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Professional Communications

Reading With A

Purpose

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Active Reading

Actively processing the words, phrases, and sentences you read; requires you to be involved and to do something in response to the words.

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Pre-reading

Pre-reading – The process of skimming a text to locate key ideas prior to reading the document from beginning to end.

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Predict

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Predict – To foretell on the basis of observation or experience.

Presumption

Something believed based on probable or assumed reliability.

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Preview

Preview – To review text prior to reading it from start to finish.

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Prior Knowledge

Prior knowledge Information or experiences a person has had in the past that relate to a current topic of interest or instruction.

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Prioritize

To rank items in order from most to least important.

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The three groups for prioritizing reading material:

Read now Read later File or discard

Three Groups for Prioritizing

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Purpose

Purpose – The main idea or reason for a piece of communication.

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Reading For Detail

Reading all words and phrases, considering their meaning, and determining how they combine with other elements to convey ideas.

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Scanning

To quickly glance through a message to find something specific.

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Skimming

To quickly glance through an entire document.

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Skillful Reading

When reading skillfully, you get meaning from written words and symbols and evaluate their accuracy and validity.

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Four Musts When Actively Reading

You must consider the writer’s purpose Consider your purpose for reading Relate what you read to your prior

knowledge Evaluate reading material both as

you read and after you read to ensure understanding and form judgments

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Approaches to Reading

The three approaches to reading are: Skimming Scanning Reading for detail

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Improve Your Reading Reading more and using a dictionary are the

best ways to improve your reading skills.

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Pre-reading Strategies

Predict Preview Purpose Prior knowledge

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Annotating Strategies

Highlight key information, new vocabulary, significant quotes, or references to other works

Make notes in the margin (in pencil) or on post-it notes

Write a brief summary Keep a list of key information Create a vocabulary list of new

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Post-reading Strategies

Skim the text again, adding to your notes and highlighting

Keep all of your notes with the text Create a timeline of events Finish all related assignments

while information is fresh

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