Speed Reading - Why Would I Want To Do That?
Hours and hours on a treadmill, miles and miles pedaled out on a stationary bicycle, and countless crunches, sit-ups, and stair-step exercises are not about becoming the best treadmill or cycle expert at the local gym.
These exercises serve a greater purpose of fitness, increased health and cardiovascular strength, and toned muscles that can be "counted on" to move us from place to place.
The exercises are only the means to the end.
Therein is the secret of Speed Reading.
Speed reading is not about the rate in which you read, but rather about the efficiency with which you read and understand, and while there is some misconception about it, I believe all readers should take advantage of speed reading exercises.
An effective speed reading program will add exercises for both speed and comprehension.
These exercises may seem to stress one aspect or another, but when taken in combination and regularly practiced, the exercises will lead to efficient and highly effective readers who don't sacrifice comprehension, but rather increase their skill in that area as well.
The same principle that we use in the gym applies to becoming better readers.
We have to practice our reading in order to become better at it.
We have to "stress" our skills in order to enhance them, and we have to focus on the muscles and techniques involved in order to make the process more effortless in the end.
Many people get locked into the idea of a particular number of words per minute as the benchmark for the success of a speed reading program.
I suggest that instead of that, speed reading should be judged by comprehension and "normalcy" of reading.
To illustrate what I mean, let me share a personal experience of how speed reading has affected me.
About a year after I began regularly practicing the exercises of speed reading, I found myself at a computer with a friend as we opened and read an email together in the same sitting.
He was sitting over my shoulder and as I scrolled down the page to read the rest of the message, he interrupted what I thought was a normal flow of reading.
"Slow down," he said.
"I'm not to that part yet.
" I was not "speed reading" the material.
I was just reading it.
Normally.
However, my "normal" rate of reading and comprehension of what I was reading was significantly faster than his.
My "normal" was much more efficient now.
That, I believe, is the best judge of a speed reading program.
The ability of the users to incorporate the exercises into their routine, not for the sake of the exercises themselves, but for the sake of the increased "tone" of the reading skills.
If you can read and understand any material in front of you, and you just happen to be able to do it with less time, then imagine what you can do with the extra time in your day!
These exercises serve a greater purpose of fitness, increased health and cardiovascular strength, and toned muscles that can be "counted on" to move us from place to place.
The exercises are only the means to the end.
Therein is the secret of Speed Reading.
Speed reading is not about the rate in which you read, but rather about the efficiency with which you read and understand, and while there is some misconception about it, I believe all readers should take advantage of speed reading exercises.
An effective speed reading program will add exercises for both speed and comprehension.
These exercises may seem to stress one aspect or another, but when taken in combination and regularly practiced, the exercises will lead to efficient and highly effective readers who don't sacrifice comprehension, but rather increase their skill in that area as well.
The same principle that we use in the gym applies to becoming better readers.
We have to practice our reading in order to become better at it.
We have to "stress" our skills in order to enhance them, and we have to focus on the muscles and techniques involved in order to make the process more effortless in the end.
Many people get locked into the idea of a particular number of words per minute as the benchmark for the success of a speed reading program.
I suggest that instead of that, speed reading should be judged by comprehension and "normalcy" of reading.
To illustrate what I mean, let me share a personal experience of how speed reading has affected me.
About a year after I began regularly practicing the exercises of speed reading, I found myself at a computer with a friend as we opened and read an email together in the same sitting.
He was sitting over my shoulder and as I scrolled down the page to read the rest of the message, he interrupted what I thought was a normal flow of reading.
"Slow down," he said.
"I'm not to that part yet.
" I was not "speed reading" the material.
I was just reading it.
Normally.
However, my "normal" rate of reading and comprehension of what I was reading was significantly faster than his.
My "normal" was much more efficient now.
That, I believe, is the best judge of a speed reading program.
The ability of the users to incorporate the exercises into their routine, not for the sake of the exercises themselves, but for the sake of the increased "tone" of the reading skills.
If you can read and understand any material in front of you, and you just happen to be able to do it with less time, then imagine what you can do with the extra time in your day!
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