Memorization technique for fast reading. How to increase the speed of reading without losing the quality of perception of information to save your time

Everyone's reading speed is different, but on average it is 200 words per minute. By practicing speed reading, you can increase this figure by 2-3 times. By continuing to train, you will be able to overcome about 200 pages of text in half an hour without compromising the assimilation of information.

Basic Speed ​​Reading Techniques

Like everyone scientific method, speed reading has its own tricks.



  1. Follow the text. To do this, follow the lines with your finger or pencil. This technique will allow you to read faster.


  2. Don't go back. To do this, you need to concentrate on the material that you are studying. How often have you missed the point of a paragraph or even an entire page when you thought about it? Your task is to prevent this. Understand what you read the first time.


  3. Do not speak the text to yourself. This technique helps to pump the speed reading skill very well, since you will no longer waste time pronouncing words. To do this, use one exercise: while reading, sing a song to yourself, for example, "in the grass", and at the same time try to assimilate the meaning of what you read. Practice this exercise until you stop saying the lines you read to yourself.


  4. Read from top to bottom or diagonally. This is the next step after the "watch the text" approach. You are already skilled enough at speed reading to try to capture a whole paragraph in your field of vision, or at least a whole line, focusing your eyes on its middle. Start small. First master narrow columns of text, gradually moving to a standard book format.


  5. Skip the water. Interjections, introductory constructions and other irrelevant elements are not necessary to read at all, this will not affect the meaning in any way. So just "slip" over them with your eyes and move on to the very essence.


  6. Focus on what matters. This advice may seem similar to the previous one, but here it is a little different. Read the table of contents first and prioritize what you need to read and what you can skip. Thus, due to lack of time, you will not miss anything important, and if there is time left, you can study less important materials.


  7. Reading, read. Eliminate all irritants, anything that can distract your attention. Then the process of speed reading will go much more pleasant and easier.

How to develop peripheral vision

To do this, use the most popular method - the Schulte table. Your task, concentrating only on the central part of the table, is to find all the numbers in ascending order, while using only peripheral vision. On the Internet you can find special table simulators, below is an example of such a table.

Develop concentration

All sorts of things will help you in this matter. optical illusions, for example, the iconic Covey drawing.



Try to switch your attention 90 times in 10, and preferably 5 minutes.

One of the most important human needs is the need for new knowledge and self-improvement. That's why people learn foreign languages play sports, study musical instruments. At the heart of the development of each skill is the acquisition of information. How fast a person reads determines the speed at which he learns something new.

Speed ​​reading is an incredibly useful skill that does not require special talents to master. If you have the desire, perseverance and a little time, you can easily master speed reading at home.

Why Read Fast

Who will benefit from the development of speed reading? The answer to this question is extremely simple. Anyone who seeks to learn new things, this skill will be useful. By learning how to learn speed reading and spending a few months practicing it, you can save a huge amount of time later on.

In turn, slow reading is not always justified. Most people do not read books to the end precisely because of the time consuming. Also, when reading slowly, there are high chances of losing interest in the plot and, again, abandoning the book without finishing it.

For some specialists, reading thematic literature is part of their job responsibilities, giving them the opportunity to grow, develop and become an expert in their field. For these people, mastering the technique of speed reading is a professional necessity.

What is shorthand

Let's define what speed reading is and at what speed you need to read.

The standard speed of perception is 150-250 words per minute. At the same time, 1-3 minutes are spent on a page of printed text. Speed ​​reading means mastering the skill of reading from 500 to 3000 words at the same time. True, in this case, the term "read" is not entirely appropriate. Speed ​​reading in essence is the analysis of the text and the choice of the main thing. That is, some of the information is simply ignored. The goal is to learn to focus on those sentences and phrases that carry the maximum meaning, and skip the "water" that does not affect the understanding of the essence.

The secret of great people

Surprisingly, the speed reading technique appeared in the Middle Ages and was familiar to many famous people.

For example, Joseph Stalin was the owner of a huge library. Reading was a daily activity for him. He read five hundred pages of text at a time, while he liked to highlight the main ideas with pencils.

