Almost everyone has seen someone speed read, they appear to skim the text and still have read and absorbed the content. It is normal for everyone to read at different speeds, even before some people have mastered the skills of speed reading. The people who have studied speed reading techniques will still read at different speeds; however they will undoubtedly beat those without speed reading experience. The point of speed reading is to understand and absorb the material using specifically learned strategies. Skimming a page and then rapidly turning onto the next page is not really of use if the brain is not absorbing the information at an equivalent speed. The best and most efficient way to learn to speed read is to enrol in speed reading classes, where speed reading skills will be explained clearly.
The advantage of speed reading courses is that students will be shown several different strategies for speed reading allowing them to choose the ones they find easiest to understand the material they are reading. Students should try to learn all the strategies presented during speed reading courses as, once these are mastered, they will see a dramatic improvement in their...