Click Here To Learn How To Speed Read The Fast Way
calculate reading speed
When you’re reading for pleasure, it’s always best to savor each and every word. But when you have to read lengthy e-mails from your boss or master several chapters for tomorrow’s lecture, speed reading is a skill that can come in handy. Speed reading enables you to save time by reading faster while maintaining the same level of comprehension. The benefits of speed reading are immense, especially when you’re in a fast-moving environment that requires you to absorb large amounts of information as quickly as possible. But there’s no need for you to fork over hundreds of dollars for training seminars and books – you can increase speed reading all by yourself. Here’s how.
Determine your baseline speed
Before working on speed reading techniques, you need to determine how fast you can read. This will help you increase speed reading by making it easy to keep track of your progress. The average person can read 250-350 words of fiction or non-technical texts per minute, but a fast reading speed is between 500-700 words per minute. Grab a good book and calculate the number of words in the page by counting the number of words in the first five lines. Divide this by five to get the average number of words per line. Count the number of lines in the next five pages and divide this by five to obtain the average number of lines on each page. Multiply both figures to obtain the average number of words on each page.
With a stopwatch, set the time for exactly one minute and read at your regular pace. When the time is up, count the number of lines you’ve read and multiply this by the words-per-line to find out how many words you read per minute.
Use a tracker
You can increase speed reading if you use a tracker – your finger, a pen, or any pointed object. A tracker will help you maintain a smooth and consistent eye motion so you don’t waste time looking at irrelevant words. Hold your tracker with your writing hand and pass it through each line. Keep your eye focused above the tip of your tracker. A tracker will not only guide your eyes, but it will also help you pace yourself so you can maintain consistent reading speed.
Learn to adjust your speed accordingly
The most common mistake students make is to trade reading comprehension for speed. Sure, you’ve been able to increase speed reading, but speed reading techniques are useless if you do not understand what you read. The trick to maintaining your level of comprehension is to adjust your speed according to the text you are reading. Determine what kind of text you are reading and decide how fast you want to go. If you’re reading the papers, you probably only want to get to the main points. But if you are reading a philosophical treatise, you need to take your time to understand the concepts. In general, speed up when you encounter familiar ideas, unnecessary explanations and examples, and restated ideas. Slow down when you come across unfamiliar terms, abstract concepts, or difficult sentences.
About the Author:
John E Laing is an Speed Reading expert. For more information on Increase Speed Reading, visit http://www.SpeedReadingCenter.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Increase Speed Reading
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