Reading is an incredibly important skill to have. Just about any form of education will involve reading, sometimes almost exclusively. You can often make yourself an expert on an intellectual subject just by reading enough in that area. But despite the incredible importance of reading, most people are wildly inefficient at it. Like a child that never goes beyond a crawl, most people have enough reading skills to move around, but they are far from running.
Over a year ago I picked up the book, Breakthrough Rapid Reading
When I did the initial test at the start of the book, I could read at 450 words per minute. A little above the average of around 300, but nothing spectacular. By using the techniques I’ll describe in this article I was able to increase that rate to around 900 words per minute in average situations, at least doubling of my reading rate.
I believe there are six major keys to improving your reading skill. Like all skills, success only comes through practice, so just reading this article won’t be enough. But if you are interested in how you might be able to make dramatic improvements in both speed and comprehension, I’ve found these six points to be the best start.
1) Remember, Reading is Not Linear
How do you read a book? Likely from start to finish, never going back and never skipping any sections. This is probably one of the most inefficient ways to read. The beauty of text is that it is non-linear. You can skip down to read only my main bullet points, or read them in practically any order. Although the pattern of start to finish might be a simple one, it isn’t always the most effective.
For most books I do read in a roughly start to finish fashion. But I frequently re-read passages that I want to get a greater understanding of and completely skim over passages that I feel are redundant or unnecessary. Good writers generally add anecdotes or metaphors to improve understanding of a concept which you can skim over top of if you already get their point. Similarly, bad writers often go short on explanation of complex details so re-reading can allow your brain the time to form the concepts.
Not only is reading non-linear but it doesn’t have a set pace. Although I read some books at about 900 words per minute, I slow down to 200 if the passage I am reading is particularly information dense or complicated. Similarly I can skim at over 1500 words per minute if I’m reading mostly fluff. Saying I can read at 900 wpm is like saying I can drive at 100 km/h. Speed reading isn’t just about faster but pacing yourself for the specific reading task you face.
Most people read a book as if it were given to them as a speech. They listen to the author and follow along with what he is saying in a purely sequential manner. In order to reach faster rates of comprehension you have to learn to abandon this tactic. You can start this by not subvocalizing.
2) Stop Subvocalizing
When you started to read you probably read out loud. Your elementary school teacher wanted you to read the book and say the words aloud. After you mastered this skill, you were told to simply say the words inside your head and read quietly. This is where most reading education and skill levels end.
To move to a new level you need to stop sounding the words inside your head or subvocalizing. Subvocalizing takes time, more time than is necessary to comprehend the words you are reading. It is almost impossible to go much beyond 400 or 500 words while subvocalizing. Instead you need to train yourself to read without hearing the words in your head.
But for most people this has become such an ingrained reading habit that they don’t realize that subvocalization is a distinct process to comprehension. If I read at around a thousand words per minute, there is no way I could hear the words in my head while trying to process them. Instead I simply see the word and my brain automatically constructs what has been written. I’ll understand a line of text that I looked over in a second, even though it may have taken at least five just to say the words in my head.
Since most people currently can’t separate the subvocalization from comprehension, they are locked in at a rate of about 400-500 words. Moving beyond that rate requires that you practice reading faster than you can actually read.
Edit: I’ve done a follow-up to explain subvocalization more as I think this post may have confused people a little. Check it out here: Speed Reading Follow-Up
3) Practice Reading
Practice reading doesn’t mean reading. Practice reading involves reading faster than you can actually read. Chances are you won’t comprehend much of what you are reading because your brain is so used to going at a slower rate and subvocalizing. The point is simply to see the text faster than you can read so you can untie the habit of sounding the words as you comprehend them.
You can start doing this by taking out a timer or a stop watch and simply viewing as much text in a book as possible in one minute. Use a book you haven’t read before to ensure your brain is actually practicing instead of relying on memory. Mark out where you started and stopped. Count the number of words per line (use a quick average) and then the number of lines you actually read in the book to compute your practice reading rate.
