The book Speed Reading Faster presents several, novel ideas and techniques to improve reading speed and comprehension. Here are some of the most notable concepts:
- The book itself teaches you how to (speed) read it. The book encourages readers to use speed reading techniques right away and to not read every word, but only what is necessary to start using the techniques . The book’s structure is designed to be read non-sequentially.
- Speed reading is more than just reading faster; it’s about getting information quickly and efficiently. It’s about using techniques to absorb more information faster, which includes knowing shortcuts to your goal, similar to knowing shortcuts when driving.
- A key technique is to have a clear purpose before you start reading. This involves knowing precisely what you want to get from the text in the time available. Setting a clear purpose makes it easier to keep your concentration and find information.
- Previewing a text is crucial for understanding its structure and content. Previewing involves quickly looking through the text to see how it is written, what it is about, and where to find the information you need. It helps you decide what information you need where you might find it.
- The book suggests a “thin slicing” principle. This principle involves getting the maximum information (meaning and important details) from a text by focusing on the minimum amount of text.
- The book presents the concept of “hotspots” which are words, sentences, paragraphs, and sections, that carry the information that you need. Identifying hotspots and keywords helps readers to focus on the most important parts of the text and overlook less relevant information. Keywords are often nouns, verbs, and sometimes adjectives and adverbs.
- The book emphasises the importance of reading in meaningful chunks, rather than one word at a time. This involves grouping words together based on their meaning to enhance comprehension.
- The book introduces the concept of “priming”. It explains that your brain is primed to recognise something consciously because it has seen it before, even if you haven’t consciously noticed it. One way this concept is used is by previewing a text to make it easier to find information later.
- The authors discuss the use of patterns such as underlining, super-reading, and zigzag patterns to find hotspots of information quickly. These patterns help guide your eyes down the page while also picking up important information.
- The book also discusses the importance of taking notes using keywords in mindmaps or rhizomaps to help you remember what you read. Mindmaps are useful when you know the structure of the information, while rhizomaps are useful when the structure is unknown.
- The book introduces the concept of “sameness and difference,” where “sameness” means things you already know and “difference” means something new. The authors encourage readers to look for the “difference” when trying to learn new information.
- The book emphasises the value of the 20-minute session. The authors recommend working in focused 20-minute sessions to maximise productivity and information retention.
- The book presents the idea of “syntopic processing,” which involves working with four texts in 75 minutes to get a deeper understanding of a topic. This technique involves comparing and contrasting different texts to identify recurring themes, contradictions, and unique viewpoints.
- The book also includes information about how AI can help with speed reading and how speed reading can help process AI outputs. AI tools can be used to summarise texts, find specific information, compare different texts, and generate notes. Speed reading helps with checking if AI outputs are accurate and align with your needs.
- The book emphasises that speed reading gives you more control over your reading, allowing you to read at different speeds for different purposes.
These ideas, combined with the specific techniques detailed in the book, provide a comprehensive approach to becoming a more efficient and effective reader.
Ultimately, with speed reading you will read faster so you have more time to read some things more slowly if you wish – or do something else with your time.