I would like to share with you my last weekend experience, I’ve been to my first speed-reading workshop in Dublin.
Why investing money on this type of course, you would ask… Because of my job I have to update my skills and competencies all the time, so it makes sense to invest on techniques to be able to read in a fast and efficient way…. it isn’t?
The weekend has been full of info, the main resource is http://www.spdrdng.com/ the best I can do now is to give a 40% overviews of the contents (not more as I paid, you have too ….)
Still reading… good. Let’s see some learning I’ve good from the weekend:
Learning n 1: Reading state
The state of your body influences how you read and the quality of your actions, so:
First thing: before starting:
- a deep breath
- exile and smile
- open your peripheral vision
- Move your hands near you ears and then behind, start to move your fingers and and move forward, stop as soon you can see both your hands shacking your fingers, then notice your your see
peripheral vision, helps to use all your resources when making any experience
4. take your awareness to your concentration point
the concentration point is about 15 cms above and slightly behind the top of your head
Learning n 2: always stick with a 20/25 mins chunk
Use a 20 mins or max 25 mins slot of work, so anything your are going to do will be doing in 20mins, time. Why? task tends to occupy all the time you have available, so it’s better to allocate a resource every time.
Learning n 3: SMART purpose
Define your smart purpose, what do you expect from your 20 mins;
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S = specific, say in detail what do you want to reach
M = measurable, you have to know when you have achieved in an objective way
A = achievable, when achieve what it does give to you, WIFM = what is for me
R = real, can be done in 20 mins realistically
T = timely, you must define a time that you decide (between 20 and 25 mins)
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Learning n 4: Previewing
Start reading the summaries, toc and index, to understand the contents your brains needs to have a big picture, this will act as a guide where you add your details reading the text.
Learning n 5: the Pareto principle
The Pareto principle, applied to this context, says you can get 80% of what is relevant from a book in 20% of the contents, and more important the remaining content will give you only the remaining 20%, so it’s always better using your time and speed reading techniques to read more books on the same topic catching the 80% in each one…
So doing some maths:
1 book with slow reading = 100 % of time, maybe 100% of the book content (usually less)
1 book with fast reading = 80% of the contents in 20 % of the time
2 book with fast reading = 80% of the contents in 20 % of the time
3 book with fast reading = 80% of the contents in 20 % of the time
4 book with fast reading = 80% of the contents in 20 % of the time
5 book with fast reading = 80% of the contents in 20 % of the time
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400% of the topic in 100 % of the time, you can become almost an expert in the same time 
Learning n 6: Find information
Change your thinking:
from the quantity of reading
to the quality of information
Another way to say it’s read the message not the words; this opens your mind to another concept that focus on the information acquired while reading the text, rather that reading the words (what we have been thought at school)
Learning 7: Use speed-reading eye patterns
Look around the page for hot=spot, where the relevant information is kept, these patterns will break the old habit of reading sequentially…
- dipping = read quickly looking for hot spots and then dip into the relevant material and then speed up again
- pacer = use a pencil to read the text
- headings = focus always to title, heading and notes
- horizontal underlying = with the pacer underline the text, (fast) using the peripheral vision to get the message
- super reading = scroll vertically the text looking for hot spots
- capital I – reads the fist 2 o 3 lines of a page, super reading the middle and read the last 2
- skittering = zig-zag on the text
(this is usually what you can find on speed reading book)
Learning n 8: Use mindmaps and rhizomappping
At the end of the 20 mins session build your knowledge, what you have understood on relevance (considering the purpose for which you are reading)
Learning 9: Review information on maps regularly
Create a mind map of the content using your memory and then look for what you have missed, at these rime intervals
- the day after
- a week after
- a month after
Learning 10: Use syntopic processing
Have a 75 mins session with 4 books rather then one (on the same topic). Build an incremental map, adding the info found and related reference of each book, in this case you can define 11 point on the smart purpose
Lesson 11: Direct reading
This technique uses the unconscious mind to read the book; the day before turn over the pages one at time at the rate of one page at the second, making sure to be able to see the 4 corners
Lesson 12: Set High expectation
High expectation are intimately connected with high results, so think big of what you can do
Lesson 13: Read more
More you read, and more information will be kept in your brain, so adding new information will help to acquire new ones.
This is an example of the rhizomap of the 1st days:
I hope you can invest your time on something similar, this post is more for inspirational purpose, rather that touching you about speed-reading techniques
Tags: mindmap, speedreading, weekend
