What is speed reading?

Speed reading is the act of quickly absorbing written information. The goal is to read quickly but still retain comprehension of the material. The rate at which people read material is not a constant and varies greatly depending on several factors. Some material, such as school work or manuals, may require more contemplation and fewer distractions in order to process and still understand what is being conveyed. Being able to read ten books in a single day is useless if the reader is unable to retain comprehension of the material.

What is the speed of an average reader?

The average reader may be able to read around two words per second. Now, to get that average and determine the true accuracy of the reading, the test must take into consideration the reading material. Other factors include the testing atmosphere, the comfort of the reader and the overall comprehension abilities of the reader. Opponents of speed reading programs believe that there is not a high enough comprehension rate if the reader does not thoroughly understand the material so test results can be skewed due to this factor.

I’ve tried learning how to speed read and I just cannot seem to do it or remember the material. Are some people just gifted with this talent?

There may be several factors working against your desire to learn how to speed read. The first may be that you do not have enough practice or there are too many distractions for you to concentrate. If you do not love to read, no amount of software can make the task easier for you. Some people have a natural affinity for reading and will do better with it than others. It should never be about how fast you can read. It should be about how much information you retain and whether or not you enjoy reading.

More On: Your Speed Reading Questions Answered

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Career & Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.