Speed-reading

TheComprehensiveGuideToSpeed-reading–IncreaseYourReadingSpeedBy300%InLess

Than24Hours

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER1:SPEED-READING

CHAPTER2:GETREADY…GETSET…

CHAPTER3:SPEED-READINGTECHNIQUES

CHAPTER4:SPEED-READINGEXERCISES

CHAPTER5:SUPPLEMENTALSTRATEGIES

CHAPTER6:HISTORYOFSPEED-READING

CHAPTER7:BENEFITSOFSPEED-READING

CHAPTER8:SPEED-READINGEXPERIENCEENHANCERS

CHAPTER9:HOWTHEHUMANMINDWORKS

CHAPTER10:THE30MINUTERULE

CHAPTER11:FIXINGYOURCURRENTREADINGISSUES

CHAPTER12:SPEED-READINGMYTHSANDFAQS

CHAPTER13:GENERICTIPSFORSPEED-READING

KEYTAKEAWAYS

CONCLUSION

IINTRODUCTION

t has been said that haste makes waste. If you consider the popularity of Aesop’s The Hare And TheTortoisefable,you’dquicklygettheimpressionthatdoingthingsfastisn’twisebutthat’snotnecessarilythecase.

Intoday’sdayandage,productivityistheholygrailof justabouteverythingfrompersonalactivitiestobusinessones.Butwhatisproductivity?Itsimplymeansgettingasmuchthingsdoneasbestastheycanbedoneandasquicklyastheycanbedone.Infact,given2activitiesorprocessesof equalquality,theonethat’sfasterwinsthecompetitionhandsdown.

What lends credibility to the earlier saying and the fable is speed for speed’s sake and at the cost ofquality.Indeed,hastecanindeedmakewastewhenqualityissacrificed.Speedwithquality,however,isaveryvaluablecommodity.

Whenitcomestoreading,speedisof utmostimportance.Yourabilitytoreadandcomprehendrapidlycanspellthedifferencebetweengoodgradesandexcellentones,betweenamediocreself-publishedbooktoa best-selling one and between a so-so business presentation to one that commands a standing ovation,amongmanyotherimportantthings.Thise-bookisabouthelpingyoureadmuchfasterthanyoudonow.

InChapter1,you’llgainabetterappreciationfortheartof readingaswellasforspeed-reading,whentousespeed-readingandthecommonobstaclestoit.InChapter2,you’lllearntopreparewellbeforelearningto read fast so that you’ll be able tomaster speed-reading. In Chapter 3, you’ll find out the best speed-reading techniques and in Chapter 4, you’ll learn the best exercises to help youmake the techniques asnaturalasbreathing.Next,you’llcontinueoff tolearnhowtosupplementthesetechniqueswithnon-readingapproachessuchasoptimizingyourenvironmentforspeed-reading,gettingenoughqualitysleep,eatingtherightfoods,gettingenoughrightexercise,usingmeditationtoenhanceyourabilitytofocuswell,andmore!

If you’rereadytolearnspeed-reading,turnthepageandlet’sgo.

“S

CHAPTER1

SPEED-READING101

urviving and thriving as a professional todaydemands twonew approaches to thewrittenword.First, itrequires a new approach to orchestrating information, by skillfully choosing what to read and what toignore. Second, it requires anewapproach to integrating information,by reading faster andwithgreatercomprehension.”–JimmyCalano

Successrequireswisdom,whichistheeffectiveapplicationof knowledge.Wecan’tbewiseif wedon’tknow.Our ability to gain knowledge of important and relevant things is key to becomingwise. It’s likemakingadeliciouscake.Evenif wehavetheingredientsonhand,wecan’tmakeitif wedon’tknowhowtomakeit.

InformationOverload

Never before has there been a time where knowledge is as easy to access as it is now. With the rapiddevelopmentof theInternet,knowledgehasbecomebothsuchapreciouscommodityandaveryabundantone.Withsuchabundance,however,comeissueswithaccuracy.AstheInternethasmadeiteasyforanyonewho’sadeptatbrowsingthewebtobecomean“expert”,siftingtheknowledgewheatfromshafthasbecomeexcruciatinglymorechallenging.

That’s not an excuse for failure, however. It’s simply a great challenge to be able to cover as muchmaterial as possible, understand them well and make informed decisions on such materials. It’s not achallengethat,quitehonestly,wecanchoosetoignoreordecline–unlesswedon’twanttosucceedinourcurrentfieldsof educationoroccupation.

Speed-readingistheoneof thebestapproachtosuccessfullytakeonthischallenge.Of alltheimportantfreeresourcesavailabletous,timeisthemostlimited.Rich,poor,educated,illiterate,healthyorunhealthy…allof usonlyhave24hourseveryday,whichmakesdoingthingsfastallthemoreimportant.Totheextentwecanreadfastistheextentwecancovermorereadingmaterialsandinformation.Thisallowsustobeabletosiftmorechaff fromtheknowledgewheatandintheprocess,getmorewheat.

CommonObstaclesToSpeed-Reading

Justlikeacceleratingonabikeoracar,it’simportanttohavelittleornoobstaclesthatcanbreakorpreventmomentumbuildupwhenitcomestospeed-reading.

Fromthetimethatwelearnttoreadforthefirsttime,wedevelopedmanyhabitsthatarestillwithus.Thesehabitsarewhatcauseustoreadslowlyandspendaneternityfinishingupasinglebook.

Considerthesethreetobeyourspeed-readingbumpsthatyou’llneedtoavoid:

1. WordFixation:Whenweread,oureyesnormallystoponeachword.Wecallthisfixation.Stoppingateveryword in the text thatwe’re reading slows down our reading and to a great extent, affect ourability to understand the text well. Why? In terms of speed, consider a 500-word text, with eachfixationlasting1second.If westoptoreadeveryword,it’lltakeus500secondsorroughly8minutestofinishthetext.Incontrast,if oureyesstoptoreadwordsinbunchesof say,3perfixation,thenwe’llbeabletoreadthe500-wordtextinlessthan3minutes.Thefewerthefixationsorstops,thefasterwecanread.

Intermsof comprehension,morefixationscanmeanslowerorlessunderstandingof thetext.Why?Ideasaremadeupof wordsandnotasinglewordonly.Assuch,ideasarebestunderstoodwithinthecontextof agroupof words.Takeforabasicexamplethewords,“I,am,very,handsomeandyeah.”Isn’titeasiertojustread,“Iamveryhandsome,yeah!”insteadof individuallyasaword?

2. Retreating:Bythis,wemeantosaylookingbackorretracingwhatwehavejustreadunnecessarilyorexcessively. Sure, there are quite a few moments when we need to go back to what we just read,especiallyif it’squitetechnicalordifficulttounderstandbutif wedoitforjustaboutallthatwereadinatext,it’llgreatlyslowdownourabilitytoreadandcomprehendthematerialsonhand.

3. TheVoice:No,we aren’t talking aboutAdamLevine,BlakeShelton,ChristinaAguilera andCeeLoGreencollectively.We’retalkingaboutthatvoicewehearinsideourheadswhenwereadtexts.Yes,thatvoiceisours!Readingwithourvoicesinourheadsspeakingthetextsisalsoknownassub-vocalization.

Howdoes it slowdownour reading?Visual reading ismuchfaster thanaudible reading,evenwhenreading silently.Whenwe read and imagineourselves pronouncing thewords,we are limited to thespeedof audiblereading.Wecanspeak150-200wordsperminute,whileonaverage;wecanreadabout300to400wordsperminutewithoutsayingtheminourheads.

MoreThanJustSpeed….Comprehension

Aswith reckless driving, excessive speed-reading can prove to be counter productive.Why? Let’s face it,there’saspeedlimitafterwhichourabilitytocomprehendwhatwe’rereadingstartstodecline.Thewholepointof increasingreadingspeedistobeabletolearnfasterbutnotlearnless.

Readingisn’tworthadimewithoutcomprehensionandcomprehensionof awrittentext isn’tpossiblewithout reading. That’s why when it comes to speed-reading; we’ll let comprehension be our safetymechanism.Tothisextent,themostimportantgaugeof readingspeedisn’tjusttheactualwords-per-minuteorWPMbuttheeffectivewords-per-minuteorEWPM.Excessivespeedkillsbuttherightspeedbringslife.

“I

CHAPTER2

GETREADY…GETSET…

f youfailtoplan,you’replanningtofail.”–BenjaminFranklin

Consistentwith anymeaningful andworthwhile improvementprogram,preparation is key to success.Preparationhelpsyoumakethemostof yourtimeandresourcesandallowsyoutospeedupyoursuccess.Toimproveyourreadingspeed,thefirstpreparationstepisassessment.

AssessingCurrentReadingSpeeds

I seemany similaritiesbetween2of my favoritehobbies: reading and running.Evenwhen I first startedrunning,Ialreadyhadagoalinmind,whichistobeabletorunstraightfor1kilometer.IwasabletosetthatgoalbecauseIknewforafactthatIcouldn’trunstraightformorethan100metersatthattime.Withanaccurateassessmentcametheabilitytosetarealisticgoal.

HowdidImeasuremystraightrunningdistanceatthebeginning?Iusedmycar’sodometer.IstartedrunningfromaspecificlocationinoursubdivisionandmarkedthepointatwhichIwastooexhaustedtocontinue. I resetmy car’s odometer reading and drove from the first to the second point and noted theodometer reading. I also noted where the 1-kilometer point was so that I’d know when I have alreadyachievedmyimmediategoalof beingabletorunstraightwithnowalk-breaksforatleast1kilometer.AsIincreasedmy runningdistance, I switched to aGPSdevice to accuratelymeasuremy runs.Being able tocorrectlyassessmyrunsallowedmetoaccuratelygaugeanyprogressordigress.Iamnowabletorun10-kilometerseasily.

It’sthesamewithreadingspeed.It’llbehardtoknowthattheexercisesandtechniquesyou’lllearnherearealreadyworkingforyou,whichcaneitherdiscourageyoufromcontinuingorboreyoutoquitabruptly.Whenyou’reabletoobjectivelyseeyourprogress,you’llbeinvigoratedtocontinueandbeforeyouknowit,you’llhaveadvancedsofarthatyouwon’tbeabletoimaginewhatyouwerelikeatthestartingline.

AsImentionedbrieflyinthepreviouschapter,wecanobjectivelymeasureourreadingspeedintermsof actual-words-per-minute (WPM) and effectivewords-per-minute (EWPM).WPM tells us how fastwereadbutEWPMtellsushowfastwecanreadwithcomprehension.

RespectableonlineWPMandEWPMtestscaneffortlesslybefoundonlinethroughyoursearchengine.

TestatrialthatmeasuresWPMandthentryoutreadingcomprehensiontestsdesignedtomeasureEWPM.Oneof thebeautiful thingsabout theseonline tests is thatyoudon’thave to thinkabout timingyourselfandcanfocusentirelyonreadingandcomprehendingthematerial.

After4weeksof applyingthetechniquesanddoingtheexercisesthatwillbetaughtlater,testyourselfagaintoseeyourprogress.Ihighlyrecommendyoudotakethesetestsforyoursake.Whenyouseeobjectiveprogressonyourperformance,you’llwanttocontinueapplyingthetechniquesandapplyingtheexercisestoimproveevenfurther.

GoalSetting

Aswithrunningandanyotherworthwhileendeavor,you’llneedtohaveagoal.Why?Withoutgoals,speed-readingwilljustbetrivialandwilleventuallybecomeameaninglesspursuitatworstandavagueendeavoratbest.Whenthishappens,you’lllosethedrivetodevelopspeed-readingskillsandeventuallydropitwithoutrealizingyourtruereadingpotential.

Sowhat kind of goal should you set for speed-reading? First, it should be realistic. If your currentreadingspeedisonly200words-per-minuteandyousetagoalof reading1,000words-per-minutewithin1week,you’reonlysettingyourself upforfailurebecausetheoddsof beingabletoimprovebythatmuchinsuchashortspanof timearenotinyourfavor.

A25%increaseinbothWPMandEWPMwithinaweekismorerealistic,whichcanhelpyouimproveyour reading speed by 300% in 12 weeks.With smaller and achievable milestones, you’re encouraged tocontinueandsucceed.Instatingthishowever,pleasenotetherehavebeencountlesscasesof people,whothroughapplyingthesetechniqueshaveactuallybeenabletoincreasetheirreadingspeedsbythreefoldsinlessthan24hours,althoughit’snottypical.

Ican’toveremphasizetheimportanceof settingatimelimitforaccomplishingyourspeed-readinggoals.Without a definite deadline, you may be tempted to procrastinate and increase your risk of quitting.ConsiderParkinson’sLawwhenyousetatimetableforyourspeed-readinggoals.Parkinson’sLawstatesthatatask’sperceivedimportanceincreasesasthetimeallottedforitdecreases.Thisexplainswhymostpeopleliketocram…anddoaverygoodjobatit!

