Let’s say you have an exam in two days and you haven’t been studying properly for this class during the semester. Or you’ve just come back from a long vacation and you have only one day to unload your email.
In both cases, speed reading skills would help a lot. Of course it is hard to improve your reading speed in a couple of days, but you can start now so that next time you are in a similar situation you will be able to READ FAST.
The infographic below showcases some speed reading techniques.
- The first thing you have to do is to identify what you are really looking for in your article or email, etc. Try quickly scanning the text and searching for the needed keyword. Sometimes there is no need to read all of the text.
- What is important though, is that you know when to scan and when to read. There are some cases when you have to read every word carefully. Legal contracts, for example, fall into that category.
- Another rule is NO highlighting if you’re reading for speed. There is a popular misconception, that when we highlight, we remember important stuff. Instead, our brain just concentrates on the fact that this highlighted text is important but you cannot actually remember the contents of the text, think multitasking. Highlighting is good if you’re planning on referring back to the contents knowing where to pay more attention to, which now optimizes speed with comprehension the second time reading through it.
To see more valuable tips on improving your reading speed check out the infographic below.
(Source: EssayTigers.com)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Stacey Wonder is a former educator and now a student counselor at EssayTigers.com.