Chapter 2. Speed reading: Learning to read from scratch

Remember the last thing you read. How fast was the text read? How many facts and names did you remember? How clearly can you reproduce the content of the article or story?

I am sure the results will not seem satisfactory.

The fact is that our thinking, that is, information processing, is significantly ahead of the speed of slow reading – by the whole word. On average, a person reads a page of text in 2 minutes, and it takes up to 30 seconds to understand the content. What do we do the rest of the time? We are distracted.

For example, you need to read a scientific publication. You study the information at your usual speed. A certain number of words for half a minute. But! In the intervening seconds, the brain begins to search hard for what else you can draw your attention. You inevitably start to remember the events of the day, make plans for the evening, distribute finances or think about your loved one. Thread read lost.

Most readers note that it is often necessary to read one paragraph several times and still not catch the main idea.

Hence the following problem – the text becomes boring, "not catchy." From repeated distractions to external objects, the brain ceases to perceive material – and we lose interest in it. Boredom breeds fatigue, which is why we don’t want to read at all.

This can be clearly demonstrated with examples from school life. Pupils find it difficult to start reading books and textbooks, because they are confident in advance that the text will be difficult and tedious to read. But what if whole paragraphs can be read at the speed that does not allow to be distracted by external objects?

To better understand the above statements, we turn to our reality. Popular social networks: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. What is the principle of the informational presentation of these sites? Minimum text, maximum visual content. It is much easier to watch short videos or scroll through countless pictures and photos, read posts of 140 characters. Studies have shown that only a small percentage of the audience reads the description that accompanies the image.

Our thinking is a multi-lane highway through which thoughts run at different speeds. If we are guided by this comparison, the internal dialogue rushes at a speed of 120 km/h, and the reading process weaves 40...

During the day our brain is overloaded with information, it gets tired and needs rest. Who wants to learn the works of Stephen Hawking after a busy nine-hour working day?

But who said that the speed limiters cannot be removed?

Speed reading equalizes the speed of perception with the reading of the text. It’s a kind of fuel that feeds the mental structure of our brain. However, speed reading is not limited only to the speedy study of information, to mindlessly swallowing line by line.

The innovation technology of this book is reduced to the removal of speed reading to a qualitatively new level, suggesting a meaningful speed reading, designed in the reading process to process what has been read, structure it, draw conclusions and memorize. Thus, you get the superpower of any text to make it fun and desirable for reading.

In 1958, the Evelyn Wood Dynamic Reading School appeared, which laid the foundation for subsequent developments with an expanded base of exercises and training. The researcher excluded the use of the device to increase the speed of reading, highlighting the key idea – speed reading should be practiced in natural conditions. The result of the new methodology exceeded all expectations – Evelyn taught 12 senators of the United States of America to read quickly! In addition, its development has been successfully used in training courses at Harvard.

There were, of course, critics of speed reading art. The main postulate was a significant loss of the meaning of what was read, i.e. speed to the detriment of meaning. We will focus on refuting this conclusion.

Try to move away from your usual reading patterns. Imagine, that you learn this skill from scratch. Cube by cube, starting from the base, a new type of reading will be built into the pyramid, at the peak of which will be the most valuable speed reading skills.

Without the destruction of the old building, it is impossible to build a new building. It is worth remembering at least the comic situation, when at the first lesson at the university students are asked to forget what they studied at school, and after graduation the employer strongly recommends discarding everything that was mastered at the university.

Consider that this book is a guide to building a new house. Only this house is in your head.


What makes an ordinary person different from a successful professional?

Suppose designer X has the task of developing a project for a loft-style restaurant. The same challenge is facing designer Y. Both have the appropriate education and experience. Both are allotted the same amount of time to prepare the sketches.

So, X gets to work. First, he drinks a cup of coffee, opens and runs the program. After working for about five minutes, he goes out to smoke and discuss pressing problems with his colleagues. Returning to work, he is distracted by incoming calls, then decides to check email. It's lunchtime. After a short snack, the work is stopped, because thoughts are busy planning the upcoming Friday evening. X decides to study the events and the availability of tables in his favorite pub. The project hangs at the initial development stage. The designer has one foot in the weekend. He doesn’t want to think about work at all. However, Saturday and Sunday he anxiously waits for Monday, because Boss will be clearly unhappy. It’s becoming more and more difficult to proceed with the design, since there is a chance that he will not be able to cope the order. And there is no time for revision and processing. Snowball. Vicious circle.

