisabouthelpingyoureadmuchfasterthanyoudonow.

InChapter1,you’llgainabetterappreciationfortheartof readingaswellasforspeed-reading,whentousespeed-readingandthecommonobstacles to it. InChapter2,you’lllearntopreparewellbeforelearningtoreadfastsothatyou’llbeable tomaster speed-reading. InChapter3,you’ll findout thebest speed-readingtechniques and inChapter4, you’ll learn thebest exercises tohelp youmake thetechniques as natural as breathing. Next, you’ll continue off to learn how tosupplementthesetechniqueswithnon-readingapproachessuchasoptimizingyourenvironmentforspeed-reading,gettingenoughqualitysleep,eatingtherightfoods,gettingenoughrightexercise,usingmeditationtoenhanceyourabilitytofocuswell,andmore!

If you’rereadytolearnspeed-reading,turnthepageandlet’sgo.

“S

CHAPTER1

SPEED-READING101

urvivingandthrivingasaprofessionaltodaydemandstwonewapproachestothewritten word. First, it requires a new approach to orchestrating information, byskillfully choosing what to read and what to ignore. Second, it requires a newapproach to integrating information, by reading faster and with greatercomprehension.”–JimmyCalano

Success requireswisdom,which is theeffectiveapplicationof knowledge.Wecan’t bewise if we don’t know.Our ability to gain knowledge of important andrelevantthingsiskeytobecomingwise.It’slikemakingadeliciouscake.Evenif wehavetheingredientsonhand,wecan’tmakeitif wedon’tknowhowtomakeit.

InformationOverload

Neverbeforehas therebeena timewhereknowledge is as easy to access as it isnow.With the rapid development of the Internet, knowledge has become bothsuch a precious commodity and a very abundant one. With such abundance,however, come issueswith accuracy.As the Internethasmade it easy for anyonewho’s adept at browsing the web to become an “expert”, sifting the knowledgewheatfromshafthasbecomeexcruciatinglymorechallenging.

That’snotanexcuseforfailure,however.It’ssimplyagreatchallengetobeableto cover asmuchmaterial as possible, understand themwell andmake informeddecisionsonsuchmaterials.It’snotachallengethat,quitehonestly,wecanchooseto ignore or decline – unless we don’t want to succeed in our current fields ofeducationoroccupation.

Speed-reading is the one of the best approach to successfully take on this

challenge. Of all the important free resources available to us, time is the mostlimited.Rich,poor,educated,illiterate,healthyorunhealthy…allof usonlyhave24hourseveryday,whichmakesdoingthingsfastallthemoreimportant.Totheextentwecanreadfastistheextentwecancovermorereadingmaterialsandinformation.Thisallowsustobeabletosiftmorechaff fromtheknowledgewheatandintheprocess,getmorewheat.

CommonObstaclesToSpeed-Reading

Justlikeacceleratingonabikeoracar,it’simportanttohavelittleornoobstaclesthatcanbreakorpreventmomentumbuildupwhenitcomestospeed-reading.

From the time that we learnt to read for the first time, we developedmanyhabitsthatarestillwithus.Thesehabitsarewhatcauseustoreadslowlyandspendaneternityfinishingupasinglebook.

Considerthesethreetobeyourspeed-readingbumpsthatyou’llneedtoavoid:

1. WordFixation:Whenweread,oureyesnormallystoponeachword.Wecallthisfixation.Stoppingateverywordinthetextthatwe’rereadingslowsdownourreadingandtoagreatextent,affectourabilitytounderstandthetextwell.Why?Intermsof speed,considera500-wordtext,witheachfixationlasting1second.If westoptoreadeveryword,it’lltakeus500secondsorroughly8minutes to finish the text. In contrast, if our eyes stop to read words inbunchesof say,3perfixation,thenwe’llbeabletoreadthe500-wordtextinlessthan3minutes.Thefewerthefixationsorstops,thefasterwecanread.

In terms of comprehension, more fixations can mean slower or lessunderstandingof thetext.Why?Ideasaremadeupof wordsandnotasinglewordonly.Assuch, ideasarebestunderstoodwithinthecontextof agroupof words. Take for a basic example thewords, “I, am, very, handsome andyeah.” Isn’t it easier to just read, “I am very handsome, yeah!” instead ofindividuallyasaword?

2. Retreating:Bythis,wemeantosaylookingbackorretracingwhatwehavejustreadunnecessarilyorexcessively.Sure,therearequiteafewmomentswhenwe

need to go back to what we just read, especially if it’s quite technical ordifficulttounderstandbutif wedoitforjustaboutallthatwereadinatext,it’ll greatly slow down our ability to read and comprehend thematerials onhand.

3. TheVoice:No,wearen’ttalkingaboutAdamLevine,BlakeShelton,ChristinaAguileraandCeeLoGreencollectively.We’retalkingaboutthatvoicewehearinsideourheadswhenwereadtexts.Yes,thatvoiceisours!Readingwithourvoicesinourheadsspeakingthetextsisalsoknownassub-vocalization.

How does it slow down our reading? Visual reading is much faster thanaudible reading, even when reading silently. When we read and imagineourselves pronouncing the words, we are limited to the speed of audiblereading.We can speak 150-200words perminute,while on average;we canreadabout300to400wordsperminutewithoutsayingtheminourheads.

MoreThanJustSpeed….Comprehension

As with reckless driving, excessive speed-reading can prove to be counterproductive. Why? Let’s face it, there’s a speed limit after which our ability tocomprehendwhatwe’re reading starts to decline. Thewhole point of increasingreadingspeedistobeabletolearnfasterbutnotlearnless.

Reading isn’tworth a dimewithout comprehension and comprehension of awritten text isn’t possible without reading. That’s why when it comes to speed-reading;we’llletcomprehensionbeoursafetymechanism.Tothisextent,themostimportantgaugeof reading speed isn’t just theactualwords-per-minuteorWPMbut the effectivewords-per-minuteorEWPM.Excessive speedkillsbut the rightspeedbringslife.

“I

CHAPTER2

GETREADY…GETSET…

f youfailtoplan,you’replanningtofail.”–BenjaminFranklin

Consistent with any meaningful and worthwhile improvement program,preparation is key to success.Preparationhelps youmake themostof your timeandresourcesandallowsyou tospeedupyour success.To improveyour readingspeed,thefirstpreparationstepisassessment.

AssessingCurrentReadingSpeeds

I see many similarities between 2 of my favorite hobbies: reading and running.EvenwhenIfirststartedrunning,Ialreadyhadagoalinmind,whichistobeabletorunstraightfor1kilometer.IwasabletosetthatgoalbecauseIknewforafactthatIcouldn’trunstraightformorethan100metersatthattime.Withanaccurateassessmentcametheabilitytosetarealisticgoal.

Howdid Imeasuremystraight runningdistanceat thebeginning? Iusedmycar’s odometer. I started running from a specific location in our subdivision andmarked the point at which I was too exhausted to continue. I reset my car’sodometer reading and drove from the first to the second point and noted theodometer reading. I alsonotedwhere the1-kilometerpointwasso that I’dknowwhenIhavealreadyachievedmyimmediategoalof beingabletorunstraightwithno walk-breaks for at least 1 kilometer. As I increased my running distance, Iswitched to aGPSdevice to accuratelymeasuremy runs.Being able to correctlyassessmyrunsallowedmetoaccuratelygaugeanyprogressordigress.Iamnowabletorun10-kilometerseasily.

It’s the samewith reading speed. It’ll behard to know that the exercises and

techniques you’ll learn here are already working for you, which can eitherdiscourageyoufromcontinuingorboreyoutoquitabruptly.Whenyou’reabletoobjectively see your progress, you’ll be invigorated to continue and before youknow it, you’ll have advanced so far that youwon’t be able to imaginewhat youwerelikeatthestartingline.

AsImentionedbrieflyinthepreviouschapter,wecanobjectivelymeasureourreadingspeedintermsof actual-words-per-minute(WPM)andeffectivewords-per-minute(EWPM).WPMtellsushowfastwereadbutEWPMtellsushowfastwecanreadwithcomprehension.

Respectable online WPM and EWPM tests can effortlessly be found onlinethrough your search engine. Test a trial that measures WPM and then try outreading comprehension tests designed tomeasure EWPM.One of the beautifulthingsabouttheseonlinetestsisthatyoudon’thavetothinkabouttimingyourselfandcanfocusentirelyonreadingandcomprehendingthematerial.

After4weeksof applying the techniquesanddoing theexercises thatwillbetaught later, testyourself again toseeyourprogress. Ihighly recommendyoudotake these tests for your sake. When you see objective progress on yourperformance, you’ll want to continue applying the techniques and applying theexercisestoimproveevenfurther.

GoalSetting

Aswith running and any otherworthwhile endeavor, you’ll need to have a goal.Why?Withoutgoals,speed-readingwilljustbetrivialandwilleventuallybecomeameaningless pursuit at worst and a vague endeavor at best.When this happens,you’ll losethedrivetodevelopspeed-readingskillsandeventuallydropitwithoutrealizingyourtruereadingpotential.

So what kind of goal should you set for speed-reading? First, it should berealistic.If yourcurrentreadingspeedisonly200words-per-minuteandyousetagoalof reading1,000words-per-minutewithin1week,you’reonlysettingyourselfup for failurebecause theoddsof beingable to improveby thatmuch insuchashortspanof timearenotinyourfavor.

A 25% increase in both WPM and EWPM within a week is more realistic,whichcanhelpyouimproveyourreadingspeedby300%in12weeks.Withsmallerand achievablemilestones, you’re encouraged to continue and succeed. In statingthishowever,pleasenotetherehavebeencountlesscasesof people,whothroughapplyingthesetechniqueshaveactuallybeenabletoincreasetheirreadingspeedsbythreefoldsinlessthan24hours,althoughit’snottypical.

Ican’toveremphasizetheimportanceof settingatimelimitforaccomplishingyour speed-reading goals. Without a definite deadline, you may be tempted toprocrastinateandincreaseyourriskof quitting.ConsiderParkinson’sLawwhenyouset a timetable for your speed-reading goals. Parkinson’s Law states that a task’sperceived importance increases as the timeallotted for itdecreases.This explainswhymostpeopleliketocram…anddoaverygoodjobatit!

YourReadingPlan

Although applying the exercises and techniques in this e-bookwill help you read300% faster, the value of preparing before reading a text shouldn’t beunderestimated.Agoodreadingplancansupplementspeed-readingtechniquesandmaximizeresults.

Thefirstpartof yourreadingplanispurpose.Whyareyoureadingthetextandwhatdoyouhopetogetoutof it?Doyousimplywanttogetkeyfactsandfiguresor do youwant to understand a process that’s discussed in it? By knowing yourpurpose for reading a text, you’ll be able to read faster and with morecomprehension.

Whatarethecommonpurposesforreadingtexts?Theseare:

Tothoroughlyunderstand;

Togetageneraloverviewof atext;

Toacquiresupportinginformationforanargument;

Toknowthenextstepsorevents;

Toansweraspecificquestion;

Togetanideaof howpeopleperceiveaspecifictopic;and

Togetaccuratefiguresandfacts.

Thesecondpartof agoodreadingplanischoosingtherelevantmaterialsforthe identified purpose. This helps you speed up reading and comprehension byeliminating materials that will only waste your time and effort. By limiting yourreadingmaterials to only those that are relevant, you can greatly speed up bothreadingandcomprehensionof acertaintopic.

R

CHAPTER3

SPEED-READINGTECHNIQUES

unningfastisn’tjustamatterof goingatitfullspeed.Thefastesthumanbeings in the world combine both power and technique for without technique,powercan’tbemaximizedandwithoutpower,techniquecan’tbeexploited.

Inthischapter,we’lllookatspeed-readingtechniquesthatwillhelpyoubecomemoreefficientandraiseyourreadingpacesignificantlyforthesameeffort.

ReadingTheTableOf Contents

Didyouknowthatthereisanenormousspeedincreasewhenreadingif oneknowsthe general gist of what’s being talked about?Did you know that in addition toreadingfaster,onecouldalsocomprehendmuchmoreaswellthroughthismethod?