YourReadingPlan

Althoughapplyingtheexercisesandtechniquesinthise-bookwillhelpyouread300%faster,thevalueofpreparingbefore readinga text shouldn’tbeunderestimated.Agood readingplancan supplement speed-readingtechniquesandmaximizeresults.

Thefirstpartof yourreadingplanispurpose.Whyareyoureadingthetextandwhatdoyouhopetogetoutof it?Doyousimplywant togetkeyfactsandfiguresordoyouwant tounderstandaprocess that’s

discussed in it?By knowing your purpose for reading a text, you’ll be able to read faster andwithmorecomprehension.

Whatarethecommonpurposesforreadingtexts?Theseare:

Tothoroughlyunderstand;

Togetageneraloverviewof atext;

Toacquiresupportinginformationforanargument;

Toknowthenextstepsorevents;

Toansweraspecificquestion;

Togetanideaof howpeopleperceiveaspecifictopic;and

Togetaccuratefiguresandfacts.

Thesecondpartof agood readingplan is choosing the relevantmaterials for the identifiedpurpose.Thishelpsyouspeedupreadingandcomprehensionbyeliminatingmaterialsthatwillonlywasteyourtimeandeffort.Bylimitingyourreadingmaterialstoonlythosethatarerelevant,youcangreatlyspeedupbothreadingandcomprehensionof acertaintopic.

R

CHAPTER3

SPEED-READINGTECHNIQUES

unningfastisn’tjustamatterof goingatitfullspeed.Thefastesthumanbeingsintheworldcombinebothpowerandtechniqueforwithouttechnique,powercan’tbemaximizedandwithoutpower,techniquecan’tbeexploited.

Inthischapter,we’lllookatspeed-readingtechniquesthatwillhelpyoubecomemoreefficientandraiseyourreadingpacesignificantlyforthesameeffort.

ReadingTheTableOf Contents

Didyouknowthatthereisanenormousspeedincreasewhenreadingif oneknowsthegeneralgistof what’sbeingtalkedabout?Didyouknowthatinadditiontoreadingfaster,onecouldalsocomprehendmuchmoreaswellthroughthismethod?

Howcansomebodyhaveagripof thewholebookwithinafewminutes?That’sright,you’veguessedit,it’sassimpleasreadingthetableof contents.Almostallbookshavebeenoutlinedinthissectionandif youread them and form an idea of what the book is about, it’ll make it that much faster in reading andcomprehending.

Let’suseShakespeareanplays as anexample.To the averageperson, readingShakespeareplays canbedifficultbecause theEnglishuseddiffers frommodernEnglish inmany respectswhichwewon’t go intodetail here. If before reading the play, one were to have a minor grasp of the outline of the play, thecharacters,plot,story,etc.…it’llbemuchfasterandeasierinbothreadingandcomprehendingbecauseyouwon’t stopat trivialparts andalso, complexpartswill come toyoueasier.The same thinghappenswhenreadingbooks ingeneral, themoreunderstandingyouhaveof what’sgoing tobe talkedabout, the fasteryou’llreadit.

Note – Don’t use this technique for books that you desire to appreciate like great fiction books,otherwiseyou’dbespoilingyourself of abrilliantstory.

AskingQuestions

Anothermethod at your disposal to escalate your reading speed considerably is through asking yourselfwell-definedquestionsaboutthebook;thiswillaidyourmindingettingafirmgraspof theideasabouttobepresented.Thetricktothisapproachistograbasheetof paperandpencilandjotquestionsregardingthebook.Goovercarefullyallthetopicsandsubtopicsthenwritequestionsonyourpapersuchas…

1. Whatisthemainideainthischapterabout?

2. Whatdoestheauthorwishtoconveyinthisparticularsub-topic?

3. Whatisthisbookabout?

4. Whatistheauthorwishingtoconveythroughthisbook?

5. HowcanIbenefitfromthisbook?

Youget the idea.Whenaskingyourself thesequestions, it’s recommended to shut thebookandkeepyourmindlockedontothewrittenquestionsthenjotdownyouranswers.

Whendone,readthechapter.You’llfindthatyourmindwillbethoroughlylockedontotheinformationathandandyou’llburnthroughthetextthatmuchfaster.You’llalsobecomeadeptinskippingentirelythefluff in books because generally speaking, there are TONS of filler texts in books. By knowing what’sessentialandwhat’snot,youcaneasilyignorematerialthatdon’tcontributemuchtothemainideaandthus,spendlesstimereading.

Meta-Guiding

Aschildren,weweretaughtthepracticesof usingourfingerstorunbelowthetextwhilereadingit.Thisismeant to help us read faster and also avoid sub-vocalization. As you know, sub-vocalization stands forrepeatingthewordsinyourmindorbymovingyourlips.Thiswastesyourtimeandeffort.Sothebestthingtodoisdoawaywiththishabitaltogether.

Thismethodof running your fingers beneath the text is known asMeta-Guiding.Although it seemsextremely rudimentary and straightforward, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how considerably yourreadingspeedcanimprovewhenusingthistechnique.

There are different ways of doing this.Oneway for example is, you can begin at your handed-side,meaningattherightmostendif you’reright-handedandtheleft-mostendif you’realeftie.Putyourindexfingerontheendof thetextlineaccordingtoyourhandorientation.Fromtheleftsideof theline,moveyoureyestotheright,moveyourindexfingerdowntothenextlineandstartfromtheleftsideagainuntilyou finish the last line on the page.Do this at a speed that’s comfortable to you at the beginning thengraduallyincreaseyourspeedbymovingyoureyestotherightfaster,whilemovingyourfingerdowntothenextlinefasterorboth.

WhyisMeta-Guidinganeffectivetechniquetodevelopfasterreadingspeeds?Ittrainsyoureyesthrough

motiondetection,whichiswhatoureyesautomaticallydototargetmovingobjects,asappliedtoreading.Asyoumasterthistechnique,you’llcometoapointthatyouwillnolongerneedtouseafingerbecauseyoureyeshavealreadyadjustedtodoingitautomatically.

Meta-Guiding is a comparatively easy method of speed-reading. You can easily slide into the habitwithoutmucheffort.Herearesometipsforyoutogetstartedonthetechnique.

Theveryfirstthingyouneedtodois,wrapyourmindaroundthefactthatyouwillbeusingyourfingerto place under the text. Somewill think of this as a very childish behavior but itwill go a longway inhelpingyoureadfast.Mostpeopleprefertousetheirpointingfingerbutyoucanusewhicheverfingerfeelscomfortable.

If youdon’twishtouseyourfingers,thenyoucanalsouseahandyruler.Placetherulerbelowthetextandstartreading.Therulercanbesmallandfitrightintoyourpocket.

Somepeoplealsomakeuseof apieceof threadtoservethepurpose.Theywillplaceoneendof thethreadatoneendof thesentenceandtheotherendattheotherendof thesentenceandstartreading.

Themainaimhereistoincreaseyourwordsperminute.Sotryreadingasfastasyoucantounderstandthetextefficiently.

Whenyoudeveloptheconfidencewithtime,thenyoucanstopusingyourfingertoplacebelowthetext.Atthispoint,it’llbecomeeasytoquicklyreadeverythingjustbyrunningyoureyesoverthetext.

Advantagesof Metaguiding

Themainadvantageof Metaguiding is that,youcanreada lotof complex textwithinashortperiodoftime.Youcanswiftlyrunyourfingersorrulerbelowthetextandreadthedata.

The second advantage of this technique is that, you can eliminate sub-vocalization. As you know,indulginginsub-vocalizationslowsyoudownconsiderably.Yourbrainisnotcapableenoughof doingtwocomplextasksatonce.Bymakinguseof theMeta-Guidingtechnique,youcaneliminateyourhabitof sub-vocalization.

Disadvantagesof Metaguiding

The disadvantage of Meta guiding is developing the habit of running your finger under the words tooquicklywithoutcomprehendingthematerial;it’simportanttofirstbeginatapacesuitableforyourlevelandfindingthisbalancewouldbekey.

Anotherdisadvantageiskeepingthishabitwhenyou’reproficienttothepointwhereyoudon’tneeditanymore.Youmightenduphinderingyourspeedwhenyounolongerrequireitbutarestillusingit.

If youarealreadyof thehabitof runningyourfingersunderthetextthentryincreasingthepace.

Visualization

Oneimportantaspectof speed-readingisvisualization.Visualizationreferstomakingmentalimagesof thetexts.Whenyoucreatethesementalimages,youcanrememberthetextbetterandforlongerperiodsof timewhichwillhelpyoureadfaster;justponder,somelongnovelswhichcantakeamonthtoreadcanbeviewedwithina3hourmovie.Youmustfurtherenhancethisqualitybytryingtocreatevividimagesinyourmindwheneveryouread.Yourmindshouldliterallypaintimagesof whateverthatyoureadinfullHD.

KeywordSearch

Keywords aren’t just for search engine optimization or SEO – they’re also important for speed-reading.Rememberhowit’sconsideredano-notoreadtextsword-for-wordparticularlyif speed-reading’sthegoal?Lookingforkeywordscanbeagreatwaytospeedupyourreading.Butwhy?

Whetheryoulikeitornot,therearecountlesscriticalwordswedon’tunderstand,chieflywhenreadingupon topicswhich are foreign to us. In these cases, it’s vital thatwe do a careful keyword search beforecontinuing the task of speed-reading.Examples of keywords you’ll need to take earnestly arewords thatyou’reunfamiliarwith.Itwillhardlydoyouanygoodtospeedthroughtextthatcontainabundantwordsyoudon’tunderstand,particularlyif it’satopicwithmanyindustryspecificterminologies.Doaquicksearchof thesewordsandunderstandthem,thiswillhelptremendouslyinthelongrun.

Keywordsearching isagreattechniquetohelpyoureadfasterbecause itcanhelptrainyourmindtofocusonwhat’simportantandismoreefficientinspottingwordsthatcanslowyoudownwhilereading.Italsohelpsbylimitingthetendencytosubvocalizewhilereadingandbywideningyourperipheralvisiontoreducethenumberof fixations.

ChunkReading

Chunkreading–alsoknownaschunking–isareadingtechniquewhereinyougrouptogetherwordsinawaythatformsanidea.Rememberthatwedon’treadandcomprehendonaword-for-wordbasisanddoingso drastically slows our reading down? Reading the words together as a coherent unit makes for fasterreadingandbettercomprehension.

Althoughitsoundsasif chunkingshouldcomenaturallytoyou,yourgeneralorientationasachildcanmakeitquiteachallengeatfirst.It’sbecausewhenyouwerefirstlearninghowtoread,yourteachertaughtyoutoreadonaword-for-wordbasis.Andrightlyso!Youneededtogettheideasandmeaningbehindthewordsfirst.Unfortunately,somechildhoodorientationswereleftuntouchedwhilegrowingupandreading

onaword-for-wordbasisisoneof them.

Anexampleof chunking–indicatedby“/”–isthis:

“After going out of the house/, I noticed something very odd/: The mail wasn’t in themailbox/, it was outside the door/. I felt nervous/ thinking the mailman went inside thecompound/anddidn’taskpermissiontodoso/.”

Whenitcomestochunking,theimportantthingtoconsiderisn’tthesizeof the“chunk”butthatitisabletoconveytheideatoyou.Sodon’tfollowothers’chunkingsizeorpattern–followonethatmakesthetextunderstandabletoyou.Justdon’tmakethechunksobigthatittakesupawholeparagraph!Chunkinsuchawaythattheideaisclearwithasfewwordsaspossible.Togetbetteratthistechnique,you’llneedtoexpandyourperipheralreadingvisionusingtheexercisesinthenextchapter.

Skim‘NScan

Skimming

Skimming, as the name suggests, deals with skimming through a text. As you know, skimming refers toremovingthetoplayerof creamthatformsonhotmilk.Similarly,thecentralideaof thetextisextractedoutthroughskimming.

Skimmingisaveryusefulspeed-readingtechniqueandonethatcanbeperformedeasily.Allyouhavetodoisreadthefirstandlastparagraphof thetextandalsoreadthefirstlinesof eachparagraph.Mostof thekeyinformationwillbecenteredontheseareas.Onceyoureadthese,youwillknowwhatthebasicmessageisandwon’thavetogothroughtheentiretext.

Skimmingpays attention to the “speed”bit of speed-reading. So it capitalizes on your speed-readingefficiencyandhowfastyoucanreadthegistof theparagraph.

