When you learn speed reading, you’re learning a useful skill that can assist you in many different ways. Reading is a necessary part of many jobs, a must for students and something you may spend a lot of time doing to learn more about hobbies or even to just catch up on the latest news. By learning to speed read, you can dramatically increase the amount of information you can take read and process across a given time period. Learning the skills to speed read doesn’t have to be complicated, as long as you know what you want to achieve and where to begin.

What is speed reading?

In the mid 20th century when educators and scientists began to consider how people could learn to read at a much faster pace, the term speed reading was coined to describe this process. Speed reading is reading at a fast pace, by eliminating ‘bad habits’ that potentially slow the reader down. When we read and ‘say’ the words in our head, back track over information or are simply distracted  by bad posture, noise and other external influence, these things slow our reading pace. If you learn speed reading, much of what is covered is about correcting these issues to increase your reading pace.

How fast is speed reading?

The average reader is able to read between 200 and 230 words per minute. Someone who has studied different techniques for speed reading however, may read 600 plus words per minute. This means they can read 3 times as much as the average reader per minute. Some commercial speed reading methods have claimed that readers can take in up to 25,000 words per minute, however there have been doubts raised about the level of comprehension possible when reading at this speed.

How to learn speed reading

If you want to learn speed reading, there are several ways you can approach this. One of the most common ways has been to take a course in speed reading. Here  you’ll be taught different techniques that will help you to increase your reading pace. An important consideration when doing this is that you ensure that you learn to read quickly without compromising your level of comprehension in the process.

A popular alternative these days is to use a computer program to help you learn speed reading. These programs will generally offer one or more techniques for speed reading. The biggest advantage of this type of program is that it helps you to steadily improve your reading speed at your own pace. You can learn speed reading when it suits you, without being taken away from other commitments and generally this will be far less expensive than a traditional course.

As you learn speed reading, you’ll see that the different techniques can be applied to different tasks and reading situations. You may still be quite happy to switch back to a slower paced reading if you want to curl up and savour a good book on a rainy afternoon. However, when you need to get focussed and get through the maximum amount of material for study or work, you’ll have the techniques and knowledge to power through fast.