Speed Reading

I do speed reading usually when I read a story or a biography of someone. First thing I do is to scan the text and look for all the important details and happenings on the story. This is what you will really need on the exams. To make it more efficient, use a highlighter and highlight all things which you think are important. All key terms, etc. Believe me, In a page you will only be able to highlight around 3-7 sentences. By this, you have eliminated all the "bloopers" which just make the text too long too read. After highlighting all important things, Go back and read again -only the highlighted items :)

One of the biggest problems that students have in college is completing all of their reading assignments on time. Everybody expects to read in English class, but you will probably have reading assignments in classes like History, Art, Business, Science, and pretty much any other class you enroll in. Speed reading is a really useful skill when you have to power through piles of reading material. The first thing about speed reading is that it does not work for every class. I do not recommend speed reading for English class, because you might miss important details and hurt yourself later. However in classes like History, you probably can be successful just by scanning for key terms and focusing on the material around them. Also be careful when speed reading scientific material. Much of the material can be confusing if not read slowly, and trying to blow through might just make it even more confusing. Speed reading works best when you are reviewing material you are already familiar with. It can be really helpful when studying for an upcoming test. Speed reading is good for jogging your memory and refreshing your mind on old material. But remember: speed reading is a supplement, not a shortcut.

Speed reading is a useful skill to have, but should by no means be your first approach to reading, especially if it's new material. Don't try it with English classes unless you've already read the book or article several times over, and you just need to look over it again as a refresher. You can sometimes get away with this in history courses, but it's really a case-by-case deal where you just have to use your best judgment about whether your professor is focused on the big picture or the tiny details. I had a professor once who said he only got through the required reading for his comps in his Ph.D. program by a form of speed reading. He would carefully read the introduction and conclusion of every book, then go through and read the first and last sentences of every paragraph. If it didn't make sense or seemed like it was an especially crucial point, he'd read the entire paragraph. If not, he'd move on to the next. Then, finally, he'd look up reviews of the book in academic journals, both to check that he'd gotten everything he needed to get from the book as well as to see if there was something he'd completely missed. I've tried this technique myself with variable success; again, it's just one of those things you have to take on a case-by-case basis. Although it's not the same thing as speed reading, one of my favorite techniques for poring through tons of research materials is to check the index. Trust me, the index will be your best friend while working on research papers. I'm the kind of person that has to go through pretty much every single piece of evidence I can find before I start drawing my own conclusions, which means every research paper leads to me checking out twenty or thirty books at a time from the library (you can imagine how much the poor librarians at the circulation desk hate seeing me walk in). If the book is explicitly about my topic, I'll read the whole thing. If only a chapter or two is relevant, I'll only read those (along with the intro and conclusion, sometimes). If there are just short mentions of my topic, that's where index hunting comes in handy. Flip to the back and look through the index to see if there are any subjects listed that pertain to your own research topic. Then simply go to that page and see if you can use the material or not. You might have to read a little before or after that point for context, but it's better than reading the entire book only to realize you can only use a couple of pages from it.

I found that, at least 80% of the time, professors tested us on what was discussed in their lectures, and the reading was really designed for us to add additional relevant information in our answers. In later semesters, I rarely had time to read everything that was assigned, so I read through chapters picking up little bits of information that the professor might want to see included in an exam question. I didn't spend a lot of time analyzing the readings we had before classes, either. I sped through everything, contributed a few relevant words to the conversation, and made up for my inability to always be on point in class through written assignments. I guess that strategy only works for humanities or social sciences majors, though. I can't imagine being able to do well in class not having read a chapter on statistics or chemistry.

I loved that infomercial that used to always be on TV late at night, the one with the "World's Fastest Reader." That guy would read a thousand page book in about a second and a half, then they would quiz him on it, and he knew all about it. Sounds too good to be true, and maybe it is. While doing this type of speed reading might be a good technique for skimming over a brochure, it is not the best idea when studying a textbook, because you cannot pick and choose what information is worth reading. Even if this works for you, then I still don't think it's anyway to enjoy a work of literature.