Thisspeed-readingtechniqueiswidelyusedforitspracticalapplication.Imaginehavingtogothroughalargetextwithinashortperiodof time,youwillhavetoputinalotof timeandeffortindoingso.Butifyouchoosethistechnique,thenyoucanfinishreadinginnotimeatall.

Buttherearesomethingsthatyoumustconsiderwhenyouwishtoadoptthistechnique

Thevery first thing toconsider is that, theskimming techniquemustonlybeusedwhenyouwish tounderstandjustthegistof somethingandnotthewholething.Inshort,youwillnotbeabletounderstandthefinerdetailspresentinthetextandonlyhavethechancetotakeinthecentraltheme.

Thistechniqueisbestpreferredwhenyouwishtoskimthroughimportanttextsbeforegivingitafullread.Nowyoumaywonderastowhyyouhavetoreadthesametexttwice,especiallyif youaretryingtospeedread.Theansweris,if youskimfirst,thedatapresentinthetextwillfallintoplaceeasilyinyourmindwhen you do tackle it. You will know exactly what is coming up next and wont waste time trying to

understandit.Forexample,thefirstlineof thebooksays,“TherewasamannamedTom.Thefirstlineofthe second paragraph says, “He invented Velcro.” The first line of the third paragraph will read, “TheinventiongainedimmensepopularityinEurope”.Now,youknowexactlyhowthepassagesareplacedandtheflowof thetextwillbecomepredictable.

Heretoo,youneedtoexercisesomeof yourreadingskills.Youmustbealertwhilereadingandknowwheretojumpafteryouaredonereadingaline.

Letuslookatsometipsthatwillallowyoutoskimthroughamaterialwithease:

1. Thefirstthingtodois,sizeupthetext.Lookathowlongitisandestimatethenumberof wordsthatmightbepresentinit.

2. The second thing to do is understand whether it is the first time that you are reading the text orsomethingvery similar.Many times,wewouldhave forgottenabout something thatwehavealreadyreadorknow.Soseeif youcanidentifysomeof thethingsinthetext.

3. Thethirdthingtonoticeis,whetherthetextisrealorfictitious.Thistechniquewillnotsuitthelatterasmuchasitwilltheformer.

Advantagesof skimming

Themain advantage of skimming is that, it is easier to finish reading a big text in express time.This isextremelyusefulif youhaveanimportantexamapproachingandyouhaven’tstartedstudyingasyet.If youskimthroughitandunderstandthecentraltheme,youcaneasilyunderstandthebasicsandthenfillintherestof thedatathroughyoursmarts.However,don’trelyonthistechniqueforeveryexamyoustudyfor;thisshouldbereservedasanemergencytechnique.

Disadvantagesof skimming

Themaindisadvantageof skimmingisthat,peoplefailtounderstandwhatitactuallymeans.Theyassumethat it refers toreadinga fewrandomsentences in the textandunderstanding it.But that, innoform, isskimming.Youcannotrandomlylandonapageandstartreading.Thereneedstobeastructuretoit.Youmustunderstandthatthefirstandlastparagraphsaretobecompulsorilyreadandapartfromthefirstlinesof each paragraph, you can also read the last lines.Doing so will give you a fair idea of what the textcontains.

All things considered, skimming is a great technique to employ if youhave to read thedetailsof anagreementform.Byreadingthefirstlinesof eachparagraph,youcanunderstandwhattheformistryingtoconveytoyou.Youdon’thavetowasteyourtimeunderstandingthedifferentexplanationsthatareprovidedfor each and every subsequent pointmentioned in the form and thus, you are able to save an abundantamountof time.

Scanning

Scanning is a technique that is preferred next to skimming.We all know what a scanner is and how itfunctions.Similarly,youarerequiredtoscanthroughatextquickly.

Itisalittlesimilartoskimming,inthat;itallowsyoutoskimthroughthetextbutnotindetail.Youwillhave to read through it and fish out the important data present in it. So, you will only be looking forwhateveryouneedtoknowandskipgoingthroughtherestof it.

This technique isbest if youwishtoextractsomekeyelementsfromthe text likenamesornumbers.Youcaneasilydosobyscanningthetextonce.

Herearesomethingstoconsiderwhenyouwishtomakeuseof thistechnique:

1. The first thing tounderstand iswhat exactly you seek to find fromyour text.Whether it is a setofnames,ornumbersoranyinformationthatishiddeninthetext

2. Thenextthingtolookforatistheflowof thedatainthetext.Readthefirstparagraphandseewheretheinformationispresentonit.Therestof theparagraphswillbemostlikelystructuredthesameway.

3. Thethirdthingtoassessis,whetheryoualreadyknowwherethedatathatyouarelookingforispresentonthepage.Youmightknowwheretolookinstantlyandbedonewithyourscanninginnotime.

Onceyouanswerallthesequestionssuccessfully,youcanstartscanningthetext.

Advantagesof scanning

Themainadvantageof scanningisthat,itbecomesquiteeasyforyoutolookforsmalldatathatisscatteredinthetext.Youdon’thavetoreadtheentirethingandwasteyourtime.Assoonasyouaredonecollectingthedata,youcanmovetoothertasks.

Another advantage is that, while you scan for the important information, you will also get to readsnippetsof otherinformationpresentonthepage.Soyoucanavailsomeextrainformationapartfromwhatyouareparticularlylookingfor.

Disadvantagesof scanning

Themaindisadvantageof scanningisthat,itisasuperficialformof reading.If youarelookingfornameshiddeninatext,thenwhatif youenduppickingupthewrongnames?So,tohelpsolvethisissue,youmustevidentlyalsoreadthesentencewherethenameispresentonthetext.Thatwillensurethatyoupickupthecorrectdata.

Anotherdisadvantage is that, youmighthave to read theentire thing if the information thatyouarelookingforisscatteredhereandthere.Youwillendyouwastingtimeandenergyindoingso.

All saidanddone, scanning remains tobeoneof themostpreferredspeed-reading techniques in theworld.Infact,I’msureyouarealreadyusingthistechniqueinyourdaytolife.Allyouhavetodoispracticeittherightwayanduseittoyouradvantage.

Skimming works best when reading non-fiction material. There are several ways to skim a readingmaterial:

Title;

MainHeadings;

Sub-Headings;

Tableof ContentsorIndexes;

WordsinBoldLetters;

BulletLists;

TheBackCover(physicalbooks);or

-SummariesandReviews.

Although different, scanning and skimming are 2 popular speed-reading techniques that are oftenconfusedforeachother.Whenyouscanamaterial,youhavea target inmind.Whenyouskimthroughamaterial,you’relookingformeaningfulideas.Inscanning,youalreadyknowwhatyou’relookingfor–youalreadyhaveanideainmind.Scanningisagreatspeed-readingtechniquewhenyou’realreadyfamiliarwiththereadingmaterialandyoualreadyhavean ideaof what to lookfor.Withskimming,youdon’thaveanideayetandthat’swhatyou’relookingtofindinthematerial.

A

CHAPTER4

SPEED-READINGEXERCISES

s with sports, techniques are bestmasteredwith technique-specific exercises. In this chapter, you’ll learnsome of the best speed-reading exercise to help you master the techniques en route to increasing yourreadingspeedbyasmuchas300%.

EyeSpeed

Thisexercisecanhelptrainyoureyestomovefaster,whichobviouslytranslatestofasterreading.Todothis,moveyoureyesfromnumbers1to4andbackto1inthepicturebyfollowingthearrows:

Nextmoveyoureyesfrom1to4andbackto1inthepictureagainbyfollowingthearrows:

Doeachof theexercises10timeseverydaybutif youreyesfeeltiredorpainful,stopandclosethemforafewsecondsbeforecontinuing.

PeripheralVisionExpanders

Theseexercisescanhelpexpandyourperipheralvisionandhelpyoumasterthechunkingtechnique.Whenyoudo,youcanreduceyouraveragefixationsforfasterreading.

Focusontheheartatthemiddleof thepictureandwithoutremovingyoursightonit,readallof theletterssurroundingitaloud.

Onceyou’reabletoreadalltheletterswithoutremovingyoureyesontheheart,youcanmovetothenextpicture.

Andthenext...

Andlastly…

Now, the next time you are practicing how to speed-read, practice this peripheral vision technique. Stopfixatingateachwordandpracticeusingyourperipheraltohelpyoureadchunksof wordsatatime.Thisone trick alone can increase your reading speed by 300%. Just like any other skill, it may be a bituncomfortableatfirstbecauseyou’renotusedtoit,butwithpractice,you’llgetbetterinnotime.

M

CHAPTER5

SUPPLEMENTALSTRATEGIES

asteringspeed-readingtechniquescandefinitelyhelpyousignificantlyincreaseyourreadingspeed.However,youcanstillsupplementitwithothernon-readingstrategiestoreallymaximizethespeed-readinggainsyoucangetfromit.

ReadingEnvironment

Whetheryoulikeitornot,whereyoureadplaysaveryhugerole inyourabilitytoreadandcomprehendmaterialsfast.Withfocusbeingthesinglemostimportantingredientforspeed-readingsuccess,you’llneedtoreadinaplacewherethereisvirtuallynodistractionwhatsoever.If not,atleastkeepittoamanageablelevel.

Oneof thecharacteristicsof agreatreadingenvironmentisadequatelighting.If thelightsaretoolow,you’llstrainyoureyesquicklyandyou’lleasilygettiredfromreading.If thelighting’stoosoft,itcanbetoorelaxingandmakeyoufeeltoorelaxedtobeabletoreadwell.Ilovereadinginawell-litquietcoffeeshop–thosewithbigwindowstoallowmuchsunlighttocomein.If youwishtoreadatnightthenhaveatubelightorbulbthatisslightlyawayfromyourhead.If itisdirectlyaboveyouthenyouwillhaveissueswithshadowformationonyourbook.

You’dalsoneedtoavoidplaces thatare too illuminated.Yes, there’replaces like that,especially if thelights are fluorescent ones. If the lights are toobright, youmay also experience reading discomforts likeheadaches,whichcankeepyoufromreadingasmuchasyoulike.

Anotheraspectof theidealenvironmentissilence.Thenoisiertheplacewhereyou’llreadis,themoredistractingitcanbe.Ilovereadingathomeespeciallywheneveryoneisawaybecauseit’ssoquiet–thoughIputonsomesoftjazzmusicinthebackgroundtokeepmefrombeingtoorelaxed.Personally,Idon’tliketodosignificantreadinginmostcoffeeshopsbecauseof thenoisebutIdoknowafewshopsthatarequietenough forme to drown in books. But hey, noise tolerance is subjective and the important thing is theenvironmentwhereyouplantoreadshouldn’tbedistractingtoyoualone.

Another important characteristicof the ideal reading environment is that it shouldoffer youenoughprivacytoreaduninterrupted.If you’redeadseriousaboutreadinguninterrupted,gotoaplacewhereit’s

difficult forpeople tohaveaccess toyou.Youcanhaveadedicatedreadingroom inyourhouse if spacepermits; this isa favoriteamongmanypeopleasyoucancustomize the roomtowhat suitsyou thebest.Aftercustomizingtheroom,justshutthedoorbehindyou,putaDNDsignoutsideandhappyreadings.

Asapersonaltip,tomaketheroomevencozieryoucanlightafewaromatherapycandlesif youpreferthat.Yourmindandbodywillfeelcalmandrelaxedwhileyouread.

Focus

Allthespeed-readingtechniquesintheworldwon’tmattermuchif you’reunabletofocuswellenoughonwhatyou’re reading.Theability to focus ispartlydependentonenvironmentbut it’shighlydependentonyourmind.Sometimes,itcanstillbehardtofocusevenintheperfectreadingenvironmentparticularlywhenalotof thingsarerunningthroughyourhead.That’swhyit’simportanttoworkontheinternalenvironmentaswell–themind.

Thereareseveralgoodwaystohelpdevelopmentalfocus.Oneistoknowthethingsthatyouhaveanddon’thavecontrolover.Manytimes,distractionscomeintheformof worryoverpendingissueslikehealth,theeconomyandevenworldpeace.Many times too, theseworries falloutsideyourcircleof influenceorcontrol like the country’s economy, price of oil in the international market, random shootings by crazyextremistsandeventhehighly-anticipated“big-one”earthquake.It’seasiertolet issueslikethesegowhenyouacknowledgethatreally,youcan’tdoanythingaboutthemandthatyou’rebetteroff focusingonthingsthatyouhavedirectcontrolorinfluenceof…likereading!

Anotherwayistodoyogaorsomeothermeditationexercises.Thesehelptrainyourmindtofocusonthepresent,beinthemomentsotospeak.Yousee,themindisamuscleforallintentsandpurposes.Withenough exercise, it becomes stronger. Similarly, when you exercise your mind to focus it will becomestrongeratitandwillhelpyoureapasmuchof thespeed-readingbenefitsaspossible.

