The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading

443 Pages·2008·5.34 MB·English

by  Pam Mullan

Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Introduction
Part 1 - Getting Up to Speed with What You Read
Chapter 1 - Getting Started Speed Reading
Chapter 2 - Winning Hands Down
Chapter 3 - Peripheral Vision and the Power of Prediction
Chapter 4 - The Eyes Have It
Chapter 5 - Working on Comprehension
Part 2 - Get In, Get Out, and Don’t Go Back
Chapter 6 - Getting Ready to Get In
Chapter 7 - Getting In
Chapter 8 - Getting Out
Chapter 9 - Don’t Go Back
Chapter 10 - Speed Reading Books and Magazines
Part 3 - Tuning Up Your Speed
Chapter 11 - What to Speed Read... and What Not To
Chapter 12 - Speed Reading On Screen
Chapter 13 - Kick Your Bad Habits, and Watch Your Speed Soar
Part 4 - Overload Management
Chapter 14 - Embrace Your Paper Reading Piles
Chapter 15 - Making Your Electronic Piles Inviting
Appendix A - Glossary
Appendix B - Timed Reading Exercises
Appendix C - Personal Progress Charts
Appendix D - Calculating Your Reading Speed
Index
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Introduction
People think of many different things when they hear the phrase “speed
reading.” Some might think of Evelyn Wood, the woman who pioneered speed
reading in the 1950s, who offered free sample classes across the United States.
Others might conjure up the vision of a finger zipping down the pages in record
time while the other hand turns the pages. Many envy the thought of being able
to speed read. Some just can’t figure out how it can really be done.
In this book, Pam and I have combined our more than 40 years of speed reading
experience, both doing research and training others, with information gleaned
from reading over 30 speed reading books and experience with over 10 speed
reading software programs to come up with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed
Reading.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading enables you to see and experience
ways of getting through your reading workload with speed and efficiency. If you
practice with the suggested strategies, you can easily double or even triple your
current reading speed. In addition, you might find you concentrate better or
understand what you read with greater ease.
As you go through the chapters, you’ll quickly learn that there are many simple
options available to you for reading better and faster that you probably didn’t
know existed. Once you know, I think you’ll enjoy putting them into action.
Because each reader comes into this process with varied levels of education,
vocabulary, background knowledge, experience, and motivation, you learn how
to speed read in your way. I present a buffet of proven ideas. Some will work for
you better than others. There will be a lot you will want to keep and some you
won’t, but the only way to know what’s best for you is to try everything, figure
out which one(s) are best for you, and have fun along the way.
If you try something once and you feel it’s not working, consider trying it
several times before deciding it’s not for you. I encourage you to experiment—or
play, if you will—with the ideas in this book so you can come away with the
most useful strategies to read faster and better to get you where you want to go.
Remember, there is no one best way to read, just the way(s) you find most
useful.
If you have any questions or want to send me your comments, please do so. I’d
love to hear from you. (My contact info appears on the inside back cover of the
book.)
Have fun speeding through your reading!
How to Use This Book
This book is divided into four distinct parts. Each chapter in each part builds
upon the next with an opportunity to practice your speed strategies to solidify
your learning. Here’s what you’ll find:
Part 1, “Getting Up to Speed with What You Read,” puts you directly in the
speed reading driver’s seat. In these chapters, you first evaluate your current
reading speed and comprehension using the One-Minute Timing Exercise. You
are then introduced to several proven speed strategies, including using your
hands and a card, reading key words, reading thought chunks, and spreading
your peripheral vision to see more words at a glance. Another timing exercise,
the 3-2-1 Drill, is also introduced as a way to challenge yourself to read faster
than you might normally feel comfortable. Because comprehension is the biggest
concern new speed readers have, I have included an entire chapter on helping
you understand how comprehension is affected when you first learn to read
faster and what you can do about it to secure it.
Part 2, “Get In, Get Out, and Don’t Go Back,” starts with helping you know
how to best set yourself up for reading success. Good concentration is essential
for reading with speed and comprehending most easily. The “getting in” part
deals with the differences between nonfiction and fiction reading. It uncovers
where the writer’s outline is located in nonfiction so you can quickly find the
most important information and not waste time. “Getting out” guides you into
thinking about how you are going to literally get out of what you’re reading as
efficiently as possible through skimming, scanning, skipping, summarizing, and
understanding the organizational patterns of most nonfiction. “Don’t go back”
provides ways to keep your keepers and reduce your natural tendency to forget.
To put all this into practice, I also share some of the best ways to read each
different type of material.
Part 3, “Tuning Up Your Speed,” takes what you know about the speed
reading techniques and the other effective general reading strategies to discover
what to speed read and what not to. Included here is a fabulous chapter on speed
reading on screen, which, as of this printing, is not found anywhere else. You
learn how to adapt the hand and card methods for paper onto a computer screen
as well as get some insights into how to print less to save trees and time. And
finally, we look at how all readers can learn how to reduce daydreaming, back-
skipping, and subvocalizing while reading to help their reading speed,
concentration, and comprehension.
Part 4, “Overload Management,” deals with your piles of reading, both on
paper and on screen, and some commonsense strategies for managing them both.
In the back, Appendix A is a glossary of some of the most important terms listed
in this book. Appendix B and C are sections you’ll frequent because they contain
the timed reading exercises (in Appendix B) and the personal progress charts (in
Appendix C). Appendix D contains detailed information about how to figure
words per minute on your own reading material.
Extras
Throughout, I’ve included some tips, techniques, insights, inspiration,
definitions, and things to watch out for that will support and complement your
speed reading efforts:
Speed Tip
Check these boxes for information you need to know as you go about
your quest to read faster.
def·i·ni·tion
These boxes present definitions of words and concepts to expand your
knowledge base as it relates to speed reading.
Speed Bump
Read these boxes for warnings all readers should be aware of when it
comes to learning to speed read.
Speed Secret
Read these boxes for interesting nuggets of information or trivia about
speed reading you might not be aware of.