Ridiculously Easy Speed Reading Techniques to Read Faster, Understand Better, and Remember Longer
Have you ever finished a page only to realize you barely remember what you read?
Or spent so long on a reading assignment that you wished you could get through it faster and without missing the important details?
Reading faster is useful, but speed alone is not the goal. What matters is being able to understand what you read and remember it when you need it.
The good news is that you can improve all three with the right speed reading techniques and it's easier than you think.
What Is Speed Reading?
Speed reading is exactly as it sounds.
It is the ability to read books and written material faster.
That means:
- Reading more words in less time
- Comprehending more of those words
- And retaining them longer.
What Are the Benefits of Speed Reading?
Speed reading is more important than ever before.
That’s because we no longer live in the information age, or even the entertainment age, but now we’re living in the AI age.
We’re living in a time where there is so much more information coming at us, and if we don’t keep up, we’ll fall behind.
In fact, you’re falling behind more than you know.
Therefore, we need the ability to learn, understand, and remember more information than ever before.
Since most of that information comes in the written form, we need to learn how to read faster and comprehend more.
Is Speed Reading Real?
Before diving into the specific speed reading techniques, I want to address some myths about speed reading and reading in general.
Myth #1 - Reading Fast Reduces Comprehension
It is said, the faster you read, the less you will understand, and the less you will remember.
This is true if you don’t use the correct approach.
If you take a haphazard or untrained approach to reading, where you are just trying to read as fast as possible, then yes, it can and likely will reduce comprehension.
But with the right approach, and when done the right way, speed reading can both increase speed and comprehension.
Myth #2 - Reading Fast Means Skipping Words
That is, you are simply skimming or scanning for main points and ideas and not really reading all the words.
Skimming and scanning are not reading.
True speed reading is about reading all the words faster.
The goal of this article is to improve reading speed and comprehension, and also retention.
Let's dive in.
Speed Reading Techniques
Reading speed, comprehension, and retention are improved not just by what you do while reading, but by what you do before and after reading as well.
Therefore, this section will be broken into 3 parts.
First, it’ll talk about what to do before you start reading, or what I call pre-reading.
Then it'll discuss speed reading techniques to use while reading.
Finally, it'll cover steps to take after you finish reading.
So, let’s get started.
Speed Reading Technique #1 - State Purpose
One of the best ways to start any reading assignment is to state your goal or purpose for reading that assignment.
That means repeat in your head or out loud why you are reading the material in the first place, and more importantly, what you hope to gain from it.
By setting a purpose to a reading assignment, all the different parts of your mind stop doing what they’re doing and come together to achieve that goal or target.
This keeps your mind from being distracted by other things, and find the information you seek or achieve the result you set.
How to State Purpose
Stating a purpose is really easy.
Simply think about why you are reading the material and what you hope to gain from it.
Anytime you pick up a book, article, or report, it is for a reason.
The reason might be to:
- Ace an exam
- Write a paper
- Find an answer
- Or simply unwind and relax.
Whatever the purpose, there is a purpose, and your job is to state that purpose - either out loud or in your head.
Examples of Purpose
Here are some examples of purpose you can set anytime you pick up something to read:
- I’m reading this report to prepare for tomorrow’s meeting.
- I’m studying chapters 3, 4, and 5 to prepare for an upcoming exam.
- My goal for reading this book is to improve my decision-making skills.
- I’m reviewing this case study to get better ideas for the project.
Speed Reading Technique #2 - Chunking
Now we’re going to talk about ways to actually increase reading speed, and the first way is by reading in chunks.
Chunking is the act of picking up multiple words in a single glance.
Normally when we read, we read one word at a time. That is, we look at a word, then move to the next word, and the one after that.
With chunking, you don’t look at one word at a time, but rather, groups or chunks of words.
You put your gaze on a group of words, then move your gaze to another group, and another.
Chunking works so well because your eyes and mind have the ability to process information extremely fast. So, you already have the ability to process multiple words at a time.
Doing so takes your reading from looking at letters, syllables, and words to the next step by reading groups of words at a time.
How to Chunk
More or less, don't read one word at a time.
Instead, open your visual awareness to look at groups of words with each glance.
Then look at another group, and another in quick succession.
Reading in Chunks Examples
Below is a paragraph separated into chunks by the forward slash character “/“.
Start with the first chunk and look at all the words in one glance.
Then, move your gaze to the next chunk, and then the next as quickly as possible.
As you read / through this passage / try to notice / groups of words / instead of stopping / at every single word. / Your brain can process / several words together / and still understand / what the sentence means. / With regular practice / your eyes can learn / to take in / larger sections of text / with each glance.
If you did this exercise, you should have been able to capture several words in a single glance. As a result, move through the text much quicker.
You increased reading speed simply by changing the way you look at words.
Nothing else!