Lastly,Ihighlyrecommendaverypracticalmethodof focusingthathashelpedmealotnotjustwithreadingbutinmyworkasawriter:ThePomodoroTechnique.Here,youreaduninterruptedfor25minutesthen take a 5-minute break, which constitutes a Pomodoro cycle. When you take a break, you can dosomethingelselikewalkaroundorplayagameonyoursmartphone.Thepointisyourestfromthemaintaskathand,whichcanbereading.

You’llneedtoexercisedisciplineinstoppingafter25minutesandtakingabreakfor5minutesnomatterhowenjoyableyourreadingmaterialis.Themainprinciplebehindthisisthatbylimitingyourfocusto25minutesatthemostandtakingregular5-minutebreaks,youpreventyourmindfromtiringoutquickly,thusextendingyourproductiveandfocusedtime.It’ssimilartotherun-walk-runmethodforendurancerunningwhereyoudon’twaittobetootiredtorunbeforeyoutakeawalkbreak.Byrestingevenbeforethepointofmentalfatigue,youextendyourabilitytofocusintenselyonthetaskathand…includingreading.

Exercise

According toDr. JohnRatey,whowrote thebookSpark–TheRevolutionaryNewScienceOf ExerciseAndTheBrain,exercisehelpsimproveyourabilitytofocusforseveralhoursaftercompletion.Exercisingafewhourspriortoanactivitythatwillrequireyoutofocusmentally– likehmmmm…reading–canhelpyoufocusmore.

Itcanalsohelpyouwiththereadingcomprehensionpartof speed-readingbyhelpingyouimproveyourmemorythroughenergizingyourbrain.Speed-readingwouldbepracticallyauselessendeavorif youdon’tretain the important points of what you just readquickly.An experimentpublished in awell-recognizedSportsMedicineUniversity showed thatpeoplewhoarephysicallymoreactivedidbetter in reading testscomparedtothosewhoarelessactive.

Lastly, regularexercisehelpsyou releasepentupenergy thatcancauseyou tobe fidgety in situationswhere you’ll need to be still like reading. Personally, I can attest to the hyperactivity-reducing benefits ofregularexercise.WhenIdon’tgettorunorbikeatleast3timesaweek,IfinditveryhardtoconcentrateonreadingandwritingbecauseIfeelsoagitatedandrestless.Withregularexercise,I’mabletoreleaseexcessenergyandfocusmuchbetteronthingsthatrequirefocussuchasspeed-reading.

Foods–TheBad

Eatingtherightfoodscanhelpyoufocusmuchbetterandretainmoreof whatyouread.Nutrientsplayavitalroleinkeepingyourbrainhealthyandworkingoptimallyandassuch,you’llneedtotakeaseriouslookatyourcurrentdiettoseeif it’sconducivetoimprovingyourreadingandcomprehension.

Let’sstartwiththefoodsthatarebadformentalperformance.Ontopof thelistare–surprise–junkfood!Why?Well,hereareacoupleof reasons:

Hyperactivity:Becausemanyjunkfoodscontaintoomuchsugar,theycanmakeyoumorehyperthanyouusuallyareandpreventyoufromfocusingandconcentratingenoughonwhatyou’rereading.

CrashandBurn:Again,asmanyjunkfoodsareveryhighinsugar,yourbloodsugarspikesupquicklyand as yourpancreas respondsby releasing insulin, yourblood sugar crashes asquickly as it spiked.When that happens, you feel a sudden sense of lethargy and drowsiness and WHEN THATHAPPENS,it’llbeverydifficultforyoutoconcentrateandfocusonwhatyou’rereading.

Next on the list of nutritional badboyswhen it comes to focus is – surprise again – tuna!Yes, thatsupposedlyheartandbrainfriendlyaquaticseacreaturecanactuallywreckhavoconyourabilitytofocusiftakenexcessively.Takingtunafornomorethantwiceaweekisbeneficialtoyourheartandbrainbutif youconsume it more often and you run the risk of ingesting too much mercury, excessive and long-termconsumptionof whichhasbeenscientifically linkedtocognitivedecline.If you’reso intoomega3fishes,considerhealthieralternativeslikewildsalmon,anchoviesandtrout,allof whichofferthesamebrainhealthbenefitswithoutthetoxicity.

Anotherfoodtominimize,if notavoidaltogetherisicecream.Why?Considerthenutritionalvalueinanaveragecupof vanillaicecream:10gramsof anti-cardiosaturatedfatandawhopping28gramsof pure

unadulteratedsugar!Severalstudieshavealreadynotedthatfoodsrichinsugarandsaturatedfat–likeyourfavoritevanillaicecream–canleadtodiminishedverbalmemoryandcognitiveperformance.If youcan’tlayoff thecoldandsweettreats,getGreekyogurtinsteadandlaceitwithsomebrain-friendlyberrieslikestrawberriesandblueberriestomaximizetheculinarybrain-friendlytreat.

Lastly, the seemingly harmless diet soda is another focus and concentration killer in sheep’s clothing.Whyisthatso?There’snosugarinthosedrinkssoI’msafeandsoundfromsugarcrashes,right?Right!Butthat’snotwhydietsodasarebadforspeed-readingandcomprehension.Theculpritisacontroversialsugarsubstitutecalledaspartame,whichisknowntonegativelyaffectmemory.Whatgoodisspeed-readingif youdon’trememberwhatyouread,right?

Foods–TheGood

Nowthatthebadguysareoveranddonewith,we’lltakealookatfoodsthatcanboostyourabilitytofocusandconcentrateformaximumspeed-readingandcomprehension.

First on the list – blueberries!Numerous studies have established that blueberries have the uncannyability to elevatememory and concentration asmuch as 5hours after consumption.The secret lies in itsabundantsupplyof antioxidants,whichhelppromotehealthybloodflowtothebrainandasyouwellknow,goodbloodflowmeansgoodperformance.Placeabowlof theberriesonyourdiningtableorofficetableandmunchsomeeverynowandthen.Youwillalsoremainenergeticallthroughthedaywhenyouconsumetheseberries.

Nextonourlistof nutritionalsuperheroesforfocusandconcentrationisgreentea!Whatmakesgreenteaagreatmentalboost?Twowords:caffeineandl’theanine.Ithinkyoualreadyknowwhycaffeineisgoodfor improving focus and mental performance, right? Right! This leaves us with l’theanine. Simply put,l’theanineisaningredientthatamongotherthings,helpreleasecaffeineslowlyinsteadof dumpingitallatonce, which can lead to what’s known as a caffeine crash, i.e., sudden lethargy due to sudden drops incaffeinelevelsintheblood.L’theaninealsocanhelpyoufeelmoretranquil.Tranquilalertnessisaverygoodstatetobeinwhenyou’respeed-readingforcomprehension.

Aswementionedearlier,fattyfishliketroutandsalmoncontainomega-3fattyacidsthatarecrucialforstavingoff memorydecline,fatigueandmoodswings; it’sbeenknowntohelpimproveconcentrationandmoodaswell.Itisbesttobakethemasopposedtofryingthem;youcanalsotrylightlyroastingthem.

Therewasonceafamousviolinistwhodisguisedhimself andwithavery luxuriousviolin,performedbrilliantcompositionstotheearsof passingcitizensonthestreetsof Manhattan.This individualwasthechief attractionatnumeroussymphoniesthatchargedhundredsof dollarsandyethewasplayingforFREEon this particular day. The astounding surprisewas that 99.9%of the populaces passed him by that daywithout giving a second thought to him. Why? One may ask… It’s because people take free stuff forgranted!

Waterisoneitemthat’softentakenforgrantedwhenitcomestoconsumptionandassuch,manypeoplesuffer from slight dehydration, which can negatively affect your ability to focus and concentrate. Water

providesyourbrainthenecessaryelectricalenergyforoptimalfunctioningincludingmemoryandthoughtactivities.Ithasalsobeenproventhatbeingadequatelyhydratedhelpsyoufocusmore,thinkfasterandmoreclearly than when you’re dehydrated.Many people don’t drink until they feel thirsty but youmust forceyourself todrinkeverynowandthenbecauseyourbodyactuallybecomesdehydratedpriortothefeelingofthirst.

Youcanalsopreparesomefruitinfusedwaterasitwillhelpyouremainhydratedandatthesametime,youcanincreaseyournutrition.Justaddafewberriesintothewaterandconsumeitfromtimetotime.Itisrecommendedthatyouconsumethiswaterwhenyouarelearningspeed-readingtechniques–rightnowforexample!

Dark chocolates – not the sugar-laden and milky processed ones – contain some caffeine andmagnesium,whichcanhelpyouhandlestressbetter.Darkchocolatesalsohelpfacilitatethebody’sreleaseofendorphinsandserotonin,allof whichcanhelp improveyourmoodand feelings.Beinggoodfor speed-readingdoesn’tmeanthemorethemerrierthough.Keepconsumptiontosmallamountsbecauseaswithallgoodthings,toomuchof itcanbedetrimentaltootheraspectsof yourhealth.

Apart from these, there are certainnatural food supplements that you can consume to thebenefit ofyourbrainandthus,improveyourspeed-reading.Theyarementionedasunder:

Ashwagandha:AshwagandhaisanaturalherbthatiswidelyusedinAsiancountries.Itissaidtoimprovememorypowerandincreaseaperson’sgraspingcapacity.Youcanavailitinpowderorcapsuleform.

Shankpushpi:ShankpushpiisanIndianherbmentionedinAyurvedictexts.Itisregularlyconsumedtoimprovememoryandsharpenthemind.Infact,manystudentsconsumeitjustbeforeanexamtoimprovetheirmind’spower.Thisismostlyconsumedinsyrupformandcanbeboughtonline.

Gingko:GingkobilobaisanextremelypopularherbthatiswidelyusedinChinesemedicine.Itissaidtobeextremelypotentinincreasingaperson’smind’scapacityandbrainpower.

Rhodiola:Rhodiolaisanotherrootthatisgreatforcombatingmemorylossandimprovingyourmind’scapacity.Byregularlyconsumingthissupplement,youcanimproveyourmind’scapacitytospeed-read.Youcanpurchaseitinpowderorcapsuleform.

Sage:SageextractshavebeenmentionedinEuropeantextstohelpimproveaperson’smemorypower.Theherbisextremelypowerfulandyoucanaddalittleof ittoyourmealsonadailybasis.Itisalsoeasytogrowityourself!

Turmeric:Turmericisanothergoodbrainfood.ItisanIndianherb.Allyouhavetodoisaddalittletoyoursoupsandcurries. It isalsoknowntohelppreventoxidativedamage in thebrainand improveyourbrain’soverallhealth.

Althoughallof thesearesafetoconsume,youmustconsultaphysicianbeforeconsuminganyof these.

Sleep

Lastly,allthementalexercisesandsuperfoodsintheworldwon’tbeenoughtoimproveyourreadingspeedandcomprehensionwithoutgettingadequate sleep. Just asyourphysicalmusclesneedample time to restandrecuperate,sodoesyourbrain.I’llbegoff fromgivingastandardforsleepinghoursbuthere’sagoodguidelinetoconsider:if youfeellethargicorweakwhenyouwakeupinthemorning,it’shighlypossiblethatyou’renotgettingenough.Youshouldbeabletowakeupfeelingenergetic,alertandrefreshed.Whenyoudo,you’llbeabletoconcentrateandfocusbetterthroughouttheday.

Morethanjustthenumberof hours,thequalityof yoursleepisalsoimportant.Youcansleepfor10hourseverynightbutif yoursleepisveryshallow,you’llstillfeel10hoursisn’tenough.Ontheflipside,ifyoursleepisverydeep,youcanhavejust6hoursandwakeupfeelingrefreshed,alertandenergetic.

Forqualitysleep,considerthefollowingpracticaltips:

i. Avoid exercising close to bedtime.Doing so increases your body temperature significantly and willmakeitveryhardforyoutosleep.If you’regoingtoexercise,makesureit’llendatleast3hourspriortohittingthesacksoyougiveyourbodythechancetocooldownandyourheartratetonormalize.

ii. Turnyourgadgetsoff atleast30minutesbeforesleeping.Exposuretoartificial light–thosecomingfromyoursmartphonesandtablets–tendtosuppressthereleaseof melatonin,whichisanimportantsleephormone.

iii. Likeexercise,havingcaffeinetooclosetobedtimecanmakeyoutooalerttosleep.Limityourcaffeineintaketo3P.M.atthelatesttogiveyourbodyenoughtimetoflushoutthecaffeinefromyoursystem.

iv. Relax.Tryingsohardtosleepwhenyourmindandbodyareclearlyaren’tupto itwillonlymake itharder for you to sleep. If youcan’t sleep, read a reallyboringbook (obviouslynot thisone), countsheep (oranyanimalyou like)ormeditate. Justdon’texerteffortbecause itwillonly stimulateyourmindevenmore,makingitharderforyoutosleep.

v. Tryhavingsomethingaromaticintheroomthatcanhelpyousleepbetter;thiswillhelpyoufeelgood.Justmakesureitisanaturalfragranceandnotartificial.Rose,sandalandjasminearegreatchoicesforyoutotryout.

vi. Itisidealtomaintainacooltemperatureintheroom.Countlessstudieshavebeendonetoshowthatsleepinginacoolerroomaround18degreesCelsiusisoptimal.Keepathermometerinyourroomandtrytoyourbesttomatchwhat’ssuggestedasoptimal.