The American president was proud of his speed reading skills. It was not a problem for him to read an entire book at once.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin read very quickly. In addition, we know about his Biography, he could reproduce almost verbatim by heart with all significant dates.

The speed reading technique was also owned by Karl Marx, Napoleon Bonaparte, John F. Kennedy, Adolf Hitler. Maybe that's what made them successful in their field.

When is the speed reading method useful?

If we talk about speed reading, then you need to consider one more thing. This method is mainly used for reading scientific and technical literature, reports, Internet articles, news reports in newspapers, that is, the material that brings new knowledge.

Poems and fiction designed for very different purposes. In fiction, we are not looking for answers to the questions posed, but simply enjoy the process of reading. The whole value of literary texts lies in their impact on the emotions, feelings of a person and the use of his imagination. It is possible to read such literature quickly, but it is absolutely meaningless.

Is it possible to learn speed reading at home

Nowadays, there are many specialized courses that "for little money" promise to teach everyone to read at a speed of up to 3000 words per minute. Training sessions last from a month to three. But is it worth spending time and money on attending such courses if you can develop speed reading at home without any investment? Such selfeducation even has its advantages:

  • The free choice of time for classes makes it possible to conduct training at those hours when it will be most convenient and fruitful.
  • Speed ​​reading teaching methods and exercise descriptions are public information that can be found in special manuals sold in any bookstore.
  • No distractions.
  • Possibility, choosing the duration of classes, to control the time of training.

Someone may be interested in the opinion of people who took courses to master speed reading. Feedback on their effectiveness is not always positive. Often, in order to achieve noticeable results, additional independent practice is required at the end. But the very skill of speed reading speaks only with praise. None of those who have mastered this ability regretted the time and effort spent.

Learning to read quickly. What is needed for that?

To master speed reading at home, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic principles of this skill.

The first rule is not to "jump" while reading. You need to look through the text from beginning to end, without stopping and not rereading incomprehensible fragments. You will see, when you read to the end of a paragraph or page, everything that was unclear will become clear without rereading.

The second rule is to highlight a few key words in each of the sentences. It is not necessary to read the entire sentence or paragraph from beginning to end, it is important to catch and remember only the key words.

The third rule is not to be distracted. Speed ​​reading will not give any results if you do not concentrate on what you are reading. The reader must be completely immersed in the process, because it is important not only to read, but also to fix in memory useful information.

Why do we read slowly?

Anyone who is wondering how to develop speed reading will be useful to know what prevents us from reading quickly.

1. Reading indiscriminately. When we read, we pay attention to everything. To get acquainted with the main idea, we spend as much time as reading lyrical digressions that do not carry any semantic load and do not contain useful information. As already mentioned, to save time, the speed reading technique involves determining the main idea and ignoring the “water” in the text.

2. Repetition of what has been read. Each of us has bad habit from childhood - to return with a glance to a sentence that has just been read. When a child develops vocabulary, such repetitions are useful. But as adults, we do it just out of habit.

3. Reading to yourself. When reading aloud, we can do it faster or slower, depending on the pace of reading and diction. When we read to ourselves, our brain, as it were, conducts a monologue, "pronouncing" the information that we are getting acquainted with. The speed of perception of the text cannot be higher than the speed of this internal monologue. Therefore, if you decide to master the speed reading method, the first thing you need to do is "muffle the internal speaker" and learn to perceive information without saying it to yourself.

4. Field of view. A narrow field of view can significantly slow down the reading process. If a person has a well-developed peripheral vision, he uses it when perceiving the text, which is displayed at the speed of reading. For those who wish to master speed reading on their own, exercises to expand the field of vision are a must.

5. Inattention can be a problem at any speed. The inability to concentrate on the process of reading is the main reason that information is not remembered, no matter how fast you read. The speed reading technique implies the parallel development of the ability to abstract from external stimuli and focus on the text.

Exercises to Increase Reading Speed

How to start learning shorthand? Exercise is the key to success. Performing simple tasks on a regular basis practical tasks contributes to the development of the qualities necessary for the rapid assimilation of information.

