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My friend had borrowed a book of mine which she returned in a week. It was quite surprising because in general most people take about a week and a half to thoroughly complete it. The obvious conclusion was that she needed to read a portion of it otherwise she had not read it properly. I was shocked on being informed that she had read the whole book of the first time then and that too thoroughly. Her reading speed astonished us all…

The aptitude to speed read is an important skill in today's world. The finest students at school and the top employees at work have one thing in common: They take up, understand, process, retain and recollect information at much superior rates than underperformers. In simpler terms, they are able to read faster, understand better and remember more. They are able to this because they are speed readers. Because they read quickly without a reduction in understanding and retention levels, they are able to store and utilize what they read much more efficiently and effectively. The term “speed reading” was termed by a school teacher named Evelyn Wood.

According to some people speed reading is an innate skill. However, research has proved that people can increase their reading speed through practicing a number of simple yet effective methods. We all use many different speed reading techniques- the difference lies in how much we utilize them and at what level. Nearly all of it happens subconsciously. Speed readers are just able to consciously utilize and maximize their reading capabilities.

There are in general three steps to improve reading speed. They are:

1.Skimming: Majority of the speed readers will agree that they are a successful speed reader because they have a structure of peripheral vision that allows them to see large amount of data on a page and to "skim" what they are reading.

2.First Sentence Reading: Unlike speed reading technique (1), in speed reading technique (2), the reader reads the first sentence of each paragraph, in order to get the core idea behind the paragraph and will then skim read the rest of the paragraph. This procedure is then repeated on down the page until such time as all the reading material has been exhausted.

3.Group wording: Group wording, as the name suggests, is where the reader looks at a cluster of words and phrases at the same time. Using the group wording technique, speed readers are able to read bulky chunks of information at the same time - thus, saving time.

All reading techniques rely on three essential elements. Thus before starting to learn any particular speed reading technique the three elements should be looked into. These three elements are: A desire to improve one’s reading speed, a willingness to give new ideas a chance and motivation, discipline and continued practice. If one is ready to accept the three pointers then nothing can stop them from increasing their speed of reading.