R

CHAPTER6

HISTORYOFSPEED-READING

eading,asahabit,hasexistedsincetimeimmemorial.Theworldhasprogressedforthousandsof yearsandit has all been possible owing to books and other decipherable scripts. Imagine a world without anyinformationbeingreadandshared, itwouldbeabsolutelyhorrible,wouldn’t it?Neverthelessdon’tworry,suchaworlddoesnotexistandtherearemillionsof booksandtextsthatyoucanreadandexplore.Letuslookatthehistoryof speed-reading.

Asyounowknow,noteverybodyreadsatthesamepaceorwiththesametechniques.Givea500-pagebookto2peopleandoneof themwillreaditinaweekwhiletheotherwilltakeamonth.Thisisprimarilythe resultof differences in their reading speeds, techniquesused and aswell as the amountof time theyspendreading.

Didyouknowthat“meta-guiding”asatechniquedidnotexistuntilthelate1950s?Forarespectable,educationalpurpose,EvelynWoodwasdeterminedtounderstandwhysomepeoplecouldreadmuchfasterthanotherscould.Shewantedtocomeupwithafeasiblemethodthatwouldalloweverybodytoreadatthesamepace,whichwasfast.

Throughseveralyearsof research,shewasunabletoincreaseherownreadingspeedandbelievedthatitwasimpossibletofinishabookanyfaster.However,whileonthevergeof givingup,shestumbleduponawinningformula.Sherealizedthatrunningherfingerbelowthewordsmadeiteasyforhertoreadthedatafasterandthatishowmeta-guidingissaidtohavecomeabout.

JohnF.Kennedyissaidtohavebeenanavidspeed-reader.Hecouldreadtextexceedinglyfastandalsoencouragedothersaroundhimto takeupspeed-reading.Anotherpresident, JimmyCarter,alongwithhiswifeRosalyn,alsoexcelledatspeed-readingandheissaidtohaveintroducedacourseattheWhiteHouse,whichpromptedseveralpeopletotakeitupseriously.

Today, there are several speed-reading contests that are held all over the world. These competitionsgenerally require the person to read around 1000 to 2000 words within a minute with at least 50%comprehension.Therearepeoplewhocanalsoread10,000wordswithinaminute.Butthishascomeunderfirefromcritics,astheybelievereadingsofastwillnotallowthepersontorememberanythingatall,nottomentionthepressurethatitputsonthebrain.

Theaveragereadingspeedthatmostpeoplehaveissaidtobeapproximately250wordsperminutebutthiscancertainlybechangedtoahighernumber.Youneedtotakeupspeed-readingdeterminedly,which

willhelpyouincreasethatnumbertoatleast500to600wordsaminute.

CHAPTER7

BENEFITSOFSPEED-READING

Knowledge

Whenweread,weobviouslytakeinalotof information.Thosewhoarenotwellreadwillnothaveaccesstomuch informationon awide rangeof different subjects.There is an adage that states, “Knowledge IsPower”,andso itbecomesall themore important toreadasmuchaspossibleanddiversifyone’scurrentawareness.Thisdoesnotalwayshavetobeacademicandcanalsobetrivial; it’svital tokeepinmindthatbothareequallyimportantandyoumustexpandyourhorizonsthroughreadingbooksandothertextsondiversesubjects,if youwishtoincreaseyourknowledgebase.

Confidence

Readingwell leavesapersonwithanutmostconfidencenoteasilyobtained. If youare inagroupwhereeveryone is well read and speaks intelligently while you are the only one that does not do so, then it isimportant that you read and increase your confidence so that you feel that you fit in.Once youdevelopknowledge,youwillstartspeakingupandcontributetoaconversationmoreconfidently.Thebasicaimistocontribute constructively and you can easily do so by reading books that will provide you with keyinformationonaplethoraof topics.

Freedom

The ability to read, or read fast, will free you from having to rely on others to help you understandsomething.Youwillnothavetorelyonotherstotellyouwhatyouneedtoknowandcanquicklystartdoingajobbyyourself.Thisfreedomcangoalongwayinensuringthatyoudon’twasteyourtimeandcanallowyoutoquicklymovetoanotherimportanttask.Itwillalsopreventyoufrommakingerrorsandnotallowotherstotakeadvantageof you.

Security

Whenyouarewellread,asenseof securitystartstocreepin.Apartfromconfidence,you’llalsodevelopthisfeeling thatyoucaneasilyhandleanything that isputyourway.Thisenablesyou to forgeaheadwith theupmostbelief inyourself andwillalsohelpyoutowardsestablishingfinancialsecurity.Yourknowledgeandskillswilltakeyoualongwayandyoujustmightgetaraiseaswell-alltoooftenowingtoyourskill.Sokeepreadingandimprovingyourvocabularyandcognition;youwillsuccessfullyreachnewheightsbydoingso.

Memory

Memorypowerisabigboontomankind.Imagineaworldwherenobodyhasagoodmemory;itwouldbequiteirritating.Tohelpyouimproveyourmemory,thebestthingtodoisreadasmuchaspossibleandinaddition,readonavarietyof differentsubjects.Tryreadingalanguagebookandlearninganewlanguage.Doingsuchextracurricularstudieswillstrengthenbothyourshorttermandlong-termmemory.Youwillremember thingsbetter and for longerperiodsof time.Partake in regularmemory contests andyouwilltrulyseejustwhatamarkeddifferenceyourspeed-readingskillsmakesforyou,innotimeatall.

Focus

Whenitcomestoreading,focusisof utmostimportance.Theaveragehumanmindiscapableof reading600wordsaminuteandyetwemanageonlyacoupleof hundred.Awisestyletoincreasereadingspeedisby increasing your focus and vise-versa, once you earnestly take up speed-reading, your focus willautomaticallystarttoimprove.Youwillbeabletotalktoothersfromdifferentwalksof lifeasyoubecomemorepresent.

Logic

Logic is amind activity that attaches feasible reasoning to events and occurrences. This type of logic isextremelyimportantforeverybodytopossess,asitwillsavealotof timeinreasoningthroughouttheday.When you read good books, your mind automatically adapts to logic as the flow of the words startsregistering insideyourmind.Asyoustart to readmoreandpracticespeed-reading techniques,yourmindwill start to holdmore information and process it thoroughly; youwill realize that through this, it willbecomeeasierforyoutothinkof thingsandeventsthroughalogicalperspective.

Emotions

Asweknow,mostof usarenowexposedtoalotof stress,whichcausesustofeelextremelyfatigued.Mostof usturntotelevisiontorelieveourselvesof thisstress,withoutrealizingthatitisonlyworseningitforus.Wedon’tunderstandthatmostmediasourcesnegativelyimpactsourthinkingandslowusdown,especiallybingewatchingtelevisionshows.Theneedof thehouristoindulgeinanactivitythatwilleffectivelycurbourstressandimproveourmind’shealthandthatactivityisreading.Whenyoulearntospeedread,youwillfinditincreasinglyeasytoreadbigbooks;thefeelingof gettinglostinepicnovelsissimplyamazing.Hence,youcangetlostnovelsonadailybasisandkissyourstressgoodbye.Onceyoulearntospeedread,youwillnotfeellikestopping!Trustme,it’sthatgood!

Solutions

All humanbeingswish to seek solutions to their personal issues. Somewish to find solutions to seriousproblemsandsometopettyonesbutthecoreof thematteristowalkawaywiththecake,bybeingthefirstonetofindafeasiblesolution;thiscanbemadepossiblebyreadinginexcess.Youhavetoreadasmuchaspossible and absorb all information like a sponge, and then the information can be employed to findsolutionstoissues.Thehumanbrainiscapableof thingsthatyoucannotevenimagineandbeforeyouknowit,itwouldhavealreadyformulatedafeasiblesolutiontotheproblemlayinginfrontof you.

Invention

Ourworldhasexistedforthousandsof years,buttherearestilltoomanydiscoverieswaitingtohappenoutthere.If youareadeptatreadingfast,thenyoucanreadavastnumberof bookswithinashortamountoftime;thekeyistoabsorbasmuchinformationaspossibleveryswiftly.Then,mixandmatchwhateveryoureadandcomeupwithsomethingnew.Thisnewinformationorlogicwillhelpyouinmorewaysthanyoucanshakeastickatsogetreadinganddiscoversomethingnew!

Theseformjustthetipof theicebergforusesof speed-reading.Therearecountlessmoreof thesethatyoucanattainonceyoupickupthisart!

D

CHAPTER8

SPEED-READINGEXPERIENCEENHANCERS

uringthecourseof readingthisbook,youmaybewonderinghowyoucanmakespeed-readingrelevanttoyourlifeanduseittomakeyourself intoabetterperson.Someof themethodsfordoingthisareincludedinthischapterandtheywilltakeyourspeed-readingtoawholenewlevel.

Debating

Didyouever think thatyouwouldbelieve insomethingsomuchthatyouwouldbewilling todebate it?Well, in thisworldwhere there is somuch friction, it’s quitepossible that you canbecome an importantvoiceof reason.Therearemanydebatingsocietiesandtheseenrichpeople’slivesbecausepeople–justlikeyou–whoknowsomethingaboutasubject–getachancetoairtheirviews.

Whyisthisimportant?

Sometimesyoubelieveinsomethingandfeelthatyouaredoingnothingtochangethewaythattheworldperceivesthings.Forexample,sometopicsthatyoucouldspeedreadandreallygetsomethingoutof includethefollowingaspectsof everydaylife:

Ecology

Wars

Differentapproachestogovernment

Marriageissues

ReligionandPolitics

Earthfriendlyinnovations

If you are going to speed read, testhowpowerful you areby joining adebating society and learn toargueyourcase.Thismaynotseemimportant,but it’sextremely importantbecausewhatyouaredoingislearning logical reasoningbasedon thematerial that you readand that’spowerful stuff. If youbelieve insomething, learn about what experts say about it. Follow up your reading with suggested readings onAmazonandotherwebsites,whicharegreatplacestofindthosematerials.

Forexample,if youbuyabookonglobalwarming,whatotherbooksdidreadersbuy?It’susuallyshownontheAmazonpageandthat’sreallyusefulinformationfortheavidreader.Yougettoknowaboutbooksthatarguethecasefromdifferentperspectivesandthatmakesyoualotmorepowerfulinthewaythatyouputforwardyourcase.Youcanusequotesfrompeopletobackupyourargumentandif youdon’tknowwheretojoinadebatingsociety,tryFacebookbecausetherearegroupstherethatarelookingforpeoplelikeyou–peoplewhoareinformedandwhoknowwhattheyaretalkingaboutbaseduponwhattheyhavereadandunderstoodfromtheirreading.That’spowerfulstuff.

Debatinghelpsyourreadingexperiencebecauseyouwillbecomesokeentocheckupon informationthatyouabsorbiteasilyanditisalsoanexcellentwayof gettinginterestedinaparticularsubject.Half ofthetricktospeed-readingisactuallyhavingtopicsthatyouenjoyreadingabout.If theyaretopicsthatyouhavenointerestin,it’sliketryingtoreadanewspaperinhieroglyphics!Youneedthatinteresttospuryouonandbelieveme,itreallywill.

EnjoyingYourInternetExperiencemore

Oftenwhenpeople speed read, they don’t realize the significance of reading on reading devices and thisworkseverybitaswellasreadingabookintraditionalformat.UsethedifferenttechniquesoutlinedinanearlierchapterandtryusingthemonyourKindleorE-Readerforastart.ThereasonIsaythisisbecauseifyouareaccustomedtousingtheInternet,knowthattheInternetisknownasaplacewherepeoplehavelowattentionspans.ReadingyourKindleandlearningtospeed-readwillreallyhelpyoutoseethescreenasareaderinsteadof merelyawebsitewithotherthingstodistractyou.

Whenspeed-readingonline,youmayneedtouseyourfingeracrossthescreen,justastheoriginalladydid when she learned to speed read. This may appear to be silly at first, but TRY IT; you’ll soon getaccustomedtoreading inthismannerandcantake ina lotof information inaveryshortspaceof time.Thishelpsyou to research in amuchdeeper and swifter rate than if you simply readasnormal Internetusersusuallydo.

