7 Ways to Increase Your Reading Speed

being able to read fast is one of the most  important skills you need at university because   the number of textbooks you're expected to read  depending on what you're studying can be huge   and i remember my first semester when i was in my  first year at university the module i was studying   was world economics and the lecturer gave us a  long reading list and i thought that's fine i   can read through all the books in that list not a  problem but as i began to buy the books i started   to realize that each book was 300 400 500 pages  thick and so it quickly dawned on me there's no   way i'm going to be able to read through all of  these in the space of a few weeks and so i talk   about study efficiently on this channel quite a  lot so if you have two students exactly the same   abilities same subject same everything however one  student is trained to study extremely efficiently   and they both study for one hour the student  that is trained to study efficiently will be able   to learn considerably more than the student that  isn't trained and so this is a huge part of it the   average speed the student reads is about 200 to  250 words per minute this is usually the speed of   an untrained person however this figure can quite  easily rise to 400 words per minute by taking   a few simple steps which i'll go over now and a  super quick announcement the transform your grades   in 30 days course is now live if you're still  struggling with procrastination or maybe you're   struggling to implement what i'm teaching you on  this channel into your studying or maybe you need   that extra bit of personal support and mentoring  for me then click on the link in the description   because the project elon course has been designed  to help you with all of that we're currently   running a 50 discount promotional launch offer  which will be ending very very shortly so please   don't procrastinate in fixing your procrastination  the links down below click it and i look forward   to working with you very shortly now back to  seven advanced tips on how to increase your   reading speed method one minimize subvocalization  now sub-vocalization is a very common habit that   most of us do while we're reading but often we  don't even realize it and i'll be honest i'm   guilty of it sometimes too and it involves saying  words in your head while reading and it's one of   the main reasons why people read slowly and have  trouble improving their reading speed another way   of putting it which sounds potentially concerning  is hearing voices in your head not like voices   telling you to do bad things but it's just an  internal monologue like a habit of repeating what   you read in your head and it's a common practice  we did at school it's how we learn to read so it   makes sense why we do that and five or six years  ago i used to sub-vocalize a lot and pretty much   everything i read i would be speaking it quietly  in my head and i thought that's how everyone read   right but at the same time it would take me  so long to read just an average sized book   it wasn't until i started to consciously make an  effort to minimize and eventually completely stop   sub-vocalization then my reading speed sped up  significantly and the issue with subvocalization   is that we can only really read as fast as we  can talk because we're effectively talking to   ourselves and the average reading speed is 200  to 250 words per minute and the average talking   speed is exactly the same because most people say  words in the head while reading they tend to read   it around the same rate as they talk and you can  test this out for yourself if you like try reading   for one minute normally and then try reading out  loud for one minute if you're like most people   your reading speed and talking speed will be very  similar so minimizing subvocalization will mean   consciously trying to stop the internal voices  slowing down your reading and focus instead on   extracting ideas and absorbing information and  processing the details of what you're reading   you will focus less on what the words say and more  what the words represent however it is easier said   than done it takes a lot of practice but the next  few points will not only help you read quicker but   also help minimize some vocalization method two  read with a pointer interestingly bernard wesler   author of the book speed reading for professionals  believes that reading with a pointer or reading a   book with your finger is so effective because it  calls upon your survival instincts to follow a   moving object with your field of vision if you've  ever played a team sport like football or cricket   you know that you have to keep your eyes on many  things at once for example where the ball is   where the opposing team players are where your  own team mates are where the goal line is where   the boundaries are you have to keep an eye on and  track many things at once and what's crazy is you   do it automatically you just look across the field  and automatically you start collecting information   and you can use your eyes to abstract so much  information at once from different sources yet   when it comes to reading some of us find it  difficult to read more than one word at a time   again i was guilty of this but it can be  done it is possible that while you're reading   one word you're also reading the next word and  even the word after that and as such you're not   just reading one word but you're reading three  or even as many as six words at once and wesler   stated in just 10 minutes of practice your pacing  becomes smooth and comfortable your learning speed   will double in 7 days and triple in 21 days and  wesler advises the best way to learn to do this   is by using a pen laser or pointer of some kind  even your finger to underline each sentence as you   read your peripheral vision will pick up six words  on either side of the pointer allowing you to move   through a sentence