2. Begin with Previewing
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Previewing will give you the general idea of a reading,
Helps you determine the purpose and audience
Very useful for longer texts.
Helps activate your background knowledge
Here’s how to preview:
• First, read the entire first paragraph
• Next, read only the first sentence of each paragraph
• Then, read the entire last paragraphs
• Look at pictures, subtitles, textual details (bold, italics,
etc)
3. Then Start Skimming
• Skimming will give you the general idea of a reading
• Very useful for shorter texts.
• Is a great way to review material you have read before.
Here’s how to skim:
• Force your eyes to move
fast.
• Sweep your eyes across
each line of type.
• Pick up only a few
key words in each line.
4. Preview & Skimming
• Previewing and Skimming cannot promise
more than 50% comprehension.
• To read faster and understand more of what
you read, you need to know a third technique.
5. Clustering
to increase speed AND comprehension
Most of us learn to read by looking at each word in a sentence — one at a
time. Like this:
My — brother — Russell — thinks — monsters…
• Word-by-word reading slows your reading down.
• Clustering trains you to look at groups of words
• It increases your speed enormously.
Here’s how to cluster:
• Train your eyes to see all the words
in clusters of up to three or four
words at a glance.
• Here’s how I’d cluster the story
we just skimmed:
10. Clustering Takes Practice
Here’s how to go about it:
• Pick something light to read.
• Read it as fast as you can.
• Concentrate on seeing three to four words at once
rather than one word at a time.
• Then reread the piece at your normal speed to see
what you missed the first time.
Practice fifteen minutes every day
and you might pick up the technique in a week or so.
11. Special Thanks
• How to Read Faster by Bill Cosby
• A Reader’s Handbook by Rose Wassman and
Anne Paye
