Breaking News: Speechify and Stanford University Announce Site Wide License.

150k 5 star reviews & 20M+ downloads

Techniques for speed reading

Featured in

    Faster reading is something that requires time and effort. Learn more about how to boost your reading speed in this article.

    Whether you’re reading a massive nonfiction book, a short Wikipedia entry, or any other type of reading material, having the ability to read words faster means that you will get more value out of your reading session and have more time in the day for other tasks and activities. As with learning any new skills, though, faster reading is something that requires time and effort. 

    Thankfully, there are several apps, courses, and reading strategies that can help you improve your reading speed and reading comprehension alike. To help you boost your reading ability, let’s take a closer look at some of these proven speed reading techniques and tools. 

    Overview of reading speeds

    It’s first worth mentioning that everyone has different levels of reading skills. Any average you see about reading time, therefore, is simply that – an average. Nevertheless, it can still be helpful to compare your own reading speed to that of the average reader to see where you stand and to find out how much room for improvement you have. 

    According to Scholar Within, the average reading speed of adults in the United States is 238 words per minute (WPM). When reading aloud, this average reading speed drops to 183 WPM.

    Of course, reading speed alone isn’t the only important factor to consider; a person could quickly skim a page and say that they read it in a matter of seconds, but comprehending what they’ve read is a different matter. Reading comprehension, therefore, is an important consideration as well. According to Reading Soft, a reading comprehension rate of 60% is considered average, while those who are able to comprehend 85% or more of what they read are considered excellent readers. 

    How to calculate your own reading speed

    You can calculate your reading speed by simply reading a page of known word count then dividing that word count by how many minutes it takes for you to finish reading the page. Alternatively, you can also take an online reading speed test such as this test offered by Reading Soft. 

    Ways you can increase reading speed yourself

    Whether you are a slow reader, a fast reader, or somewhere in-between, there is always room for improvement. If you would like to speed up your reading rate without sacrificing comprehension, here are a few proven strategies to try: 

    1) Read more often 

    Like anything else, reading is something that you get better at with practice. Adjusting your reading habits so that you consume more reading material is sure to help you sharpen your reading skills and prevent regression. Best of all, you are likely to gain a lot of new knowledge along the way as well. 

    2) Silence your inner monologue 

    Your inner monologue, known as subvocalization, is the process of speaking words in your head as you read. Subvocalization is a common habit among most readers. However, it’s also one of the bad habits that might be slowing down your reading speed. 

    When you vocalize words in your head as part of your reading process, you are probably going to read at roughly the same rate that you speak. It should come as no surprise then, that the average reading rate is about the same as the average rate at which people speak. 

    If you want to increase the number of words that you are able to read per minute, ditching subvocalization is an important first step. It may take a little time and practice before you are able to read words visually without any type of vocalization. Once you are able to get past this barrier, though, speed reading becomes much easier. 

    3) Read in chunks 

    When we first learn to read, reading a single word at a time is what most of us are taught to do. However, processing groups of words at once is obviously going to be much faster than processing a single word at a time. 

    Many people learn to read in chunks on their own without ever even thinking about it. For others, breaking the habit of reading individual words takes a little more time and purposeful effort. If you fall into the latter category, try reading by focusing on two or three words in a single glance, continuing line for line down the page in this manner. In time, you can train your brain to read larger chunks of text than this and can even use your peripheral vision to read entire lines in a single glance. 

    4) Avoid re-reading 

    If you watch the eye movement of someone who is reading, you are likely to notice a lot of jittery, back-and-forth movement instead of steady, even movements across the page. This is because most people spend a lot of time re-reading text they’ve already read. While it’s sometimes necessary to re-read a line for comprehension and retention it, this habit probably isn’t helping your reading comprehension as much as you think – and it’s certainly hurting your reading speed. By limiting the amount of time you spend re-reading, you’ll spend less time on each section.

    Technologies that can help you become a speed reader

    Along with the reading strategies we’ve covered above, there are several apps that can help improve your reading ability, including apps such as: 

    1) Reading Trainer 

    Reading Trainer is a popular reading comprehension app that offers a variety of fun games and exercises designed to improve your reading skills. From improving the coordination of your eye movements to teaching you how to read entire lines at a time, this app can offer a lot of benefits and is completely free to download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. 

    2) Reedy 

    We’ve already explained how reading one word at a time is the slowest way to read. However, that isn’t true in the case of the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) reading strategy. This strategy entails displaying text one word at a time in rapid succession in order to limit eye movement. While there are several apps that can enable you to read digital text in this manner, Reedy is one of the best. 

    3) Speechify 

    If you are still struggling to read at an acceptable rate, utilizing a text-to-speech app such as Speechify is a great option to consider. With Speechify, you can listen to any online text or digital document instead of having to read it yourself and can adjust the speed at which text is read so that you can consume material as fast as you can comprehend it.