Eliminate inner speech

It was previously mentioned that internal articulation is one of the main causes of low articulation. There are methods to combat it:

  • Count to yourself from ten to one. Try to understand any text without losing count.
  • Do the same, but instead of counting, hum a song that you know by heart.
  • Tap out any rhythm while reading.

The principle of such an exercise is to “occupy your inner speaker” and learn to perceive the text without his participation.

Developing peripheral vision

If peripheral vision is developed at the proper level, a person may not waste time moving his eyes one line from left to right, but cover it with his eyes right away. This way of reading is called vertical. Moreover, by developing peripheral vision, you can read entire paragraphs or blocks of text at a glance.

At this stage, they will come to the rescue. A square is depicted on the sheet, the length of the sides of which is 20 cm. It is divided into five horizontal lines and five vertical lines. Thus, we get 25 cells, each of which contains numbers from 1 to 25 in random order. The finished square is placed at eye level (distance 25-30 cm).

The exercise itself consists in concentrating only on the middle square, using peripheral vision, to find the location of all the numbers from 1 to 25, and then in reverse order.

Another exercise that helps achieve the same goal is called the "Triangle". You need to select the text and type it in such a way that each line is wider than the previous one. For example, the first line has one word, the second has two, the third has three, and so on. As a result, we get a triangle consisting of text. When reading it, move your eyes only from top to bottom. Use peripheral vision to see the beginning and end of long lines.

Similar exercises can be done in Everyday life without devoting special time for classes. For example, while sitting at work, concentrate your eyes on some object and try to see what is happening around you. This will simultaneously be a charge to relieve tension from the eyes, and effective method effortlessly develop peripheral vision.

Learning to guess

Speed ​​reading means selective perception of the text. In order for you to get holistic useful information in the end, you need to learn logic and conjecture.

An assistant is needed to complete the exercises in this block. Immediately you need to select unfamiliar text and print it. The assistant darkens some parts of the text with a black marker, and you, while reading it, are trying to catch the meaning. First, you can choose simple texts to read. But over time, in order to train the skill, it is better to opt for unfamiliar topics and completely new terminology. The amount of hidden text should also gradually increase.

You can take a book and close a part of the text with a vertical strip 5 cm wide, and then read the rest. Make the strip wider over time.

It is worth devoting one hour to this practice 3-4 times a week, and in a month speed reading will begin to develop. Exercises for everyone, although at the very beginning they may seem difficult.

At what age can you teach speed reading to children

The vocabulary of a child is much smaller than that of an adult. When reading, he thinks, comprehends the material read and spends much more time for this. Even by ear, fast speech is perceived much worse by children. Therefore, it is possible to teach children speed reading only after they learn to fully comprehend the text they read on their own. This occurs at the age of approximately 14-15 years.

As you can see, developing speed reading at home is not so difficult task. Not only superheroes can read at a speed of more than 500 words per minute, but also ordinary people. Try it and you will learn this and by your own example you will see the value of such a skill.

In modern flows of written information, speed reading plays an important role in cognition and development.

Many people ask: How to learn to read quickly, what is the method of speed reading, what exercises should be performed to increase reading speed?

Today on site website you will learn not only how to teach yourself and your children to speed read, but also how to correctly perceive the text when speed reading, developing perception, memory and attention.

How to learn to read quickly - speed reading technique

The usual speed of reading an adult is 120-180 words per minute, if higher, then, as a rule, this is already viewing the text, and not reading with normal perception, understanding and memorization of what is read.

If you consciously understand the essence of how to quickly learn to read printed and written text, not for skimming, but for understanding and remembering required material, then performing simple exercises shorthand you are pretty quickly learn reading techniques at a speed of 600 to 1000 words per minute,those. 3-5 times faster than usual.

However, it should be understood that learning to read quickly does not mean that learning to instantly understand the meaning and quickly memorize what is read, for example, in fiction.

But for office work and business papers, speed reading is very suitable, provided that you clearly understand the essence of the working issue.

