speed reading isn't as corny as it sounds, nor is it far-fetched, impractical or mythical (in the negative connotation of 'myth').
ok, here's the basic idea--your mind is capable of thinking at an average of 100,000 words per minute (wpm), but the average reader reads at around 250 wpm. that's why the mind wanders so easily--it's bored! it's capable of so much more. so if you start to read faster, your brain automatically gets more involved, and is thus able to better comprehend the material.
so how do you actually read faster, and take advantage of the mind's thinking capability? here's a little experiment to demonstrate an important mechanical aspect of reading. you'll need a partner and it will take about 1 minute total (that is, giving both of you a chance to see what's going on).
stand face to face with your partner (4 feet ought to do it) and have your partner trace a circle around your head using just their eyes (that is, simply, look around your head). as they do this, watch what their eyes do. notice the staggered, herky-jerky jumping around the eyes do as they trace an irregular circle. now do this--have your partner draw a circle around your head with their finger as their eyes follow it. observe how fluidly their eyes move (no herky-jerky) and how much more symmetrical the shape is.
what this has to do with reading is simple--as we read, we tend to regress to the start of the sentence we are reading, or the beginning of the paragraph or even the page, sometimes just to reassure ourselves that we read what we read, or sometimes because we have actually completely forgotten what we read.
the other thing we do is fixate on words, again to make sure we are seeing what we are reading. and every pause is time wasted. another issue that comes into play with these fixations is the mind sees in wholes (for example, we don't see the constituent legs, then the seat, then the back, then the arms, and build those together into 'chair,' but we see the chair, then can focus on the individual components of it [we can thank philosopher/psychologist William James for this understanding]). when we fixate we are interrupting the 100,000 wpm stream of thought as a whole, and our brains have to somehow connect THIS... INDIVIDUAL... IDEA (word)... TO... THIS... ONE... AND... SOMEHOW... MAKE... SENSE... OF... EACH... SEPARATE... COMPONENT... HAPHAZARDLY... COMBINED. if we can eliminate fixations, we can use our minds in the way they naturally work, viz., understanding wholes.
the way we combine these two concepts (fluid eye movement and whole-picture understanding) together is remarkably simple. it's called full underlining and it is exactly how it sounds--with your hand flat but relaxed (which one is a matter of preference), run your middle finger directly under the line of text you are reading. when you get near the end of the line, simply raise your hand off the page as much as necessary to bring your hand (and eyes) to the beginning of the next line. the other hand should have the next page-turn prepared before you even get to the last paragraph on the open page (if you're underlining with your right hand, the left hand sits above and around the book, turning the page from the top corner).
when i first started doing this, i would have my finger follow my eyes, which didn't change anything about how i was reading except i now had my hand involved, but i realized the key is to push your eyes slightly faster than they would normally read on their own, i.e., instead of your finger following your eyes, your eyes follow your finger.
after a little bit of practice, i was able to get my reading speed from 279 wpm to around 500, essentially over night (testing your initial speed is vital if you plan on pursuing speed reading at all, so as to be able to track your progress, and it is highly recommended even if you don't pursue it beyond this one technique, just so you can see the difference. the means to test your speed is described at the end of this discourse, and there are plenty of websites that will test you free, as well).
not only does taking advantage of the mechanical aspect of the-eyes-following-the-finger allow for the mind to automatically become more engaged because you're now that much closer to your thinking speed, but the underlining is a constant way to bring your mind back to the task at hand (pun totally intended). we are both physical and mental creatures, so doing something with both aspects of our humanity involved automatically engages us more, i.e., no one is going to sit with their hand swiping down a page for very long not reading. the mind will be drawn back to the text for as long as the hand keeps moving.
another thing to be mindful of is, since you've never read at this increased speed before, and you've spent your whole life regressing and fixating, you'll have to learn to trust yourself. you'll find yourself wanting to regress, 'just to make sure you read what you read.' i'll already tell you--you did. just keep going. also, once you get the basic idea down, spend some time on a book that you don't have to understand right away (in other words, a practice book) alternating between reading this way at a speed that you are comfortable with (and faster than you read with just your eyes alone) and between pushing your hand/eyes so fast that the words are unintelligible, but not blurred out (obviously you're not reading when the words are unintelligible--this is just an exercise to help your eyes get unstuck from the tendency to fixate).
good books to practice on are non-technical, non-fiction books in a subject in which you have an interest but don't have a requirement to fully understand right now. once you get comfortable with it, graduate to both fiction and more technical works.
speaking of fiction, my friend chris had the same reservations about speed reading a fictional work that i did, namely, the fear that you wouldn't be able to really enter into the story, savoring and enjoying it. in fact, it enhances the experience. think of it like this--imagine having the vividness and 'real-time' aspect of a movie, with all of the details and inner-workings (read as, 'beauty') of a book. ah yeah!
one last thought--after you've read through the text once (recommended in one sitting [wholes to parts, remember!]), you're in a better position (due to saved time and having a better general understanding) to go back through and dig into the parts that you had trouble with, or that you know just deserve more attention. i'll give some more thorough explanations on how to work on comprehension some time in the future.
[[the vast majority of this information was obtained freely from www.productivelearn.com (including, copy/pasted, the 'how to compute reading rates' at the bottom), a great website that even includes a 'word per minute'/comprehension test and a demonstration of the full underlining technique. and while this information is practical and powerful (i have personally used it to great effect this last semester, including in my modern philosophy class, and two friends have both used the phrase 'changed my life'), it is just the tip of the iceberg as far as speed reading/comprehension techniques go. just food for thought.]]
How To Compute Reading Rates
When you want to compute your reading rates, it is best to practice in books because it will allow more consistency of words per page. First, look through the book to find what looks like an average or typical page. Then:
1. Count every word on six lines.
2. Divide by six - this gives you the average words per line (wpl).
3. Count the number of lines on the page.
4. Multiple the words per line times the number of lines. Round off the number to the nearest ten. This will give you average words per page (wpp). Remember to adjust your calculations for pages with pictures, diagrams, charts etc.
Then, when you are timing yourself:
Multiply the words per page times number of pages read divided by time (minutes) = wpm (words per minute).
Example: 350 (wpp) X 5 pages = 750 WPM
2 Minutes
