Have you ever seen a Speed Reader?

Well I know why. We have been running speed reading seminars for a couple of years and never did the demonstration.

When you run the seminar you can’t just switch from the speaker’s to the reader’s mode just on a flip. First of all for reading you need at least double relaxation and concentration as compared to the speaker’s mode. Public speaking is a bit stressful situation and most of us know it. So a person who wants to speed read in front of others must have years of public speaking experience or maximum self-control.

So say we are relaxed, concentrated and find ourselves in a stress free environment. The next big thing is the standards, used by you or your audience to judge the results. The majority of the tests are based on a couple pages of text and on 5 to 10 or more questions for testing. In general I noticed that the tests require lots of details and facts. So to complete the test you have to photo-read, remember everything and recall everything. The smallest text misconception might lead to huge disappointment of the class especially if you have raised people’s expectations to very high level before training for generating more sales.

In order to complete such test it’s possible to do everything but not faster than 600-800 WPM. But from your students point of view it looks the same as traditional reading and doesn’t give that speed reading impression that everybody is expecting.

So, I guess, most lecturers don’t want to risk and stick to safe and traditional seminar style. What outcomes do we produce form this kind of situation? Lecturers don’t try to go above the standards so they stay in their comfort zone. They are well paid anyway, they have good material, they know they can double and sometimes even triple the class productivity and that seems sufficient enough. So why  risk with your own or company reputation and fail. By the way, failures happen and mainly because of lack of concentration.

So, shall I offer a speed reading instructor who wants to demonstrate his reading abilities?

Spend enough time to learn concentration, join yoga classes etc. I just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that there is very little information in speed reading material or software about this key element. Make sure you can handle your attention and prepare yourself  for reading within a short amount of time.

You have to set the  target and have at least a couple of readers to compare the results. If there is no one with you who reads the same material, you can’t refer to anyone for any issue. Sometimes you get questions that are illogical, unimportant or too detailed. Don’t try to prove your maximum abilities; try to prove your advantage before any class student instead. Only in comparison of speed reader and regular reader you can fully reveal all the benefits of speed reading.

Read a book, more than just a few pages. I found myself comfortably reading a book of about 20.000 words and recalling it in front of the class. It takes 15-25 minutes depending on text concentration. Usually I recall story-line, main characters, main ideas and sometimes some details. Recalling takes the same amount of time as reading. And that truly gives the most objective impression about speed reading and its possibilities.

When we go jogging we do warm up exercises. The same is true about speed reading. Only after 5 or 10 minutes I get the feeling that I am into the text when the speed and comprehension peak. If you do two page test it’s not enough even to  warm up. Remember, the more you speed read the more it will be obvious that it works. And never count on speed reading results relying on small amounts of text.