I'm a notoriously slow reader. If tasked with a lot of reading in a short amount of time, I typically cannot deliver. But I also enjoy reading immensely and will spend hours doing so. The advantage I seem to have is that I typically have a detailed recall of what I read (especially if it is interesting), so even if I am a bit slow in getting through the material, it tends to stick with me a lot longer. I've tried a couple of the speed-reading programs out there but have never had the discipline to stick with them. In some respects, they always seemed to marginalize the importance of reading. I don't want to read to get through something faster. I want to read to live. Reading is a reward, not drudgery. So, even if I am a slow reader, and there are ways to improve it, I feel I have a great balance with respect to enjoyment and retention, and I'd hate to mess that up, so I'll happily continue to be a slow reader; in many cases, slow and steady win many races.

MrFinance wrote: There are still so many of us that when given a reading or a book, feel the need to read every word of the book from cover to cover and even worse try to memorize every word from cover to cover. One of the keys to be learned in college is to determine what is useful information and what is not useful out of every reading.  Not to say that the books or readings are filled with useless information, but the student's goal in the class is to pass the class and to do this he/she needs to learn what is needed to pass the class, and as long as that is done, then the student will come out as knowledgeable, as he or she needs to be on that subject at that point in time of their life. So speed reading is an essential skill, because there is only so much time in a day that can be dedicated to one course so you need to use that time efficiently.     Whenever I am given text to read, such as my text book, or an article, I tend not to read the entirety. Usually with the text book, I skim through it, and try to pick out what I need to read. A lot of it is not very relevant to what I need for the week. The same idea goes with articles. I try to get just the overall feeling of the article and just sort of form an opinion on it. I like to read, but I don't like to strain myself reading something that may not be very interesting to me. A lot of people complain when they have to read two or three chapters, but realistically, you are only reading a fraction of the material on the pages.

If we're being entirely honest here, not everyone has the time to sit down and read through every piece of literature or academic writing that their teachers ask them to. Trying to balance your time in college is tough, and sometimes, reading doesn't take priority. When you don't have time to sit down and fully read a text, speed reading definitely comes in handy. When you're speed reading something, I suggest first reading the introduction to the piece, and then the conclusion. These two areas are where most of the main ideas are either supplied or summarized, so it'll help get you in the mindset as to what kind of information you should be looking for. Then scan the rest of the piece, looking for words that are repeated often or ideas that seem to have a lot of emphasis placed on them. These are the key terms you should spend the most time focusing on. If possible, try searching for a summary of the topic on google.com. You can usually find short summaries of the topic on the web. This will give you a more coherent, overall view of what you are supposed to be learning. After you've read a few summaries, then go back to the original text. You'll have a better understanding of the topic and will be better able to comprehend what you're reading. Good luck!

There are only two reasons to why I would choose to speed read: the text is boring or it's a last-minute skim. I have usually done this with reading assignments in classes that are boring or do not interest me. One class in particular I remember doing a lot of speed reading was in my Islam class. The reading assignments were way too many and with so many other priorities int he way I just didn't have time to accomplish so much reading. Also, I remember vividly forgetting reading assignments and would quickly skim the text before group discussions. Usually the teacher could rarely tell that I didn't read the night before. The key to good skimming is to read and make sure you know each sub topic in each chapter or lesson. This will give you an idea to what the reading was about. Then lightly go through each chapter and sub topic to catch the main points of what the reading is all about. Usually the most important factors that you need to know is: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Everything else is usually irrelevant. Also, if there are any important highlighted key words then become familiar with those also. 

You are right, I have also learned that in college, it is very important to sort out all information which is presented to you. You should be able to seperate the important ones and the least important, the relevant and irrelevant, and the last which i think is the most important when it comes to seperating information is  whethere it will appear on the test or not! lol. It is true that a huge perecentage of information presented on the textbooks are almost useless and does not need to be memorize or read. Or maybe, you just need to scan and read some of those when you have nothing to do just so you know what it says.

There is just one dilemma when it comes to speed reading though. It is when those items you thought would not be on the exam is actually a part of it, and what's even worse is that the part you have reviewed and focused on is not even on the exam. So the results? You wasted your efforts on reviewing something which is not a part of the test.  So when it comes to speed reading, do not totally neglect information which you think is not important, read it even just for a while.