For example If you are a terminology-savvy bank employee, then your ability to quickly read contracts and so on will suit you, unlike ordinary person who, using the speed reading technique, will not understand the essence of the contract, say, a loan ...

In general, developed peripheral vision will suit you not only in speed reading, but also in the perception of any visual information (for example, instantaneous perception of car instruments and the situation on the road for instant decision making), i.e. where there is a lot of information for brain processing at the same time.

Schulte table - exercises for speed reading

One of the methods for the speed reading exercise is the Schulte table. You should take a standard book sheet of paper and draw on it a square Schulte table, consisting of five rows and five columns - numbers in a different order from 1 to 25. use cursor)

How to conduct speed reading exercises according to the Schulte table to learn how to read quickly:

  • Keep a distance from the eyes in the same way as in normal reading;
  • Fix your gaze on the center of the Schulte table and do not move it;
  • Look for numbers one by one in ascending order from 1 to 25 as quickly as possible, and most importantly, do not move your eyes (look with peripheral vision) and do not say the numbers out loud or to yourself;
  • Do not practice speed reading with tables to overwork;
  • As skill increases fast reading numbers (or letters in alphabetical order), you can expand tables by the number of rows and columns (6x6, 7x7, etc.)

Other speed reading techniques

Having practiced speed reading on Schulte tables, you can go directly to the text.

At first, to perform exercises in quick reading, it is worth taking texts in newspaper columns, because. there the lines are smaller than the usual book leaf. Then move on to broader texts.

It is important to learn to see (perceive) almost the entire line of text so that there are as few eye movements along the line as possible.

Also, for quick reading, it is important to learn to catch the basic concepts and theses in readable text and discard "water" (words that do not carry a special semantic load).

How to teach kids to read fast

To teach children peripheral vision and quick perception of information, for example, in the Schulte table, you can use pictures (pictures) instead of numbers.

Parents should understand that the child has object-figurative thinking, and not like an adult - verbal-logical, so he can be very tiring exercises for speed reading letters (words) and numbers in the usual form.

It is better to teach children how to read quickly by using pictures and objects first (such as letters, words in the form of pictures and objects)

Problems that prevent you from learning to read quickly

In the process of speed reading exercises, you will get rid of these problems:

  • Inability to see peripherally (learning to perceive as many words as possible, almost the entire sentence)
  • Internal pronunciation of the text (visual perception of the text)
  • Returning eyes to what has already been read (development of fast memory)
  • Concentration of attention (decrease in automatic perception of internal and external interference)
  • Inability to quickly find key concepts and theses (learning to quickly understand the meaning based on speed reading)

Read others

Speed ​​reading is a skill that is surprisingly easy to level up. You can improve your speed by using special software or by attending speed reading courses. In this article, we talk about 5 basic speed reading techniques that you can master yourself!

So here they are:

Stop saying words in your head

By the way, many people have an even more terrible habit: to speak the text aloud when reading. This slows down the process of reading more than pronouncing thoughts in your head. Subvocalization is a habit that most people have. When reading, we kind of “hear” all the words with the brain. Try to get rid of this habit and your reading speed will increase significantly! All you need to do is turn off the speech mechanism in your head. Try chewing gum while reading, mooing under your breath (tested on yourself, it helps!) Or even eat.

Avoid "returns"

When we read, we tend to look back and dwell on the word we just read. This slows us down a lot. Unfortunately, the only way to break this habit is to acknowledge that you are doing it and commit when you do it.

Follow the text

One of the most amazing speed reading techniques is meta guiding. Remember how in school, when reading a text, you ran your finger / pencil over it or followed it with the movement of your head? Well, this story is about that. It turns out that this method seriously speeds up the reading process. Don't forget to concentrate on each word if you want to remember the incoming information.

Speed ​​reading, in fact, is not shown to everyone. Most people are able to process a huge amount of read information at high speed, but there are those who cannot. If you're interested, give speed reading a try, but don't be discouraged if it doesn't work out. There are other options:

Skip sections (or even chapters) you don't need

Another trick to increase your reading speed is to skip over unnecessary information. As an ex once said British Prime Minister Arthur James Balfour Quote: "A man only half knows the art of reading, unless he has added to it the ability to skip unnecessary text."