Howcansomebodyhaveagripof thewholebookwithinafewminutes?That’sright, you’veguessed it, it’s as simple as reading the tableof contents.Almost allbookshavebeenoutlinedinthissectionandif youreadthemandformanideaofwhatthebookisabout,it’llmakeitthatmuchfasterinreadingandcomprehending.

Let’s use Shakespearean plays as an example. To the average person, readingShakespeare plays canbe difficult because theEnglish useddiffers frommodernEnglishinmanyrespectswhichwewon’tgointodetailhere.If beforereadingtheplay,oneweretohaveaminorgraspof theoutlineof theplay,thecharacters,plot,story, etc.… it’ll be much faster and easier in both reading and comprehendingbecause youwon’t stop at trivial parts and also, complex partswill come to youeasier. The same thing happens when reading books in general, the moreunderstandingyouhaveof what’sgoingtobetalkedabout,thefasteryou’llreadit.

Note –Don’t use this technique for books that you desire to appreciate likegreatfictionbooks,otherwiseyou’dbespoilingyourself of abrilliantstory.

AskingQuestions

Another method at your disposal to escalate your reading speed considerably isthrough asking yourself well-definedquestions about thebook; thiswill aid yourmindingettingafirmgraspof the ideasabouttobepresented.Thetricktothisapproach is to grab a sheet of paper and pencil and jot questions regarding thebook.Goovercarefullyall thetopicsandsubtopics thenwritequestionsonyourpapersuchas…

1. Whatisthemainideainthischapterabout?

2. Whatdoestheauthorwishtoconveyinthisparticularsubtopic?

3. Whatisthisbookabout?

4. Whatistheauthorwishingtoconveythroughthisbook?

5. HowcanIbenefitfromthisbook?

Youget the idea.When asking yourself thesequestions, it’s recommended toshutthebookandkeepyourmindlockedontothewrittenquestionsthenjotdownyouranswers.

When done, read the chapter. You’ll find that your mind will be thoroughlylockedonto the information at hand and you’ll burn through the text thatmuchfaster. You’ll also become adept in skipping entirely the fluff in books becausegenerally speaking, there are TONS of filler texts in books. By knowing what’sessentialandwhat’snot,youcaneasily ignorematerialthatdon’tcontributemuchtothemainideaandthus,spendlesstimereading.

Meta-Guiding

Aschildren,weweretaughtthepracticesof usingourfingerstorunbelowthetext

whilereadingit.Thisismeanttohelpusreadfasterandalsoavoidsubvocalization.As youknow, subvocalization stands for repeating thewords in yourmindorbymovingyour lips.Thiswastesyour timeandeffort.So thebest thing todo isdoawaywiththishabitaltogether.

This method of running your fingers beneath the text is known as Meta-Guiding.Although it seems extremely rudimentary and straightforward, you’ll bepleasantlysurprisedatjusthowconsiderablyyourreadingspeedcanimprovewhenusingthistechnique.

Therearedifferentwaysof doingthis.Onewayforexampleis,youcanbeginatyourhanded-side,meaningattherightmostendif you’reright-handedandtheleft-most end if you’re a leftie. Put your index finger on the end of the text lineaccordingtoyourhandorientation.Fromtheleftsideof theline,moveyoureyestotheright,moveyour indexfingerdowntothenext lineandstartfromthe leftside again until you finish the last line on the page. Do this at a speed that’scomfortabletoyouatthebeginningthengraduallyincreaseyourspeedbymovingyoureyestotherightfaster,whilemovingyourfingerdowntothenextlinefasterorboth.

WhyisMeta-Guidinganeffectivetechniquetodevelopfasterreadingspeeds?Ittrainsyoureyesthroughmotiondetection,whichiswhatoureyesautomaticallydototargetmovingobjects,asappliedtoreading.Asyoumasterthistechnique,you’llcometoapointthatyouwillnolongerneedtouseafingerbecauseyoureyeshavealreadyadjustedtodoingitautomatically.

Meta-Guidingisacomparativelyeasymethodof speed-reading.Youcaneasilyslideintothehabitwithoutmucheffort.Herearesometipsforyoutogetstartedonthetechnique.

Theveryfirstthingyouneedtodois,wrapyourmindaroundthefactthatyouwillbeusingyourfingertoplaceunderthetext.Somewillthinkof thisasaverychildishbehaviorbut itwill go a longway inhelping you read fast.Most peopleprefer to use their pointing finger but you can use whichever finger feelscomfortable.

If youdon’twishtouseyourfingers,thenyoucanalsouseahandyruler.Placetherulerbelowthetextandstartreading.Therulercanbesmallandfitrightinto

yourpocket.

Somepeoplealsomakeuseof apieceof threadtoservethepurpose.Theywillplaceoneendof the threadatoneendof thesentenceandtheotherendat theotherendof thesentenceandstartreading.

Themainaimhereistoincreaseyourwordsperminute.Sotryreadingasfastasyoucantounderstandthetextefficiently.

When you develop the confidence with time, then you can stop using yourfinger to place below the text. At this point, it’ll become easy to quickly readeverythingjustbyrunningyoureyesoverthetext.

Advantagesof Metaguiding

Themain advantageof Meta guiding is that, you can read a lotof complex textwithinashortperiodof time.Youcanswiftlyrunyourfingersorrulerbelowthetextandreadthedata.

The second advantage of this technique is that, you can eliminatesubvocalization. As you know, indulging in subvocalization slows you downconsiderably.Yourbrainisnotcapableenoughof doingtwocomplextasksatonce.Bymaking use of theMeta-Guiding technique, you can eliminate your habit ofsubvocalization.

Disadvantagesof Metaguiding

Thedisadvantageof Metaguiding isdeveloping thehabitof runningyour fingerunderthewordstooquicklywithoutcomprehendingthematerial;it’simportanttofirstbeginatapacesuitableforyourlevelandfindingthisbalancewouldbekey.

Anotherdisadvantageiskeepingthishabitwhenyou’reproficienttothepointwhere youdon’t need it anymore.Youmight enduphindering your speedwhenyounolongerrequireitbutarestillusingit.

If youarealreadyof thehabitof runningyourfingersunderthetextthentryincreasingthepace.

Visualization

One important aspect of speed-reading is visualization. Visualization refers tomakingmentalimagesof thetexts.Whenyoucreatethesementalimages,youcanrememberthetextbetterandforlongerperiodsof timewhichwillhelpyoureadfaster;justponder,somelongnovelswhichcantakeamonthtoreadcanbeviewedwithin a 3hourmovie.Youmust further enhance thisqualityby trying to createvivid images in your mind whenever you read. Your mind should literally paintimagesof whateverthatyoureadinfullHD.

KeywordSearch

Keywords aren’t just for search engine optimization or SEO – they’re alsoimportantforspeed-reading.Rememberhowit’sconsideredano-notoreadtextsword-for-wordparticularly if speed-reading’s thegoal?Looking forkeywords canbeagreatwaytospeedupyourreading.Butwhy?

Whether you like it or not, there are countless critical words we don’tunderstand, chiefly when reading upon topics which are foreign to us. In thesecases, it’s vital thatwedo a careful keyword searchbefore continuing the taskofspeed-reading.Examplesof keywordsyou’llneed to takeearnestlyarewords thatyou’reunfamiliarwith. Itwillhardlydoyouanygood to speed through text thatcontainabundantwordsyoudon’tunderstand,particularlyif it’satopicwithmanyindustryspecificterminologies.Doaquicksearchof thesewordsandunderstandthem,thiswillhelptremendouslyinthelongrun.

Keywordsearching isagreat technique tohelpyou read fasterbecause it canhelptrainyourmindtofocusonwhat’simportantandismoreefficientinspottingwordsthatcanslowyoudownwhilereading.Italsohelpsbylimitingthetendencytosubvocalizewhilereadingandbywideningyourperipheralvisiontoreducethenumberof fixations.

ChunkReading

Chunk reading – also known as chunking – is a reading techniquewhere in yougroup togetherwords inaway that formsan idea.Remember thatwedon’t read

and comprehend on a word-for-word basis and doing so drastically slows ourreading down? Reading the words together as a coherent unit makes for fasterreadingandbettercomprehension.

Although itsoundsas if chunkingshouldcomenaturally toyou,yourgeneralorientationasachildcanmake itquiteachallengeat first. It’sbecausewhenyouwerefirstlearninghowtoread,yourteachertaughtyoutoreadonaword-for-wordbasis.Andrightlyso!Youneededtoget the ideasandmeaningbehindthewordsfirst. Unfortunately, some childhood orientations were left untouched whilegrowingupandreadingonaword-for-wordbasisisoneof them.

Anexampleof chunking–indicatedby“/”–isthis:

“After going out of the house/, I noticed something very odd/: Themailwasn’t in themailbox/, itwas outside the door/. I felt nervous/thinking the mailman went inside the compound/ and didn’t askpermissiontodoso/.”

Whenitcomestochunking,theimportantthingtoconsiderisn’tthesizeof the“chunk” but that it is able to convey the idea to you. So don’t follow others’chunkingsizeorpattern– followone thatmakes the textunderstandable toyou.Justdon’tmakethechunksobigthatittakesupawholeparagraph!Chunkinsucha way that the idea is clear with as few words as possible. To get better at thistechnique,you’llneedtoexpandyourperipheralreadingvisionusingtheexercisesinthenextchapter.

Skim‘NScan

Skimming

Skimming,asthenamesuggests,dealswithskimmingthroughatext.Asyouknow,skimming refers to removing the top layer of cream that forms on hot milk.Similarly,thecentralideaof thetextisextractedoutthroughskimming.

Skimming is a very useful speed-reading technique and one that can be

performedeasily.Allyouhavetodoisreadthefirstandlastparagraphof thetextandalsoreadthefirstlinesof eachparagraph.Mostof thekeyinformationwillbecenteredontheseareas.Onceyoureadthese,youwillknowwhatthebasicmessageisandwon’thavetogothroughtheentiretext.

Skimmingpaysattention to the“speed”bitof speed-reading.So itcapitalizeson your speed-reading efficiency and how fast you can read the gist of theparagraph.

This speed-reading technique is widely used for its practical application.Imaginehaving togothrougha large textwithinashortperiodof time,youwillhavetoputinalotof timeandeffortindoingso.Butif youchoosethistechnique,thenyoucanfinishreadinginnotimeatall.

Buttherearesomethingsthatyoumustconsiderwhenyouwishtoadoptthistechnique

Thevery first thing toconsider is that, theskimming techniquemustonlybeusedwhenyouwish tounderstand just thegistof something andnot thewholething. Inshort,youwillnotbeable tounderstand the finerdetailspresent in thetextandonlyhavethechancetotakeinthecentraltheme.

Thistechniqueisbestpreferredwhenyouwishtoskimthroughimportanttextsbeforegiving itafullread.Nowyoumaywonderastowhyyouhavetoreadthesame text twice, especially if you are trying to speed read.The answer is, if youskimfirst,thedatapresentinthetextwillfallintoplaceeasilyinyourmindwhenyoudotackleit.Youwillknowexactlywhatiscomingupnextandwontwastetimetryingtounderstandit.Forexample,thefirst lineof thebooksays,“Therewasaman named Tom. The first line of the second paragraph says, “He inventedVelcro.” The first line of the third paragraph will read, “The invention gainedimmense popularity in Europe”. Now, you know exactly how the passages areplacedandtheflowof thetextwillbecomepredictable.

Heretoo,youneedtoexercisesomeof yourreadingskills.Youmustbealertwhilereadingandknowwheretojumpafteryouaredonereadingaline.

Let us look at some tips thatwill allow you to skim through amaterialwithease:

1. Thefirstthingtodois,sizeupthetext.Lookathowlongit isandestimatethenumberof wordsthatmightbepresentinit.

2. Thesecondthingtodoisunderstandwhetheritisthefirsttimethatyouarereading the text or something very similar. Many times, we would haveforgottenaboutsomething thatwehavealreadyreadorknow.Sosee if youcanidentifysomeof thethingsinthetext.

