Speed Reading: Some Quick Facts

It is important to develop the skills of speed reading in today’s fast-paced world. Every one is juggling for time at the workplace and at home, and speed-readers can afford to spare time for themselves and their family due to their reading skills.

Rate Of Reading And Rate Of Comprehension

A study has shown that the rate of reading and rate of comprehension are related. People who can read fast can comprehend well while those who read slowly comprehend poorly.

Thus, the factors that can make you carry out speed reading can also make you comprehend well.

What Is Good Comprehension

The ability of digging out and retaining the important points of a reading matter is known as good comprehension. However, your comprehension does not depend on the rate of your speed reading, as thought by many. On the contrary, the opposite is true. If your comprehension rate is faster, then you can read faster.

How Does This Happen

If you constantly worry about extracting the idea from the content while speed reading, then you will slow down your reading speed. This is because your mind is under the stress of carrying out good comprehension. Hence, it becomes confused and does not heed to the matter you are reading. The result is poor comprehension and slow reading speed. Therefore, the basic pre-requisite of speed reading is a relaxed mind.

The catch is to simply focus on the purpose of your reading. You want to extract information from the matter. Keep this in mind and start reading. Do not stress your mind unnecessarily. Your brain will automatically pick up the relevant information while you go on speed reading. Do not be overly conscious of your speed. Read freely. The result will be faster reading and good comprehension.

Speed Reading Improves Your Comprehension Skill

The major difference between normal reading and speed reading is that in the former, you read each word of the matter while in the latter, you focus only on the meaning of the matter, looking for the main idea. In speed reading, you mind is busy searching for concrete stuff. As a result, you sharpen your comprehension skills.

The major drawback of normal reading is that people indulge in a lot of re-reading. This mars the ability to comprehend faster. Also, your reading speed plummets.

Speed reading leads to an exercise of your brain. It is more of a mental activity. So, a 15-20 minute practice everyday is certainly going to get your gray cells moving!

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