Once you get used to practice reading at a high rate that you can’t comprehend, you should slowly be able to actually comprehend at a slightly slower rate but still faster than if you subvocalized. I would often practice read at between 1500 and 1800 words per minute, and although I lacked comprehension skill, I could maintain it at about 900-1000, over double what I had done when I subvocalized.
But how can you practice read faster than you can read? How do you follow the text but still go faster than you can read? The answer is another of speed reading tricks, using a pointer.
4) Use a Pointer
Your eyes don’t stay fixed in one spot when reading. Eye tracking movements have shown that your eyes actually quiver and move around considerably. And every movement away from your position in text requires a few milliseconds to readjust. These little readjustments in locating your place in a book add up to be very costly if you want to go faster.
Use your index finger to mark where you are on the page at all times. It should follow along with the word you are currently reading, slowly scrolling across each line and then back down one. It may feel awkward at first and it may even temporarily slow your reading rate as you adjust, but using a pointer is critical if you want to improve your reading skill.
Using a pointer is also crucial if you want to practice read. By moving your finger faster than you can actually read, your eyes get used to viewing text faster than your brain can process what is written down. This will break your subvocalization attachment and can easily let you double your reading rate with sufficient practice.
You should use your finger as a pointer all the time. When I first started with the habit I found it annoying to hold the book in a funny position so I could use my right hand to scroll the page. I thought it was silly and maybe even a waste of time. But now I find it hard to read without a pointer. Noticing how much it has helped me focus my reading efforts it is a priceless tool in reading.
5) Eliminate Distractions
As a university student living on campus I’ve noticed a few of my friends who “study” while watching television. Not surprisingly, these tend to be the same people who complain about how much studying they have to do. Reading can’t happen in an environment where external distractions are overwhelming.
If you need a break, take a break. Taking a few minutes to watch a television show, listen to some music or just close your eyes can often improve your focus. But don’t multitask with your reading or you’ll lose any benefits speed reading can offer. Worse, because you have stopped subvocalizing, you might even skim through several pages before you realize you haven’t comprehended anything that was written.
Distractions will hamper regular reading but they will make speed reading impossible. Subvocalization creates enough mental noise that it can hold your attention, but without that it can often be difficult to stick with what you are reading.
External distractions may be a problem, but internal distractions are just as bad. They occur when in the midst of reading you start pondering that conversation you just had with a friend, the movie you want to see or whether you should do your laundry. The way to remove internal distractions comes from clearly identifying a purpose and a motivation.
6) Find Your Motivation
If there was one piece of advice I would offer to improve your reading rate it would be simply to engross yourself in the material you are studying. If you can connect what you are reading to a deeply held motivation, and determine your specific purpose for reading you can maintain a very alert and focused state.
Most people don’t do this. Instead they force themselves to study the book they know they should and end up having to refocus themselves every thirty seconds when their mind decides that this book is boring and would like to be somewhere else.
First, find a general motivation. This is how what you are reading relates to your truly motivating goals and passions in life. When I read my psychology textbook I focus on the fact that many personal development principles come from an understanding of human psychology and that I may discover new ideas if I look carefully. When studying ancient Asian history I focused on the fact that studying a completely different culture could offer insights into how Western and Eastern value systems differed, giving me new thoughts on whether my values are as absolute as I once thought. I also focused on the fact that many great philosophers such as Buddha and Confucius lived during these times with a profound influence on the ideas of these nations.
The general motivation should make you want to read the book. If you don’t genuinely want to read the book, come up with more reasons it is attached to your deepest interests or it is going to be a struggle to move through. You can find a general motivation for reading any book if you are creative enough, so don’t tell me you can’t figure out one.
The second portion is to determine your specific motivation for reading. What are you specifically looking for when reading the book. New ideas? A practical solution to a problem? An understanding of a concept? A chance to flex your mental muscles? Figure out what you want to get out of each reading session so your mind is primed to intake that knowledge.
