Is Speed Reading Really All That Great Of An Idea?

Interest in speed reading skills is continuously growing with the increasingly text-based communications. Everything from webpages to social communication channels are mainly text-based. The typical person reads between 150 and 250 words per minute. Nearly all speed reading courses assure an average of between 500 and 600 words per minute. You might have encountered speed reading training courses making claims that you will read more than 15 words per second, but most people are unable to achieve this reading rate. The more gaudy the boasts are, the more youll probably wonder what the catch is.

The main downside to faster reading is terrible comprehension. Youll find ways to speed your mental reflexes, but only to some extent. Your mind will only recognize and commit information just so fast. Filtering out text that doesnt at first glance seem to be crucial is a key to speed reading. The key element is learning how to identify the relevant information, and recognize what text you can skip. However, even the crucial text you speed read will just be partly retained. Learning what information to recall is a vital aspect of speed reading. It sounds good in theory, but it does not always work in that way.

Your speed reading should be centered around rapid understanding techniques. While they may not make you a lightning fast reader, they can improve speed some with more efficient approaches. At some point your level of understanding will drop to a greater extent than your speed increases. For uses like scanning the morning paper or reading about your friends vacation, fair comprehension is usually fine. For technical documents, legal documents, and reference books, there are times when comprehension has to be near perfect. The majority of what you read falls somewhere between.

If you can actually learn to speed read with a reasonable comprehension level and apply it selectively, youll have the best of both. You can thoroughly read technical and important things while zipping through the simple or minor. It really is difficult to learn to habitually change reading styles. You will find people who say they were at one time speed readers but forgot how to speed read without regular practice. There are individuals who claim they can easily speed read or slow read, depending on the needs of the moment. If you fall in this group, your skills can compromise your understanding of vital documents, as well as lessen the pleasure of recreational reading.

When you have learned to speed read, you will find if you can or cant disable your speed reading to meet comprehension needs. You will need to first find out how often you read complex texts. If you mostly read complex documents, it can be a bad idea to learn speed reading. If most of your reading is non-technical, maybe its a worthwhile skill. If you choose to study, try out your reading comprehension regularly at normal and accelerated rate. Whenever you find reading comprehension on the decline, you should avoid speed reading for a short time. You are the one that will have to live with the decision you make regarding whether to learn to speed read.

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