Skipping unnecessary text is one method of speed reading, and although it is not The best way for schoolchildren and students, but, for example, for scientists who are interested only in certain sections of a particular book, the method saves time perfectly. Professor David Davis shared his strategy for effective skimming:

1. Begin with an introduction or preface. Read them carefully to understand what the main feature of the book is and where the information you need is located.

2. Read the last chapter or conclusion.

3. Go through all the chapters and read the first and last paragraphs.

Obviously you won't do this with every book. We do not recommend. Skimming is best used on books that you are not very interested in reading, or for skimming through the book and identifying areas that interest you the most for later detailed study.

Listen to audiobooks when you can't read

Listen to audiobooks when you're driving, cooking or playing sports and other times when you can't read. This is a great way to make efficient use of your time.

Read multiple books at the same time

Last year, Jeff Ryan set a goal of 366 books for himself to read in a year. Such a goal seems incredible until you find out how Ryan achieved it:

The idea of ​​reading one book a day from cover to cover quickly fell through. Jeff also had days when he was busy with work and raising children, and he did not have a minute of free time to read. As a result, he used the method of parallel reading and eventually managed to complete his difficult challenge.

Of course, Jeff combined this tactic with the others we've listed here. The technique of reading several books at the same time implies that you can distinguish between the material you are reading and it does not merge into a continuous mess in your head. If there are signs of this behavior, adapt the method for yourself: read books of different genres and formats at the same time (example: comic book, novel and audiobook).

Discard Books That Don't Work for You

The advice seems obvious, but we still dwell on this point in more detail. So, if you have already read several chapters, but you don’t feel pleasure or benefit from reading, then just stop reading it. Think about why you don't enjoy reading. Is it just the wrong book at the wrong time? If so, then just postpone it until better times. Someone recommended a book to you, but you don't like it? Return it to the seller, give it as a gift, or donate it to the library. Don't waste your precious time on books you don't like.

Summary

Take a look at the books you want to read. With the methods described above, you will master them in less time. Set yourself a reading schedule and go!

Each of us reads differently. Someone taking his time, stretching out the pleasure, pronouncing the words to himself. Someone drunkenly, insatiably, practically “swallowing” books and constantly updating their library. The reading speed of a person is determined by many factors - from activity mental processes and character to the peculiarities of thinking.

But not everyone knows that this speed can be increased by 2-3 times.

We will tell you how to do it.

How to determine the initial reading speed - test

Most often, to determine the speed of reading, they use by the following formula:

Q (number of characters in the text, no spaces) divided by T (number of minutes spent reading) and multiplied by K (comprehension rate, that is, assimilation of the text read) = V (characters/min).

Reading time is, of course, measured with a stopwatch.

And as for the meaningfulness of reading, this coefficient is determined through the analysis of the answers received to 10 questions on the text. With all 10 correct answers, K is equal to 1, with 8 correct answers, K = 0, etc.

For example , you spent 4 minutes reading a text of 3000 characters, and only 6 gave correct answers. In this case, your reading speed will be calculated according to the following formula:

V \u003d (3000: 4) x0.6 \u003d 450 characters / min. Or about 75 wpm, given that the average number of letters in a word is 6.

Speed ​​limits:

  1. Less than 900 cpm: low speed.
  2. 1500 cpm: average speed.
  3. 3300 cpm: high speed.
  4. Over 3300 cpm: very high.

According to research, the highest speed that allows you to fully assimilate the text is 6000 characters / min.

A higher speed is possible, but only when reading-“scanning”, without understanding and assimilation of what is read.

What is the easiest way to test your book swallowing speed?

Let's do without formulas! We copy the text of any selected article, select that part of it that consists of 500 words, turn on the stopwatch and ... let's go! True, we do not read "race", but thoughtfully and in the usual way.