If you are interested in improving your speed reading, I strongly suggest Breakthrough Rapid Reading
I'm a speed-reading, vegetarian, holistic learning, productivity hacking recent university graduate. And, for the last five years I've been experimenting to find out how to get more from life.
The Evelyn Wood book is really good too. Read it ages ago a still pick it up occasionally.
[...] Scott Young wrote about doubling your reading rate. I have tried many practices myself, and they actually make a big difference. I especially liked his 5th point – find your motivation! Over the next five months, I have more than 15 books scheduled to be read, and it’s really important for me to read faster! For anybody who spends a good amount of time reading – emails, sites or books – try these principles out. They work! via LifeHacker. [...]
[...] Scott Young has written a neat post giving suggestions on how to read more quickly and includes such ideas as using a pointer and removing distractions. Having recently joined a library and doubled the amount of books I’m reading this is quite an interesting area. It’s something I’ve covered in a previous recap and I will look at going over it some more in the future. [...]
i can read pretty fast both in spanish (my mother tongue) and english, no vocalization or subvocalizing. I recognize words.
But this skill falls behind in reading onscreen:
It helps by selecting a chunk or text… between 3 lines of texts or about half the screen… works like a pointer!
[...] Recently, on a couple of my friends’ blogs, I’ve seen mention of this article about doubling the speed with which you read. [HT: Alastair and Pete.] There’s some stuff in that article which would probably be helpful for a lot of readers (e.g., finding your motivation and eliminating distractions). [...]
[...] Double your reading rate. [...]
Heaps good stuff. Much better than my grammar.
But seriously I was taught speed reading years ago, and it has been a boon to my life. I only wish I had been taught touch typing at the same time.
But to stay on topic, it is a bit of a revelation to suddenly be informed of the theory behind it all. This knowledge can only improve my reading and comprehension skills further.
[...] More on doubling your reading rate by Scott Young How to Learn Speed Reading – Wikihow How to triple your reading speed [...]
[...] But despite the incredible importance of reading, most people are wildly inefficient at it. Like a child that never goes beyond a crawl, most people have enough reading skills to move around, but they are far from running."Read more. [...]
[...] Double Your Reading Rate – [Scott H. Young] digg_url = ‘http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/double-your-reading-rate.html'; ( function() { var ds=typeof digg_skin==’string’?digg_skin:”; var h=80; var w=52; if(ds==’compact’) { h=18; w=120; } var u=typeof digg_url==’string’?digg_url:(typeof DIGG_URL==’string’?DIGG_URL:window.location.href); document.write(“”); } )() Author: Leon Ho Posted: Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 8:15 am Tags: reading, speed reading Share This One Response to “Double Your Reading Rate” [...]
[...] I read a LOT. Probably at least 150 articles a week. Plus my 2007 goal is to complete at least one full book per month as well. So speed reading is something that could be very valuable to me to increase my productivity and my rate of learning. If it interests you too, please see more details on Scott’s post “Double Your Reading Rate“. He also recommends you get your start with Peter Kump’s book Breakthrough Rapid Reading. Filed under: productivity | [...]
[...] “Double Your Reading Rate” (Scott H Young) Ever felt like you are not getting the reading done you need to do? Well, there is so much out there that I still want to read and feel not having enough time. So this article is a good help if you simply want to increase your reading rate. Quite useful and practical, as it covers – in my opinion – the main points about it. Excellent. (found via lifehacker) [...]
[...] Double Your Reading Rate (tags: todo productivity lifehacks) [...]
Speed reading doesn’t necessarily improve your understanding of the material, especially when a writing is densely packed with information. For example, you can’t speed read a mathematical proof, unless you already know how the proof works.
This technique may be a useful tool to have in one’s toolbox, but isn’t a cure-all for reading in general. You may be able to take in information fast through speed reading, but to properly understand a good work of writing requires one to sit back and digest the material for minutes, hours, days… years if necessary. Because in some of the best works that I’ve ever read, meaning isn’t just derived by comprehension of complete thoughts (sentences), but is taken from words, symbols, images, riddles… even punctuation.
