Why do you think it is important to increase reading speed? A lot of people wonder why every person has to increase their speed in reading when in fact they do not read all the time. The reason is this – even if people do not have to read every day, information from the internet, newspapers, radio, and television are too much to comprehend. The tendency is that people with poor comprehension and slow reading speed may be likely to experience information overload. This is not healthy for the person because instead of learning more, they learn less. They will have difficulty in filtering what details they need and what not.
But how are they going to improve their reading skills? There are lots of reading techniques that are made available for them. They can take online courses or they can make use of the modern instructional materials like CDs, DVDs, and ebooks. But the most important thing they have to do before they start to read any material and apply the techniques and methods from those materials is to identify first the information they want to get.
The techniques will be useless. The speed is there but after reading the article or the material, there is no information at all because they were not able to determine what they need and want to get from it. Two of the techniques that readers must learn are skimming and scanning. They are very popular especially to students. But not everyone knows how to do them appropriately. It requires skills but constant practice is needed to achieve the skills. To give you an idea on some of the tips on how to increase reading speed, check the items below.
1. Read in blocks and read with more words – conscious effort is needed in this application. You are asked to increase the number of words that you read in one block at a certain time. You need to practice so be able to read faster. You can try to hold the material farther from your eyes.
2. Reduce the fixation time – you have to reduce your speed in reading but it takes a lot of practice and trials to do this. You can do this by timing yourself. You have to pick up the right information but before you can do that, you need to practice.
3. Reduce the skip back – sometimes you cannot help yourself to read back the previous sentence. To avoid this, use a pointer or a ruler so that you can follow the line. You can also use your finger or pencil. You will have a smooth flow in your reading. You will be able to notice the changes if you try to follow these methods in speed reading.
You do not have to suffer from information overload because the tips in speed reading will help you. You do not have to enroll in a class every weekend. You can do this on your own by following the suggested tips on the course materials that you can find online. Eventually, you will be able to see the progress. You will be amazed how you increase reading speed without enrolling yourself in one class.