# Speed Reading > Learn to read a 200+ page book in 1 hour. See [[speed-reading#Books survey|Speed Reading]] for surveys on similar books. Total time: 6 hours and 16 minutes. ## Pre-Reading ### Purpose > [!tip] Define your purpose > > With purpose, the focus of the mind changes and its awareness opens, often > without you realizing. - What can I get out of this material? - How will reading it help me? - What would you like the material to answer? ### Preview > [!question] Why we need preview > > One reason is that the mind doesn't necessarily respond to what is happening > in real-time, but to what it think is _going_ to happen. In other words, the > mind is constantly making predictions about the future. > > Preview helps the mind make more accurate predictions. > [!tip] THIEVES recommended by the National Council of Teacher of English > (NCTE) > > - **T**itle > - **H**eadings > - **I**ntroduction > - **E**very word in bold, underline, quote, and italics > - **V**isual aids > - **E**nd of Chapter Questions > - **S**ummary/Conclusion ### Styles > [!quote] Reading styles subject to change > > Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed > and digested -- Francis Bacon > [!abstract] Ask yourself the following questions > > - What am I trying to gain from the material? > - How long will the information be relevant? > - How difficult is the material to read and comprehend? Adjust your speed from books to books and from pages to pages. ## Speed Reading Techniques ### Space Reading > [!tip] Look at the space > > Avoid looking at the words you are reading, but rather at the spaces in > between the words. > > This is the essence of speed reading, grabbling text as a whole instead of in > individual parts. - As you progress, make sure to work on expanding peripheral vision. - When you're familiar with this technique, try looking at the space between every two/three/four words. ### Chunking > [!tip] Read phrases > > The key to this technique is not to grab words at random but to grab > combinations that form a **phrase**. A phrase is two or more words that form a > meaningful unit in a sentence. > [!caution] Space or phrase > > When reading, you will either look at spaces or at chunks of words, **but not > both**. ### Subvocalization Avoiding Side-effects of subvocalization - Research shows that fast readers exhibit lower activation in regions of the brain associated with speech, suggesting higher speeds correlate to fewer phonological processes like vocalization. - Vocalizing words forces the mind to read slower than its potential. - Higher change of getting **bored** -- as we tend to subvocalize in a monotone, expressionless manner. > [!tip] Silence is gold > > Simply silencing the _inner narrator_ can double or triple reading speed right > here and right now. > [!summary] Techniques to avoid subvocalization > > - Close mouth > - Read faster than speech > - Hum something > - Listen to music (without lyrics) ## Enhancing Techniques ### Avoid Fixation > [!bug] See forests from trees > > Think of English words as Chinese characters. Reading each single letter does > not make sense, neither does reading single strokes. > > Fixation impairs both speed and comprehension. > [!summary] Tips to avoid fixation > > - Reduce number of fixations -- either by Space Reading or chunking. > - Reduce length of fixation -- don't slow down to contemplate the text, keep > moving. ### Avoid Regression > [!bug] Reading speed regresses > > Studies show that people spend as much as one third of their time rereading > what they've already read. > > Regression breaks flow and speed reading is all about flow. > [!summary] Techniques to avoid regression > > - Have a clear purpose. > - Stop subvocalizing. > - Index card -- to block the read content. > - Control fixation -- don't be erratic and impulsive with the jumps and stops. ### Visual Range > [!info] Peripheral vision is powerful > > The brain processes information from the sides 25 percent faster than it does > from direct vision, which is why the brain is able to react to dangers so > quickly. Exercises to expand your peripheral vision. > [!tip] Sticks and Straw Place a straw horizontally on the desk and look at its > center. At the same time, try insert tooth-sticks into the two ends of the > straw **simultaneously**. > [!tip] Off the Wall Stare at a spot on the wall. Throw a ball onto that spot > with one hand and catch it with another. Use your peripheral vision for both > tossing and catching. Or, throw the ball directly from one hand to another. > [!tip] Open Your Awareness > > Stare at an object, then gradually begin to notice things to your right or > left. > [!tip] Shultz Table Stare at the center of an x by x table, try to recognize > all the letters/digits in the it with your peripheral vision. Draw such tables > on your own or generate using > [a tool](https://onedollartips.com/tools/szultz). > [!tip] Raining Letters Similar to Shultz table, stare at the letters in the > center column and try recognize the ones in the other columns. > [!tip] Centered Text Stare at the middle of each line, try to make out the > words on the side of it using peripheral vision. ## Improving Comprehension - Focus on ideas and main points. - Identify the **topic sentence** in each paragraph. - Often the first sentence. - Tend to be short and general, with limited content. - Often poses a question to be answered. - Often contains word or two that repeat in the rest of the paragraph. - Often contain transition words. - Topic sentence following transition sentence. - Build a strong vocabulary - Circle unfamiliar words and look up. - Use a thesaurus in addition to dictionary - Read a variety of materials - Listen to audiobooks -- apparently not for ESL speakers - Learn prefixes and suffixes - Talk to people with strong vocabulary - Study words ## Additional Tips - Recall and review (retrieval practice) - When return from breaks - At the end of a chapter/book > [!tip] Train your mind to remember > > If the mind knows that it will be called upon to remember a passage, it will > work harder to remember it. - Visualize - It helps you engage with the material. - Visualization enhances memory. - Visualization aids comprehension. - Eye exercises - Fix your head, try look the the right and left. - Smoothly rotate your eye to see the four directions - Looking straight ahead, make figure-8 motions with the eyes. - Looking straight a head, make plus sign motions with the eyes. - Open your eyes and mouth as wide as possible, then squeeze them shut as tightly as possible. - Eye blinking, hold your eyes closed for half a second each time. - Eye massage. - Eye breaks -- Staring at distant objects for from 20 seconds to 2 minutes ## Quotes > [!quote] Purposes matter The two most important days in your life are the day > you are born and the day you find out why. -- Mark Twain > [!quote] Ideas matter > > Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events. -- Eleanor Roosevelt > [!quote] Words matter As vocabulary is reduced, so are the number of feelings > that you can express, the number of events you can describe, the number of the > things you can identify -- Sheri S. Tepper