It’s just common sense that the fewer distractions you have, the easier and faster you’ll be able to read. Most people don’t have the iron-willed concentration to be able to focus on what they’re reading when there are people and noises in the background that are extremely difficult to shut out. However, the more you practice your speed-reading techniques, the more focused you’ll be, and that will improve your concentration. This in turn will help you learn how to “tune out” a certain level of distraction, though if you’re in a particularly noisy environment, it won’t completely solve your problem.

Focusing on what you’re reading also helps you read more quickly, because you won’t feel like you need to backtrack or regress to re-read things. When you lose your concentration, you lose the ability to process all the information, and the temptation to regress will become difficult to overcome.

If you can’t concentrate, and you’re losing focus, then you’ll need to find a quiet place to read. Having this quiet environment will also help you break the habit of subvocalization. If you’re making any noise at all while you read, moving your lips or following along out loud as your eyes take in each word, a quiet room will make this very obvious, and so easier to stop. You may need to look for a separate room where you can sequester yourself from outside influences.

It’s important to get rid of the distractions caused by noise around you, but it’s just as important to get rid of any visual distractions. Turn off the television, turn off your computer monitor, and shut the curtains to avoid having your eyes caught by people walking by. If you can focus your eyes as well as your mind, it will be easier to work on widening your focus as you read, because there won’t be things that you see out of the corner of your eyes that interfere with what you’re trying to get your eyes to take in on the page.

Find your own quiet time and place, and you’ll soon see that you’re getting through much more material, and remembering the information you read.

Imagine that you’re walking down the street looking for a particular building. You’re not sure of the address, but you have a general description of the place: a building that covers an entire block, with a rooftop garden, located next to a church with four thin spires around a central clock tower. You’re peering up at every building as you go by, slowing down to see if you can tell whether there’s a garden on this one, or if that one stretches the length of the block, or if the church on the next corner has a clock tower or not. Your walking pace will be slow as you try to locate the exact place you need.

Now imagine that you’re in a helicopter looking down on the same part of the city. The block-wide buildings are easy to spot, and one that has a rooftop garden will be immediately obvious due to its color. Checking the number of spires on the church next door is a matter of seconds. You’ve found the building you need in a fraction of the time it took you from the ground.

In the same way, a slow reading speed and the wrong reading strategies will decrease your chances that you’ll find the information you need quickly or be able to remember it afterwards. When you read slowly, you’re taking in concepts and words too slowly to develop an overall idea of the general theme of the text. Your brain gets stuck processing the smaller bits of information, and loses the capacity to take in the whole picture.

A good way to help your brain develop this overall picture is to get a bird’s-eye view of the material you’re going to read and by using any highlights, summaries, and study tools already provided as part of the text. First, prepare your mind to read. Why are you reading this? What do you need to get from the text? What questions do you want to have answered? What key information do you need to find or verify?

Next, go through the chapter headings and summaries, make a note of the graphics and tables, and use the appendix and glossary to target answers and to make sure you know the terms and concepts that are going to be used. Just by going through this material alone, you might find your answers, but if not, you’ll be prepared to read efficiently, because you’ll have an overview of what the text will be explaining and the order of the information presented. In addition, you’ll have a better idea of where you’ll be most likely to find the answers you need.

Some reasons for increasing your reading speed are obvious. For example, the quicker you get through a text, the more time you’ll have to do other things. This is important in a busy work day when you may need to scan and process dozens of reports or hundreds of e-mail attachments. However, there are important aspects of reading speed that you may not have thought about, and they’re ones that can actually have a profound negative effect on your productivity, your intellectual ability, and even your health.

Slow reading speed leads to fatigue. If it takes too long for you to read through a piece of text, you’ll start to get tired. Your eyes will start to itch and burn, your brain will begin to lose focus and get distracted, and your body will experience fatigue at being in one position, especially if you’re holding a heavy book or sitting at a desk. Each of these problems combine and make the others worse, and the longer you sit and try to finish the text, the harder it will be, as you become more and more uncomfortable and irritable.

Slow reading speed actually reduces comprehension. As children, we were taught to read ‘slowly and carefully’ to make sure that we understood everything that we read. While this works for small amounts of text that you need to understand, like a legal contract before you sign it, when you’re faced with larger amounts of text reading too slowly will be detrimental. You’ll find that you have difficulty remembering the overall concepts, logic, and purpose of the text you started long before you reach the end. You’ll get bored. You’ll forget important material from the beginning of the text and be unable to understand points made at the end, forcing you to re-read the previous text.

Slow reading speed is a habit you can break. Many people assume that a person’s reading speed is the same as the speed at which they speak out loud. Unfortunately, for people who retain the reading habits of childhood, that’s essentially correct. The average rate of speech is 150 words per minute, and most people read at that speed as well, because they are still reading “out loud” in a way, using subvocalization, moving their lips while they read, or simply hearing the words in their head as they read – all habits that were learned when they first were taught to read.

By using the 7 Speed Reading course, you won’t learn how to read. You’ll learn how to read better.

While all of the exercises, strategies, and tips that we provide in the 7 Speed Reading course are designed to increase your overall reading speed, it’s important to remember that this rate of speed – whether in words per minute or pages per hour – is not set in stone. In other words, think about your improved reading speed as an average speed, not a constant one. Depending on the type of material you’re reading, and the reasons you’re reading it, the rate at which you read will (and should) vary.

