Speed reading techniques

It’s no secret that we live in a day and age where time is the most important currency. As such, we’re always on the lookout for new skills to save it and do more with our 24h. The same goes for reading process, regardless of whether it’s studying, reading professional documents, or information retention from emails.

To get the basics as fast as possible, many people opt for speed reading. In just a few seconds or minutes, spreeders are capable of overseeing lengthy passages and coming out of them with basic knowledge. Hence, if you want to improve your reading habits and average reading speed, we’ll let you in on how to up your reading skills.

The basics of speed reading

Speed reading is a technique of reading text quickly. With it, speed readers can enjoy fiction and non-fiction books, documents, and emails in less time than it would take to read them thoroughly. But despite common belief, speed reading isn’t subvocalization, regression, or just using your peripheral vision to get the most words per minute (WPM) score.

In essence, it isn’t always necessarily interesting to read words. Nevertheless, we still have to do it for various reasons. But when there’s no enthusiasm about doing something, we’ll end up doing it sloppily. This is where speed reading comes in. It allows us to go through boring content in no time and still retain basic knowledge about the information inside.

How to improve your focus and concentration

Regardless of whether you’re reading, listening, or watching, it’s key to concentrate so that you can retain information. Moreover, this means focusing closely on the material in hand and processing it in your mind simultaneously. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible for all of us. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t change that.

Improving your focus and concentration is possible through simple practices. These include eliminating distractions such as vocalization, reducing multitasking, and—most importantly—getting more sleep. By doing these three, your ability to follow up on reading, listening, or watching will be immensely better. But what about tips on speed reading? Well, let’s find out.

Tips for increasing your reading speed

Any speed reading course will teach you the following reading tips:

• Scan for keywords: Keywords are nouns and adjectives in sentences that provide the basic idea of what’s written. By going over a passage, you should look for individual words instead of reading every single word like average readers. Once you do so, you’ll be able to understand the main gist and comprehend the material better.
• Skip ahead: Most passages have only two important sentences. These are the first and the last one. By reading just the two of them, you’ll be able to understand the basics without the need of going through the entire text. This is a common speed reading technique that will save you time and concentration for further reading. Still, don’t turn it into a bad habit.
• Make content relatable: A simple way to prevent bad reading and remember what you’ve just read is to make the text relatable to previous experiences. For example, when studying forensic science, you can connect it to a Criminal Minds episode, and it will stay on your mind map better than remembering a huge number of words.
• Listening instead of reading: Another great tip for going through reading material quickly and efficiently is by using a text-to-speech app. These apps transcribe written content into audio, which ups comprehension rates and allows for multitasking. It’s also great for those who struggle with focus and concentration.

Use Speechify — a text to speech reader

Text to speech apps don’t get any better than Speechify. This is the world’s number one rated assistive tool for transcribing written words into speech. It’s based on optical character recognition, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. These three allow slow readers to turn any digital text into fully listenable audio with natural-sounding narration.

All this makes for faster comprehension of the material than simply reading it from A to Z. It’s perfect for dyslexics, people with ADHD, and anyone else who’d like to save time. And if you add to that the option to adjust the reading speed, you get a perfect speed reading tool in none other than Speechify.

The benefits of speed reading

The most important benefits of speed reading are lowering reading time and material comprehension. By its definition, speed reading refers to going through text more quickly than reading thoroughly. As such, it will save you time for doing other activities during the day, or to multitask and get more done at the moment.

On the other hand, reading comprehension is just as significant as saving time, if not even more critical. Although some would think differently, comprehending what’s in the text in front of you through speed reading is more than possible. By looking for keywords and listening to audio, you get the main idea behind any written content.

FAQs

What is speed reading?

Speed reading is a technique that allows for faster reading. With this reading ability, the person has a clear idea of written content without taking the time to read the text thoroughly.

What are some speed reading techniques?

Some basic speed reading techniques include scanning for keywords, skipping ahead, making the content relatable, and taking notes.

Scanning text for keywords consists of engaging in eye movement across the page until you underline certain groups of words. These will be nouns and adjectives since they are all we need to retain the key points of the content before us. It’s like reviewing the table of contents.

Skipping ahead means reading only the first and last sentences of a paragraph. If in the first one you find something you already know, reading the rest will be unnecessary, as you’ll only need the conclusion in the last sentence.

Making content relatable refers to connecting the text you’re reading with your personal previous experiences. For example, if you’re studying forensic science, connect it to a Criminal Minds episode, and you’ll remember it more easily.

Taking notes is a super easy way to remember what you’ve just read. Once you’re done with a passage, take notes of the essential information. Days later, by simply reading them, you’ll be able to recall the whole thing.