But once again, it all depends on what kind of writing you’re faced with and what your purpose in reading it is. Speed reading may be a powerful tool, but should be used with at least some level of discretion.
Stumbled on to this article. Eliminating subvocalization sped up my reading right away. This is very helpful for me.
I find it helps to subvocalize “Aaaaaaaaah” continually. It puts the subvocalization mechanism of the mind to work in a way that prevents it from being automatically triggered by reading. This is similar to the “La, La, La” in previous post. I find the continual tone less distracting than the repeated. I am experimenting with different vowels and continual consonants (like “Ommmmmm”). Your verbage may vary.
Amen to rayshoe.
I think anything truly worth *reading* is worth reading slowly, because you’ll spend far more time thinking about what was written than you do reading the text.
On the topic of semantic masturbation, I personally view speed reading as structured skimming, which is a vital skill for the efficient extraction of relevant info from piles of fluff and crap. Alas, most writing is fluff and crap, whether because the author is lazy, illiterate, or hiding something.
You can call it semantic masturbation, but I think the overloading of the word “reading” for these two vastly different activities (slow reading to catch the nuances of even punctuation, vs. structured skimming) has caused a great deal of confusion and wasted effort in people’s lives.
OK that wasn’t entirely fair: there’s also justified “fluff” in some writing simply to allow for variation in knowledge and life experience among the readership. One person’s fluff is another’s paradigm shift…
yipyip,
My reference to “semantic masturbation” was in regards to a claim that speed reading was impossible because you couldn’t “read” that fast. Obviously there are differences between speed reading something really fast and slowing down to catch all the nuances. The comment about semantic masturbation comes from whether you discount speed reading because you don’t think it should be defined as “reading” rather than if it works to get the ideas you want. I wasn’t really trying to imply that slow reading and speed reading were exactly the same thing.
Fluff is whatever you don’t need to get the point. Few things are written solely for one person, so your interpretation between fluff and an example that helps you understand is different. Speed reading is about reading to suit your own understandings.
In any case, practicing the techniques I’ve described here has allowed me to read more efficiently, not only by increasing the upper limit for how fast I can read but allowing me to understand more at every speed.
[...] Unfortunately I only got through a quarter of the book last night. I tried applying speed reading techniques but I still feel like I’m a slow reader. Darn it, I hate how I am subvocalizing as I read. From what I’ve read so far, the GTD system seems a little clunky. Allen does a great job of writing clearly and concisely, but so far, the system itself comes off as being complex and convoluted. [...]
[...] So when I saw this link, I had to click. The author goes into a lot of detail on six points he considers essential to learning to read faster, the most interesting to me being subvocalizing. I do this all the time and I had never really realized it until now. After reading the post though, I’ve been trying really hard not to. It is quite difficult breaking that habit. Anyway, check out the article, you’ll probably learn something. [...]
[...] Double Your Reading Rate [Via Lifehacker] [...]
I find the average speeo to be amazingly low I have “resting” (since 4th grade) reading rate or 600-700 wpm and can boost to 1k though not very long. I find that music can actually be an excellent way to increase reading speed because it kills subvocals for me and forces me to focus more.
[...] ժScott H YoungDouble Your Reading RateָȻҶĶҪǵ˵ĶЧʺܵͣܽĶٶȡ [...]
[...] I’ve always been a fast reader. When I was in grade school, I always ranked at the top of my class in reading and comprehension. I’m not sure whether I love to read because I can read fast, or if I read fast because I love to read…but I think it’s a shame that more people don’t like reading. It’s probably the most important skill you can have – reading (and comprehending) quickly. Scott Young has a few tips on reading quickly – check them out and let me know what you think. [...]
[...] ժScott H YoungDouble Your Reading RateָȻҶĶҪǵ˵ĶЧʺܵͣܽĶٶȡ [...]
