Reading is all about information. It’s not about the number of words
you read, but the amount of value you extract from them. The key to
improved reading comprehension isn’t moving your eyes across a page more
quickly. It’s about creating a mental framework that helps you process
words and ideas.
With a bit of practice, anyone can read faster and more productively.
The steps outlined below will help you to extract the maximum amount of
information in the least amount of time.
The Pre-Reading survey
Nearly all speed reading courses recommend doing a pre-reading
survey. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of the content and
structure of the material. You’d be amazed how often people read
through an entire book, only to realize that the information they need
isn’t there. Pre-reading will make your reading more efficient by
creating a mental map.
Start by reading the table of contents and the first page of the
introduction. Then flip quickly through the material, reading only
chapter titles, headings, and bold face print. Don’t worry about
remembering anything specific, it’s more important to get a general
impression.
The entire process should take less than 5 minutes. Afterwards you’ll
know the layout of the book and the location of different topics. If
you’re only interested in one particular section, you now know where to
find it.
Define Your Purpose
Now that you have a general grasp of the material, you need to define
a purpose. What information are you hoping to gain? This sounds like a
simple question, but sometimes it isn’t. Different readers can have drastically different objectives. If you don’t define a purpose, it’s
likely you’ll get bogged down by unimportant sections or ignore crucial
ones. By clarifying what you need to know, you’ll be able to distinguish
the important from the irrelevant and allocate your attention
accordingly.
Create questions the reading should answer
In addition to a general purpose, it’s also helpful to write down
specific questions. This focuses your mind on a set of objectives and
gives you a way to measure comprehension. By writing down questions, you
create a set of mental cues. Whenever you spot an important keyword in
the text, you’ll become aware of the question it relates to and your
mind will start looking for an answer.
Take notes or highlight important concepts
One of the best ways to embed something in your memory is to write it
down. When you read an important point, make a note of it on a separate
piece of paper, inside the margin, or use a highlighter. This will help
you remember what you read and make the important sections easy to find
when you review the text.
The post-reading review
After you finish reading, you need to determine what you learned. Did
you achieve your purpose? Try to answer the questions you created
beforehand. If you aren’t able to answer them, go back and look for
answers near your notes. This process will solidify the knowledge in
your mind and give you better recall. You’ll know what you learned, what
you didn’t, and whether or not you need to go deeper into the text or look for other sources.
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