Let us now turn to designer Y. Having drunk an invigorating mug of coffee, he turns off the phone, closes the tab with the mail, and plunges into the design process. When colleagues address to him, he politely asks not to interfere with the working process. After half an hour, Y decides to take a short break, comes out to get some fresh air and returns to building walls and ceilings. By lunchtime, some of the work has already been done, there was inspiration, so after a quick bite of the sandwich, Y “dives” into work with passion. By the end of Friday, the lion’s share of the project is completed; on Monday, it remains to tweak the sketch a bit and show it to the customer. There is time for refinement, the mood for the upcoming weekend is great. He is satisfied and proud of himself. The Boss is preparing bonus.

What is the difference between the approaches that guided X and Y? What ensures the success of the second and the failure of the first? Circumstances? Difference in creativity? Laziness? Fear of failure?

To start the upward movement, you need to feel the bottom under your feet. When you decide that everything is over, this will be the beginning.

The secret is simple, the main thing is concentration.

This principle lies in the ability to immerse oneself in the matter in which you are engaged here and now: “one task is one period of time”.

There are many training sessions on the development of concentration and increase in working capacity. I recommend the following.

Imagine your time in the form of piece of flavored cake. Each piece is a certain period of time on which you need to focus. One type of activity that you do for 25 minutes, without being distracted by secondary objects. Try to disconnect from external factors and devote the maximum time to solve the problem. After the specified time, take a break of five minutes and get back to work. There should be four such approaches. After two hours I advise you to take a half-hour break.

This technique will not allow you to get very tired and feel the strain, especially if the five-minute breaks will be associated with physical activity. For convenience, it is recommended to set the alarm at the beginning of the experiment – in the future, your body itself will set the biological clock.

What is the use of this practice? You will learn to concentrate on one subject for a not very long time. In the five-minute break, you will have time to relax and reflect on the work done. Your brain activates hidden reserves that will unlock the inner potential.

The rule of concentration concerns absolutely all aspects of life – from professional to personal. The inability to focus on important aspects of life due to constant stress not only leads to the loss of precious time, but also to the appearance of diseases associated with scattered attention.

One of the modern practices of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) is associated with the feeling of “here and now”, which leads to the creation of a platform for realizing one's own importance, gaining self-confidence.

Focusing on the moment gives a sense of control over the situation, not allowing the secondary to obscure the true meaning of the present.

Start with the elementary. Remember how you purchased a new washing machine, how long you studied the instructions for it and loaded the wash for the first time. Do not like this example, choose any equipment – coffee maker, toaster – any item that you use daily. All your actions are brought to automatism. Try every day to consciously carry out all the manipulations on switching on and off the equipment. Make it looks like this item is in front of you for the first time.

By this analogy, we give an example. You picked up a book. You want to read it. However, extraneous sounds, flashing footage of a computer or TV, obsessive everyday thoughts do not allow you to focus on the process of reading. The reading speed slows down, and you put the book on the shelf, where it will gather dust while waiting for you to be inspired to read it.

A familiar story?

The main problem of lack of concentration is, first of all, incorrectly given motivation. The purpose of reading can be any – to know the outcome of the adventure novel, preparing for the exam, studying the latest developments in the field of Finnish dialects. But at the same time, motivation should not be just an abstract goal – it should be deeply individual.

The most powerful incentives are the basic instincts – self-preservation, power and continuation of the species. The first two associated with the acquisition of a certain status – managing their own lives and the opportunity to succeed.

These incentives make a person look for a more prestigious place of work, develop skills and abilities, strive for success. All these tasks are in one way or another connected with the acquisition of new knowledge that is concentrated in textual information that everyone has access to today.

From here we come to solving the next problem – the choice of material.

How were we taught to read at school and university? For a given topic, a list of references was proposed, on the basis of which we studied books, textbooks, and scientific publications. We did not do the selection ourselves – the education system did it for us.

I will reveal a little secret. All our studies, all the lessons and lectures, which, it seemed, will not be useful to us at all in the future, are aimed to teach thinking.

Not just memorizing facts, but learning how to create your own paradigm for exploring the world. Formed neural connections remain with you for life and help to master the information received from outside.

In the modern information stream, it’s not easy to select the necessary text, since a large number of publications are superficial, of poor quality, and even completely advertising.


Important rule! Do not continue to read the book if it seems unnecessary to you. Even after reading a few dozen pages, it doesn’t always become clear, whether it’s bad material or good. But if you realize the uselessness of literature – feel free to put it aside and start the search again.