up to six times faster than  reading each word the pointer helps you create   a steady pace and focuses your attention on the  page and i actually do a lot of my reading on   an app called blinkist i've really been focusing  hard the last few months and weeks on efficiency   how can i save more time and how can i get more  done in my 24 hours and before if it took me eight   hours to read a book blinkist is basically an  app that summarizes non-fiction books into short   15-minute summaries and they're even 15-minute  audio book versions too so essentially you can be   taught the key insights of a non-fiction book in  just 15 minutes rather than having to spend eight   hours reading it and i've been using the blinky  stack for a good maybe three or four months now   almost every single day and i can highly recommend  it just for purely the number of hours that it has   saved me over the few months that i've been using  it there's a link in the description if you'd like   to check it out method three read in chunks  and i appreciate that using a pointer may not   be possible you may be reading on a kindle  or an ipad which means touching the screen   moves the text you could be reading off a lecture  slide or perhaps it's simply not working for you   i also know some people that say it feels kind  of babyish to use your finger to help you read   and feel self-conscious about it but in any case  an alternative is called chunking or reading in   chunks if you take a sentence and focus on the  first word chances are you can see the next word   maybe even the word after that until eventually  it gets a bit blurry and this is because the human   eye has a small dimple called the fovea and in  that one spot vision is clearest when you divide   a sentence into chunks of three or four words your  eyes see the center of the chunk most clearly but   can still distinguish the surrounding words think  of reading a sentence in three or four chunks   instead of reading every word individually  and you can kind of see how much faster   you would get through the material it will take  some practice but the idea mainly is you keep your   eyes moving rather than a stop start approach to  reading keep your eyes moving taking in two words   at once to begin with then three words and it will  improve your reading speed significantly method   four listening to music now listening to music  will not only help you minimize subvocalization   but listening to music may also help you  concentrate better in general so by giving our   mind something else to focus on while reading  it limits the capacity to read the words out   loud in your head but music in general has that  ability to keep us focused and determined music   also eliminates outside distractions like other  people's conversations for example however keep   in mind that not all types of music are going to  help you concentrate you want to avoid listening   to music with lyrics anything with a strong  beat or distracts you because it is going to   throw you off your concentration so for example i  really like classical music and i find that works   really well but also like soundtracks from movies  movies like lord of the rings that are really   epic dramatic motivational and i can get really  fired up and sometimes it works but sometimes   all i want to do is watch a lot of the rings or  abandon my studies altogether to join the fight   for middle earth and in the very beginning i just  listened to my favorite music but the issue here   is that some songs particularly older songs would  bring back old memories or feelings maybe it was a   song from my childhood for example and this would  be distracting so really what i needed is music   that i only associate with studying so what worked  for me ironically enough was study motivation   music videos on youtube because it was the first  time that i heard them i only ever listened to   them while studying i came to associate this music  with studying and it helped me keep my focus and i   found that while i was reading listening to music  helped avoid the sub-vocalization and as such i   would read much faster method five eliminates  distractions now i'm not going to go too deeply   on this topic because overcoming procrastination  is a frequent talking point on this channel   but by eliminating distractions at this source  you'll stay focused on your reading but what   i've not talked about on this channel is what is  called the compound effect and the compound effect   is the title of a book written by darren hardy  and he defines it as the strategy of reaping   huge rewards from small seemingly insignificant  actions in the case of reading the more you read   the quicker and better you get and that will  probably come at no surprise to you which is   why i've not wasted time going through it but  the same goes for eliminating distractions if   you get in the habit of eliminating distractions  while you study it will help you concentrate   better and over time you will gradually get  better and better to the point it becomes   second nature you won't have to consciously make  an effort to eliminate distractions you will just   do it and this will greatly improve your speed  of reading as you won't be distracted and let's   quick fire some practical suggestions turn off  your phone turn on the do not disturb mode or   put it on silent or perhaps just put it away out  of grasp ideally using your laptop for music if   you can close social media tabs and turn off any  instant notifications you may get so for example   when i get a message on facebook i get a prompt on  my laptop screen but you can turn that off quite   easily in the settings find the right environment  for you to read sitting with a group of friends   may not be the best place or in front of the telly  i like reading in a library or a coffee shop i   like being surrounded by people and ambient noise  rather than dead silence but whatever works with   you if you're studying something