3. The third thing to notice is, whether the text is real or fictitious. Thistechniquewillnotsuitthelatterasmuchasitwilltheformer.

Advantagesof skimming

Themainadvantageof skimmingisthat, it iseasiertofinishreadingabigtextinexpresstime.Thisisextremelyusefulif youhaveanimportantexamapproachingandyouhaven’tstartedstudyingasyet.If youskimthroughitandunderstandthecentraltheme,youcaneasilyunderstandthebasicsandthenfill intherestof thedatathroughyoursmarts.However,don’trelyonthistechniqueforeveryexamyoustudyfor;thisshouldbereservedasanemergencytechnique.

Disadvantagesof skimming

The main disadvantage of skimming is that, people fail to understand what itactuallymeans.Theyassumethatitreferstoreadingafewrandomsentencesinthetextandunderstandingit.Butthat,innoform,isskimming.Youcannotrandomlyland on a page and start reading. There needs to be a structure to it. Youmustunderstandthatthefirstandlastparagraphsaretobecompulsorilyreadandapartfromthefirstlinesof eachparagraph,youcanalsoreadthelastlines.Doingsowillgiveyouafairideaof whatthetextcontains.

Allthingsconsidered,skimmingisagreattechniquetoemployif youhavetoreadthedetailsof anagreementform.Byreadingthefirstlinesof eachparagraph,youcanunderstandwhat the form is trying to convey to you.Youdon’thave towasteyourtimeunderstandingthedifferentexplanationsthatareprovidedforeachandeverysubsequentpointmentionedintheformandthus,youareabletosaveanabundantamountof time.

Scanning

Scanning is a technique that is preferred next to skimming.We all knowwhat ascanner isandhowit functions.Similarly,youarerequiredtoscanthrougha textquickly.

Itisalittlesimilartoskimming,inthat;itallowsyoutoskimthroughthetextbutnotindetail.Youwillhavetoreadthroughitandfishouttheimportantdatapresentinit.So,youwillonlybelookingforwhateveryouneedtoknowandskipgoingthroughtherestof it.

Thistechniqueisbest if youwishtoextractsomekeyelementsfromthetextlikenamesornumbers.Youcaneasilydosobyscanningthetextonce.

Herearesomethingstoconsiderwhenyouwishtomakeuseof thistechnique:

1. Thefirstthingtounderstandiswhatexactlyyouseektofindfromyourtext.Whetheritisasetof names,ornumbersoranyinformationthatishiddeninthetext

2. Thenextthingtolookforatistheflowof thedatainthetext.Readthefirstparagraph and see where the information is present on it. The rest of theparagraphswillbemostlikelystructuredthesameway.

3. Thethirdthingtoassessis,whetheryoualreadyknowwherethedatathatyouarelookingforispresentonthepage.Youmightknowwheretolookinstantlyandbedonewithyourscanninginnotime.

Once you answer all these questions successfully, you can start scanning thetext.

Advantagesof scanning

Themainadvantageof scanningisthat,itbecomesquiteeasyforyoutolookforsmalldatathatisscatteredinthetext.Youdon’thavetoreadtheentirethingandwasteyourtime.Assoonasyouaredonecollectingthedata,youcanmovetoothertasks.

Anotheradvantage is that,whileyouscan for the important information,youwillalsogettoreadsnippetsof otherinformationpresentonthepage.Soyoucanavailsomeextrainformationapartfromwhatyouareparticularlylookingfor.

Disadvantagesof scanning

Themaindisadvantageof scanningisthat,itisasuperficialformof reading.If youare looking for names hidden in a text, thenwhat if you end up picking up thewrongnames?So,tohelpsolvethisissue,youmustevidentlyalsoreadthesentencewherethenameispresentonthetext.Thatwillensurethatyoupickupthecorrectdata.

Another disadvantage is that, youmight have to read the entire thing if theinformationthatyouarelookingfor isscatteredhereandthere.Youwillendyouwastingtimeandenergyindoingso.

All said and done, scanning remains to be one of themost preferred speed-reading techniques in the world. In fact, I’m sure you are already using thistechniqueinyourdaytolife.Allyouhavetodoispracticeittherightwayanduseittoyouradvantage.

Skimmingworksbestwhenreadingnon-fictionmaterial.Thereareseveralwaystoskimareadingmaterial:

Title;

MainHeadings;

Sub-Headings;

Tableof ContentsorIndexes;

WordsinBoldLetters;

BulletLists;

TheBackCover(physicalbooks);or

-SummariesandReviews.

Although different, scanning and skimming are 2 popular speed-readingtechniquesthatareoftenconfusedforeachother.Whenyouscanamaterial,youhave a target in mind. When you skim through a material, you’re looking formeaningful ideas. In scanning, you already know what you’re looking for – youalready have an idea inmind. Scanning is a great speed-reading technique whenyou’re already familiarwith the readingmaterial and you already have an idea ofwhattolookfor.Withskimming,youdon’thaveanideayetandthat’swhatyou’relookingtofindinthematerial.

A

CHAPTER4

SPEED-READINGEXERCISES

s with sports, techniques are best mastered with technique-specificexercises. In this chapter, you’ll learn someof the best speed-reading exercise tohelp youmaster the techniques en route to increasing your reading speed by asmuchas300%.

EyeSpeed

Thisexercisecanhelptrainyoureyestomovefaster,whichobviouslytranslatestofasterreading.Todothis,moveyoureyesfromnumbers1to4andbackto1inthe

picturebyfollowingthearrows:

Next move your eyes from 1 to 4 and back to 1 in the picture again by

followingthearrows:

Doeachof theexercises10timeseverydaybutif youreyesfeeltiredorpainful,stopandclosethemforafewsecondsbeforecontinuing.

PeripheralVisionExpanders

These exercises can help expand your peripheral vision and help youmaster thechunkingtechnique.Whenyoudo,youcanreduceyouraveragefixationsforfasterreading.

Focus on the heart at themiddle of the picture andwithout removing yoursightonit,readallof theletterssurroundingitaloud.

Onceyou’reabletoreadalltheletterswithoutremovingyoureyesontheheart,youcanmovetothenextpicture.

Andthenext...

Andlastly…

Now, thenext timeyouarepracticinghow to speed-read,practice thisperipheralvision technique.Stopfixatingateachwordandpracticeusingyourperipheral tohelp you read chunksof words at a time.Thisone trick alone can increase yourreadingspeedby300%.Just likeanyotherskill, itmaybeabituncomfortableatfirstbecauseyou’renotusedtoit,butwithpractice,you’llgetbetterinnotime.

M

CHAPTER5

SUPPLEMENTALSTRATEGIES

astering speed-reading techniques can definitely help you significantlyincreaseyourreadingspeed.However,youcanstillsupplementitwithothernon-readingstrategiestoreallymaximizethespeed-readinggainsyoucangetfromit.

ReadingEnvironment

Whetheryoulikeitornot,whereyoureadplaysaveryhugeroleinyourabilitytoread and comprehendmaterials fast.With focusbeing the singlemost importantingredient for speed-readingsuccess, you’llneed to read inaplacewhere there isvirtuallynodistractionwhatsoever.If not,atleastkeepittoamanageablelevel.

Oneof thecharacteristicsof agreatreadingenvironmentisadequatelighting.If the lights are too low, you’ll strain your eyes quickly and you’ll easily get tiredfromreading.If thelighting’stoosoft,itcanbetoorelaxingandmakeyoufeeltoorelaxedtobeabletoreadwell.Ilovereadinginawell-litquietcoffeeshop–thosewithbigwindowstoallowmuchsunlighttocomein.If youwishtoreadatnightthenhaveatubelightorbulbthatisslightlyawayfromyourhead.If itisdirectlyaboveyouthenyouwillhaveissueswithshadowformationonyourbook.

You’dalsoneedtoavoidplacesthataretooilluminated.Yes,there’replaceslikethat, especially if the lights are fluorescentones. If the lights are toobright, youmayalsoexperiencereadingdiscomfortslikeheadaches,whichcankeepyoufromreadingasmuchasyoulike.

Anotheraspectof theidealenvironmentissilence.Thenoisiertheplacewhereyou’llreadis,themoredistractingitcanbe.Ilovereadingathomeespeciallywheneveryoneisawaybecauseit’ssoquiet–thoughIputonsomesoftjazzmusicinthebackground to keep me from being too relaxed. Personally, I don’t like to do

significantreadinginmostcoffeeshopsbecauseof thenoisebutIdoknowafewshopsthatarequietenoughformetodrowninbooks.Buthey,noisetoleranceissubjective and the important thing is the environment where you plan to readshouldn’tbedistractingtoyoualone.

Another important characteristic of the ideal reading environment is that itshouldofferyouenoughprivacytoreaduninterrupted.If you’redeadseriousaboutreadinguninterrupted,gotoaplacewhereit’sdifficultforpeopletohaveaccesstoyou.Youcanhaveadedicatedreadingroominyourhouseif spacepermits;thisisafavoriteamongmanypeopleasyoucancustomizetheroomtowhatsuitsyouthebest.Aftercustomizingtheroom,justshutthedoorbehindyou,putaDNDsignoutsideandhappyreadings.

As a personal tip, to make the room even cozier you can light a fewaromatherapy candles if you prefer that.Yourmind andbodywill feel calm andrelaxedwhileyouread.

Focus

Allthespeed-readingtechniquesintheworldwon’tmattermuchif you’reunabletofocuswellenoughonwhatyou’rereading.Theabilitytofocusispartlydependentonenvironmentbutit’shighlydependentonyourmind.Sometimes,itcanstillbehard to focus even in the perfect reading environment particularlywhen a lot ofthings are running through your head. That’s why it’s important to work on theinternalenvironmentaswell–themind.

Thereareseveralgoodwaystohelpdevelopmentalfocus.Oneistoknowthethingsthatyouhaveanddon’thavecontrolover.Manytimes,distractionscomeinthe formof worry over pending issues like health, the economy and evenworldpeace.Manytimestoo,theseworriesfalloutsideyourcircleof influenceorcontrollike the country’s economy, price of oil in the international market, randomshootingsbycrazyextremistsandeventhehighly-anticipated“big-one”earthquake.It’seasiertoletissueslikethesegowhenyouacknowledgethatreally,youcan’tdoanything about themand that you’rebetter off focusingon things that youhavedirectcontrolorinfluenceof…likereading!

Anotherwayistodoyogaorsomeothermeditationexercises.Thesehelptrain

yourmind to focus on the present, be in themoment so to speak.You see, themind is amuscle for all intents and purposes.With enough exercise, it becomesstronger.Similarly,whenyouexerciseyourmindtofocusitwillbecomestrongeratitandwillhelpyoureapasmuchof thespeed-readingbenefitsaspossible.

Lastly,Ihighlyrecommendaverypracticalmethodof focusingthathashelpedme a lot not just with reading but in my work as a writer: The PomodoroTechnique.Here,youreaduninterruptedfor25minutesthentakea5-minutebreak,whichconstitutesaPomodorocycle.Whenyoutakeabreak,youcandosomethingelse likewalkaroundorplay agameonyour smartphone.Thepoint is you restfromthemaintaskathand,whichcanbereading.

You’ll need to exercise discipline in stopping after 25 minutes and taking abreak for 5minutes nomatter how enjoyable your readingmaterial is.Themainprinciplebehindthis is thatby limitingyourfocus to25minutesat themostandtakingregular5-minutebreaks,youpreventyourmindfromtiringoutquickly,thusextending your productive and focused time. It’s similar to the run-walk-runmethodforendurancerunningwhereyoudon’twaittobetootiredtorunbeforeyou take a walk break. By resting even before the point of mental fatigue, youextendyourabilitytofocusintenselyonthetaskathand…includingreading.

Exercise

AccordingtoDr.JohnRatey,whowrotethebookSpark–TheRevolutionaryNewScienceOf ExerciseAndTheBrain, exercisehelps improveyourability to focusforseveralhoursaftercompletion.Exercisingafewhourspriortoanactivitythatwill requireyou to focusmentally– likehmmmm…reading–canhelpyou focusmore.

