Improve Your Reading Speed with Reading This Article

Guess what, your primary school teacher was wrong – using your finger can help you read faster. It could be a finger or a pen, using a pacer or guide the movement of your eyes across the page is recommended by reading experts and personal development coaches. At first, not looking to each word might feel uncomfortable, so in the early stages use a guide or pacer to force your eyes to move ahead. Speed readers suggest using a very thinly pointed instrument, such as a kabob stick, as fingers can obstruct your vision.

If you’re not convinced about a guide’s efficacy, try this experiment: Sit opposite a friend and ask him/her to draw an imaginary circle in the air with only his/her eyes. Observe your friend’s eye movements and describe what you see. It will probably look like the shape on the left side of the picture. Now, guide your friend’s eyes with your finger by drawing an imaginary circle in the air. Observe his/her eye movements this time. You will notice that the movements are smother as in the shape on the right side of the picture. These changes suggest that if you use a guide to help your eyes move smoothly across the page, you’ll avoid wandering off, regressing or fixating, which are bad habits that slow down your reading.

The pacer can be moved in different patterns depending on your style and the column width. However, initially let the guide (a ruler, pen, finger= take your eyes along each line and down, line by line. When using a pointer (e.g. pen, finger) point at 2-3 spots in a sentence for full-length sentences. When you’re more comfortable with this approach, you may wish to use one of the faster alternatives:

• Slide down the middle of the page, especially for narrow column layout.
• Move in a zigzag pattern starting at one margin and moving to the other. This helps you target critical words and phrases and main ideas. The zigzag pattern is prized by “speed readers”.

Erratic eye movements. If you suffer form erratic eye movements, e.g. your eyes jump around on the page and can’t seem to stay focused on where you want them to be, try using a window slot – cut out the center of a postcard or thick cardboard in the shape and size of one line of print. as you run the widow down the page, the eye is limited to horizontal movement only.

Practice makes you fast. Practicing these techniques daily, for even 5-10 minutes, will increase your reading speed. Continue to use the pacer until you feel your speed is where you want it. Some people find using a pacer so helpful that they continue to use one throughout their lives. Reading faster can also contribute to your personal development, since you can read more stuff in less time.

About the Author:

Mark Hanselich, MPharm - I try to be as versatile as possible. I graduated in pharmacy, work as journalist, play soccer, have my own wine cellar and can communicate in six languages. I'm also personal development author and internet marketing specialist. Together with Mr. Daniel Maxoff I run the Website Anioc.com, dedicated to personal development, health and all the good things in our lives. You can also follow me on Twitter.