Ifoundthatspeed-readingfordatawasvery important inmylifebecausewhenyouarestudying,thishelpsyoutotakeininformationmuchfasterthansimplybrowsingtheweb.Whatyoufirstneedtolearniswhichwebsitesgive thebest informationand the leastdistractions.Youneedauthoritativework,butyoualsoneedtoreadseveralwebpagesbeforeyougetanoverallviewof thetopicthatallowsyouanoriginaltake.Forinstance,if youarestudying,thelastthingthatyourprofessorwantstoseeisregurgitatedideas.

Peoplewhousespeedreadingeffectivelytakeinalltheideasandthencomeupwithanoriginaltakeonthoseideassothatwhattheywriteisoriginalandverywellresearchedindeed.IoncehadtodothiswithapaperIwroteonHaitiandwhatIfoundtomydismaywasthatmuchof theinformationthatIwasreading

was out of date and that had I written my paper from the first few websites that I had visited, theinformationwouldhavebeenterriblyoutof dateaswell.Fortunately,Iwasable tomakewelluseof myspeed-readingskillsandblazedthroughmanycrediblewebsites.Thishelpedmetoproduceapaperthatwasnotonlyuptodatebutwhichalsohadextremelyvaluableinformationthatnooneelsehadthoughtof.

Speed-reading done for a specific purpose is always more rewarding than doing it for the sake ofachievingnumbersof pagesreadornumberof words.Peoplewhoareversed inthisartareabletopiecethingstogethermuchmoreeasilyandusetheinformationthattheygleantohelpthemimprovewhotheyareandtheirattitudetowardlife.

FollowingLogicalArgumentByUnderstanding

Whenyouareoutwithpeoplewhoarewellread,youarebetterabletovoiceyouropinionif youareheavilyreadandhaveunderstoodtheintricaciesof thewordsthatyouhavedigested.Unfortunately,noteveryonehas an understanding of thewords that they intake.Manymagazines have quiz’s everymonth that testspeopleonwordmeaningsandthishelpstoincreasethevocabularyof readers.Thisisapowerfultoolandifyoucangetyourhandsontheseissues,it’sworthinvestinginittohelpyoutogainmorefromyourreadingexperience.It’snotenoughtosimplyread.Comprehensionof whatyoureadisvitalespeciallyif youwantyourvoicetobeheardbyothers.

In an Islamic State, a girl once had very strong views politically and voiced them to make a vastdifference in the way people saw things and this is something that you are able to do if you up yourcomprehensionbytakingteststhathelpyoutoestablishyourunderstandingof complexvocabulary.

If youcan’tgetholdof thesemagazines,don’tworry.Therearewebsitesthathelpyoutoimproveyourvocabularyandwhichexplainwordsthatyoudon’tunderstand.Ihavealsofoundthatspeed-readingonaKindlehelpswithunderstandingcomplexwordsbecauseyouhaveinstantaccesstoatoolthatwillexplainanywordsthatyoudon’tunderstand.Thus,younotonlylearntospeedread,youlearntospeedcomprehendandthat’swhenthingsgetreallypowerful.

Icannotemphasizeenoughhowimportantitistogetthemostoutof yourspeed-readingexperience.Ifyouwanttoincreaseyourunderstandingof life,youneedtoknowwhatauthorsmeanwithinthelinesoftheirvocabularyinadditiontoreadingthemfastbecausethisimprovesyourlevelof understandingandismuchmoremeaningfulthansimplybeingabletoreadasetamountof wordsinasetamountof time.

B

CHAPTER9

HOWTHEHUMANMINDWORKS

eforeyouunderstandhowspeed-readingworks,youmustfirstknowhowthehumanmindworks.

As youknow, thehumanbrain is capableof multi-tasking several things atonce and is also adept atstoringalotof information.Ourbrainsareconstantlyworkinganditisnosurprisethatitistheonlyorganinthebodythatremainsawakewhilewesleep.

Whenwesleep,anaturalphenomenonoccurswherewevisualizepeopleandthings;thisphenomenonisknown as dreaming. When a person dreams, his or her subconscious mind supplies the conscious withimagesandstoriesandtheseimagesandstoriesarethenrelayedlikeamovie.

This, youmay say, is common knowledge, butwhatmany people don’t know is that this is the samephenomenonthatoccursinsidethemindwhenyouread.Thatiscorrect;whenyoureadsomething,youcanseeallof itlikeamovieinyourhead.IrememberreadingLaurieLee’sCiderwithRosieandseeingallthecountrysidespreadoutinfrontof me;descriptiveuseof languageallowsyoutodothat.

Whenyoureadthetext,yourmindfocusesonthecharactersthatarepresentinthebook.If therearenocharacters and you are reading something seriously, it still starts playing everythingout like amovie, butperhapslikeadocumentary.

Say for example you are reading a novelwhere the protagonist is a tall, fairmanwith blue eyes andblondhair.Yourmindwill immediatelymakeamentalpictureof suchapersonandasyouread,youwillimagine this very person going through the different events that arementioned in the book. So say thispersonfallsinlovewithashortgirlwithravenhair,youwillimaginethesetwocharactersfallinginlove.

Thecharacterswillbebasedonwhatyouwouldhavealreadyseeninyourlifeandyourmindwillonlydrawoutimagesthatarealreadypresent.Consequentlythereisnothingnewthatisbeinginventedinyourmindandyouareonlyseeingwhateveryouhavestoredinyoursubconscious.

Thatisexactlywhyyouwillseethesameimageof analienevenif itappearsindifferentbooks.Yourmindwillhaveapresettemplateof thealien,whichitwillsupplytoyourconscious.

Researchhasshownthatthepersonfeelslikeheorsheispartof thestorywhentheyreadsomethingsoif thestoryisaboutamanwhoclimbsMountEverest,thenthepersonwillputhimself inthemountaineer’sshoes.Avividimaginationwillhelpthepersoncomprehendthestoryfaster.

It isunderstoodthatthebraindoesallof this inmicrosecondsandbeforeyouhavethetimetothinksomethingdifferentfromwhatyouread,yourmindwouldhavealreadypreparedamovieinyourhead.

Thistypeof moviewillbevividwhensomeoneelsereadstoyou.Thatiswhybedtimestoriesthatarereadouttochildrenareconsideredtobegoodbrainactivityforthem.Theywilllearntovisualizebetterandwhentheystarttoread,theywilldosowithease.

Now it is obvious that childrenwill readmuchmore enthusiastically as compared to adults,who arefreshly starting out. So to help such adults develop a permanent reading habit, it is best to choose aninterestingbookforthem,somethingthatwillkeeptheirenthusiasmgoing.

It isbelievedthat it ispossibleto increasethewhitemass inthebrain,which is theprefrontalcortex.Your hippocampuswill also increase in size, and allow you to think better as you read and gain deeperunderstandingsof varioustopics.Thereisasetpatternthatyourminddrawsfromandyoumustallowyourbraintoshootoff.

Itisalsopossibleforyoutoimproveyourcomprehensionbedoingthefollowingthings:

Learninganewlanguage

Youcantakeupfunactivitiessuchaslearninganewlanguagetoimproveyourcomprehension.Don’tstickwiththestandardEuropeanlanguages;pickanAsian language likeChineseorHindi.Therationalbehindthisisyououghttrytousealanguagewherethealphabetisdifferent;thiswillopenupyourmindtoseeingsomethingotherthantheA,B,C’sandyou’llbegintoseethattheworlddoesnotonlyconsistof languagewhichisplayedoutinthislimitedalphabet.

Youwillfeelhappytoaddanotherlanguagetoyourexistingrepertoireandyourreadingcomprehensionwillalsoimproveconsiderably.

Playfocusgames

Playing games that require you to focus will also improve your cognition and memory. Choose aword/numbergameorsomethingtodowithquickcalculationsandtrytoplayregularly.HaveyouheardofFreeCell,Sudoku,andSolitaires?Thesearejustafewof themultitudeof focusgamesyoucaneffortlesslygetaccessto!

Meditation

Meditationisadailyactivitythatyoucanadoptandexploitinordertoimproveyourfocus.Therearemany

meditational techniques tochoose fromandeachonewill impart adifferentbenefit.Letus lookat thesetechniques.

Breathing

Breathingmeditationisquitepopularandeasytoperform.Allyouhavetodoisfindyourself aquietcornerinthehouseandstartinhalingandexhalingdeeply.Focusonyourbreathandcuteverythingelseout.Trytorelaxyourmindandpaykeenattentiontohowtheairentersandexitsyourbody.Don’tbreatheinthroughyourmouththoughandbreatheonlythroughyournose.Youcanalsodopranayamaif youlike,whereyoucloseonenostrilandthenexhalethroughtheother.Thisisrelativelyeasytoperformandinvolvesholdingyour thumbover the nostril that you are not using.Rememberwhen you breathe that it isn’t just aboutbreathing,it’sabouttakinginenergyintoyourbodyandthat’swhatmeditationisallabout.Whenyouspeedread after a meditation session, you will do so more attentively and understand more of what you arereading.

Walking

Walkingmeditation isauniqueformof meditation.Youmust lookfora largespacewhereyoucanwalkstraightandjustkeepwalking.Breatheinwhenyouplaceyourrightlegforwardandexhalewhenyouplaceyourleftlegforward.Somepeoplealsoliketowalkaroundincircles.Concentrateonyourbreathingasyouwalkandtrytoforgetabouttherestof theworld.Thisisagoodformof meditationif youhaveahugereport toreadandaredreading it. Itclearsyourmindandmakesyoufocusmuchbetteronyourreadingmaterial,thusachievingmoreinashorterperiodof time.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness isa technique that ismeant tohelpyou focuson justone thingata time. It isobvious thattherewillbeamillionthingsonyourmindonadailybasisandforthis,youneedtofocusonallthesmallthingsintheworld.Sorightfromwashingyourhandstocleaningthehouse,youneedtoremainmindfulofeach and every little activity. To stay focused on one thing is quite easy after a while. Think of nothingoutsideof theactionthatyouaretaking.If youareeating,concentrateonthetastesandtexturesthatareputontoyourtongue.Practicingmindfulnessalsomakesyourlifemorevibrantandalive.

These formdifferent things that youcando to improve your focus andconcentration tohelp speed-reading.Practicethemandyouaresuretoseepositiveresultsinnotimeatall.

W

CHAPTER10

THE30MINUTERULE

henyouwishtotakeupspeed-reading,itisbestthatyoumakeuseof aminimum30-minutedailypracticeschedule.Didyouknowthatadailypracticeroutineof 30minuteswouldimproveyourresultssignificantlyafteramonth?Tryitandyou’llbeamazed;thisdoesn’tmerelyapplytospeed-reading,itrelatestoallotherabilitiesyouaspiretohaveinlife.

PracticeReadingChapters

It is important toPRACTICE speed-reading at least a chapter at a timeuntil your comfortablewith theprocess.Whetheritissomethingfromthenewspaperoryouremail,quicklyspeed-readit.Itisfinetoreadleisurely during the day but there should be no cheating with your speed-reading practice. Use thetechniquesthatwerepresentedearlier,practicethem,astheywillhelpyoureadbetterandfaster.

PracticeReadingEntireBooks

Thenextstepistospeed-readentirebooks.Itwillseemimpossibleattheverybeginningbutonlypracticemakesperfect.Choosea smallbook foryourself thatyoucaneasily finishwithina shortperiodof time.Thenmovetoamediumsizedbookandthenabigbook.Makesureallthebooksareinteresting,asaboringbookwillputyoutosleep.Also,choosebooksthatyouareinterestedinbecausethatwillgiveyoutheinitialconcentrationthatyouneedtoachievekickstartthishabit.

Aiminghigh

Remembertoaimhigh.If youcanfinisha100-pagebookin30minutes,aimnextfor200pageswithin30minutes. You must aim high on a daily basis and there should be nothing impossible for you. A veryintelligentmanoncesaidthatit’sbettertohit60%of animmensegoal,thanconstantlyhitting100%of atriflinggoal.Don’tshortyourself,thinkBIGandaimHIGH.

RememberthatyourreadingcanalsobedonefromKindleorthroughwebsitesandthatallof thishelpsyourreadingspeedtremendously.

W

CHAPTER11

FIXINGYOURCURRENTREADINGISSUES

henyouwishtotakeupspeed-readingasapermanentchoice,youmustforgetsomeof youroldhabitsthatmightbepullingyoudown.In thischapter,wewill lookathowyoucaneffectivelybreak theshacklesofyouroldhabits.