    Featuring high-quality AI voices that sound just like real human narrators, advanced note-taking features, and much more, Speechify enables an exciting new reading experience that isn’t bound by your reading speed. If you’re a fan of audiobooks and podcasts, you might enjoy the text-to-speech experience. To see if Speechify is the right choice for you, be sure to sign up for a free trial of Speechify Premium today! 

    Cliff Weitzman

    Cliff Weitzman

    Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.

    Dyslexia & Accessibility Advocate, CEO/Founder of Speechify Dyslexia & Accessibility Advocate, CEO/Founder of Speechify

    Recent Blogs

    • Speechify founder discusses future of AI with the Everyday AI podcast
      Speechify founder discusses future of AI with the Everyday AI podcast
      Arrow
    • Define Videos: Unraveling the World of Moving Images and Digital Content
      Define Videos: Unraveling the World of Moving Images and Digital Content
      Arrow
    • How to make your MP3 louder: audio enhancement
      How to make your MP3 louder: audio enhancement
      Arrow
    • Decoding the wonders of Google Translate for the Chinese language
      Decoding the wonders of Google Translate for the Chinese language
      Arrow
    • Understanding the rich history of the Pennsylvania Dutch language
      Understanding the rich history of the Pennsylvania Dutch language
      Arrow
    • Navigating language diversity with the Holland language Dutch
      Navigating language diversity with the Holland language Dutch
      Arrow
    • The French language is spoken in which countries
      The French language is spoken in which countries
      Arrow
    • What you should know about the French Language
      What you should know about the French Language
      Arrow
    • Unlocking fluency with a guide to French Language Lessons
      Unlocking fluency with a guide to French Language Lessons
      Arrow
    • Understand the diversity of Chinese languages
      Understand the diversity of Chinese languages
      Arrow
    • How to get audio reading free of charge online
      How to get audio reading free of charge online
      Arrow
    • The 5 best Scottish accent generators
      The 5 best Scottish accent generators
      Arrow
    • The 5 best essay readers for enhanced reading and learning
      The 5 best essay readers for enhanced reading and learning
      Arrow
    • A comprehensive guide to French accents copy and paste 
      A comprehensive guide to French accents copy and paste 
      Arrow
    • Improve your pronunciation: a guide from English to IPA
      Improve your pronunciation: a guide from English to IPA
      Arrow
    • Language learning made easy: IPA to English 
      Language learning made easy: IPA to English 
      Arrow
    • A guide to mastering text and reading
      A guide to mastering text and reading
      Arrow
    • What to know about the Ukrainian language
      What to know about the Ukrainian language
      Arrow
    • Discovering the Vietnamese Language
      Discovering the Vietnamese Language
      Arrow
    • Exploring language translation: from Vietnamese to many others
      Exploring language translation: from Vietnamese to many others
      Arrow
    • Understanding Hindi: India’s special language
      Understanding Hindi: India’s special language
      Arrow
    • Discovering the Czech Language: the heart of Czechia
      Discovering the Czech Language: the heart of Czechia
      Arrow
    • Discovering the languages of Lithuania
      Discovering the languages of Lithuania
      Arrow
    • The Hindi language: India’s linguistic heartbeat
      The Hindi language: India’s linguistic heartbeat
      Arrow
    • Ukrainian language vs Russian language: explore the differences
      Ukrainian language vs Russian language: explore the differences
      Arrow
    • The Ukrainian Language: its history and culture
      The Ukrainian Language: its history and culture
      Arrow
    • Explore the world of TTS testing: enhancing Text-to-Speech technology
      Explore the world of TTS testing: enhancing Text-to-Speech technology
      Arrow
    • Embracing the future children’s literacy: exploring Google’s Read Along app
      Embracing the future children’s literacy: exploring Google’s Read Along app
      Arrow
    • Boost creativity with text font generators: a guide to text copy
      Boost creativity with text font generators: a guide to text copy
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      The Best Celebrity Voice Generators in 2023
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      YouTube Text to Speech: Elevating Your Video Content with Speechify
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      The 7 best alternatives to Synthesia.io
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Everything you need to know about text to speech on TikTok
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      The 10 best text-to-speech apps for Android
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      How to convert a PDF to speech
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      The top girl voice changers
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      How to use Siri text to speech
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Obama text to speech
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Robot Voice Generators: The Futuristic Frontier of Audio Creation
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      PDF Read Aloud: Free & Paid Options
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Alternatives to FakeYou text to speech
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      All About Deepfake Voices
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      TikTok voice generator
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Text to speech GoAnimate
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      The best celebrity text to speech voice generators
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      PDF Audio Reader
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      How to get text to speech Indian voices
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Elevating Your Anime Experience with Anime Voice Generators
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Best text to speech online
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Top 50 movies based on books you should read
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Download audio
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      How to use text-to-speech for Quandale Dingle meme sounds
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Top 5 apps that read out text
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      The top female text to speech voices
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Female voice changer
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Sonic text to speech voice generator online
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Best AI voice generators – The Ultimate List
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Voice changer
      Arrow
    • Improve reading comprehension with ReadWorks: a guide for educators and learners
      Text to speech in Powerpoint
      Arrow
    footer-waves