Speed Reading Myths
If you've ever seen someone just breezing through text, you may have thought to yourself, "I can't read that
fast, I'm just a slow reader." Some people seem to be natural fast readers, while
others stumble and take several times as long to read and study the same information. Have you
ever stopped to wonder why some people read faster than others and yet seem to comprehend more?
We are going to examine and put to rest the common myths that surround the concept of speed reading. You will see that it's
possible to improve your reading speed, comprehension and recall after reading about these common misconceptions.
Myth #1: Reading Every Letter = Better Reader
Some people believe that good readers read each letter in a word in order to
comprehend what is being read. The article below clearly demonstrates that the brain
can easily decode and comprehend the message of the text without reading each letter
of a word. Why? Because our brain is wired to search for and understand the meaning
of what is read rather than being concerned with the exact letter placement of a word.
Fixating on every letter while reading only serves to drastically reduce ones reading speed.
Speed reading, with good comprehension is possible without processing every letter! Just read
the misspelled article below! When finished, click on "Correct" to display the correct spelling.
Myth #2: Slow Reading = Higher Comprehension
Another common myth, "It's easier to concentrate when reading slowly." Actually, concentration is
not a matter of willpower but a matter of reading at the proper speed. It is hard to concentrate
when things are happening slower than the speed of your thoughts. It would be like watching a movie in slow
motion — you would get bored!
The image below illustrates how a reader without proper training will stop (fixate) on every word. After
proper training, effective and efficient speed readers are able to read text in "groups of words" allowing
them to read faster and fixate less while reading. Click on "Groups of Words" to see the dramatic reduction
in eye fixation if one reads more than one word at a time!
Myth #3: Reading Faster = Lower Comprehension
Many readers believe that reading faster will significantly lower their ability to
comprehend well. The truth is that good comprehension only depends on whether you
can extract and retain the information you read. Some people read fast and comprehend
well; others read slowly and comprehend poorly. What we do know is that reading faster
has been scientifically proven to improve comprehension.
Myth #4: Slow Reading = More Enjoyment
Some readers feel they are only able to enjoy the text they are reading more if they
read it slowly. Quite the opposite is true! Speed reading, effectively and efficiently,
allows the words to lift off the page and create a movie in one's mind.
The average reader reads at 180 - 220 words per minute, the rate at which they can speak, and rereads up
to 67% of what they read to regain comprehension. Reading slower than your brain works is not enjoyable.
Myth #5: Reading Faster = Skipping Words
Another common misconception is that certain words, e.g., at, in, the, etc, which
are incorrectly labeled as non-essential, are skipped in order to read faster. This
is not true! These words are essential to understand what one reads!
The text below clearly illustrates how it is impossible to extract the intended
meaning of the text by excluding what are incorrectly perceived to be non-essential
words. When you have completed "filling in the blanks", click on "All Words" to
update the image to display the actual text.
Hopefully by understanding why these common misconceptions are all wrong, you will become more motivated to learn
the skills and habits of effective and efficient speed readers.
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