Fixation

Thefixationhabitisonewhereyoufixateyoureyesoveroneormoreof thewordsonthepage.Remainingfixated over a single word for a long time can cause you towaste quite some time and it isn’t effectivetowardsreadingeither,sotheideaistobreakthishabitonceandforall.

Fixationisanaturalhumanphenomenonthatoccurswitheveryindividual.Rightfromayoungage,weareforcedtoreadacertainway,whichemphasisonfixation.Consequentlyitisprobablytheoldestreadinghabit thatyoupossessbut thegoodnews is it’s fairlysimple tobreak thishabitandallyouhave todo ismakeuseof yourperipheralvision.

Human beings have something known as peripheral vision aswe discussed in a previous chapter. Toillustratethisconceptagain, liftyourheadandlookstraight.Withoutturningyoureyesoryourhead,youcan still look at whatever lies next to you whether it be a wall or a television. This again is known asperipheralvision.Youhavetomakeuseof thissamevisiontoreadmorewithinashorterperiodof time.Whenyouutilizeof yourperipheralvision,youcanreadmorethanasinglewordatatime.Infact,youcaneasilyreadtwoorthreewordsandreadattwiceorthricethespeed.

It is a good idea to clump thewords together asdescribed in the technique chunk reading.Thiswillensurethatyoureadfasterandalsounderstandwhateveryouread.

Practicedailyandensurethatyoudotherightthingeverytime.

Regression

The next demon to tackle is known as regression. Regression is also known as re-reading.Now imagineseeingsomeonewhoisreadingsomething.Howmanytimesdoyouseetheireyespassoveracertainwordbutthencomebacktoit?Thisisknownasregression.

Itisjustasnaturallyoccurringasfixation.Youhavetodealwithitquicklyif youwishtoreadquicker.Scientists have found that average person spends about 20 minutes in an hour’s worth of reading onregression.Soitisimportantthatyounotwastesomuchtimeinaday.

Beforeyoudealwithit,letuslookatsomeof thereasonswhyregressionoccurs.Themainreasonforregressiontooccurisalackof focus.Yourmindwillbeelsewherewhilereadingandthiswillcauseyoutore-readwhateverthatyoualreadyreadthereforeitisbestthatyouremainfullyfocusedduringyourreadings.Don’tkeepthinkingof otherthings, lestyouendupwastingyourtime.Don’tassumethatyourmindwillautomaticallystarttofocusonthereadingassoonasyoupickthebookup.Youhavetoconsciouslymakeanefforttofocusonthecontentwhenyouwishtodealwithregression.

Thenextcommonreasonfortheoccurrenceof regressionisreadingauniquewordforthefirsttime.Youwouldnothaveheardof thewordbeforeandwillwish to re-read it again to see if youactuallydoknowtheword.Youwillthenspendsomeamomenttryingtoremembersuchawordandwastetimesoitisimportant to not do so.Once you come across such a word, remember the word and then look up it’smeaning later instead of trying to read it over and over again. If you make use of the Meta-guidingtechnique, thenyoucanmakeuseof apenandunderlinesuchaword,so thatyouwill rememberall thedifferentwordsthatyouwishtolookup.

The lastreasonforregression isgoingtoofast.Withspeed-reading, it isquitecommonforpeopletolosecontrolovertheirreadingspeeds.Youmightgosofastthatyouendupskippingafewlinesinbetween.Thiscanbeabadthing,asyouwillendupreadingabruptly.Sothebestthingtodoisgarnercontroloveryour reading speed.Go slow at it and trynot to skip anything inbetween; remember,we allmust crawlbeforewecanwalk.Again,makeuseof theMetaguidingtechniquetohelpyou.

Subvocalization

Subvocalizationisthethirdroadblock.Whenyourepeatthewords inyourheadorsay itout loudwhenyoureadsomething,yourbrainisforcedtodotwocomplexthingsatonce.Thiscanneverbeagoodthingandyoumustfocusononlyoneactivityatatime.

Thebestwaytodosoisbykeepingyourmouthclosedwhilereadingsomethingandlearningtochunkread.Thatway,youwillnotfeellikereadinganythingvocallyorinternally.Itsoundscompletelyimpossible,as you will be accustomed to reading it out loud but do your best to not open your mouth at all.Concentrate on your reading alone and don’t let yourmindwander.You can chewon some gum if youpreferthat.

Whenyouwishtodoawaywithyoursubvocalizinghabit,youcanmakeuseof yourvividimagination.Yourimaginationwillpreventyoufromreadingoutloudandyoucanalsorememberthethingsbetter.

These form the different old habits that youmust dealwithwhen youwish to improve your speed-reading.

M

CHAPTER12

SPEED-READINGMYTHSANDFAQS

ythsareaninevitablepartof anytopicandspeed-readingalsocomeswithitsfairshareof myths.Itisourdutytodebunkthemandseparatefactfromfiction.Letuslookatsomeof thesemythsindetailanddebunkthem.

Speed-readingisboring

Theveryfirstmythstatesthatspeed-readingisextremelyboring,nonethelessthistheoryshouldholdtrueonly if youtake theactivityof reading ingeneralasbeingboring.If youarealreadyanavidreader,wholovestoread,thenspeed-readingwillfurtherenhanceyourexperienceandif youarenotsuchakeenreader,then speed-reading will help ignite a reading passion in you. Either way, you stand to gain from speed-reading.Yes,itwillbeatoughchallengeattheverybeginningbutnothingaboutitwillbeboring.Infact,itwillbequiteexcitingandyouwillfeellikespeed-readingallthetime.

Speed-readingisnothingbutagimmick

Thisisonedoubtthatmanypeoplehavewhenitcomestospeed-reading.Theyassumeitisjustatrickanddoesnotreallyexistbutthis isnottrueatall.Speed-reading isareal techniquethat isusedto improveaperson’s readingskills.Tosupplementyourbelief, studyandpractice the techniquespresentedearlier thenmakeawell-informeddecisionforyourself whetherthisisgimmickorafactualability.

Itwilltaketoolongtolearn

Thisisjustabadmyth.Itwillnottakeyoualongtimetolearnspeed-reading;infact,don’tworryaboutthetimeatall.Evenif ittakesyouacoupleof weeksormonths,youwillseesteady,cumulativeprogressandthiswill save you tonsof timedown the road.Don’twrongly assume that itwill take youyears togetherbecausethetruthis,throughconsistentandpersistentpractice,youcanundoubtedlydecreaseyourreading

speedinhalf.Conversely,don’tcompareyourself toanotherperson;perhapstheywillreadfasterthanyouowing to their in-built capacity to learn fasterbutdon’t bedisheartened, hardwork alwayspaysoff.Youmight learn slowlybut yourhabitwill stick around longer. Spendeachminuteof speed-readingenjoyingyourself andyouwillnotevenrealizeastohowandwhenyourabilityincreases!

Itisallaboutquickeyes

Notreally.Itiscommontoassumethatitisnecessarytomoveyoureyesfastandrunthemoverthewordsbut this is not really the case.Your eyes don’t have to run for you to read fast, you need tomaintain aconsistentspeedandnotneedtorace.However,itwillbetoyouradvantageif youcanrunyoureyesfastoverthereadingmaterialasitisanaddedbenefitbutit’sdefinitelynotcompulsory.Accordingly,don’tgoalloutlandishandmerelymoveyoureyesfastwithoutlookingatthewordsandnotgraspinganything.

Comprehensiongoesforatoss

It isquitenormaltoassumethatyouwillnotbeabletocomprehendwhenyouspeed-readandthatyourcomprehensionmightgofora tosswhenyoureadreal fastbut this isnot true.Youmightactuallygraspmorewhenyouspeed-readbecausewhenyouread theentire textwithina shortperiodof time,youwillunderstand the topic better. Chunk reading for example, requires your full attention and concentration,whichwillalsohelpyougraspthetopicbetter.

Youneedaguideatalltimes

Many people assume that you need a guide, like a finger or a scale to run under the sentence. Thisunquestionablyhelpsbut if youarenotaccustomedtorunningyourfingerunder thesentences thenyoudon’thavetodoso.Youcanreadwithoutanysuchaidnevertheless,whenyoudoembarkonyourquesttoreadfaster,itisrecommendedthatyoutrymeta-guidingatfirstuntilyougetusedtoit.

Oldhabitsdiehard

Thisstatementisnotamythbutinrelevancetospeed-reading,itis.Don’tassumethatyouroldhabitswillkeeppullingyoudown.Theywillbequitetoughtogetovernodoubtbuttheycanbeeasilyfoughtoff.Allyouneedtobeisdeterminedandpayattentiontowardsbreakingyouroldhabitsfor21days,andyou’llbeintheclear.

Speed-readingisbestforfiction

Thisisnottrue.Speed-readingcanbegoodformanytypesof texts.Rightfromfictiontonon-fiction,youcanusethesetechniques.Asamatterof fact, therearecertaintechniquesthataredesignedtohelpspeedreadnon-fictionbooksspecifically!Don’tthinksomethingisnotspeed-readingworthy.Onceyoutakeitupseriously,youwillknowhowitisidealforalltypesof books.

Itisbadtonotreadwholly

Thisisanothermyththatbogspeopledown.Theythinkthatskimmingandscanningwillmakethemskipalltheimportantpartsof thetext.Thetruthis,despiteskippingparagraphsandsentencesinbetween,youcanstillunderstandthegistof thetopicsodon’tthinkskimmingandscanningarebadreadingtechniques.

TheFaultliesinme

Manypeoplethinkthattheyareunabletoreadfastenoughowingtotheirownvisuallimitationsbutthathasvery little todowithyourspeed-readingskills.Don’t thinkyoureyesare the reason foryourbadreadingspeeds.What’smoreprobablyinsteadisthatyourbrainisnotaccustomedtoreadingsofast.Itwilltakealittle timefor it tounderstandeverythingthatyouareexpectingof itsodon’tblameandgotoohardonyourself,justtrustinthesystem.If otherpeopleareablelearnthis,youabsolutelycanaswell;it’snotrocketscience.

Usingsoftwareischeating

This is not true.You canmake use of any software to help you read faster.Actually, youmight end uplearning faster after using the speed-reading software. Justmake sure you are using a high-rated reliablecoursethathelpsyoulearnspeed-readingatafasterpace.

Isspeed-readinguseful?

Yes.Speed-readingisextremelyusefulforeveryone.Thereareseveralwaysinwhichitwilllessentheburdenof goingthroughlargetexts;youcaneasilyfinishabigbookinnotimeatall.Welookedatthedifferentbenefitsof speed-readinginapreviouschapter,andyouwillknowwhyitissoimportantonlyafteryoutakeupspeed-readingandachievegoodspeedsof readingandcomprehension.

Isitforeveryone?

Yes.Allthosethatwishtoreadmoreinlesstimecantakeupthisart.Collegestudentslookingtoexcelintheir academics can take up speed-reading. School students can use it to expand their comprehensiononvarious subjects. It is also for professionals looking to improve their work knowledge. Housewives andsenior citizens can also benefit tremendously.As you can see, there is no age limit towho can andwhocannotusespeed-reading.Itisidealthatyoungchildrenbeintroducedtoitrightfromanearlyageastheyhaveample time to readabroadcurriculumand thiswoulddefinitelybeanadvantageas theygrow intoadults.

Isiteasytolearn?

Yes.Speed-readingiseasyforpeopletolearn.Itwillseemslightlydifficultattheverybeginningbutasyougoon,itwillbecomeprogressivelyeasier.Trytotakeitupwithanopenmindandbepreparedtopushyourboundaries;youwillbesurprisedatyourownabilities.Therearesomepeoplewhowilllearnthetechniquesswiftly, sayaweek.So, youneverknowhowquicklyyoumightendup learning speed-reading.Take itupseriouslyandseeitthrough,youcanthankmelater.

ShouldIpracticedaily?

Yes.It ishighlyrecommendedthatyoupracticedaily,at leastduring the initialdays. If youdon’tpracticethenyourprogressmightbehindered.Trytoreadawiderangeof booksandtextsanddon’tstickwiththesameoldbecauseit’sgoodtofamiliarizeyourself withhowtospeed-readfromdifferentangles.Nonetheless,don’tstartwithaboringbook.Setaspecifictimeeachdaysay,30minutesandstartfromthere.Itmayfeelunusual at first doing the various techniques but soon you’ll get accustomed to it and appreciatewhat adramaticdifferencethismakestowardsreading.

CanIhavecompany?

Yes.Youcanchooseareadingpartnerforyourself.Thetwoof youcankeepeachothermotivatedbutofcoursedon’tforceanyoneandmakesuretheywillinglywishtojoinin.Youcanaskyourbestfriendtojoininorasibling.Youcanalsoaskacolleaguetojoinyou.Youcanjoinaspeed-readingclassif youlikeaswell,thiswillallowyoutohavesome inside tipsonspeed-readingand improveyourchancesof readingfasterbecauseit’salwaysgoodlearningwithothers.

