Speed Reading - Should You Learn It?

Is speed reading a useful skill for you? To answer this question, you first need to understand if you have a practical use for such a skill, and also what the concept of ‘reading’ really means to you.

Speed reading skills, which are broadly based on principles of photographic memory and visual stimulation, have both their uses and limitations. For instance, it makes no sense if, at the end, the reader is clueless about what he or she has read.

Such skills are only of any tangible use if they yield a minimum 90% comprehension rate. If such a rate is not achievable, reading at twice or thrice the normal speed can be a futile exercise and even create a lot of problems.

People who can benefit from the ability to read more rapidly than usual include high school or college student who has to wade through sheaves of written material to go through as you increase your level of education.

Businesspersons, such as clerks and executives, also need to constantly process a lot of memos and material, so speed reading can be very useful in such professions. After all, what often matters most for them is being able to remember facts and figures that have vital business relevance.

However, speed reading is probably the biggest boon for those who have reading disabilities. It has been established that approximately 10-15% of all children have problems with normal reading, resulting in much slower reading speeds despite the fact that their mental capabilities are sound. In such cases, it makes sense to acquire speed reading skills, because these can improve learning and comprehension despite the reading difficulties.

For those who have attention deficit disorder (or ADD) speed reading skills can make a decisive difference. The techniques applied in such skills cause the mind to process pages of a book fast enough to prevent boredom from setting in. Since those who have ADD are subject to rapid deterioration of interest in tasks at hand, speed reading can stop their attention from wandering.

Those who have no real problems with reading or do not need to process large volumes of information regularly should remember that this is not a skill that should be used for all reading.

No matter how proficient one becomes at it, it still involves skimming written material rather than digesting it in its fullest essence. Obviously, it makes no sense to apply such principles to reading done for leisure, since most of the enjoyment would be lost in the manic rush to get through the pages.