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All of these techniques allow you to assess your material for relevance or interest and as such, provide you with a powerful way of managing the information that you get sent every day which will otherwise clog up your in-tray or in-box.
Reading faster - The second aspect of this approach is to improve your actual reading speed and here again there are a number of techniques to learn: • Use a guide. • Maintain momentum. • Change beliefs and attitudes.
In order to read faster we need to start with an understanding of how the eye and the brain work.
When we run speed reading courses, the average speed at the beginning of the course is 240 words per minute. At the end of the course, that average has usually doubled and very often trebled… with good levels of comprehension. How is that achieved? Watch someone’s eyes as they are reading and you will see that their eyes move jerkily from one word to the next. This is because we can only read a word when our eyes are still. We fix our eyes for a fraction of a second at a time. You may also notice their eyes back skipping and occasionally wandering about the page. All of this information is crucial and forms the basis for all speed reading techniques: • Spend less time on each fixation. • Group words together. • No back skipping. • No wandering.
It will take some practice. After all, you have been reading at what you probably regard as a natural speed for many years… and when was your last reading lesson?
Try it, and if it helps, try using a pen or your finger to guide your eye smoothly and quickly across the page.
Positivity = benefits If you want to develop your skill as a speed reader you will need to do more than simply learn about the techniques. You will need to apply yourself to learning with commitment and with a positive belief until you are reaping the benefits of this approach. In this respect you can help yourself by: • Being clear what outcomes you want from becoming a speed reader. • Choosing an attitude that will help you to become positively engaged with the material that you are about to read.
• Suspending disbelief and working towards a belief that is consistent with your goals. • Taking account of your energy and your own rhythms of learning and, when necessary taking breaks and relaxing.
• Managing your environment so that you are not disturbed or interrupted.
For all of us learning to learn is becoming less of a choice and more of a necessity. It is not only a response to an accelerating world but it is also about harnessing our potential and becoming
Illumine Training provide courses and workshops that fill the gaps in your existing management and personal development programmes or address specific requirements and business needs... better brains for better business®
www.illumine.co.uk +44 (0)1753 866633 © Illumine Training
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