Hey there, That is what  I also do normally! I just skim all over the words in the page too fast - too fast that I can finish 1 page in 15 seconds! LOL. I would definitely agree with you that this is a very very effective way of reading when you are not looking for something specific like for example, you need the definition of all words in the book. I usually do this when what I need from the book is the concept or just the story itself. This works best when you are working on a book review and you need to get it done very fast. You can actually get the juice out of it without taking too much time reading it.

Listening to audio books are a great idea to! I haven't tried it yet but I am sure that this will be very effective. Listening to audio books will actually save you a lot of time- you can actually do it while you are walking and on your way to your classroom. It is just like listening to music on your ipod. You don't have to give it your 100% attention, but you will really be able to understand and know the topic which is being discussed.

 

It’s funny. I had a conversation about speed reading just recently with one of my professors. As I told him, a part of me wishes I could speed read. As an English major, there are so many books I have to read for school. There are even more books I want to read for my own benefit. However, my professor made an excellent point. He reminded me that by speed reading, I would be missing a lot of the subtleties within the work. I think other English majors would appreciate this. We have to write essays where we analyze the words in the piece and try to pull apart all the meanings it could possibly have. If I could speed read, I would probably miss a great deal of information that could help me really explore the piece. In fact, it’s like going to a high-end restaurant. Would you want to scarf your food down or savor each bite and explore how the flavors and textures work together? That’s all I’m saying really. Speed reading can be beneficial if you’re recapping information. I would suggest reading subheadings and the first sentence of each paragraph. Moreover, most textbooks have a summary at the end of each chapter. Still, I would suggest reading everything. Professors tend to pull out the most obscure bits of information for tests. You could be shooting yourself in the proverbial foot by not doing so. I would also mention that people went through a great deal of time to put all those words down. They might actually be important.

I used to apply my speed reading techniques in my study & work as well as it helps well to get an overall idea and sometimes full solutions to troubleshooting problems and general life problems as well. Actually, while you are reading a line, your eyes are primarily focused on the word that you are currently reading. i call this your point of primary focus. However, our eyes are capable of keeping an area on either side of their primary focus in surprisingly good focus. This entire area, starting from some distance to the left of the primary focus and ending some distance on its right is called the field of focus. It is also known as the perception span or the peripheral view. Most people have a field of focus that is about three to four words of normal length. Some people have a larger field. I would like to reveal one of these techniques for you to use when you are in a hurry and have no enough time to read with your normal speed, an easy method used to do skimming is to use the zigzag hand movement which expands your focus while looking for the topic sentence in a paragraph and key words.

Now, take a moment to study the first two pages of a few of your favorite books. How many particular details from the above list do you find in its first two pages? Likely, you find most. Particulars build context, and context is essential and all-powerful because it fills in the gaps for your reader without boring exposition. Vanessa Redgrave once said of acting—an art I argue shares much with writing—“If you don’t understand the social-economic realities of the character—their education, how they were raised financially, and what they did to get an education or not—you can’t understand the character.” In other words, if you don't understand the particular details of your characters, their actions, and their world... Well, it's not an option. And the most efficient way to convey this understanding to your reader is through your choice of particular details. You decide. Does the character arrive driving an El Camino, or a Saab.

It took me years to perfect my speed reading skills. It really is a matter of knowing exactly when and how to use the skill. I do not recommend speed reading through any kinds of contracts or legal papers, which seems to be what most people do. That could pose serious consequences. I tend to speed read through course material that I am already familiar with. Many courses tend to repeat a fair amount of information, so to save time I will speed read. Rarely have I found somehting new. I also speed read though lit reviews and research studies for the most part. It was actually those documents that I had to really train myself to speed read. They are set up the same way for the most part so I knw what areas I can skip. For example, the first few paragraphs in a lit review consist f just an overview of information on the subject. Therefore I do not see a need to read it. I also agree with others that it can be a useful skill for test taking. If you can get through the "fluff" in the exams it gives you more time to concentrate on the answers.