Arethereonlinetutorials?

Yes.Thereareonlinevideosandclassesthatyoucanavailonline.Youcanlookupthebestoneandjoin.Insayingthis,don’ttrustjustanysite,doyourresearchandensurethattheoneyouchooseiswellrecognized.Youmighthavetopayalittletotakepartinthesecoursesbuttheywillbereasonablypricedandwellworthitsvalue.

Howtocheckmyprogress?

Youmustcheckyourprogressfromtimetotime.Beforestartingoutwiththecourse, lookatyourspeedwhilereadingandmakeanoteof it.Onceyoustartwiththecourse,makeanoteof yourspeedagain.Youshouldseeamarkeddifference.Maintainajournalandfillinthedetailseveryday.

Isitusefulforcompetitiveexams?

Yes.ItisanexcellentwaytoprepareforcompetitiveexamssuchasGREandSATS.Morethanthestudying,itwillbe ideal forrevising the texts.Youmust tryanduseall the techniques likeskimmingandscanninginsteadof sticking to justone.Thereare testimonialsof numerouspeoplewhoclaim tohaveexcelled incompetitiveexamsbymakinguseof thesesametechniques.

WillIforgetspeed-reading?

No. It is highly improbable that you will forget how to speed-read. However, it is important that youpracticeoften if youwish thehabit tobe ingrained intoyou; soonafterdoing this, it’llbecomeasecondnaturetoyouandit’llchangethewayyoureadeverything.Again,thisallstartswithpracticesopickatimeandplaceandpracticedaily.

Isitagoodtechniqueforpeoplewithreadingdifficulties?

Yes.Speed-readingtechniquesarealsoidealforthosethathavereadingdifficulties.Researchhasshownthatsomereadingissuescanbecorrelatedtobadreadinghabitswhichcandefinitelybeimproveduponthroughspeed-readingtechniques.Infact,whatspeed-readingcanbeconsideredisgoodreadinghabits!Youcancuta tree downwith a hammer inperhaps 30daysbutwith an axe, you can cut down the same treewithinperhaps30minutes;similarlywithreading,youcandigestabookwithbadtechniquesin30daysbutwithgoodtechniques,youcanprobablydoitinalotlesstime!

These form the various questions that get asked on the topic and hope you had yours answeredefficiently.

W

CHAPTER13

GENERICTIPSFORSPEED-READING

henitcomestospeed-reading,therearesimplethingsyoushoulddotoincreaseyourinterestinthesubjectandprogressfaster.Inthischapter,wewilllookatafewfundamentalthingsthatyoucandoonadailybasistoincreaseyourreadingspeed.

Timing

Theveryfirstthingtodoistimeyourspeed-reading.Thismeansthatyoumakeuseof astopclocktoseehowfastyoucanactuallyread.Onceyoustartreading,starttheclockandfinishanentirepageorchapterbeforehitting stop.Check the timeandmaintaina recordof it. If you thinkyour time isnot impressiveenoughthenyouneedtoworkonitfurther.Bewearynottocheatyourself of alearningopportunityhere.Youcanalsomakeuseof avideorecordertoseehowyoureyesaremovingandwhetheryouareactuallymakingprogress.Your aim shouldbe tominimize the time taken to read each time and reduce it to theshortestpossibletimewhilemaintainingameaningfulpercentageof comprehension.

Schedule

Alwaysmaintainasetschedulewhenitcomestospeed-reading.Workasperscheduleandensurethatyoualwaysfollowit.If youhaltthehabitevenfor1week,youwillfindittoughtotakeoff fromwhereyouleft;championsknowthattodevelopaskilltoit’sfullest,onemostpracticeasmuchaspossible.Doyourbesttonotbreaktheagenda.Youcanformulateatimetablethatfitsyourneeds.Askyourpartnertohelpcreateitif you’rebadatscheduling,astheywillknowwhenyouaregenerallybusyandwhenyouarefree.Onceyouformulatethetimetable,createcopiesof itandkeeponetoyourself andalsopastehardcopiesaroundyou,inordertoremainmotivated.

PerfectPractice

They say that it’s not practice thatmakes perfect, but perfect practice thatmakes perfect. Practice all thetechniqueseverydaytothebestof yourabilities.Whenpracticing,rememberto:

1. Readandunderstandthebookthroughthetableof contents

2. Askquestionsregardingthebook

3. Meta-Guiding

4. Visualization

5. KeywordSearch

6. ChunkRead

7. Skimming

8. Scanning

Practicetheseeverydayandyou’llincreaseyourreadingspeedby300%innotime!

Cleansheets

It isagoldenruletonotmarkyoursheetswithallsortsof color,astheywillserveasdistractions.Manypeoplehave thehabit of using ahighlighter as theirmeta-guiding tool and start highlighting all sortsofwordsandsentences.Youmustbreakthishabitearlyif youwishtomakesteadyprogresswithyourspeed-readingtechniques.If youmusthighlightthenusealightshadedpenciltounderlinecertainwordsthatarejargonsorsentences.Onceyoufinishreading,youcancheckthemeaningsof these.

Flexible

Rememberthatspeed-readingdoesnotalwaysmeanreadingatbreakneckspeeds.Youmusthavecontroloveryourreadingandnotgoaboutituncontrollably.Youmustideallyfluctuatebetweentopspeedandlowspeeds.Muchlikedrivingamotorvehicle,if thespeedisgettingtoofastthenbrakeimmediately,andreducethespeedbyalittle!Sojustbytakingupspeed-reading,itdoesnotmeanthatyoushouldforgetaboutslowreadingcompletelysoyoumustallowittoremaininyourmemoryanduseitfromtimetotime.

Distractions

Donotgiveintodistractionswhenyouarespeed-reading.Whetheritisyourcellphoneorthetelevision,it

isbestif everythingweretobeswitchedoff whenyouwishtospeedread.Youmustalsonothavepeoplearoundyoutalking,asthatwilldistractyoufurther.Trytocutdownonallyourdistractionsandyoucanmakeuseof earplugsif youwishtoconcentrateonyourtextbetter.If youareexpectinganurgentcallthenplacethephoneonvibratemodeandnotringerastheringingwilldistractyouandthrowyourmindoff ofyourreadingmood.

Goals

Remember to always have only reasonable expectations out of your speed-reading adventures. If you goabout it thinkingyouwill turn into thebest speed reader in theworldwithinacoupleof days, thenyoubetterdroptheideaaltogether!Speed-readingislikeanamazingsuperpowernodoubt,butyouhavetogiveyourself sometimetodevelopthehabit.Setyourself reasonablegoalsandgoafterthemoneafteranother.Assoonasyouattainagoal,tickitoff andmovetothenext.However,yourgoalsshouldbefulfilledwithinthesaidtimeframe.

Don’tgiveup!

Givingupshouldneverbeanoptionforyou.Don’tgiveuponspeed-readingnomatterhowtoughitgetsforyou.Writedownallyourgoalsonapieceof paperandfollowthemthrough;italsohelpstovoiceyourgoalstoothers.Announcetoyourfamilyandfriendsthatyouareonaspeed-readingmissionandwishtoimproveyourreadingspeedwithinacertainspecifiedtime.Thiswillhelpyouremainmotivatedandyouwillnotfeellikegivinguponyourspeed-readinghabits.

Theseformtheseveralgeneral tipsonspeed-readingthatyoucanadopt tomake itasmoothrideforyourself.

TKEYTAKEAWAYS

hefirstthingtodoisunderstandwhatspeed-readingreally is.Asyouknow,allof usreadalotof thingseverysingleday.Itimpartsusknowledgeandleavesuswithinformationthatisimportantforustoleadourdailylivesandexploitourintelligencetothehighest.

Thetroublingissueathandisthatweareunabletoreadenoughowingtolivinghecticlifestyleswherewearesplitbetweenworkissuesandfamilytroubles.Tosolvethisissue,wemustundertaketechniquesthatwill allowus to readmorewithina shortperiodof timeand for this,wecanmakeuseof speed-readingtechniques.

By making use of these techniques, you can read a lot within a short period of time and it is notsuperficialreading;youwillreadthoroughlyandhaveacompleteunderstanding.

Theaveragehumanbrainiscapableof reading600wordsaminuteandweendupreadingjust200butthiscanbechangedeasilybecauseallyouhavetodoisunderstandandmasterafewdifferentmethods.

SeveralAmericanpresidentshaveadvocatedtheuseof speed-readingandencouragedseveralpeopletotakeitupandtakeadvantageof it.Byincreasingyourreadingspeed,youcaneasilyreadalotmorewithinashortperiodof time,leavingyouwithmoretimetodootherthingsyouvalue.Remember,timeismoney.

Youmustmakeuseof concentrationimprovementtechniquestoimproveyourfocus.Trytocutdownonasmanydistractionsaspossible.

Createasetscheduletofollowandsticktothetimetable.Comeupwithsomethingthatisdoableandflexibleasopposedtoaverystrictschedule.Youcantakethehelpof afriendtocreatetheschedule.

Remember to digest the table of contents and ask yourself a voluminous amount of questionsconcerningthebookpriortoevenopeningchapter1.Thiswillallowyourmindtolockintoexactlywhatyou’re reading which will increase your reading speed tremendously. Also as you’re reading, practicevisualizingimagesinyourhead;it’sbeensaidthatapictureisworthathousandwords!

Don’t let your confidence delude you, understand that there arewords that you have yet to learn sokeywordsearchthemtounderstandthemeaningsbeforeyouembark.

Another speed-reading technique is known as skimming. Skimming refers to going through bits andpiecesof thetexttounderstandthegistof it.Youcanreadtheentirebookusingthistechniqueoruseitasaprecursortoyourregularreadingtechniques.

Thescanningtechniqueisthenextmethodtochoose.Scanningallowsyoutolookforspecificbitsand

piecesof informationinthetextsuchasnames,numbers,andcentralideas.

ThenexttechniquetoadoptisknownasMetaguiding.WithMetaguiding,youcanmakeuseof apaceroraguidethatyouwill rununderthewordsandsentences.Youcanuseyourfingerorarulerorevenathread.Aslongasitguidesyourvision,youcanmakeuseof it.

Remember to take advantageof theonlineweb.Youcaneasily learn to speed readbymakinguseofspeed-readingsoftwarebutyoumustlookforthebestandmostefficientone.

When you start speed-reading, youneed tobreak someof youroldhabits. Someof theseoldhabitsinclude fixation, regression and sub vocalization.Effectively eliminating all of thesewill help you betteryourreadingskills.

Thereisacertainlifestylethatyouneedtotakeupwhenyouwishtospeedreadwithease.Theseincludeeatingbrainhealthyfoodsandnotconsumingthosethatarebadforyourhealth,sleepingontimeetc.Allthesewillgoalongwayinhelpingyouimproveyourspeed-readingskillsandyourhealthingeneral.

Youneedto takeupspeed-readingasa lifestylechoiceandnotamerefancyactivity thatyouwishtoabandonwithinacoupleof days.Maintainadailyrecordof yourprogressandyouwillknowhowusefulitreallyistospeed-readsomething.

CCONCLUSION

ongratulations!Youhavecometotheendof thisbook.Wecoveredmuchmaterialonhowtoincreaseyourreading speed and comprehension by asmuch as 300%. In Chapter 1, you learned the basics of speed-reading including the importance of speed-reading, the common obstacles to reading faster and theimportanceof understandingthethingsyourreadorcomprehension.InChapter2,youreadabouthowtopreparewellforyourspeed-readingsessions,includingassessingyourwords-per-minute(readingspeed)andeffective-words-per-minute (comprehension). In Chapters 3 to 4, you learned key speed-reading andcomprehension techniques andexercises tohelp youmaster the techniques evenmore.Next, you learnedhowtomaximizethebenefitsof thetechniquesandexercisesyoulearnedbysupplementingthemwithnon-readingapproachesliketheoptimalreadingenvironment,improvingfocus,eatingtherightfoods,exercising,gettingenoughqualitysleepandMORE.

What’snext?It’sbeensaidthatknowingisjusthalf thebattle.Theotherhalf isapplyingthatknowledge.Thatbeingsaid,Ihighlyencourageyoutostartapplyingthetechniquesanddoingtheexercises,tohelpyoumaster the techniques evenbetter, consistently for thenext fewweeks.Note that increasing your readingspeedandcomprehensionbyupto300%doesn’tnormallyhappenovernightbutaswithmostdisciplines,consistency,patienceandperseverancewillhelpyoudothat.Stickwiththeexercisesandyou’llseetheresultsinafewweeks.Here’stoyourspeed-readingsuccess!Cheers!