Imagine the situation. You came to the shop to pick up the perfume. In front of you are hundreds of jars with labels on which brand names are written. It seems, that they all entice smells, that will carry you to seashore, to streets of spring Paris, to hot desert... But there is one caveat – you don’t know a single brand, you don’t have any idea what kind of fragrance you need. So, you start to randomly sniff all the bottles in a row. Dior mingled with Chanel, woody scents with floral. Your nose has lost the ability to distinguish flavors in principle. Unsystematic choice, without knowing the features of the manufacturer and not examining information about a particular collection, you could not get what you came to the store for.

The conclusion – a careful study of the content of the source will save a lot of time, since you will not spend it on unnecessary literature.

Before you start reading, carefully review the annotation of a book or article, pay attention to the table of contents, recommendations of authors and reviewers or critics. It’s useful to read the reviews of readers on special sites, so you can evaluate the independent opinion of the audience.

Why so much time is given to the selection of material to read? Because at this stage an analysis of the potential text is already being carried out. You apply the acquired skills of the thought process to evaluate the practical benefits of the book.

In addition, knowing the usefulness of the book, you get a great incentive to learn new information. If you know exactly, what for to read the text, it ceases to be abstract and turns into a tool for obtaining a specific profit.

After examining the outside of the book, scroll through it from beginning to end. Surely you will meet interesting moments that will hook the peripheral vision. You will want to come to these moments as quickly as possible – so you will receive another incentive to read.

This technique is called text "anchor". Interest in the text and the desire to keep in memory specific fragments helps to significantly improve the quality of speed reading.

Here we come to the detection of the next snag – memorization.

“To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge”
Benjamin Disraeli

So, the selection stage was successful – the required book is in your hands. You are fully assembled and focused on reading. However, over time, you realize that you don’t catch the essence of what you read, because you instantly forget the already processed text. You have to go back a few pages earlier to fill in the blanks. The more often you refer to the previous text, the more often there is a desire to quit.

This is called regression.

The regression refers to the return of eye movement, aimed at re-familiarization with the text. When this process is repeated, habit is formed. At the subconscious level, you will constantly return to the regression method, if you don’t learn to trust your own memory.

Most often, reader justifies the regression with simple excuses – “it's okay, I will reread”, “there are too many facts”, “I just need more time”. Thanks to the techniques of this book, the vicious circle will be broken. The exercises will help to get rid of regressions, and you will acquire the skill that will be formed by repeating the exercises and will be brought to automaticity.

Just imagine, how much time you spend on regressive reading! The same book can be read twice as fast if you master the skills of effective speed reading.

Let us turn to the real life example.

You've come to the famous art gallery, where world masterpieces of painting are collected. Visiting time is strictly limited, so you start a cursory inspection, being in each room for ten minutes and quickly looking at the pictures. You don’t stop thoughtfully before the canvas of the eminent master, don’t enjoy the combination of colors, overflow of light and shadow. You catch only the change of shapes and colors from the corner of your eye, so when you leave the gallery, you can’t really remember a single picture of a particular author.

This is the essence of effective reading. Any text, whether a separate paragraph or chapter, requires memorization and reflection. Only in this way the material remains in your memory. It is necessary not only to assimilate, what was read, to understand the main idea of the author, but also to transfer knowledge to your experience. So the material will be fixed in long-term memory.

Speed reading doesn’t imply a simple acquaintance with the material in record time. It’s important to apply the principles of effective reading at each stage – reading, learning, memorization.

Of course, 20 books read in a week without proper perception are much more useless than 5 books processed in a month. However, I strive to indicate a path that will lead to an increase in volume without loss of benefit.

Slow reading, among other things, is closely related to the emotional coloring of the text. Each word is connected with certain experiences and associations. There is nothing negative in the method of associative memorization, however, a certain amount of effort is required to study this skill without losing time.

The comfort zone is a golden cage. Break out of it – and feel the sweetness of change and inner space.

We give an example based on this book. Possibly, that of all the reading you best remembered the story about the two designers. Why? This situation is endowed with expansion – interest in the outcome, transferring the situation to personal experience, the negative connotation of the first story and the positive one of the second. The rest of the text is impersonal. But it seems so only at first glance.

Using the techniques of concentration and selection of the desired material, any, even the most abstract, text can be translated to the rank of private, personal. Realizing that it was you, who made the choice, that you are focused on the content, you accept the text as a single canvas, where each fact has a positive coloring for you, that is, it benefits or generates interest.