Have you read? Now look at the stopwatch and studying indicators:

  • Less than 200 sl/min: low speed. Most likely, you accompany the reading with a mental pronunciation of each word. And you probably don't even notice how your lips move. There is nothing terrible in this. Except that you spend a lot of time reading.
  • 200-300 sl/min: average speed.
  • 300-450 sl/min: high speed. You read quickly (and probably a lot), without mentally pronouncing the words, and even having time to think about what you read. Excellent result.
  • Over 450 sl/min: your score is "adjusted". That is, when reading, you consciously (or maybe unconsciously) use techniques or techniques to increase your reading speed.

Preparing for exercises to increase reading speed - what will you need?

By improving your reading speed using certain techniques, you will not only improve your reading efficiency, but also improve your memory performance.

And before proceeding directly to the study of technology, you should prepare as thoroughly as possible to the exercises.

  1. Prepare pen, stopwatch and any book with more than 200 pages.
  2. Take care not to distract you within 20 minutes of training.
  3. Take care of book holders.

7 Exercises to Increase Reading Speed

A human life is not enough to master all the masterpieces of world literature. But can you try?

To the attention of all book-eaters who do not have enough time in the day - best exercises to improve your reading skills!

Method 1st. Hands are your helpers!

Physical participation in the process of reading, oddly enough, also helps to increase speed.

How and why?

The human brain is programmed to fix movements. By using your hand or even a regular divider card while reading, you create movement on the book page and automatically enhance your concentration.

  1. Finger pointer. With this “pointer”, you easily and naturally, exclusively vertically, lead along the book page at a speed slightly higher than eye movement. The tempo of the pointer cannot be changed - it must be constant and stable, without returning the finger to the already read text and without stopping. Where exactly to lead with a “pointer” does not really matter. Though in the center of the text, even in the side margin.
  2. Separator card. Or Blank sheet ok paper, folded in half for convenience. The size is about 7.5x13 cm. The main thing is that the sheet is solid, and it is convenient for you to hold and move it with one hand. Position the card above the readable line. Above, not below! In this way, you increase attentiveness, eliminating the possibility of returning to the lines you read.

Method 2. Developing peripheral vision

Your main tool(or one of) in speed reading is your peripheral vision. With it, instead of several letters, you can read a word or even a whole line. Lateral vision training is carried out by working with the well-known Schulte table.

What is it and how to train?

Table- this is a field of 25 squares, each of which contains a number. All numbers (approx. - from 1 to 25) are located in random order.

Task: looking only at the central square, find all these numbers in descending (or ascending) order.

How to train? You can print the table for yourself on paper and use a timer. And you can train on the Internet (it's much easier) - there are enough similar services on the Web.

Having mastered the 5 by 5 diachrom table, move on to more complicated versions with colored fields and beyond.

Method 3. Unlearning subvocalization

This is one of the key principles of speed reading. “Subvocalization” refers to lip/tongue movements and mental pronunciation of words while reading.

Why does it interfere with reading?

The average number of words spoken by a person per minute is 180. With an increase in reading speed, the pronunciation of words becomes difficult, and subvocalization becomes an obstacle in mastering a new skill.

How to stop saying words to yourself?

To do this, in the process of reading ...

  • Clamp the tip of a pencil (or other object) with your teeth.
  • We press the tongue to the sky.
  • Place the finger of your free hand on your lips.
  • We count ourselves from 0 to 10.
  • We mentally pronounce poems or tongue twisters.
  • We put quiet music in the background and tap out the melody with a pencil.

Method 4. There is no way back!

Returning to the already read text (note - regression) and rereading the lines already passed increase the reading time of the text by 30 percent.

This can happen involuntarily, automatically - for example, if you were distracted by an extraneous sound, and you did not have time to learn a few words. Or for re-reading an overly informative phrase that you did not understand (or did not have time to understand due to the high reading speed).

How to unlearn regressions?

  • Use the card, blocking access to the read material.
  • Use appropriate programs on the Web (eg Best Reader).
  • Use your pointer finger.
  • Train your willpower and more often remember that below in the text you will most likely fill in all the information gaps that you made earlier.