like chemistry  or economics something really intensive you may   need a quieter environment than if you are reading  a novel for a literature course be prepared make   sure you have your water bottle filled up you  have your snacks your books your laptop charger   everything you need to avoid distractions or  things that are going to stop you doing what   you're doing once you start reading you want to  avoid stopping method six look after your eyes we   often take our eyes for granted many of us likely  don't do any i care and if anything do things that   harm our eyes such as being too close to the  computer screen watching too much tv or playing   video games for hours at a time without any breaks  and maybe we don't allow ourselves enough sleep or   expose our eyes to too much light and we need to  look after our eyes in general but when it comes   to reading it can go a long way it can help avoid  tired eyes and keep them working better for longer   and therefore your reading speed will increase so  here are a few ways you can go about this firstly   is to make sure that you're always reading in a  well-lit room this is to ensure that your eyes are   not strained to read every word which by itself  will also reduce your reading speed anyway so it   just makes sense to read in well-lit conditions  and as suggested also make sure you sleep well   and avoid abusing your eyes too much by being  glued to the screen for long periods of time   make sure that you give your eyes a break every so  often but a really valuable tip comes from speed   reading specialist bernard wesler who advises to  hold your book or whatever you're reading at a 30   angle to your eyes so never read material lying  flat on a table or desk and wesley says reading   from a flat material is painful to your retina  causes eye fatigue and after about two hours often   leads to dry eye and irritation he even suggested  to adjust the angle of your computer screen to 30   degrees also and in addition before you start  reading wesley suggests you warm up your eyes   he says it sharpens your vision and activates your  peripheral sight to speed up your learning speed   this daily one minute exercise may help you avoid  eye muscle fatigue here's how focus on a single   spot on a wall 10 feet in front of you keeping  your head very still and with your right hand   extend it in front of you at eye level and trace  an 18 inch infinity symbol so a sideways eight   and follow it with your eyes three or four times  switch hands and trace the symbol with your other   hand effectively awakening both sides of your  brain drop your hand and trace the symbol 12 times   in one direction with your eyes alone and then  switch moving your eyes in the other direction   another method of warming up your eyes as well  as your brain is to read something you enjoy   like a novel or an autobiography and this will  help you relax into reading in an enjoyable way   rather than going straight into text that could  be highly complex and intellectual method seven   self-motivate and incentivize it can be really  difficult to force yourself to read especially if   it's not particularly entertaining and even  the most interesting of subjects will sometimes   have boring parts and you may feel tempted to  force yourself down at certain times and not   allow yourself to get up until you've finished  that chapter or that section of the book but   my advice is to not do this you can lead a horse  to water but you can't force it to drink and the   same goes for reading you can force yourself to  read the words but it's incredibly difficult to   force yourself to take in the information to take  in the ideas and the concepts and the likelihood   is you'll only frustrate yourself further so  instead you need to be flexible with your approach   waiting for those moments you feel motivated and  then you read of course you can't wait forever   which is why techniques for self-motivation such  as watching study motivational videos speaking to   your tutor or watching an inspirational film  can help but also reading for fun can help   get in the mood as noted before it's also ideal  to make sure you are carrying at least one reading   book wherever you go so when the mood strikes you  can just get out the book and start reading and i   found this really useful as sometimes i'd leave my  last class of the day to go home and find a second   wind to start studying i'd whip out my book and  start reading on the train but also remember to   reward yourself with things like your favorite  tv show maybe a snack or a trip to the gym   it will help self-motivation and help you feel  accomplished and satisfied after the reading is   over and the dopamine you feel after a good read  will add reinforcement for you to do it again   significantly increasing your reading  speed will take time and as mentioned   consistent practice will have compound effects  and over time you will see the results but   make sure that you go easy and don't sacrifice  the quality of your reading for the quantity of   the reading and once again the transformer grading  30 days course is now live we're only running the   promotional launch offer for a few more days so  if you haven't already click on the description   below to sign up and i can't wait to help you  level up your studying and transform your grades

Channel: Mike Dee

Views: 85,107

Keywords: student motivation, study motivation, motivation to study, motivational speaking, top motivational speakers, motivational speakers videos, motivation, inspirational speakers videos, reading, read, speed, ways to read faster, how to read faster, how to increase reading speed, how to increase your reading speed, reading speed, how to be a faster reader, increase reading speed, increase, faster, 7 ways to increase your reading speed, ways to increase my reading speed, reading faster

Id: Vs_HX11rMKE

Length: 15min 19sec (919 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 01 2021