Imagine that you’re about to go hiking through the mountains. It’s likely that you’re going on this hike for one of two reasons: either you’re having a nice day trip sightseeing, or you need to get from one place to another. In the first case, you might not be so concerned with your route or your agenda – there might be several trails you could take, and nothing in particular you want to see. With the second option, you have a set goal, and may need to pick the optimal route to get there as quickly as possible. In either case, you’ll have to deal with the terrain and the trail conditions.

Reading works in the same way. When you pick up a book for pleasure, you might want to linger over certain sections because of the beauty of the phrases, just like you might pause in a sunny meadow full of flowers. If you’re reading something that requires concentration because of its difficulty, you’ll slow down and pay attention, just as you would use more effort and concentration to get over a rough and rocky cliff-side path. When you’re picking out the hiking trails you want to use, you take the time to look at maps before you set out, so that you know the landmarks to look for and the best way to reach your goals. When you’re picking up a text to look for specific information, you need to take the time to scan through the “map” of the book – the chapter headings, the summaries at the beginning or end of sections, the illustrations and graphs – so that you have a good idea of the data “landmarks” you’ll be tracking and where you might expect to find the details you need.

As you practice the techniques we provide to increase your reading speed, keep the purpose of your reading in mind as well, and you’ll get the most out of every venture into a new literary landscape.

The ability to read is a skill, and like any skill it will improve with regular practice. One reason that people may find that they have a slower reading speed is that they just don’t spend that much time actually reading. Especially in this day of computer-enhanced searches and short web pages, and cable and satellite channels that provide both information and entertainment, it’s possible that people are getting out of the habit of turning to books for knowledge or fun. It’s been shown that the more people read, the better they are at both reading quickly and with good comprehension, even if they never take the time to focus on improving their reading skills with the techniques and exercises we provide in the 7 Speed Reading program. This holds true for children as well; those children that are first read to by their parents, and then encouraged to read on their own, have a much higher rate of success in school, something that is directly tied to their reading abilities.

If you wanted to learn how to be a good golfer, you wouldn’t wait to pick up a putter until the morning of your game, would you? Instead, you’d spend time playing practice rounds by yourself, or working on your form on the putting green, or being coached by a golf pro at the local club. Through practice, your swings would get smoother and faster, and your accuracy would improve. In the same way, you can work on your reading skills:

You can spend time reading by yourself, and choosing things that you find fun and enjoyable so that it’s not a chore. You don’t have to focus entirely on your reading speed during these sessions, but if you find yourself falling into bad habits (moving your lips, backtracking, etc.) pay attention and try to minimize them.

You can work on your form by identifying the problems you have, like moving your lips when you read, and devote time to eliminating those problems. Sometimes just being aware of what you’re doing wrong is enough to help you overcome the mistakes.

You can work with an expert to give you a structured study program. The 7 Speed Reading program covers the common problems and roadblocks you encounter when trying to increase your reading speed, and provides solutions and exercises to help you eliminate them.

In the end, though, it all comes down to the time you spend reading, whether for school, or work, or just to relax in the evening. Turn off the computer, switch off the television, and pick up a book – you’ll notice the difference quickly!

When you’re getting ready to go on a trip by car, there are usually several things you do before you hop in the car that will help you get to your destination quickly. The first step, of course, is finding out where you’re going! Once you know the address, you can look on a map to locate landmarks and directions to help you find the most efficient route. When you get in the car, you’ll adjust the seat and the mirrors, making yourself comfortable before you set off – something that’s particularly important if you’re going on a long trip. Just as important is making sure you have enough gas in the tank to get to your destination.

In much the same way, you’ll find that you can increase the speed and efficiency of your reading if you make similar preparations for your “trip” through the printed page. Here are a few pointers to keep you headed in the right direction:

Destination. What is your final destination or goal? That is, why are you reading this particular piece of text? if you have a goal in mind, then you’ll unconsciously be thinking about that while you read and mentally noting things that will help you achieve that goal. You can also consciously track key points and ideas in the text as you read, and take notes on important points.

Directions. Like landmarks on a journey, written texts are arranged (or should be anyway) in a logical order that leads you to the author’s goal or point. Start by looking at the “map” of the book – the table of contents, chapter summaries, glossary, illustrations and tables, and any other material that will give you an overview of what you’re about to read.

Comfort. Get settled at your desk or in a chair, making sure that you won’t be distracted by having to fidget or adjust your posture once you start. Have your extra supplies at hand (paper, pencil, laptop if you’re making notes directly on the computer). To reduce eyestrain, sit in a well-lit area. Minimize distractions: turn down any loud music, turn off the television or radio, adjust the temperature in the room so it’s not too hot or too cold (or put on a sweater). If you wear glasses to read, put them on.

Fuel. Make sure you won’t be distracted by hunger or thirst while you’re reading. Your brain needs energy to work, and if you’re running low on fuel, your mind won’t work as well. You’ll find it harder to read quickly and process what you’re reading, and your ability to retain what you read will suffer. If it’s been a while since you last ate a meal, have a snack of fruit, bread, or cheese. Make sure you have a glass of water or other nonalcoholic beverage nearby; good hydration is important for the both your brain and your eyes.

Bon voyage!