Itcanalsohelpyouwiththereadingcomprehensionpartof speed-readingbyhelping you improve yourmemory through energizing your brain. Speed-readingwouldbepracticallyauselessendeavorif youdon’tretaintheimportantpointsofwhat you just read quickly.An experiment published in awell-recognized SportsMedicineUniversityshowedthatpeoplewhoarephysicallymoreactivedidbetterinreadingtestscomparedtothosewhoarelessactive.

Lastly,regularexercisehelpsyoureleasepentupenergythatcancauseyoutobe

fidgetyinsituationswhereyou’llneedtobestilllikereading.Personally,Icanattesttothehyperactivity-reducingbenefitsof regularexercise.WhenIdon’tgettorunorbikeat least3 timesaweek, I find itveryhard toconcentrateon readingandwriting because I feel so agitated and restless.With regular exercise, I’m able torelease excess energy and focusmuchbetteron things that require focus such asspeed-reading.

Foods–TheBad

Eatingtherightfoodscanhelpyoufocusmuchbetterandretainmoreof whatyouread.Nutrientsplayavitalroleinkeepingyourbrainhealthyandworkingoptimallyand as such, you’ll need to take a serious look at your current diet to see if it’sconducivetoimprovingyourreadingandcomprehension.

Let’sstartwiththefoodsthatarebadformentalperformance.Ontopof thelistare–surprise–junkfood!Why?Well,hereareacoupleof reasons:

Hyperactivity: Because many junk foods contain too much sugar, they canmakeyoumorehyperthanyouusuallyareandpreventyoufromfocusingandconcentratingenoughonwhatyou’rereading.

CrashandBurn:Again,asmanyjunkfoodsareveryhighinsugar,yourbloodsugar spikes up quickly and as your pancreas responds by releasing insulin,yourbloodsugarcrashesasquicklyasitspiked.Whenthathappens,youfeelasuddensenseof lethargyanddrowsinessandWHENTHATHAPPENS,it’llbeverydifficultforyoutoconcentrateandfocusonwhatyou’rereading.

Nexton the listof nutritionalbadboyswhen it comes to focus is– surpriseagain–tuna!Yes,thatsupposedlyheartandbrainfriendlyaquaticseacreaturecanactuallywreckhavoconyourabilitytofocusif takenexcessively.Takingtunafornomorethantwiceaweekisbeneficialtoyourheartandbrainbutif youconsumeitmore often and you run the risk of ingesting too muchmercury, excessive andlong-termconsumptionof whichhasbeenscientificallylinkedtocognitivedecline.If you’re so into omega 3 fishes, consider healthier alternatives likewild salmon,anchoviesandtrout,allof whichofferthesamebrainhealthbenefitswithoutthetoxicity.

Anotherfoodtominimize,if notavoidaltogetherisicecream.Why?Considerthenutritionalvalueinanaveragecupof vanillaicecream:10gramsof anti-cardiosaturatedfatandawhopping28gramsof pureunadulteratedsugar!Severalstudieshave already noted that foods rich in sugar and saturated fat – like your favoritevanilla ice cream – can lead to diminished verbal memory and cognitiveperformance. If you can’t lay off the cold and sweet treats, get Greek yogurtinsteadandlaceitwithsomebrain-friendlyberrieslikestrawberriesandblueberriestomaximizetheculinarybrain-friendlytreat.

Lastly, the seemingly harmless diet soda is another focus and concentrationkiller in sheep’sclothing.Why is that so?There’snosugar in thosedrinkssoI’msafeandsoundfromsugarcrashes,right?Right!Butthat’snotwhydietsodasarebad for speed-reading and comprehension. The culprit is a controversial sugarsubstitute called aspartame, which is known to negatively affect memory. Whatgoodisspeed-readingif youdon’trememberwhatyouread,right?

Foods–TheGood

Nowthatthebadguysareoveranddonewith,we’lltakealookatfoodsthatcanboost your ability to focus and concentrate for maximum speed-reading andcomprehension.

First on the list – blueberries! Numerous studies have established thatblueberrieshavetheuncannyabilitytoelevatememoryandconcentrationasmuchas5hoursafterconsumption.Thesecretliesinitsabundantsupplyof antioxidants,whichhelppromotehealthyblood flow to thebrainandasyouwellknow,goodbloodflowmeansgoodperformance.Placeabowlof theberriesonyourdiningtable or office table andmunch some every now and then.Youwill also remainenergeticallthroughthedaywhenyouconsumetheseberries.

Nextonourlistof nutritionalsuperheroesforfocusandconcentrationisgreentea!Whatmakesgreenteaagreatmentalboost?Twowords:caffeineandl’theanine.I think you already knowwhy caffeine is good for improving focus andmentalperformance, right?Right!This leavesuswith l’theanine.Simplyput, l’theanine isan ingredient that among other things, help release caffeine slowly instead of

dumping it all at once, which can lead to what’s known as a caffeine crash, i.e.,suddenlethargyduetosuddendropsincaffeinelevelsintheblood.L’theaninealsocan help you feelmore tranquil. Tranquil alertness is a very good state to be inwhenyou’respeed-readingforcomprehension.

Aswementionedearlier,fattyfishliketroutandsalmoncontainomega-3fattyacidsthatarecrucialforstavingoff memorydecline,fatigueandmoodswings;it’sbeen known to help improve concentration andmood aswell. It is best to bakethemasopposedtofryingthem;youcanalsotrylightlyroastingthem.

There was once a famous violinist who disguised himself and with a veryluxuriousviolin,performedbrilliantcompositionstotheearsof passingcitizensonthe streets of Manhattan. This individual was the chief attraction at numeroussymphoniesthatchargedhundredsof dollarsandyethewasplayingforFREEonthisparticularday.Theastoundingsurprisewasthat99.9%of thepopulacespassedhimbythatdaywithoutgivingasecondthoughttohim.Why?Onemayask…It’sbecausepeopletakefreestuff forgranted!

Waterisoneitemthat’softentakenforgrantedwhenitcomestoconsumptionand as such, many people suffer from slight dehydration, which can negativelyaffectyourabilitytofocusandconcentrate.Waterprovidesyourbrainthenecessaryelectricalenergyforoptimalfunctioningincludingmemoryandthoughtactivities.Ithasalsobeenproven thatbeingadequatelyhydratedhelpsyou focusmore, thinkfasterandmoreclearlythanwhenyou’redehydrated.Manypeopledon’tdrinkuntiltheyfeelthirstybutyoumustforceyourself todrinkeverynowandthenbecauseyourbodyactuallybecomesdehydratedpriortothefeelingof thirst.

You can also prepare some fruit infused water as it will help you remainhydrated and at the same time, you can increase your nutrition. Just add a fewberries into thewaterandconsume it fromtime to time. It is recommended thatyou consume this water when you are learning speed-reading techniques – rightnowforexample!

Dark chocolates – not the sugar-laden and milky processed ones – containsome caffeine and magnesium, which can help you handle stress better. Darkchocolatesalsohelpfacilitatethebody’sreleaseof endorphinsandserotonin,allofwhich can help improve your mood and feelings. Being good for speed-readingdoesn’tmean themore themerrier though.Keepconsumption to small amounts

becauseaswithallgoodthings,toomuchof itcanbedetrimentaltootheraspectsof yourhealth.

Apart from these, there are certain natural food supplements that you canconsumetothebenefitof yourbrainandthus,improveyourspeed-reading.Theyarementionedasunder:

Ashwagandha: Ashwagandha is a natural herb that is widely used in Asiancountries. It is said to improve memory power and increase a person’s graspingcapacity.Youcanavailitinpowderorcapsuleform.

Shankpushpi:ShankpushpiisanIndianherbmentionedinAyurvedictexts.Itisregularly consumed to improve memory and sharpen the mind. In fact, manystudents consume it just before an exam to improve theirmind’s power. This ismostlyconsumedinsyrupformandcanbeboughtonline.

Gingko: Gingko biloba is an extremely popular herb that is widely used inChinesemedicine.It issaidtobeextremelypotentinincreasingaperson’smind’scapacityandbrainpower.

Rhodiola:Rhodiolaisanotherrootthatisgreatforcombatingmemorylossandimprovingyourmind’scapacity.By regularlyconsuming this supplement, youcanimprove your mind’s capacity to speed-read. You can purchase it in powder orcapsuleform.

Sage:SageextractshavebeenmentionedinEuropeantextstohelpimproveaperson’smemorypower.Theherbisextremelypowerfulandyoucanaddalittleofittoyourmealsonadailybasis.Itisalsoeasytogrowityourself !

Turmeric:Turmeric is another goodbrain food. It is an Indianherb.All youhavetodoisaddalittletoyoursoupsandcurries.Itisalsoknowntohelppreventoxidativedamageinthebrainandimproveyourbrain’soverallhealth.

Althoughallof thesearesafetoconsume,youmustconsultaphysicianbeforeconsuminganyof these.

Sleep

Lastly, all themental exercises and super foods in theworldwon’t be enough toimprove your reading speed and comprehension without getting adequate sleep.Justasyourphysicalmusclesneedampletimetorestandrecuperate,sodoesyourbrain. I’ll beg off from giving a standard for sleeping hours but here’s a goodguideline to consider: if you feel lethargic or weak when you wake up in themorning,it’shighlypossiblethatyou’renotgettingenough.Youshouldbeabletowake up feeling energetic, alert and refreshed. When you do, you’ll be able toconcentrateandfocusbetterthroughouttheday.

Morethanjustthenumberof hours,thequalityof yoursleepisalsoimportant.Youcansleepfor10hourseverynightbutif yoursleepisveryshallow,you’llstillfeel10hoursisn’tenough.Ontheflipside,if yoursleepisverydeep,youcanhavejust6hoursandwakeupfeelingrefreshed,alertandenergetic.

Forqualitysleep,considerthefollowingpracticaltips:

i. Avoidexercisingclosetobedtime.Doingsoincreasesyourbodytemperaturesignificantly andwillmake it very hard for you to sleep. If you’re going toexercise,makesureit’llendatleast3hourspriortohittingthesacksoyougiveyourbodythechancetocooldownandyourheartratetonormalize.

ii. Turn your gadgets off at least 30 minutes before sleeping. Exposure toartificial light – those coming from your smartphones and tablets – tend tosuppressthereleaseof melatonin,whichisanimportantsleephormone.

iii. Likeexercise,havingcaffeinetooclosetobedtimecanmakeyoutooalerttosleep. Limit your caffeine intake to 3 P.M. at the latest to give your bodyenoughtimetoflushoutthecaffeinefromyoursystem.

iv. Relax.Tryingsohardtosleepwhenyourmindandbodyareclearlyaren’tuptoitwillonlymakeitharderforyoutosleep.If youcan’tsleep,readareallyboringbook(obviouslynotthisone),countsheep(oranyanimalyoulike)ormeditate.Justdon’texerteffortbecauseitwillonlystimulateyourmindevenmore,makingitharderforyoutosleep.

v. Tryhavingsomethingaromaticintheroomthatcanhelpyousleepbetter;thiswill help you feel good. Just make sure it is a natural fragrance and notartificial.Rose,sandalandjasminearegreatchoicesforyoutotryout.

vi. Itisidealtomaintainacooltemperatureintheroom.Countlessstudieshavebeendonetoshowthatsleepinginacoolerroomaround18degreesCelsiusisoptimal. Keep a thermometer in your room and try to your best tomatchwhat’ssuggestedasoptimal.

R

CHAPTER6

HISTORYOFSPEED-READING

eading, as a habit, has existed since time immemorial. The world hasprogressedforthousandsof yearsandithasallbeenpossibleowingtobooksandotherdecipherablescripts.Imagineaworldwithoutanyinformationbeingreadandshared,itwouldbeabsolutelyhorrible,wouldn’tit?Neverthelessdon’tworry,suchaworlddoesnotexistandtherearemillionsof booksandtextsthatyoucanreadandexplore.Letuslookatthehistoryof speed-reading.

As you now know, not everybody reads at the same pace or with the sametechniques.Give a 500-page book to 2 people andoneof themwill read it in aweekwhiletheotherwilltakeamonth.Thisisprimarilytheresultof differencesintheirreadingspeeds,techniquesusedandaswellastheamountof timetheyspendreading.

