How to Read a Book a Day | Jordan Harry | TEDxBathUniversity

I'd like to introduce you to the person that changed my life in primary school I used to have a speech impediment because I couldn't pronounce the words I couldn't understand them therefore my reading speeds suffered and before I knew it reading was my biggest fear but this woman right here saw that I had a problem and prioritized taking me to speech therapy every week even if that meant she could never take me on a holiday this woman is my mother and here is why I started my 15-year speed-reading journey fast-forward to today I now have a accelerated reading speed of 1500 words per minute which is seven times faster than the average untrained reader I've taught over 2,000 people from over a hundred countries but speed reading isn't this superpower which only the very few of us could have just like any skill it can be learned and it's easy when you know how but first you need an open mindset there is no such thing as a bad reader just those with bad reading habits so once you know what habits are holding your reading speed back it's a lot easier to read faster now the problem is information overload reason is many of us in this room haven't had a class called reading since we were 12 yet every other subjects such as maths and science has progressively gotten harder yet were forced to keep up with this information overload with the reading skills of a 12 year old now the end of today everyone in this room will leave with some of the speed via and techniques that I have learned that will help you read not only faster but more effectively but first let's take a look at those bad habits bad habit number one sub vocalization subvocalization is that little voice in your head that you use from time to time when you read from a young age many of us are taught to read aloud and as we progress we then read inside our heads at least I was studies have shown the average talking speed is 250 words per minute so it's no surprise that the average reading speed is between 200 and 250 words per minute so the average untrained reader can only read as fast as they can talk so if we want to read faster we must start to see the words as opposed to hear them and we do this already picture this when you see a stop sign the words stop are clearly printed we don't read the words stop aloud we understand the meaning of the word therefore we only see it but how do we reduce our vocalization right now we need to distract our brain by be using small distractions so tip number one press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth for two reasons this will stop you mouthing the words as you're reading and it will also create a small distraction for your brain not so large that it will take your mind away from the focus tip number two your environment your environment is key have you ever noticed when you walk into a coffee shop that sometimes you see people working and it's not because of the good caffeine it's because coffee shops have learned to create an environment which is optimum for productivity the environments not too loud where you get distracted what's going on around you nor too quiet where your brain begins to wander the key is to get the brain into a state of relaxation whether that's listen to music without lyrics such as classical music or studying in a spot which is consistent and personable to you the key is consistency bad habit number two regression now by a show of hands who in here's got to the end of a page and for what I just read or even worse the end of a sentence myself included and naturally we go back to the top of the page hoping this time somehow the information goes in but to know that the reason is because the author often has to give context so by the time our eyes have reached the key points were exhausted picture this you're watching a movie and your couple scenes in and it doesn't quite make sense almost like you've missed a couple key scenes and then suddenly it clicks it all makes sense and you understand why the movie was set out the way it was the reason for this is not a lack of understanding but more so a lapse of concentration and one way we can improve our concentration is by becoming an active reader when our brain wanders it's because we've become passive what's one of the most common questions children ask it's why why do we have to do this why do we have to do that we need to be curious to find a good answer we must have good questions so whilst reading have good general questions at the front of your mind such as how long will this take for me to read this what am I looking for and what key figures and words do I need to find tip number two gliding foot gliding you will need to use an object such as a credit card or any piece of object that you can use to cover up the sentence you've just read now the great thing about gliding is it removes your safety net to reread the sentence you've just read meaning you've got to pay attention to the sentence you're leading because you know there's no way you can go back bad habit number three fixations fixations of where your eyes are still on the page now on average an untrained reader has between ten to fifteen fixations read this sentence for me just take your time there's no rush I'm not testing you now to improve the number of vexations that you make the first tip is use a pacer you can either use your hand or your pen to underline the sentence as you're reading now this is set to the average readings of 250 words per minute and the great thing about the Pacer is two things one it maintains of reading speed often when we read we don't realize how fast or slow were reading until it's too late and number two increases and encourages our eyes to read faster because we're forced to read an accelerated way tip number two bouncing now for bouncing you'll need to segment your page into three columns a word of caution please make sure it's your book before you start drawing in it don't do what I did with a library book that was fifty years old because it will cost you 200 pounds of a place an expensive lesson one that of landfill now once you've made the three columns you want to bounce your eyes in the middle word in the first column over to the second one and over to the third one using your peripheral vision to read either words either side so there we have it the three habits holding your reading speed back but it's important to distinguish between reading for need and reading for enjoyment now before I show you the strategy to read a book a day in 2015 I learned something surprising that the average reader can go from reading a book a year to a book a day without the costly tuition because speed reading is a superpower one which you can turn on and off and I'll now show you how step one the front and back cover sounds common sense but it isn't common practice this will give you a good context of what the books about and also the authority that the author has step 2 the table of contents 80% of a book's value can be found on 20% of the pages the 8020 principle your time is precious so you want to be looking for the key points so if it is your book make a note on a table of contents of what chapters stick out to you once you found those chapters you're gonna do your first section of your pre read which is skimming now for skimming you want to take 10 seconds per page simply looking for key subheadings diagrams that stick out to you and I'll explain why and step four the second stage of your pre read scanning now for the scanning you want to spend about 30 seconds per page now going back to those subheadings that caught your eye looking for the keywords and figures now remember the time it's taken an average reader to read this once you would have already gone through this twice you becoming familiar with the content so when you do come to the final stage speed reading using one of the techniques such as bouncing gliding or visual aids such as a pacer you'll be more familiar not only will you read faster but your comprehension will be much greater because you've reviewed and you know what's coming up so there you have it how to read a book a day speed reading is an important skill in today's information overload society and I encourage you if you've learned anything here today about speed reading please pass it on to someone who you feel could benefit from reading faster and more effectively because to teach is to learn twice and what teaching speed reading has allowed me to do is give my mother the holiday she was never able to give me so remember time is precious so wasted wisely you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 2,906,959

Rating: 4.9403634 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Education, Book, Learning, Passion, Personal growth, Self improvement

Id: e2-ahs905MQ

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Thu May 17 2018