Fast Reading: Sprinting Through Any Book

For the majority of readers today, making it through a People magazine in less than two hours is their idea of fast reading. And that includes the captions about Britney Spears and her latest fashion faux pas. Emphasis on reading slacked off for several years. Book report were not as prevalent in required class work, and library attendance was down. Of course, this is also before the world had ever heard of Harry Potter, Hogwarts, or an author named Rowling.  

Thanks to certain recent reading programs that have been implemented in school throughout the country, interest in reading is making a comeback. Students are not only learning how to read better, they are also learning to read faster than before.

The concept is fast reading is not at all new.  Although it has its critics, this idea was experimented with by the Air Force and Harvard Business School.  Machines were invented and used in the forties to speed up reading.  Schoolteacher Evelyn Wood developed what she called the “Wood Method” in the late fifties; by moving her hand across a page, Wood found she could focus on and remember words better without having to read every word on the page.

Her fast reading method was later called “Reading Dynamics” and endorsed by such prominent figures as former President John F. Kennedy.

Fast Reading Styles and Know How

There are three main ways that fast reading is practiced:

1) Scanning
2) Skimming
3) Keyword Reading

Scanning is a fast reading method used to locate specific information quickly rather than reading the entire document word for word. It is a much more efficient way of going through several pages of content in a short amount of time.  Scanning would be an excellent fast reading avenue for sifting out irrelevant information on web sites.

Skimming is another fast reading method that may seem very similar to scanning, but they are different; scanning is reading only the areas in which your desired subject is mentioned based on chapter descriptions or sub-headings.  Skimming is picking out highlight of the particular document or book.  Think of it as mentally summarizing the material.  Movie critics do not lay out the movie they are reviewing scene-by-scene; they give you the main theme and just enough description so you have an idea what you are going to see.  That is what you are doing when skimming a book, web site, or other document.
A third way to more effectively cover large amounts of material in a minimal amount of time is using a keyword in the text; highlight it in your mind and use the skimming technique to locate that word.  Using this method is like flying over a city in a helicopter; you can choose certain familiar buildings to get an idea of how to navigate.  Keyword reading helps you get an idea about the subject of the content you are reading.  Popular keywords used by the author can usually be found in the main title and within the first paragraph. 

Tips for Improving Reading Speed and Comprehension