Did you know that “meta-guiding” as a technique did not exist until the late1950s? For a respectable, educational purpose, EvelynWood was determined tounderstandwhysomepeoplecouldreadmuchfasterthanotherscould.Shewantedtocomeupwithafeasiblemethodthatwouldalloweverybodytoreadatthesamepace,whichwasfast.

Throughseveralyearsof research,shewasunabletoincreaseherownreadingspeed and believed that it was impossible to finish a book any faster. However,whileonthevergeof givingup,shestumbleduponawinningformula.Sherealizedthatrunningherfingerbelowthewordsmadeiteasyforhertoreadthedatafasterandthatishowmeta-guidingissaidtohavecomeabout.

JohnF.Kennedyissaidtohavebeenanavidspeed-reader.Hecouldreadtextexceedinglyfastandalsoencouragedothersaroundhimtotakeupspeed-reading.Another president, Jimmy Carter, along with his wife Rosalyn, also excelled at

speed-readingandheissaidtohaveintroducedacourseattheWhiteHouse,whichpromptedseveralpeopletotakeitupseriously.

Today,thereareseveralspeed-readingconteststhatareheldallovertheworld.Thesecompetitionsgenerallyrequirethepersontoreadaround1000to2000wordswithinaminutewithatleast50%comprehension.Therearepeoplewhocanalsoread 10,000wordswithin aminute.But this has comeunder fire fromcritics, astheybelievereadingsofastwillnotallowthepersontorememberanythingatall,nottomentionthepressurethatitputsonthebrain.

The average reading speed thatmostpeoplehave is said tobe approximately250wordsperminutebut thiscancertainlybechanged toahighernumber.Youneed to take up speed-reading determinedly, which will help you increase thatnumbertoatleast500to600wordsaminute.

CHAPTER7

BENEFITSOFSPEED-READINGKnowledge

Whenweread,weobviouslytakeinalotof information.Thosewhoarenotwellread will not have access to much information on a wide range of differentsubjects.Thereisanadagethatstates,“KnowledgeIsPower”,andsoitbecomesallthe more important to read as much as possible and diversify one’s currentawareness.Thisdoesnotalwayshavetobeacademicandcanalsobetrivial;it’svitalto keep in mind that both are equally important and you must expand yourhorizonsthroughreadingbooksandothertextsondiversesubjects,if youwishtoincreaseyourknowledgebase.

Confidence

Readingwellleavesapersonwithanutmostconfidencenoteasilyobtained.If youareinagroupwhereeveryoneiswellreadandspeaksintelligentlywhileyouaretheonlyonethatdoesnotdoso,thenit isimportantthatyoureadandincreaseyourconfidencesothatyoufeelthatyoufit in.Onceyoudevelopknowledge,youwillstartspeakingupandcontributetoaconversationmoreconfidently.Thebasicaimistocontributeconstructivelyandyoucaneasilydosobyreadingbooksthatwillprovideyouwithkeyinformationonaplethoraof topics.

Freedom

Theabilitytoread,orreadfast,willfreeyoufromhavingtorelyonotherstohelpyouunderstandsomething.Youwillnothavetorelyonotherstotellyouwhatyouneedtoknowandcanquicklystartdoingajobbyyourself.Thisfreedomcangoalongway inensuringthatyoudon’twasteyour timeandcanallowyoutoquicklymove toanother important task. Itwill alsopreventyou frommakingerrorsand

notallowotherstotakeadvantageof you.

Security

When you are well read, a sense of security starts to creep in. Apart fromconfidence,you’llalsodevelopthisfeelingthatyoucaneasilyhandleanythingthatisputyourway.Thisenablesyoutoforgeaheadwiththeupmostbelief inyourselfandwillalsohelpyoutowardsestablishingfinancialsecurity.Yourknowledgeandskillswilltakeyoualongwayandyoujustmightgetaraiseaswell-alltoooftenowingtoyourskill.Sokeepreadingandimprovingyourvocabularyandcognition;youwillsuccessfullyreachnewheightsbydoingso.

Memory

Memory power is a big boon tomankind. Imagine aworldwhere nobody has agoodmemory;itwouldbequiteirritating.Tohelpyouimproveyourmemory,thebest thing todo is readasmuchaspossibleand inaddition, readonavarietyofdifferentsubjects.Tryreadingalanguagebookandlearninganewlanguage.Doingsuch extra curricular studieswill strengthen both your short term and long-termmemory.Youwillrememberthingsbetterandforlongerperiodsof time.Partakein regularmemory contests and youwill truly see justwhat amarked differenceyourspeed-readingskillsmakesforyou,innotimeatall.

Focus

When it comes to reading, focus is of utmost importance. The average humanmindiscapableof reading600wordsaminuteandyetwemanageonlyacoupleofhundred.Awisestyletoincreasereadingspeedisbyincreasingyourfocusandvise-versa,onceyouearnestlytakeupspeed-reading,yourfocuswillautomaticallystartto improve.Youwillbeable to talk toothers fromdifferentwalksof life asyoubecomemorepresent.

Logic

Logicisamindactivitythatattachesfeasiblereasoningtoeventsandoccurrences.Thistypeof logicisextremelyimportantforeverybodytopossess,asitwillsavea

lotof timeinreasoningthroughouttheday.Whenyoureadgoodbooks,yourmindautomaticallyadaptstologicastheflowof thewordsstartsregisteringinsideyourmind.Asyoustarttoreadmoreandpracticespeed-readingtechniques,yourmindwillstarttoholdmoreinformationandprocessitthoroughly;youwillrealizethatthroughthis,itwillbecomeeasierforyoutothinkof thingsandeventsthroughalogicalperspective.

Emotions

Asweknow,mostof usarenowexposedtoalotof stress,whichcausesustofeelextremelyfatigued.Mostof usturntotelevisiontorelieveourselvesof thisstress,withoutrealizingthatitisonlyworseningitforus.Wedon’tunderstandthatmostmediasourcesnegatively impactsourthinkingandslowusdown,especiallybingewatchingtelevisionshows.Theneedof thehouristoindulgeinanactivitythatwilleffectivelycurbourstressandimproveourmind’shealthandthatactivityisreading.Whenyoulearntospeedread,youwillfinditincreasinglyeasytoreadbigbooks;thefeelingof gettinglostinepicnovelsissimplyamazing.Hence,youcangetlostnovelsonadailybasisandkissyourstressgoodbye.Onceyoulearntospeedread,youwillnotfeellikestopping!Trustme,it’sthatgood!

Solutions

Allhumanbeingswishtoseeksolutionstotheirpersonalissues.Somewishtofindsolutionstoseriousproblemsandsometopettyonesbutthecoreof thematteristowalkawaywiththecake,bybeingthefirstonetofindafeasiblesolution;thiscanbemadepossiblebyreading inexcess.Youhave toreadasmuchaspossibleandabsorballinformationlikeasponge,andthentheinformationcanbeemployedtofindsolutionstoissues.Thehumanbrainiscapableof thingsthatyoucannotevenimagine and before you know it, it would have already formulated a feasiblesolutiontotheproblemlayinginfrontof you.

Invention

Our world has existed for thousands of years, but there are still too manydiscoverieswaitingtohappenoutthere.If youareadeptatreadingfast,thenyoucan read a vast number of books within a short amount of time; the key is to

absorbasmuchinformationaspossibleveryswiftly.Then,mixandmatchwhateveryoureadandcomeupwithsomethingnew.Thisnewinformationorlogicwillhelpyou in more ways than you can shake a stick at so get reading and discoversomethingnew!

These form just the tip of the iceberg for uses of speed-reading. There arecountlessmoreof thesethatyoucanattainonceyoupickupthisart!

D

CHAPTER8

SPEED-READINGEXPERIENCEENHANCERS

uring thecourseof reading thisbook, youmaybewonderinghowyoucanmake speed-reading relevant to your life and use it tomake yourself into abetterperson.Someof themethodsfordoingthisareincludedinthischapterandtheywilltakeyourspeed-readingtoawholenewlevel.

Debating

Didyoueverthinkthatyouwouldbelieveinsomethingsomuchthatyouwouldbewilling todebate it?Well, in thisworldwhere there is somuch friction, it’s quitepossible that you can become an important voice of reason. There are manydebatingsocietiesand theseenrichpeople’s livesbecausepeople– just likeyou–whoknowsomethingaboutasubject–getachancetoairtheirviews.

Whyisthisimportant?

Sometimesyoubelieveinsomethingandfeelthatyouaredoingnothingtochangetheway that theworldperceives things.Forexample, some topics thatyoucouldspeed read and really get something out of include the following aspects ofeverydaylife:

Ecology

Wars

Differentapproachestogovernment

Marriageissues

ReligionandPolitics

Earthfriendlyinnovations

If youaregoingtospeedread,testhowpowerfulyouarebyjoiningadebatingsociety and learn to argue your case. This may not seem important, but it’sextremelyimportantbecausewhatyouaredoingislearninglogicalreasoningbasedonthematerialthatyoureadandthat’spowerfulstuff.If youbelieveinsomething,learn about what experts say about it. Follow up your reading with suggestedreadings on Amazon and other websites, which are great places to find thosematerials.

For example, if you buy a book on global warming, what other books didreaders buy? It’s usually shown on the Amazon page and that’s really usefulinformationfortheavidreader.Yougettoknowaboutbooksthatarguethecasefromdifferentperspectivesandthatmakesyoualotmorepowerfulinthewaythatyou put forward your case. You can use quotes from people to back up yourargument and if you don’t knowwhere to join a debating society, try Facebookbecause therearegroups there thatare lookingforpeople likeyou–peoplewhoareinformedandwhoknowwhattheyaretalkingaboutbaseduponwhattheyhavereadandunderstoodfromtheirreading.That’spowerfulstuff.

Debating helps your reading experience because youwill become so keen tocheckuponinformationthatyouabsorbiteasilyanditisalsoanexcellentwayofgetting interested in a particular subject. Half of the trick to speed-reading isactuallyhavingtopicsthatyouenjoyreadingabout.If theyaretopicsthatyouhaveno interest in, it’s like trying to readanewspaper inhieroglyphics!Youneed thatinteresttospuryouonandbelieveme,itreallywill.

EnjoyingYourInternetExperiencemore

Oftenwhen people speed read, they don’t realize the significance of reading onreading devices and this works every bit as well as reading a book in traditionalformat. Use the different techniques outlined in an earlier chapter and try using

themonyourKindleorE-Readerforastart.ThereasonIsaythisisbecauseif youareaccustomedtousing theInternet,knowthat theInternet isknownasaplacewherepeoplehavelowattentionspans.ReadingyourKindleandlearningtospeed-readwill reallyhelpyoutosee thescreenasa reader insteadof merelyawebsitewithotherthingstodistractyou.

Whenspeed-readingonline,youmayneedtouseyourfingeracrossthescreen,justastheoriginalladydidwhenshelearnedtospeedread.Thismayappeartobesillyatfirst,butTRYIT;you’llsoongetaccustomedtoreadinginthismannerandcan take ina lotof information inavery short spaceof time.Thishelpsyou toresearch in a much deeper and swifter rate than if you simply read as normalInternetusersusuallydo.

Ifoundthatspeed-readingfordatawasveryimportantinmylifebecausewhenyou are studying, this helps you to take in informationmuch faster than simplybrowsing the web.What you first need to learn is which websites give the bestinformation and the least distractions.You need authoritativework, but you alsoneed to read severalweb pages before you get an overall view of the topic thatallowsyouanoriginaltake.Forinstance,if youarestudying,thelastthingthatyourprofessorwantstoseeisregurgitatedideas.

Peoplewhousespeedreadingeffectivelytakeinalltheideasandthencomeupwithanoriginaltakeonthoseideassothatwhattheywriteisoriginalandverywellresearchedindeed.IoncehadtodothiswithapaperIwroteonHaitiandwhatIfoundtomydismaywasthatmuchof theinformationthatIwasreadingwasoutof date and that had I writtenmy paper from the first fewwebsites that I hadvisited,theinformationwouldhavebeenterriblyoutof dateaswell.Fortunately,Iwas able tomake well use of my speed-reading skills and blazed throughmanycrediblewebsites.Thishelpedmetoproduceapaperthatwasnotonlyuptodatebutwhichalsohadextremelyvaluableinformationthatnooneelsehadthoughtof.

