Tips For Beginners to Speed Reading

By Kathy Glee

All of us desire to be speed readers. How many of us have reached our goal? Speed reading is a self improvement tool that can be mastered by anyone with little patience and hard work. Let us first understand the difference between normal reading and speed reading.

An average reader can read about 200-400 words in a minute while a speed reader can read three times that in the same time. How do we get started and become speed readers? Here are some simple tips to help you achieve your goal.

1. Keep thinking about improving your reading speed. The more you think about it the more conscious you will be of your current speed and the faster you will learn to speed read
2. Try to mentally make a list of information that you are looking for in the matter you are about to read. This will help you focus on looking for the information and not waste time finding what you want.
3. Point at the text using a finger or pencil as you read. Keep moving the pointer at a pace faster than you read. Try to read faster than the pace of the pointer. With time you will be able to achieve a faster reading speed. Using a pointer also helps you from getting distracted and holds your focus.
4. Keep a dictionary handy. You will lose time looking at the word meaning in the dictionary but this will improve your vocabulary and will dissuade you from re-reading. Over a period of time you can do away with the dictionary and continue with the flow of reading without being unsure of the meaning.
5. Use a book mark to hide the text as you read. This will ensure that you do not read the same text again and again to capture the meaning.
6. Look out for words that you can avoid yet not lose the context of reading. Some words like if, however, why, what can be avoided in a reading matter wherein you are looking for opinion. Eliminating such words from your eye span can reduce considerable amount of time.
7. Skimming words can save a lot of time. Some words repeat or are used again to convey the same meaning. Skimming such words will not reduce comprehension but will improve your reading speed.
8. Be conscious of how you read. Do you have to read aloud to understand word meanings? Practice reading with eyes and avoid reading by hearing. Lot of time is spent on vocalizing each word, hearing them and then understanding the meaning. Once you break this habit, you reading speed can be improved up to three times
9. Get yourself a solitary space to start practicing this technique. Distraction in the form of sound or sight can lower your reading speed and decrease concentration.
10. Be sure to start practicing with simple and interesting reading material. Serious and boring reading matter can bog your spirits down in the beginning.

Once you start, keep the practice on till speed reading becomes a habit.

If you're interested in learning more about speed reading, and reading comprehension, then sign up for my free Speed Reading Newsletter. Super-useful time-saving tips will be emailed directly to your inbox 3x a week. It's quick and easy to sign up, and it's absolutely free! Click here: http://www.speedreadingisreal.com/

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