[...] Posted by eriksr on March 30th, 2007 I started to read books without pictures in ‘em back when I was, oh, 10 or 12 years old. It was painfully slow going as I started by reading out loud. I then read to myself. And eventually I simply stopped reading the words — I just saw them and they went straight into my head. The amount of pages I could polish off every day was staggering to my local librarian. Over the years I’ve slowed down a bit and, my guess is, so have you. [...]
[...] Boost your reading rate Filed under: Skills — 0ddn1x @ 2007-04-03 15:49:25 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/03/10/double-your-reading-rate/ [...]
[...] Well, like most things, you can teach yourself how to read better. Scott H Youth created a few steps which should help you learn to read faster. [...]
I like the idea of reading faster, but I have no intention of following any of this advice from you, sorry to say. I do subvocalize, even moving my throat and lips slightly to say it in my out of habit, but I have no problem with my reading pace. In fact, I read faster than most of the people at my school. The point of this comment is to note that the thought of skipping unneccessary information, anecdotes, and metaphors should only apply to informative, textbook, and other various articles stating fact over fact. Fiction books and other enjoyable books should be read at the very linear, however fast pace of reading it, so that no detail down the last speck of eyelash on the most minor characters face should not be left out or skipped over. This adds to the overall quality of the book and leaves room for the vivid imagery and comprehension of the story itself, for which the author has tried to give by writing the book in the first place. Personally, ever since I was in elementary school, Ive never had trouble trying to read a word itself or comprehending that particular word. For example, imagine that you read a sentence that required a lot of speech articulation. That sentence in my head would be said very fast with almost perfect articulation. That applied, reading something like Green Mile would be fast and easy, depending on how your personal reading skill is. Thanks for reading. Please post a response. thank you.
[...] About Scott Young: Scott is a PBN blogger who writes about learning, goals, productivity and getting the most out of life. You can check out his blog here (subscribe here) or check out some of his other popular articles: Habitual Mastery (how to change habits), Double Your Reading Rate, How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying or Energy Management. Filed under: Success, Personal Development, Leadership on Apr 15,07 | [...]
Another great article. I have been reading through your posts and cannot believe the information you have provided. I shall return.
Thanks
Terry Psychic
I don’t believe too much in this whole speed reading thing. As a psychology graduate student myself, (who specializes in memory & cognition) I have studied speed reading extensively, by means of the scientific method.
In general, the faster you read, the lower the amount of information you retain. This has been proven in the scientific literature over and over again. In essence, you end up skimming the passage when you hit speeds of around 900 WPM. Its like your eyes are just skimming over the page, just like they might skim over a painting.
And subvocalizing is actually supposed to play an important part in working memory/short term memory. If you do not subvocalize, the information is less well represented in short term memory. Ultimately, you end up remembering less in the long run. What i’m trying to say is not that you should mentally enunciate each word but that trying to cut off subvocalization entirely is not the solution.
I DO AGREE WITH SCOTT THOUGH THAT READING IS NOT A LINEAR PROCESS. Some parts of the text are more important than others and you can often distinguish fluff from dense content. Of course, when reading scientific journals, there is often very little fluff so skimming won’t help.
So to conclude, I’d just like to say very clearly: SPEED READING IS A GYP. IT DOES NOT WORK!! SPEED READING = SKIMMING THE PAGE. If you want to actually understand the article, you will end up having to read it over and over again.
Jonathan,
I don’t have a fancy research paper, but here is why I disagree with your assessment of speed reading.
You are correct that there is a trade-off between information retained and speed of reading. But speed reading is more a skill than a specific process. After reading this article you won’t suddenly become a speed reader. You need practice.
The reason practice reading works (that is training yourself to read faster) I believe is it forces the brain to optimize how it is reading. Little kids read letter by letter, but adults often simplify common words to make them easier to read. I believe the process of speed reading move this even further so you are forced to compress the meaning associated with an entire phrase from a word or two.
I’m not a researcher, so I won’t argue you on the scientific merit of speedreading. I don’t believe it is a panacea, but unless you actually train yourself to read faster, trying to do it for one session isn’t going to work.