Speed-readingdoneforaspecificpurposeisalwaysmorerewardingthandoingit for the sakeof achievingnumbersof pages readornumberof words.Peoplewhoareversed in thisartareable topiece things togethermuchmoreeasilyanduse the informationthat theygleantohelp themimprovewhotheyareandtheirattitudetowardlife.

FollowingLogicalArgumentByUnderstanding

Whenyouareoutwithpeoplewhoarewellread,youarebetterabletovoiceyouropinion if youareheavily readandhaveunderstood the intricaciesof thewordsthat youhave digested.Unfortunately, not everyonehas an understandingof thewordsthattheyintake.Manymagazineshavequiz’severymonththattestspeopleonwordmeanings and thishelps to increase thevocabularyof readers.This is apowerfultoolandif youcangetyourhandsontheseissues,it’sworthinvestinginittohelpyoutogainmorefromyourreadingexperience.It’snotenoughtosimplyread.Comprehensionof whatyoureadisvitalespeciallyif youwantyourvoicetobeheardbyothers.

InanIslamicState,agirloncehadverystrongviewspoliticallyandvoicedthemtomakeavastdifference inthewaypeoplesawthingsandthis issomethingthatyouareabletodoif youupyourcomprehensionbytakingteststhathelpyoutoestablishyourunderstandingof complexvocabulary.

If youcan’tgetholdof thesemagazines,don’tworry.Therearewebsitesthathelp you to improve your vocabulary and which explain words that you don’tunderstand. I have also found that speed-reading on a Kindle helps withunderstanding complexwords because youhave instant access to a tool thatwillexplain anywords that you don’t understand. Thus, you not only learn to speedread,youlearntospeedcomprehendandthat’swhenthingsgetreallypowerful.

I cannot emphasize enoughhow important it is to get themost out of yourspeed-readingexperience.If youwant to increaseyourunderstandingof life,youneedtoknowwhatauthorsmeanwithinthelinesof theirvocabularyinadditiontoreading themfastbecause this improvesyour levelof understandingand ismuchmoremeaningful than simply being able to read a set amount of words in a setamountof time.

B

CHAPTER9

HOWTHEHUMANMINDWORKS

eforeyouunderstandhowspeed-readingworks,youmustfirstknowhowthehumanmindworks.

Asyouknow,thehumanbrainiscapableof multi-taskingseveralthingsatonceandisalsoadeptatstoringalotof information.Ourbrainsareconstantlyworkinganditisnosurprisethatitistheonlyorganinthebodythatremainsawakewhilewesleep.

Whenwe sleep, anaturalphenomenonoccurswherewevisualizepeople andthings;thisphenomenonisknownasdreaming.Whenapersondreams,hisorhersubconsciousmindsuppliestheconsciouswithimagesandstoriesandtheseimagesandstoriesarethenrelayedlikeamovie.

This,youmaysay,iscommonknowledge,butwhatmanypeopledon’tknowisthatthisisthesamephenomenonthatoccursinsidethemindwhenyouread.Thatiscorrect;whenyoureadsomething,youcanseeallof itlikeamovieinyourhead.I remember reading Laurie Lee’sCiderwithRosie and seeing all the countrysidespreadoutinfrontof me;descriptiveuseof languageallowsyoutodothat.

Whenyoureadthetext,yourmindfocusesonthecharactersthatarepresentinthebook.If therearenocharactersandyouarereadingsomethingseriously,itstillstartsplayingeverythingoutlikeamovie,butperhapslikeadocumentary.

Sayforexampleyouarereadinganovelwheretheprotagonistisatall,fairmanwithblueeyesandblondhair.Yourmindwillimmediatelymakeamentalpictureofsuchapersonandasyouread,youwillimaginethisverypersongoingthroughthedifferenteventsthatarementionedinthebook.Sosaythispersonfallsinlovewithashortgirlwithravenhair,youwillimaginethesetwocharactersfallinginlove.

Thecharacterswillbebasedonwhatyouwouldhavealreadyseeninyourlifeand yourmindwill only draw out images that are already present. Consequentlythere isnothingnew that isbeing invented inyourmindandyouareonly seeingwhateveryouhavestoredinyoursubconscious.

Thatisexactlywhyyouwillseethesameimageof analienevenif itappearsindifferentbooks.Yourmindwillhave apreset templateof the alien,which itwillsupplytoyourconscious.

Research has shown that the person feels like he or she is part of the storywhen they read something so if the story is about a man who climbs MountEverest, then the person will put himself in the mountaineer’s shoes. A vividimaginationwillhelpthepersoncomprehendthestoryfaster.

Itisunderstoodthatthebraindoesallof thisinmicrosecondsandbeforeyouhavethetimetothinksomethingdifferentfromwhatyouread,yourmindwouldhavealreadypreparedamovieinyourhead.

Thistypeof moviewillbevividwhensomeoneelsereadstoyou.Thatiswhybedtimestoriesthatarereadouttochildrenareconsideredtobegoodbrainactivityforthem.Theywilllearntovisualizebetterandwhentheystarttoread,theywilldosowithease.

Now it is obvious that children will read much more enthusiastically ascomparedtoadults,whoarefreshlystartingout.Sotohelpsuchadultsdevelopapermanent reading habit, it is best to choose an interesting book for them,somethingthatwillkeeptheirenthusiasmgoing.

Itisbelievedthatitispossibletoincreasethewhitemassinthebrain,whichistheprefrontalcortex.Yourhippocampuswillalsoincreaseinsize,andallowyoutothinkbetterasyoureadandgaindeeperunderstandingsof varioustopics.Thereisa setpattern thatyourminddraws fromandyoumustallowyourbrain toshootoff.

It is also possible for you to improve your comprehension be doing thefollowingthings:

Learninganewlanguage

You can take up fun activities such as learning a new language to improve yourcomprehension.Don’t stickwith the standardEuropean languages;pickanAsianlanguage likeChineseorHindi.Therationalbehindthis isyououghttrytousealanguage where the alphabet is different; this will open up your mind to seeingsomethingotherthantheA,B,C’sandyou’llbegintoseethattheworlddoesnotonlyconsistof languagewhichisplayedoutinthislimitedalphabet.

Youwillfeelhappytoaddanotherlanguagetoyourexistingrepertoireandyourreadingcomprehensionwillalsoimproveconsiderably.

Playfocusgames

Playing games that require you to focus will also improve your cognition andmemory.Chooseaword/numbergameorsomethingtodowithquickcalculationsand try to play regularly. Have you heard of Free Cell, Sudoku, and Solitaires?Thesearejustafewof themultitudeof focusgamesyoucaneffortlesslygetaccessto!

Meditation

Meditation is a daily activity that you can adopt and exploit in order to improveyourfocus.Therearemanymeditationaltechniquestochoosefromandeachonewillimpartadifferentbenefit.Letuslookatthesetechniques.

Breathing

Breathingmeditation isquitepopular andeasy toperform.All youhave todo isfind yourself a quiet corner in the house and start inhaling and exhaling deeply.Focusonyourbreathandcuteverythingelseout.Trytorelaxyourmindandpaykeenattentiontohowtheairentersandexitsyourbody.Don’tbreatheinthroughyour mouth though and breathe only through your nose. You can also dopranayama if you like, where you close one nostril and then exhale through theother.Thisisrelativelyeasytoperformandinvolvesholdingyourthumboverthenostril thatyouarenotusing.Rememberwhenyoubreathethat it isn’t justaboutbreathing,it’sabouttakinginenergyintoyourbodyandthat’swhatmeditationisallabout. When you speed read after a meditation session, you will do so more

attentivelyandunderstandmoreof whatyouarereading.

Walking

Walkingmeditationisauniqueformof meditation.Youmustlookforalargespacewhereyoucanwalkstraightandjustkeepwalking.Breatheinwhenyouplaceyourrightlegforwardandexhalewhenyouplaceyourleftlegforward.Somepeoplealsoliketowalkaroundincircles.Concentrateonyourbreathingasyouwalkandtrytoforgetabouttherestof theworld.Thisisagoodformof meditationif youhaveahugereport toreadandaredreading it. Itclearsyourmindandmakesyoufocusmuchbetteronyour readingmaterial, thusachievingmore ina shorterperiodoftime.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness isa technique that ismeant tohelpyoufocuson justone thingatatime.Itisobviousthattherewillbeamillionthingsonyourmindonadailybasisandforthis,youneedtofocusonallthesmallthingsintheworld.Sorightfromwashingyourhandstocleaningthehouse,youneedtoremainmindfulof eachandeverylittleactivity.Tostayfocusedononethingisquiteeasyafterawhile.Thinkofnothingoutsideof theactionthatyouaretaking.If youareeating,concentrateonthe tastesand textures thatareputontoyour tongue.Practicingmindfulnessalsomakesyourlifemorevibrantandalive.

These form different things that you can do to improve your focus andconcentrationtohelpspeed-reading.Practicethemandyouaresuretoseepositiveresultsinnotimeatall.

W

CHAPTER10

THE30MINUTERULE

henyouwishtotakeupspeed-reading,itisbestthatyoumakeuseof aminimum 30-minute daily practice schedule. Did you know that a daily practiceroutineof 30minuteswouldimproveyourresultssignificantlyafteramonth?Tryitand you’ll be amazed; this doesn’tmerely apply to speed-reading, it relates to allotherabilitiesyouaspiretohaveinlife.

PracticeReadingChapters

ItisimportanttoPRACTICEspeed-readingatleastachapteratatimeuntilyourcomfortablewiththeprocess.Whetheritissomethingfromthenewspaperoryouremail, quickly speed-read it. It is fine to read leisurely during the day but thereshould be no cheatingwith your speed-reading practice. Use the techniques thatwerepresentedearlier,practicethem,astheywillhelpyoureadbetterandfaster.

PracticeReadingEntireBooks

The next step is to speed-read entire books. It will seem impossible at the verybeginningbutonlypracticemakesperfect.Chooseasmallbookforyourself thatyoucaneasilyfinishwithinashortperiodof time.Thenmovetoamediumsizedbookandthenabigbook.Makesureallthebooksareinteresting,asaboringbookwillputyoutosleep.Also,choosebooksthatyouareinterestedinbecausethatwillgiveyoutheinitialconcentrationthatyouneedtoachievekickstartthishabit.

Aiminghigh

Remembertoaimhigh.If youcanfinisha100-pagebookin30minutes,aimnextfor 200 pages within 30minutes. Youmust aim high on a daily basis and there

should be nothing impossible for you. A very intelligentman once said that it’sbetter tohit60%of an immensegoal, thanconstantlyhitting100%of a triflinggoal.Don’tshortyourself,thinkBIGandaimHIGH.

RememberthatyourreadingcanalsobedonefromKindleorthroughwebsitesandthatallof thishelpsyourreadingspeedtremendously.

W

CHAPTER11

FIXINGYOURCURRENTREADINGISSUES

henyouwishtotakeupspeed-readingasapermanentchoice,youmustforgetsomeof youroldhabitsthatmightbepullingyoudown.Inthischapter,wewilllookathowyoucaneffectivelybreaktheshacklesof youroldhabits.

Fixation

Thefixationhabitisonewhereyoufixateyoureyesoveroneormoreof thewordsonthepage.Remainingfixatedoverasinglewordforalongtimecancauseyoutowastequitesometimeanditisn’teffectivetowardsreadingeither,sotheideaistobreakthishabitonceandforall.

Fixation is a natural human phenomenon that occurs with every individual.Right froma youngage,we are forced to read a certainway,whichemphasisonfixation.Consequently it isprobably theoldestreadinghabit thatyoupossessbutthegoodnewsisit’sfairlysimpletobreakthishabitandallyouhavetodoismakeuseof yourperipheralvision.

