How To Speed Read

Lead with your index finger, a pen, or your computer mouse, which keeps your eyes focused and moving ahead. This prevents them from darting around re-reading words, something the average person does to the tune of 20 words per page.

Stop “sounding out” each word in your head, or mouthing the words silently, two things many of us learned to do in grade school. U.S. Air Force research shows your brain can recognize a word in less than five-hundredths of a second, while it takes a quarter of a second—five times longer—to say it in your head.

Learning not to sound out words will help you “chunk”—a technique that requires you to group together four or five words by skipping articles like “the” and “and.” You’ll still get the meaning, since these words aren’t needed for comprehension.

Train yourself to stop taking a short pause after each paragraph, something most of us do unconsciously.

Practice these techniques for at least 20 minutes a day, starting with books and articles printed in large fonts. As you practice, you’ll learn how to prioritize content, speeding you along even more.