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Tips to Read Faster

Reading is both a leisure activity and a working tool for the office or the classroom. The further ahead one goes in school, the more reading must be done and somehow it seems time is always running out. That's why speed reading or at least learning a few tricks to read faster can make reading for work more profitable and more enjoyable. Once the reader learns that it's not necessary to read word for word, line for line and that skimming is permissable, the skill will improve. Speed reading isn't just about reading faster, it is about comprehending what you read as well.

Eliminate All Distractions
- Make certain that your chair is comfortable but do not recline while you read if your intention is to glean some information from the book. Remove yourself from conversation and television and make sure you're in a place where no one is going to talk you even intermittently. If you like to listen to music when you study, then turn it off. Despite of the pleasure you may take in listening to music, it is a distraction.
Preview the Chapter
- Allow 30 to 60 seconds before you begin reading a passage to familiarize yourself with it. Read the chapter title, headings, subheadings and anything in bold type or italics. Look at graphs, charts and illustrations. Skim the pages beginning at the first paragraph and looking at the first sentence of each succeeding sentence until you reach the last paragraph and skim it. In the beginning, this may take more than 60 seconds. When you have finished the preview, ask yourself what the main idea was, what kind of writing is it and what the author's purpose was. Once you know what the passage is about, it will be easier to read it.
Stop Back Reading
- Back reading or going back to reread something you've just read is something many if not most readers do. This slows the reader down. Like all habits, back reading takes a little time to avoid, and you'll have to catch yourself as you do it. In time, you'll recognize when you do this, and you can anticipate it and keep moving forward. Treat a book like a movie. You don't hit the rewind button when you don't remember something or understand something. You finish watching the movie. Keep a pad and pencil nearby to jot down important points. This will help to keep you reading forward, and you will not have to reread the chapter.
Scan With Your Finger
- Use your finger to keep you focused and moving forward just like you did in the first grade. You can also use your hand to help you focus on the current line and prevent you from looking back at previous lines on the page. Place the edge of your palm above the line you are reading while blocking the previous lines. As you complete the line, move your hand down and begin reading the next.

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