Humanbeingshavesomethingknownasperipheralvisionaswediscussedinapreviouschapter.To illustrate thisconceptagain, liftyourheadand lookstraight.Withoutturningyoureyesoryourhead,youcanstilllookatwhateverliesnexttoyouwhether itbeawallora television.Thisagain isknownasperipheralvision.Youhavetomakeuseof thissamevisiontoreadmorewithinashorterperiodoftime.Whenyouutilizeof yourperipheralvision,youcanreadmorethanasinglewordatatime.Infact,youcaneasilyreadtwoorthreewordsandreadattwiceorthricethespeed.

It is a good idea to clump thewords together as described in the techniquechunkreading.Thiswillensurethatyoureadfasterandalsounderstandwhatever

youread.

Practicedailyandensurethatyoudotherightthingeverytime.

Regression

Thenextdemontotackleisknownasregression.Regressionisalsoknownasre-reading.Nowimagineseeingsomeonewhoisreadingsomething.Howmanytimesdoyou see their eyespassover a certainwordbut thencomeback to it?This isknownasregression.

It is just asnaturallyoccurring as fixation.Youhave todealwith itquickly ifyouwishtoreadquicker.Scientistshavefoundthataveragepersonspendsabout20minutesinanhour’sworthof readingonregression.Soitisimportantthatyounotwastesomuchtimeinaday.

Before you deal with it, let us look at some of the reasons why regressionoccurs.Themainreasonforregressiontooccurisalackof focus.Yourmindwillbe elsewhere while reading and this will cause you to re-read whatever that youalreadyreadthereforeitisbestthatyouremainfullyfocusedduringyourreadings.Don’t keep thinking of other things, lest you end up wasting your time. Don’tassumethatyourmindwillautomaticallystart tofocusonthereadingassoonasyou pick the book up. You have to consciouslymake an effort to focus on thecontentwhenyouwishtodealwithregression.

Thenextcommonreasonfortheoccurrenceof regressionisreadingauniquewordforthefirsttime.Youwouldnothaveheardof thewordbeforeandwillwishto re-read it again to see if you actuallydoknow theword.Youwill then spendsomeamomenttryingtoremembersuchawordandwastetimesoitisimportanttonot do so.Once you come across such aword, remember theword and thenlookup it’smeaning later insteadof trying to read itoverandoveragain. If youmake use of theMeta-guiding technique, then you can make use of a pen andunderlinesuchaword,sothatyouwillrememberall thedifferentwordsthatyouwishtolookup.

Thelastreasonforregressionisgoingtoofast.Withspeed-reading,it isquitecommonforpeopletolosecontrolovertheirreadingspeeds.Youmightgosofast

thatyouendupskippingafewlinesinbetween.Thiscanbeabadthing,asyouwillendupreadingabruptly.Sothebestthingtodoisgarnercontroloveryourreadingspeed.Goslowatitandtrynottoskipanythinginbetween;remember,weallmustcrawlbeforewecanwalk.Again,makeuseof theMetaguidingtechniquetohelpyou.

Subvocalization

Subvocalizationisthethirdroadblock.Whenyourepeatthewordsinyourheadorsayitoutloudwhenyoureadsomething,yourbrainisforcedtodotwocomplexthings atonce.This canneverbe a good thing and youmust focusononlyoneactivityatatime.

Thebestwaytodosoisbykeepingyourmouthclosedwhilereadingsomethingandlearningtochunkread.Thatway,youwillnotfeellikereadinganythingvocallyorinternally.Itsoundscompletelyimpossible,asyouwillbeaccustomedtoreadingitout loudbutdoyourbest tonotopenyourmouthat all.Concentrateonyourreadingaloneanddon’tletyourmindwander.Youcanchewonsomegumif youpreferthat.

Whenyouwishtodoawaywithyoursubvocalizinghabit,youcanmakeuseofyour vivid imagination.Your imaginationwill prevent you from readingout loudandyoucanalsorememberthethingsbetter.

Theseformthedifferentoldhabitsthatyoumustdealwithwhenyouwishtoimproveyourspeed-reading.

M

CHAPTER12

SPEED-READINGMYTHSANDFAQS

yths are an inevitable part of any topic and speed-reading also comeswithitsfairshareof myths.Itisourdutytodebunkthemandseparatefactfromfiction.Letuslookatsomeof thesemythsindetailanddebunkthem.

Speed-readingisboring

Theveryfirstmythstates thatspeed-reading isextremelyboring,nonetheless thistheoryshouldholdtrueonlyif youtaketheactivityof readingingeneralasbeingboring.If youarealreadyanavidreader,wholovestoread,thenspeed-readingwillfurtherenhanceyourexperienceandif youarenotsuchakeenreader,thenspeed-readingwillhelpigniteareadingpassioninyou.Eitherway,youstandtogainfromspeed-reading.Yes, itwillbe a toughchallengeat theverybeginningbutnothingaboutitwillbeboring.Infact,itwillbequiteexcitingandyouwillfeellikespeed-readingallthetime.

Speed-readingisnothingbutagimmick

This is one doubt thatmany people havewhen it comes to speed-reading. Theyassume it is justa trickanddoesnotreallyexistbut this isnot trueatall.Speed-reading is a real technique that is used to improve a person’s reading skills. Tosupplement your belief, study and practice the techniques presented earlier then

make awell-informed decision for yourself whether this is gimmick or a factualability.

Itwilltaketoolongtolearn

This is justabadmyth.Itwillnottakeyoua longtimetolearnspeed-reading; infact,don’tworryabout the timeatall.Even if it takesyouacoupleof weeksormonths,youwillseesteady,cumulativeprogressandthiswillsaveyoutonsof timedowntheroad.Don’twronglyassumethat itwill takeyouyearstogetherbecausethe truth is, through consistent and persistent practice, you can undoubtedlydecreaseyourreadingspeedinhalf.Conversely,don’tcompareyourself toanotherperson; perhaps theywill read faster than you owing to their in-built capacity tolearnfasterbutdon’tbedisheartened,hardworkalwayspaysoff.Youmightlearnslowlybutyourhabitwillstickaroundlonger.Spendeachminuteof speed-readingenjoying yourself and youwill not even realize as to how andwhen your abilityincreases!

Itisallaboutquickeyes

Notreally.Itiscommontoassumethatitisnecessarytomoveyoureyesfastandrunthemoverthewordsbutthisisnotreallythecase.Youreyesdon’thavetorunforyoutoreadfast,youneedtomaintainaconsistentspeedandnotneedtorace.However,itwillbetoyouradvantageif youcanrunyoureyesfastoverthereadingmaterial as it is an added benefit but it’s definitely not compulsory. Accordingly,don’tgoalloutlandishandmerelymoveyoureyesfastwithoutlookingatthewordsandnotgraspinganything.

Comprehensiongoesforatoss

It is quite normal to assume that youwill not be able to comprehendwhen youspeed-read and that your comprehensionmight go for a tosswhenyou read realfast but this is not true. You might actually grasp more when you speed-read

because when you read the entire text within a short period of time, you willunderstandthetopicbetter.Chunkreadingforexample,requiresyourfullattentionandconcentration,whichwillalsohelpyougraspthetopicbetter.

Youneedaguideatalltimes

Manypeopleassumethatyouneedaguide,likeafingerorascaletorununderthesentence.Thisunquestionablyhelpsbutif youarenotaccustomedtorunningyourfingerunderthesentencesthenyoudon’thavetodoso.Youcanreadwithoutanysuch aid nevertheless, when you do embark on your quest to read faster, it isrecommendedthatyoutrymeta-guidingatfirstuntilyougetusedtoit.

Oldhabitsdiehard

Thisstatementisnotamythbutinrelevancetospeed-reading,itis.Don’tassumethatyouroldhabitswillkeeppullingyoudown.Theywillbequitetoughtogetovernodoubtbut theycanbeeasilyfoughtoff.Allyouneedtobe isdeterminedandpay attention towards breaking your old habits for 21 days, and you’ll be in theclear.

Speed-readingisbestforfiction

This isnot true. Speed-reading canbegood formany typesof texts.Right fromfictiontonon-fiction,youcanusethesetechniques.Asamatterof fact,therearecertain techniques that are designed to help speed read non-fiction booksspecifically!Don’tthinksomethingisnotspeed-readingworthy.Onceyoutakeitupseriously,youwillknowhowitisidealforalltypesof books.

Itisbadtonotreadwholly

This is another myth that bogs people down. They think that skimming andscanning will make them skip all the important parts of the text. The truth is,despiteskippingparagraphsandsentencesinbetween,youcanstillunderstandthegistof thetopicsodon’tthinkskimmingandscanningarebadreadingtechniques.

TheFaultliesinme

Many people think that they are unable to read fast enough owing to their ownvisuallimitationsbutthathasverylittletodowithyourspeed-readingskills.Don’tthinkyoureyesarethereasonforyourbadreadingspeeds.What’smoreprobablyinstead is thatyourbrain isnotaccustomed to reading so fast. Itwill takea littletimeforittounderstandeverythingthatyouareexpectingof itsodon’tblameandgotoohardonyourself,justtrustinthesystem.If otherpeopleareablelearnthis,youabsolutelycanaswell;it’snotrocketscience.

Usingsoftwareischeating

Thisisnottrue.Youcanmakeuseof anysoftwaretohelpyoureadfaster.Actually,youmightenduplearningfasterafterusingthespeed-readingsoftware.Justmakesureyouareusingahigh-ratedreliablecoursethathelpsyoulearnspeed-readingatafasterpace.

Isspeed-readinguseful?

Yes.Speed-readingisextremelyusefulforeveryone.Thereareseveralwaysinwhichitwill lessen the burdenof going through large texts; you can easily finish a bigbook inno time at all.We looked at thedifferent benefits of speed-reading in apreviouschapter,andyouwillknowwhyit issoimportantonlyafteryoutakeupspeed-readingandachievegoodspeedsof readingandcomprehension.

Isitforeveryone?

Yes. All those that wish to readmore in less time can take up this art. Collegestudents looking to excel in their academics can take up speed-reading. Schoolstudentscanuseittoexpandtheircomprehensiononvarioussubjects.Itisalsoforprofessionals looking to improve their work knowledge. Housewives and seniorcitizenscanalsobenefittremendously.Asyoucansee,thereisnoagelimittowhocanandwhocannotusespeed-reading.Itisidealthatyoungchildrenbeintroducedtoitrightfromanearlyageastheyhaveampletimetoreadabroadcurriculumandthiswoulddefinitelybeanadvantageastheygrowintoadults.

Isiteasytolearn?

Yes.Speed-reading iseasy forpeople to learn. Itwill seemslightlydifficult at theverybeginningbutasyougoon,itwillbecomeprogressivelyeasier.Trytotakeitup with an open mind and be prepared to push your boundaries; you will besurprisedatyourownabilities.Therearesomepeoplewhowilllearnthetechniquesswiftly, say a week. So, you never know how quickly youmight end up learningspeed-reading.Takeitupseriouslyandseeitthrough,youcanthankmelater.

ShouldIpracticedaily?

Yes.Itishighlyrecommendedthatyoupracticedaily,atleastduringtheinitialdays.If you don’t practice then your progressmight be hindered. Try to read a widerange of books and texts and don’t stickwith the sameold because it’s good tofamiliarize yourself with how to speed-read from different angles. Nonetheless,don’tstartwithaboringbook.Setaspecifictimeeachdaysay,30minutesandstartfromthere.Itmayfeelunusualatfirstdoingthevarioustechniquesbutsoonyou’llgetaccustomedtoitandappreciatewhatadramaticdifferencethismakestowardsreading.

CanIhavecompany?

Yes.Youcanchooseareadingpartnerforyourself.Thetwoof youcankeepeachothermotivatedbutof coursedon’tforceanyoneandmakesuretheywillinglywishto join in.Youcanaskyourbestfriendto join inorasibling.Youcanalsoaskacolleaguetojoinyou.Youcanjoinaspeed-readingclassif youlikeaswell,thiswillallowyoutohavesomeinsidetipsonspeed-readingandimproveyourchancesofreadingfasterbecauseit’salwaysgoodlearningwithothers.

