(shudder)

Here’s the summary:

Have three reading speeds:

Scan
Skim
Read

Scan is looking for a particular piece of information (such as what is this about?) and going no further. Skim is reading with the goal of comprehension, skipping text that does not add to comprehension. Reading is reading all the words.

Each technique builds on the other. Once you become a good scanner, you’re skimming rate improves. Once you become a good skimmer, your reading rate likewise gets better.

Mechanically, there are a ton of things to do but it come down to physically training yourself to only move your eyes, and only move your eyes when you have processed clumps of words. Your eyes will move faster than anything else on your body.

So when I read, I don’t look at a singular word at once. I look at three to five, sometimes more.

So how do you do that? With lots of practice. Like months of it, ha, ha.

The second part of speed reading is continual vocabulary drills and comprehension tests. Not tripping on words because the meaning is unknown is the foundation to reading (obviously), but even more critical to speed reading.

Getting tested is vital to both improve your confidence and knowing what your speed limit is (ha, ha, speed limit).

I skim at 1200 words a minute with a 90% comprehension rate, which was typical of the students in the initial class. I leisure read around 700 to 800 words a minute depending on fiction/non-fiction and the prose style.

When I teach a speed reading class of just the basics, I can usually get students to improve their reading rate by 100 words. If they don’t practice, however, they’ll slip into bad habits and their rate will drop.

Got 367 words per minute, all 3 questions. I’m “average.”