Speed Reading Techniques

Learning how to increase reading speed through using one or more speed reading techniques is thought to be a worthwhile goal, but studies have shown that the ability to read faster may compromise basic text comprehension.

Both speedreading and its quicker cousin, photo reading (where people allegedly increase reading speed to 25,000 words per minute) are thought to be of great benefit - especially to students - as these speed reading programs are believed to lead to speed learning.

Which speed reading course is the best speed reading course on the market has, however, not yet been established, and neither are some experts convinced that rapid reading is a good thing as reading fast or "skimming" a text has been shown to lead to reduced comprehension.

The first proponent of speed reading for kids was teacher Evelyn Wood, and, after she experienced success with her innovative reading technique, the Evelyn Wood speed reading course was developed into her Reading Dynamics speed reading training program.

This program was taught to college kids in the 1950s, and the Evelyn Woods speed reading technique would eventually become popular with such influential people as John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

In a nutshell, Ms Wood's speed reading program encouraged the reader to read while underlining the text with a finger or a pointer as the eye seemed to follow such an instrument no matter how fast it was going.

Ways on how to improve reading speed have changed a great deal since the Evelyn Woods speed reading course was popular sixty years ago, and today's students learn how to speed read through using such diverse methods as speed reading software packages and commercial mega speed reading programs like Scheele's PhotoReading and Howard Berg speed reading (Maximum Power Reading).

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