By Jeff Tan
Why Efficient and Effective Reading Skills are Critical in the Info Age
The Information Age is a boon to any businessman, entrepreneur or anyone wanting to get ahead in life. Information is unrestricted and on demand. The downside is that too much information becomes available and sifting through everything to find "the solution" becomes a monumental task. It's for this very reason that many have successfully turned to speed reading as the best and most efficient way to stay ahead.
What exactly is this phenomenal skill called speed reading and how does it work?
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
- John Wooden, legendary American basketball coach
The Lies!
Perhaps a peek into why everyone isn't a speed reader is a good place to start. Despite the obvious benefits of speed reading, people give all sorts of reasons and excuses as to why speed reading won't or can't work for them. For example:
• Speed reading is too tough to master
• I'm too young / I'm too old
• I don't believe speed reading works
• Comprehension and retention drops with faster reading
• Every word is important, the book must be read from cover to cover
The Truth!
The truth is that these reasons have not withstood the scrutiny of testing. Instead, since the first formal speed reading course was offered in 1925 by Syracuse University in the USA, research and studies of the brain and reading have provided very interesting results - all of which run contrary to the popular reasons and excuses for not being a speed reader. What is known today about reading and the eye-brain connection says that:
• There is no age limit for those who want to learn read faster. If you know how to read and are still able to read, you can speed read!
• Between 50 and 80% of words in any written material are not necessary. Readers can understand the meaning of the book even if these words are taken out. Examples of such words are "a", "an", "the", "and", "so", "these".
• Similarly, not every paragraph is important, and not all chapters are essentially reading for comprehension. In other words, chunks can be skipped with no loss in understanding and comprehension.
• The human eye and mind can read several words at a glance and not just one word at a time.
• Saying the words out loud, called vocalizing, slows reading down as the brain understands audible words at a maximum rate of 250 words per minute, although clusters of words can be visually understood at a rate of 2000 words per minute
The Need for Speed (or ways to slow you down)
What really slows a reader down when using normal reading habits? The most heinous crimes are:
Reading aimlessly. Without a clearly stated purpose, the brain will not work efficiently and will unconsciously command the eyes to slow down and look for words and phrases that appear to give a meaning and purpose for reading. It's the same as going for a holiday without knowing the final destination!
Vocalizing. Saying the words out loud slows reading to a maximum of 250 words per minute as that's how fast the brain can understand the spoken word.
Regression. Instead of constantly moving forward when reading, many are guilty of reading and re-reading words, sentences or paragraphs because they "didn't get it" the first time through. Reading and re-reading slows down the entire reading process and studies have shown that re-reading has no significant effect on understanding or comprehension. So why bother? Onward and forward please!
Reading one-word-at-a-time. This is how kids learnt to read and many adults now fear that skipping words leads to poor comprehension, and so every word must savored, cherished and honored! But as mentioned earlier, a human's eyes and brains can grab chunks of words in a single eye sweep across the sentence without compromising on comprehension. So why settle for less?
"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can."
- Unknown Author
The Secrets to Speed Reading
Using a very simple yet effective 3 step plan, it's off to the races with speed reading! The 3 steps are:
Step 1 - Relax. Research into the brain has concluded that the mind works best when in a state of relaxed attentiveness. Anyone who has swung a golf club at that little innocent white ball will know this all too well! In the case of speed reading, a tense mind leads to tense eye muscles and an agitated brain, which in turn leads to a very distracted brain with a reduced flow of information from the eye to the brain. To enter a state of relaxed attentiveness is simple. Start by closing your eyes, take a few deep breaths and say the words "I'm relaxed now". And smile! Repeat these steps a few times until relaxation rushes through the body. It's that easy.
Step 2 - Prepare. This is the same as warming up before exercising and begin by asking the question, "Why am I reading this book?" Is it for information? To answer a specific question? As research material? Maybe just for fun! The point is that the brain produces miraculous results when it knows what it's supposed to do! Imagine looking for a specific location in a street directory but not knowing where you are and where you want to go! Reading is exactly the same.
The second part to the preparation stage is to preview the book by reading all the information on the front and back covers, inside the book jacket, and the table of contents. Although the "just do it" attitude is a wonderful call to action, almost all adults love (or must have in many cases) a frame of reference before starting any task. Previewing a book does this for the brain.
Step 3 - Speed Read. There are so many different methods to speed read, but these three simple steps will create incredible results.
• Keep the mouth and mind silent when reading. Saying the words verbally or mentally serves no useful purpose and only slows down the reading.
• Keep moving forward when reading. If the urge to go backwards creeps in - kill the urge and keep moving forward!
• Use a pacer (a pen, a pencil, or a finger) and push it across each sentence faster than the mouth can verbalize the words. This simple action automatically increases reading speeds and forces the eyes to take bigger gulps of information as the pacer sweeps across. It also prevents vocalizing each word, a habit that's one of the four deadly sins of slow readers. Using a pacer to read is possibly the easiest way anyone can increase reading speeds immediately, quickly and effectively.
The limits to speed reading - are there any?
There are opposing camps to this question. Keeping in mind that the average person reads at about 200wpm, some reading experts insist the upper limit is 300wpm, some say 900wpm, while others claim the upper limit exceeds 25,000wpm. That's not a mistake, 25,000wpm or a page a second!
Who's right? Incredible as it may sound, a technique called PhotoReading allows readers to read in excess of 25,000wpm. Developed in the USA by Paul Scheele in the 1980s, this unique method teaches people how to use the untapped potential of the brain and omnipotent unconscious mind to "photograph" pages at a glance. The information is stored in the unconscious memory, and can be activated or recalled later through a variety of methods. PhotoReading has also proven very useful to people with reading challenges, especially those blessed with the gift of dyslexia. From being labeled "slow" or having a "learning disorder", PhotoReading allows them to utilize their unique reading and learning styles and flourish.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."
- Aristotle
It seems that Aristotle had speed reading in mind when he wrote about the link between habit and excellence! Regardless of whether the reading target is 200 words per minute, 800 words per minute, or PhotoReading speeds of 25,000 words per minute, once the techniques of speed reading are ingrained and become habit, reading excellence is but a delightfully divine byproduct!
This article appeared in the June 2006 BizShanghai Magazine, and July 2006 XL Magazine.
By Jeff Tan
Jeff Tan is a Peak Performance Pilot, Motivational Speaker, Life Coach and main Trainer of REV Training and Coaching. For more information, email him personally at jeff.tan@revtc.com, visit his blog at http://rev-tc.blogspot.com, or visit his website at http://www.revtc.com.
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