Speed reading: Anyone do it?

[JohnT]

Serious question. Do we have any speed readers in the forum? If you are one, how did you learn?

[Daniel Bates]

How fast do you have to read to qualify? I can finish a 400-page paperback in about four hours, but I'm not sure that's quite fast enough.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

How fast do you have to read to qualify? I can finish a 400-page paperback in about four hours, but I'm not sure that's quite fast enough.

If my math is correct, that comes to about one page per minute. To calculate the actual speed, you'd need to know how many words are in the selection, then time it. I'm pretty slow as is my son. We would both like to increase our speed while improving comprehension.

[mmuhlenkamp]

I excel in slow reading, unless it's like a textbook or something boring I don't see the appeal of reading fast.

However, speed reading is impressive, but I'm waiting until we have little usb ports in our heads and we can learn kung-fu in an instant like in the Matrix

[johnastovall]

I was clocked in college at 10,000 words per minute at 95% comprehension. But that was after 6 weeks of training with a Renshaw Tachistoscope and Evalyn Woods methods. Fast reading and high comprehension is the only way to survive in a strong graduate program.

Now I most likely down to 2-3000 wpm. I can still read an average novel 3-4 hours at 95%.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by mmuhlenkamp

I excel in slow reading, unless it's like a textbook or something boring I don't see the appeal of reading fast.

For an avid reader and someone who values education like myself, speed reading would mean soaking up more books and literature in a shorter amount of time, which would result in being more learned and knowledgeable in the things that interest me. For a college student, speed reading can be an invaluable tool as long as their comprehension rate is high.

The human brain is capable of so much, yet we barely tap its power. Sad.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

I was clocked in college at 10,000 words per minute at 95% comprehension. But that was after 6 weeks of training with a Renshaw Tachistoscope and Evalyn Woods methods. Fast reading and high comprehension is the only way to survive in a strong graduate program.

Now I most likely down to 2-3000 wpm. I can still read an average novel 3-4 hours at 95%.

That's still impressive, Stovall. Right now, I'd be happy with 1000 wpm at 90% comp.

[Cajungaltx]

I read - on average - a 250 page book a day - sometimes two depending on my day.

Subject matter varies significantly - although fiction reads are faster because comprehension is easier than text books, etc.

My husband thought I was just flipping pages the first time he saw me read... lol... until I handed him the book and told him to ask me questions...

I've never done any tests to see 'how' fast I read - never really thought it was a big deal - but my brother Jeff has tried some - mainly cause I kept getting annoyed at him because it took him so long to finish a book before he'd hand it over (we both read sci-fi/fantasy stuff)... but it didn't 'take'...

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by JohnT

For an avid reader and someone who values education like myself, speed reading would mean soaking up more books and literature in a shorter amount of time, which would result in being more learned and knowledgeable in the things that interest me. For a college student, speed reading can be an invaluable tool as long as their comprehension rate is high.

The human brain is capable of so much, yet we barely tap its power. Sad.

I TOTALLY agree with everything you said right here!!! I coached myself through my first Tri, played my first golf game (beat a couple guys who had been playing for years btw), and bunches of other stuff straight out of a book... there's not to much out there that you can't learn from a book... which is just as neat as hell when you think about it.

[mmuhlenkamp]

Yeah, I can skim okay (particularly textbooks), but anytime I've ever tried to really read fast I don't retain the info (I'll know it long enough for a test or something, but not for the long term). I can see the benefit of speed reading for more informational reads, but reading for enjoyment I like to go slow. I've never had any issues reading/learning to read, I just like to go slow.

[Jeff_Green]

I used to speed read until I got a ticket.

I'm interested in this as well and hope that you post what you end up doing. I need to work on my comprehension and retention more than anything.

[Toad]

For me, it depends on how much I like the book, and how well I get into it.

There have been times when I didn't even realize how fast I was going because I was so into the story. Where I didn't even remember turning the pages, and yet I killed about 100 pages in 15 minutes, and remember everything that happened.
Of course, once I realize how fast I'm reading, I lose it... and then it's back to reading at my normal 100 pages an hour.