Advice! After reading this book and going through all the exercises and workouts listed here, set it aside for a couple of months. Do not leave the practice in any case, but! After some time turn to the theoretical basis of this work and evaluate the information that eluded you for the first time. You will see the difference!


Often it happens that, precisely because of the emotional coloring of certain moments, some of the key postulates elude the reader's attention.

The ability to highlight the key idea is another aspect of productive speed reading. Our brain processes information four times faster than reading words individually. Hence, as mentioned above, there arises the difficulty of remembering, and hence the selection of semantic context.

Returning to the example of the art gallery, it is worth noting that after the "galloping" in the halls remain vague sensations. They look like this: "I recall a picture with straight lines on a black background, and there was also a portrait and, it seems, some kind of green-blue canvas, probably a landscape." Are there many benefits from such memories?

However, if the viewing speed coincides with the processing speed, then after several hours the gallery visitor will tell you, that the first hall was associated with the history of abstract art, the second was devoted to the Renaissance, and in the third he got acquainted with the development of Impressionism. With proper attention training, he also tells about the artists whose canvases were present at the exhibition.

After reading a particular piece of text, you need to stop and think about the learned information. Try to highlight the root of the problem described, get into the author’s idea, try on the information obtained to solve your own problems.

Recall, at least, the notes, you gave at university lectures. The theses stood out in separate lines and were underlined by a color marker. Transfer this technique to the reading process. Try to mentally structure the text, and you will see, how much easier the process of assimilation.

Concentration is closely related to attention, which focuses on important points. If attention is scattered throughout the text, then the efficiency of concentration decreases significantly, hence the problems described above – loss of interest, poor memorization.

Mindfulness is practiced not only in the process of reading, but also in everyday life. Starting with the little things, we put a picture of our life, like a puzzle of mosaic pieces.

Imagine a brick wall in front of you. Literally ten centimeters at eye level. You see, and that is vague, only one brick or its part. Moving farther and farther away, you begin to see the whole picture. And just away from the wall for a few meters, you can appreciate the beautiful mural with the plot, the essence of which is understandable only at a distance.

Exactly the same thing happens with text. Individual words will not allow you to create a complete information picture. To comprehend it is possible only after passing a certain segment – a paragraph, sub-chapter or passage.

Focus on the main point of reading. Close your eyes and repeat the main idea. After the nth number of manipulations done in this way, your brain will learn how to do it right in the speed reading process.

Moreover! Thanks to the speed reading technique described in this book, you will learn to distribute attention in such a way, that even little details will not be left out of analysis and memory.

Among the features of speed reading, there is one problem that is almost the most importantю It’s solving is the root of stumbling for most beginners to comprehend science of speed reading. This is articulation.

Articulation is reading not with eyes, but with a throat. And it’s imparted even from school, when in the first grade students are forced to read aloud. The reason is that the text in the process of reading sounds in our head, and the muscles react reflexively to the word they see.


Exercise! Try to stick out the tip of the tongue while reading and lightly press it with your teeth. Did you read at least a couple of lines? If yes, you will master the speed reading skills with ease!


The internal pronunciation of words has a slightly different character – the speech center is involved, but the muscles are no longer involved in the process of reading. But this technique also significantly reduces the speed of reading the text. Of course, the internal speech is more concise, curtailed, but due to this, the reading rate drops significantly.

This is connected, as studies have shown, that speaking the words, we better remember what we read, focus on the text better. Visual processing of the text is transformed in the brain into a speech code.

Imagine, that you need to make a report at work. The presentation was made at the last moment, and you frantically repeat the material in the lecture hall. The eyes are randomly running through the text, the meaning is not fully understood, and you constantly pronounce words in a whisper in order to remember them well. In general, this is how the process of slow reading looks like.

The speech form of text perception must be completely eliminated during the training of speed reading. It is necessary to read not according to words. You need to perceive the word as an image, capturing whole paragraphs and chapters, turning them into meaningful blocks.

That is, to improve the speed reading technique, it’s necessary to mix the accent from the audio perception of the text to the visual one, turn off the appearance of the text in speech code.

Thanks to specially selected techniques collected in this book, you will learn the technique of reading without using a speech apparatus. Together with the exercises aimed at developing concentration, attention and memory, fast reading will turn into an art for you, the knowledge of which can become a vocation.