Speed Reading Rate Adjustment

Poor results are inevitable if the reader attempts to use the same reading rate generally for a-1 types of material and for all reading purposes. He must learn to adjust his rate depending on what his purpose in reading is and how difficult to read the material.  This ranges from a maximum rate on easy, familiar, interesting and particular materials, to minimal rate on material which is unfamiliar in content and language structure or which must be thoroughly digested. The effective reader adjusts his rate while the ineffective one uses the same rate for all types of material and purpose.

Rate adjustment may be done completely as a whole or internally within the article. The former is called overall adjustment in which the reader establishes the basic rate at which the total article is read, while the latter is referred to as internal adjustment that involves the necessary variations in rate for each varied part of the material. As an analogy, let’s take for example a 100-mile mountain trip. Since this journey will be a relatively hard drive with hills, curves, and a mountain pass, you decide to take three hours for the total trip, averaging about 35 miles an hour. This is your overall rate adjustment. However, in actual driving, you may slow down to at least 15 miles per hour on some curves and hills, while speeding up to 50 miles per hour or more on relatively straight and level sections. This is your internal rate adjustment. Thus, there is no actual fixed rate in which good readers follow inflexibly in reading a particular selection, even though he has set himself an overall rate for the total job.

Overall rate adjustment depends on your reading plan, your reading purpose, and the nature and difficulty of the material. The general reading rate to be used should be specified in the plan. The purpose will then fully determine the rate to be used. For example, to understand information, skim or scan at a rapid rate; to determine value of material or to read for enjoyment, read rapidly or slowly according to your feelings; or to read analytically, read at a moderate pace to totally absorb the ideas. The nature and difficulty of the material, on the other hand, requires an adjustment in rate in conformity with your ability to handle that type of material.

Obviously, level of difficulty is highly relative to the particular reader. Take for instance Einstein's theories. Though they may be extremely difficult to most laymen, they may be very simple and clear to any physics professor. Hence, the layman and the physics professor must make a different rate adjustment in reading the same material. Generally, difficult material will entail a slower rate; simpler material will permit a faster rate.

Internal rate adjustment involves selecting differing rates for different parts of a given article. In general, speed should be decreased with the following ideas/thoughts:  (1) unfamiliar terminology or unclear words in context; (2) difficult sentence and paragraph structure; (3) unfamiliar or abstract concepts; (4) detailed, technical materials; (5) materials on which you want detailed retention. With these parts that slower reading pace is necessary, one should: try to understand unfamiliar words, phrases, and sentences in context; slow down enough to enable you to untangle difficult syntactic constructions; look for applications or examples of you own as well as studying those of the writer; otherwise, read on and return to it later.

On the other hand, increase in speed is necessary when you meet the following: (1) simple material with few ideas which are new to you; (2) unnecessary examples and illustrations; (3) detailed explanation and idea elaboration which you do not need; (4) broad, generalized ideas and ideas which are restatements of previous ones.

Remember to adjust your reading rate sensitivity from article to article in order to keep your reading attack flexible. It is equally important to adjust your rate within a given article. Practice these techniques until a flexible reading rate becomes second nature to you.

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