You might want to avoid racial slurs to get your point across though. “Gyp,” is a racial slur for Eastern Europeans (derived from “gypsy” associating negative qualities such as theft or con to groups in Eastern Europe).
[...] Scott H Young » Double Your Reading Rate (tags: Spead_Reading Productivity) [...]
[...] Scott Young runs a popular personal development website (subscribe here). Some of his most popular articles include: Double Your Reading Rate, How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying and Habitual Mastery. You can get his free e-book on Holistic Learning here. [...]
I find that it is also helpful to have a goal in mind, i.e. what am I hoping to learn from this.
Of course if you have the time, reading slowly is a wonderful luxury for books or topics you want to really digest.
Very useful post. Thx.
[...] You can check out Scotts blog on productivity, learning and improvement here or subscribe to his feed (updated 5-7x per week) here. Some of his popular articles include: Habitual Mastery, Double Your Reading Rate and How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying. [...]
[...] About Scott Young: Scott Young is a productivity and improvement blogger. You can check out his blog here, and you can subscribe to his feed (updated 5-7x per week with posts similar to this one). Some of his most popular articles include Habitual Mastery, Double Your Reading Rate and How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying. [...]
[...] 摘译自Scott H Young的文章Double Your Reading Rate。文章先指出虽然大家都明白阅读的重要，但是但多数人的阅读效率很低，而后作者以自身的体会总结了六点以提高阅读速度。 [...]
Update on speedreading and some tools online
I have been learning speed reading techniques in the past week. The good news, my speed is up by 200% (to around 350 wpm). The bad news, my comprehension is down by 50% (from 94% to 52%). Not quite what
[...] Scott Young is a University student who writes about personal development, productivity and goal setting. Some of Scott’s popular articles include: Habitual Mastery, Double Your Reading Rate and How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying. You can get his free e-book on Holistic Learning here digg_url = ‘http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/seven-little-known-tips-for-getting-in-shape.html'; ( function() { var ds=typeof digg_skin==’string’?digg_skin:”; var h=80; var w=52; if(ds==’compact’) { h=18; w=120; } var u=typeof digg_url==’string’?digg_url:(typeof DIGG_URL==’string’?DIGG_URL:window.location.href); document.write(“”); } )() Author: Scott H Young Posted: Monday, May 28th, 2007 at 9:30 am Tags: exercise, fitness, health Bookmark or Share this with a friend! [...]
[...] Want more tips? The internet is full with tips on more efficient studying. From speed reading skills to mnemonics, to getting organized, all you have to do is a quick Google Search. My favorites? Scott Young’s post on holistic learning and Speed Reading, the book Breakthrough Rapid Reading, Kevin Trudeau’s Mega Memory. [...]
[...] About Scott Young: Scott Young is a productivity and improvement blogger. You can check out his blog here, and you can subscribe to his feed (updated 5-7x per week with posts similar to this one). Some of his most popular articles include Habitual Mastery, Double Your Reading Rate and How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying. Filed under: Success, Personal Development, People Skills, Leadership on May 05,07 | [...]
[...] Use your finger as pointer Your eye movement is vital to your reading speed. If you want to increase your reading speed, you should decrease the readjustment time needed by your eyes to move to new positions. One way to train your eye movement is using your index finger as pointer.Resource(s):Double Your Reading Rate [...]
[...] Scott H Young » Double Your Reading Rate [...]
900 words per minute it’s cool! Thanks for very interesting Article. I try to use this recommendations.
thanks for your advices in increase our speed of reading they are really so interesting & valuable
i have one problem i feel bored when i read without a music or without songs or radio so thus not feel bored or tired from reading whatever i read ,,,,,while this is may do distraction as you said ,,,so what is the solution for it ? do you think
Tariq,
Try reading in shorter bursts. I’ve found that helps me maintain focus.
-Scott
[...] Double your reading rate [...]
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