Arethereonlinetutorials?

Yes.Thereareonlinevideosandclassesthatyoucanavailonline.Youcanlookupthebestoneandjoin.Insayingthis,don’ttrustjustanysite,doyourresearchandensurethattheoneyouchooseiswellrecognized.Youmighthavetopayalittletotake part in these courses but they will be reasonably priced and well worth itsvalue.

Howtocheckmyprogress?

You must check your progress from time to time. Before starting out with thecourse,lookatyourspeedwhilereadingandmakeanoteof it.Onceyoustartwiththecourse,makeanoteof yourspeedagain.Youshouldseeamarkeddifference.Maintainajournalandfillinthedetailseveryday.

Isitusefulforcompetitiveexams?

Yes. It is an excellent way to prepare for competitive exams such as GRE andSATS.Morethanthestudying, itwillbe idealforrevisingthetexts.Youmusttryanduse all the techniques like skimming and scanning insteadof sticking to justone. There are testimonials of numerous people who claim to have excelled incompetitiveexamsbymakinguseof thesesametechniques.

WillIforgetspeed-reading?

No.It ishighly improbablethatyouwill forgethowtospeed-read.However, it isimportant that youpracticeoften if youwish thehabit tobe ingrained into you;soonafterdoingthis, it’llbecomeasecondnaturetoyouandit’llchangethewayyoureadeverything.Again,thisallstartswithpracticesopickatimeandplaceandpracticedaily.

Isitagoodtechniqueforpeoplewithreadingdifficulties?

Yes.Speed-readingtechniquesarealsoidealforthosethathavereadingdifficulties.Research has shown that some reading issues can be correlated to bad readinghabitswhichcandefinitelybeimproveduponthroughspeed-readingtechniques.Infact,what speed-readingcanbeconsidered isgood readinghabits!Youcancut atreedownwithahammerinperhaps30daysbutwithanaxe,youcancutdownthesametreewithinperhaps30minutes;similarlywithreading,youcandigestabookwithbadtechniquesin30daysbutwithgoodtechniques,youcanprobablydoitinalotlesstime!

Theseformthevariousquestionsthatgetaskedonthetopicandhopeyouhadyoursansweredefficiently.

W

CHAPTER13

GENERICTIPSFORSPEED-READING

henitcomestospeed-reading,therearesimplethingsyoushoulddotoincreaseyourinterestinthesubjectandprogressfaster.Inthischapter,wewilllookat a few fundamental things that you can do on a daily basis to increase yourreadingspeed.

Timing

Theveryfirstthingtodoistimeyourspeed-reading.Thismeansthatyoumakeuseof astopclocktoseehowfastyoucanactuallyread.Onceyoustartreading,starttheclockandfinishanentirepageorchapterbeforehittingstop.Checkthetimeandmaintainarecordof it.If youthinkyourtimeisnotimpressiveenoughthenyou need to work on it further. Be weary not to cheat yourself of a learningopportunityhere.Youcanalsomakeuseof avideorecordertoseehowyoureyesaremovingandwhetheryouareactuallymakingprogress.Youraimshouldbetominimize the time taken to read each time and reduce it to the shortest possibletimewhilemaintainingameaningfulpercentageof comprehension.

Schedule

Always maintain a set schedule when it comes to speed-reading. Work as perscheduleandensurethatyoualwaysfollowit.If youhaltthehabitevenfor1week,youwill find it tough to take off fromwhere you left; champions know that todevelopaskilltoit’sfullest,onemostpracticeasmuchaspossible.Doyourbesttonotbreaktheagenda.Youcanformulateatimetablethatfitsyourneeds.Askyour

partnertohelpcreateitif you’rebadatscheduling,astheywillknowwhenyouaregenerally busy and when you are free. Once you formulate the timetable, createcopies of it and keepone to yourself and alsopaste hard copies around you, inordertoremainmotivated.

PerfectPractice

They say that it’snotpractice thatmakesperfect,butperfectpractice thatmakesperfect. Practice all the techniques every day to the best of your abilities.Whenpracticing,rememberto:

1. Readandunderstandthebookthroughthetableof contents

2. Askquestionsregardingthebook

3. Meta-Guiding

4. Visualization

5. KeywordSearch

6. ChunkRead

7. Skimming

8. Scanning

Practicetheseeverydayandyou’llincreaseyourreadingspeedby300%innotime!

Cleansheets

Itisagoldenruletonotmarkyoursheetswithallsortsof color,astheywillserveas distractions.Many people have the habit of using a highlighter as theirmeta-guidingtoolandstarthighlightingallsortsof wordsandsentences.Youmustbreakthis habit early if you wish to make steady progress with your speed-readingtechniques.If youmusthighlightthenusealightshadedpenciltounderlinecertainwords that are jargons or sentences.Once you finish reading, you can check themeaningsof these.

Flexible

Rememberthatspeed-readingdoesnotalwaysmeanreadingatbreakneckspeeds.Youmusthavecontroloveryourreadingandnotgoabout ituncontrollably.Youmustideallyfluctuatebetweentopspeedandlowspeeds.Muchlikedrivingamotorvehicle,if thespeedisgettingtoofastthenbrakeimmediately,andreducethespeedby a little! So just by taking up speed-reading, it does notmean that you shouldforget about slow reading completely so you must allow it to remain in yourmemoryanduseitfromtimetotime.

Distractions

Donotgive intodistractionswhenyouare speed-reading.Whether it is yourcellphoneorthetelevision, it isbest if everythingweretobeswitchedoff whenyouwishtospeedread.Youmustalsonothavepeoplearoundyoutalking,asthatwilldistractyoufurther.Trytocutdownonallyourdistractionsandyoucanmakeuseof earplugsif youwishtoconcentrateonyourtextbetter.If youareexpectinganurgentcallthenplacethephoneonvibratemodeandnotringerastheringingwilldistractyouandthrowyourmindoff of yourreadingmood.

Goals

Remembertoalwayshaveonlyreasonableexpectationsoutof yourspeed-readingadventures.If yougoaboutitthinkingyouwillturnintothebestspeedreaderintheworldwithinacoupleof days,thenyoubetterdroptheideaaltogether!Speed-reading is like an amazing super power no doubt, but you have to give yourselfsome time todevelop thehabit. Set yourself reasonable goals and go after themoneafteranother.Assoonasyouattainagoal, tick itoff andmove to thenext.However,yourgoalsshouldbefulfilledwithinthesaidtimeframe.

Don’tgiveup!

Givingupshouldneverbeanoptionforyou.Don’tgiveuponspeed-readingnomatterhowtoughitgetsforyou.Writedownallyourgoalsonapieceof paperand

followthemthrough;italsohelpstovoiceyourgoalstoothers.Announcetoyourfamily and friends that you are on a speed-readingmission andwish to improveyour reading speed within a certain specified time. This will help you remainmotivatedandyouwillnotfeellikegivinguponyourspeed-readinghabits.

These form the several general tips on speed-reading that you can adopt tomakeitasmoothrideforyourself.

TKEYTAKEAWAYS

hefirstthingtodoisunderstandwhatspeed-readingreallyis.Asyouknow,allof usreadalotof thingseverysingleday.Itimpartsusknowledgeandleavesuswith information that is important for us to lead our daily lives and exploit ourintelligencetothehighest.

Thetroublingissueathandisthatweareunabletoreadenoughowingtolivinghectic lifestyles where we are split between work issues and family troubles. Tosolve this issue, we must undertake techniques that will allow us to read morewithin a short period of time and for this, we can make use of speed-readingtechniques.

Bymakinguseof thesetechniques,youcanreadalotwithinashortperiodoftimeanditisnotsuperficialreading;youwillreadthoroughlyandhaveacompleteunderstanding.

Theaveragehumanbrainiscapableof reading600wordsaminuteandweendup reading just 200 but this can be changed easily because all you have to do isunderstandandmasterafewdifferentmethods.

Several American presidents have advocated the use of speed-reading andencouragedseveralpeopletotakeitupandtakeadvantageof it.Byincreasingyourreadingspeed,youcaneasilyreadalotmorewithinashortperiodof time,leavingyouwithmoretimetodootherthingsyouvalue.Remember,timeismoney.

Youmustmakeuseof concentrationimprovementtechniquestoimproveyourfocus.Trytocutdownonasmanydistractionsaspossible.

Create a set schedule to follow and stick to the timetable. Come up withsomethingthatisdoableandflexibleasopposedtoaverystrictschedule.Youcantakethehelpof afriendtocreatetheschedule.

Remember to digest the table of contents and ask yourself a voluminousamountof questions concerning thebookprior to evenopening chapter1.This

will allow yourmind to lock into exactlywhat you’re readingwhichwill increaseyourreadingspeedtremendously.Alsoasyou’rereading,practicevisualizingimagesinyourhead;it’sbeensaidthatapictureisworthathousandwords!

Don’tletyourconfidencedeludeyou,understandthattherearewordsthatyouhaveyetto learnsokeywordsearchthemtounderstandthemeaningsbeforeyouembark.

Another speed-reading technique is known as skimming. Skimming refers togoingthroughbitsandpiecesof thetexttounderstandthegistof it.Youcanreadtheentirebookusingthistechniqueoruseitasaprecursortoyourregularreadingtechniques.

Thescanningtechniqueisthenextmethodtochoose.Scanningallowsyoutolookforspecificbitsandpiecesof informationinthetextsuchasnames,numbers,andcentralideas.

ThenexttechniquetoadoptisknownasMetaguiding.WithMetaguiding,youcanmakeuseof apaceroraguidethatyouwillrununderthewordsandsentences.Youcanuseyourfingerorarulerorevenathread.Aslongasitguidesyourvision,youcanmakeuseof it.

Remembertotakeadvantageof theonlineweb.Youcaneasily learntospeedreadbymakinguseof speed-readingsoftwarebutyoumustlookforthebestandmostefficientone.

When you start speed-reading, you need to break some of your old habits.Some of these old habits include fixation, regression and sub vocalization.Effectivelyeliminatingallof thesewillhelpyoubetteryourreadingskills.

Thereisacertainlifestylethatyouneedtotakeupwhenyouwishtospeedreadwithease.These includeeatingbrainhealthyfoodsandnotconsumingthosethatarebadforyourhealth,sleepingontimeetc.Allthesewillgoalongwayinhelpingyouimproveyourspeed-readingskillsandyourhealthingeneral.

Youneed to takeup speed-reading as a lifestyle choice andnot amere fancyactivitythatyouwishtoabandonwithinacoupleof days.Maintainadailyrecordof yourprogressandyouwillknowhowusefulitreallyistospeed-readsomething.

CCONCLUSION

ongratulations!Youhavecometotheendof thisbook.Wecoveredmuchmaterialonhowtoincreaseyourreadingspeedandcomprehensionbyasmuchas300%. In Chapter 1, you learned the basics of speed-reading including theimportance of speed-reading, the common obstacles to reading faster and theimportanceof understandingthethingsyourreadorcomprehension.InChapter2,you read about how to prepare well for your speed-reading sessions, includingassessing your words-per-minute (reading speed) and effective-words-per-minute(comprehension). In Chapters 3 to 4, you learned key speed-reading andcomprehension techniques and exercises to help youmaster the techniques evenmore. Next, you learned how to maximize the benefits of the techniques andexercisesyoulearnedbysupplementingthemwithnon-readingapproachesliketheoptimal reading environment, improving focus, eating the right foods, exercising,gettingenoughqualitysleepandMORE.

What’snext?It’sbeensaidthatknowingisjusthalf thebattle.Theotherhalf isapplyingthatknowledge.Thatbeingsaid,Ihighlyencourageyoutostartapplyingthe techniques and doing the exercises, to help you master the techniques evenbetter,consistentlyforthenextfewweeks.Notethatincreasingyourreadingspeedandcomprehensionbyupto300%doesn’tnormallyhappenovernightbutaswithmostdisciplines,consistency,patienceandperseverancewillhelpyoudothat.Stickwith theexercisesandyou’ll see the results ina fewweeks.Here’s toyourspeed-readingsuccess!Cheers!