If that didn’t work for you, here’s the same paragraph, but the chunks are highlighted with alternating bold text.
As you read through this passage try to notice groups of words instead of stopping at every single word. Your brain can process several words together and still understand what the sentence means. With regular practice your eyes can learn to take in larger sections of text with each glance.
You may have thought that you wouldn’t be able to read text more than one word at a time, but as you just saw, your eyes and mind do indeed have the ability to grab multiple words in a single glance.
Speed Reading Technique #3 - Stop Subvocalization
Subvocalization is pronouncing the words you read. You either:
- Say the words out loud
- Hear them spoken in your head
- Or move your lips to their pronunciation.
Any one of these is subvocalizing.
Now, it's possible to increase reading speed simply by reducing the amount you subvocalize.
You see, your eyes have the ability to process text faster than your ability to hear or say it.
In other words, your mind can’t say words as fast as it can see them.
By subvocalizing words, whether out loud or in your head, you are forcing your mind to read slower than its potential.
Doing so creates a mechanical limit to how fast you can read.
When you can stop subvocalization, you can start to read faster.
How to Stop Subvocalization
Simple, stop saying, hearing, or moving your lips to the words while reading.
Although simple, it’s not always simple to do. In many ways, it's like trying to stop your thoughts.
So, I’ll give a few quick tips to make it easier to stop subvocalization.
Close your lips
Talking activates many parts of your body, such as the lips, mouth, tongue, jaw, and throat.
Subvocalization does as well but to a lesser degree.
Despite being less, it still affects speed.
The simple act of closing your lips while reading will remove much of your need to subvocalize.
You’ll be surprised how much this single, deliberate act can curb your desire to vocalize words, and hence, improve reading speed.
Read Fast
Another way to stop subvocalization is to speed up your reading so you cannot pronounce the words or hear their sounds.
In other words, read just fast enough so your need to pronounce words can’t keep up with your eyes.
This is why the chunking technique I presented earlier is so useful.
When you grab groups of words at a time, it’s harder to vocalize them.
Though you don’t need to grab groups of words to stop subvocalization. If you don’t like chunking, just speed up your reading.
Hum
The last option involves humming. Hum a tune, a song, or a basic melody while reading.
Humming works because it preoccupies the vocal cords, so that you can’t speak or whisper any words.
Humming also drowns out the voice in your head, so you can’t hear the words being spoken either.
What’s great about humming is that it can set a rhythm and pace to your reading.
To speed up reading, hum faster.
If you are reading uncontrollably fast and need a way to slow down, hum slower.
Humming is an effective way to control both reading speed and pace.
Speed Reading Technique #4 - Recall & Review
Now, let's move to the final speed reading technique, and that is recall and review.
Recall and review is taking a moment after reading to quickly recall what you just read, and then go back to the material and review whether your recall was complete and accurate.
Importance of Recall and Review
As humans we forget as much as 80% of what we read, hear, and learn within a few hours of reading, hearing, and learning it. That is not within the first few months, weeks, or even days, but within the first few hours.
So, if no attempt is made to retain the information you’ve read, you will start to forget it, and very quickly.
In fact, it doesn’t matter how valuable the information is or how much you understood it. Importance and value are not the criteria your brain uses when deciding what information to store.
What's more, when we read non-stop, our brain automatically replaces the old information with the new. So by the time we reach the end, you’ve forgotten much of the beginning or middle.
If you are going to put in the effort to read something, doesn't it make sense to do something to remember it? It is pointless to spend all your time reading if at the end of the day, 80 percent of what you've read is forgotten.
How to Recall and Review
When reading, stop every so often and recall what you just read or learned up to that point. You can stop:
- Every half hour to hour
- Or every chapter, lesson, or subsection.
First, try to recall as much as possible. Think about the key points the author made and the details he or she used to support those points?
Make sure to recall without looking at the material. When you can’t recall anything further, then you can go back to the material to see whether what you remembered is accurate and complete. This is key to making the memory stick.
Then revisit the passage or any notes you took to review if what you remembered was accurate and complete. It can help to underline important areas while reading, then go back to review those areas.
It’s a simple step that takes very little time, but can have a huge impact on reading, comprehension, and memory.
The fact is, if you don’t actively do something to remember what you read, you’re going to forget it. It’s not a question of if, but when, and that's usually within hours.
Conclusion
As you see, speed reading is not just about how to read faster. It's also about comprehending more and remembering longer.
1. First, state a purpose
2. Next, read in chunks and stop subvocalization
3. Finally, recall and review
The key is to find the right balance between speed and comprehension. Not every piece of information needs to be read at the same pace.
Though what you learned here is just the start!
There is a lot more to reading faster, and you can learn about all of it in my speed reading book that has sold over 121,234 copies and has 4,008 5-star ratings on Amazon:
