Speed Reading
First, when we think of 'speed' reading we focus on that word - speed. However, speed reading is not literally about how fast we are physically capable of reading a piece of text, but rather it about being able to read something at speed whilst gleaning information from it.
The importance of this is often missed. Being able to read 100 words in a few seconds is all well and good, but if we don't remember any of it afterwards and can't talk about it, in what sense have we really read it? Rather, good speed reading is about being able to extract information from what we read and talk about it and answer questions on it afterwards.
One important element of speed reading is the idea of selecting which words to read - for instance 'scanning' methods such as ignoring articles like 'an' and 'the' and other words like 'of' and so on. Scanning groups or chunks of words can help to improve your ability to extract information at speed.
If you are someone who speaks the words as they go along, then this slows you down. Keep your mouth closed and train yourself not to lip-read the words on the page as you go along for improved speed of reading.
Also, use a device to help your eye move across the lines quickly and accurately. Moving your finger or a pen along the line of words will do this just perfectly.
And, of course, practice is also very important - the more you read and practice speed reading techniques, the better you will get.
It all boils down to:
1) Concentration
2) Using a method to help you read accurately and quickly, like moving a finger along the text (sometimes referred to as 'pointer' methodology)
3) Ignoring words that are not relevant to understanding the text
4) Looking for groups of important keywords that are required in order to understand and learn from what you are reading.
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