Method 5th. We concentrate

It is clear that at high speeds the quality of assimilation of the material is noticeably reduced. But, firstly, this is only at first, until you have mastered the technique of speed reading, and secondly, you can pick up speed at first without losing the quality of reading.

This will help special exercises:

  1. Using multi-colored felt-tip pens, write the names of colors on a piece of paper in a chaotic manner. Write the word "red" yellow, "green" - black, etc. Put the sheet on the table for a day. Then take it out and, stopping your finger on a particular word, quickly name the color of the ink.
  2. We take a sheet and paper. We focus on something. For example, on that ficus in a pot. And we are not distracted by extraneous thoughts for at least 3-4 minutes. That is, we think only about this ficus! If an extraneous thought nevertheless crept in, we put a “notch” on the sheet and again focus on the ficus. We train until you have a clean slate after the exercise.
  3. We count by reading. How? Just. While reading, we count each word in the text. Of course, only mentally and without various "helpers" in the form of tapping with the foot, bending the fingers, etc. For the exercise - 3-4 minutes. When you finish it, be sure to check yourself - just count the words without trying to read them.

Practice until the number of words received in the process of reading and actually available is equal.

Method 6. Learning to recognize "key" words and sweep away unnecessary ones

Looking at a painting, you don't ask yourself what the artist was trying to say. You just watch and understand everything. Moreover, your view captures the whole picture at once, and not individual details.

A similar "scheme" is used here. You must learn to snatch signal, keywords from a line and cut off all unnecessary ones. Each word that does not carry a special meaning, used “for beauty” or a bunch of phrases in the text, is cut off, skipped, ignored.

Focus on keywords bearing the main informative load.

Method 7. Determining paragraph topics

How to train?

Take any book, read one of the paragraphs and try to quickly identify the topic. Next, mark 5 minutes and identify topics maximum number paragraphs in this short period. The minimum number of defined topics per minute is 5.

And a couple more tips "on the road":

  • Reduce the duration of the stop on each line.
  • Practice skills individually. Don't try to cover all techniques at once.
  • Unlearn to run your eyes over the line - look at the entire line at once.

Is the reading speed test already ideal, or do you need to train more?

You have been working on yourself for a week (or even a month). It's time to check if you have reached the speed you were counting on, or if you need to train further.

We set a timer for 1 minute and start reading at the maximum speed, which is now possible without losing the quality of assimilation of information. We write down the result and compare it with the very first one.

If you didn’t “filon” during training, then the result will surprise you.

Certainly there is. But the main thing is the quality of the acquired information. What's the point of swallowing books if after reading nothing remains in your memory but the numbers from the stopwatch.

For further training, you can use both already learned techniques and new ones. Fortunately, there is no shortage of them today. It is enough to look into the search engine and enter the appropriate query.

Train for different types text:

  • On torn and rotating texts.
  • Texts without vowels.
  • On reading up and down and backwards.
  • On deconcentration and expansion of the angle of view.
  • On reading first the second word, then the first. Then the fourth, then the third.
  • Reading diagonally. Only the most stubborn can master this technique.
  • On reading the first word in his natural form, while the other is vice versa.
  • On reading only the 2nd half of the words in a line, while completely ignoring the 1st and determining this boundary by eye.
  • On reading "noisy" texts. That is, texts that are difficult to read due to the presence of drawings, intersecting letters, lines, shading, etc.
  • Reading upside down texts.
  • On reading "through the word." That is, jumping over one word.
  • On reading words that remain visible when some kind of stencil is applied to the page. For example, pyramids or Christmas trees. After reading everything that the pyramid could not hide, you should re-read the text and find out if you understood the meaning correctly.
  • On reading only those 2-3 words that are in the middle of the line. The remaining words (right and left) are read with peripheral vision.

Practice daily. Even 15 minutes of practice a day will help you significantly increase your reading pace.

True, then you will have to learn to slow down this pace when you want to calmly rustle the pages of your favorite book while lying in a hammock.
But that's a completely different story...

Have you used exercises to increase your reading speed? Did the ability to read quickly come in handy in later life? Share your experience in the comments below!