Before Learning To Speed Read, Know How To Measure Your Reading Rate
Various studies describe the amount of time spent reading at work.
Typically it's around 2 hours a day or approximately 24% of time on-the-job.
Improving reading rate can be a boost to productivity.
What you measure improves, what you focus on increases.
Before attempting to improve reading rate, it makes sense to first measure your starting speed.
Most people cannot even attempt a guess at how fast they read, while others estimate a rate too slow similar to typing speed, such as 80 or 90 words per minute (wpm).
Here's an easy way to calculate your rate using your own reading material.
While there are reading tests online, they usually give you a result without empowering you to be able to monitor and measure your reading rate any time in any type of reading material.
What you'll need - Book - paperback or hardback size book (for easy calculating).
Make sure it's easy-to-read fiction or non-fiction.
- Timer - countdown timer, stopwatch, clock or watch with a seconds hands.
- Pocket calculator - Two paper clips or sticky notes or a pencil to mark start and end points Instructions 1.
Identify start point Ignore any preface, foreword or introduction and start at Chapter One of the book.
Place a paper clip or sticky note or pencil tick to indicate your start point.
2.
Read for 3 minutes.
When ready, start the timer and commence reading for 3 minutes for good comprehension, that is, for excellent understanding and enjoyment.
At 3 minutes stop reading and place a pencil tick or paper clip or sticky note to indicate your end point.
3.
Check recall To check your recall, turn the book face down and spend 30 seconds jotting down some notes about what you can remember.
Better still, arrange to perform this reading test with a friend or colleague and swap a 30-second summary.
Decide whether your summary was: - Excellent - Very Good - Good - Average - Fair - Below Par 4.
Calculate reading rate Now calculate your reading rate in words per minute.
To do this, count the total words read then divide by the number of minutes spent reading, doing the following steps: a) Count words per line To work out the average number of words per line, count the total words on three lines and divide by three.
(A word has to have two letters to count.
)The usual result in paperback is around 10 words per line.
In hardback it's 12 to 13 words per line.
b) Count number of lines read Then count the total number of lines you read.
(Two half-lines count as one line).
c) Calculate total words read For the total words read, multiply the number of lines by the number of words per line.
d) Words per minute Divide total words read by number of minutes spent reading.
Here's the formula: ___ Lines X Words Per Line =_____Total Words ÷3=_____ WPM Results: - If your reading rate is between 200 to 300 WPM that's an average reading rate.
Most people read at this rate.
- If your reading rate is below 200 WPM, did you choose technical reading material with a high degree of difficulty?This can slow reading rate.
Or do you frequently read technical or scientific material at a slow pace so that everything you read is at the same slow pace? - If your reading rate is above 400 WPM, it indicates you are not so impacted by poor reading habits such as sub-vocalization (hearing each word in your head as you are reading), or regression (the eye flitting back to reread a word; most readers regress 50 or 60 times per page) or fixation (reading one word at a time with a narrow focus).
- If your reading rate is above 1000 WPM, congratulations; that's a great result.
If you also assessed your understanding and memory as excellent to very good, then you are a speed-reader.
Now that you know your current reading speed, next step is to learn how to read faster.
Typically it's around 2 hours a day or approximately 24% of time on-the-job.
Improving reading rate can be a boost to productivity.
What you measure improves, what you focus on increases.
Before attempting to improve reading rate, it makes sense to first measure your starting speed.
Most people cannot even attempt a guess at how fast they read, while others estimate a rate too slow similar to typing speed, such as 80 or 90 words per minute (wpm).
Here's an easy way to calculate your rate using your own reading material.
While there are reading tests online, they usually give you a result without empowering you to be able to monitor and measure your reading rate any time in any type of reading material.
What you'll need - Book - paperback or hardback size book (for easy calculating).
Make sure it's easy-to-read fiction or non-fiction.
- Timer - countdown timer, stopwatch, clock or watch with a seconds hands.
- Pocket calculator - Two paper clips or sticky notes or a pencil to mark start and end points Instructions 1.
Identify start point Ignore any preface, foreword or introduction and start at Chapter One of the book.
Place a paper clip or sticky note or pencil tick to indicate your start point.
2.
Read for 3 minutes.
When ready, start the timer and commence reading for 3 minutes for good comprehension, that is, for excellent understanding and enjoyment.
At 3 minutes stop reading and place a pencil tick or paper clip or sticky note to indicate your end point.
3.
Check recall To check your recall, turn the book face down and spend 30 seconds jotting down some notes about what you can remember.
Better still, arrange to perform this reading test with a friend or colleague and swap a 30-second summary.
Decide whether your summary was: - Excellent - Very Good - Good - Average - Fair - Below Par 4.
Calculate reading rate Now calculate your reading rate in words per minute.
To do this, count the total words read then divide by the number of minutes spent reading, doing the following steps: a) Count words per line To work out the average number of words per line, count the total words on three lines and divide by three.
(A word has to have two letters to count.
)The usual result in paperback is around 10 words per line.
In hardback it's 12 to 13 words per line.
b) Count number of lines read Then count the total number of lines you read.
(Two half-lines count as one line).
c) Calculate total words read For the total words read, multiply the number of lines by the number of words per line.
d) Words per minute Divide total words read by number of minutes spent reading.
Here's the formula: ___ Lines X Words Per Line =_____Total Words ÷3=_____ WPM Results: - If your reading rate is between 200 to 300 WPM that's an average reading rate.
Most people read at this rate.
- If your reading rate is below 200 WPM, did you choose technical reading material with a high degree of difficulty?This can slow reading rate.
Or do you frequently read technical or scientific material at a slow pace so that everything you read is at the same slow pace? - If your reading rate is above 400 WPM, it indicates you are not so impacted by poor reading habits such as sub-vocalization (hearing each word in your head as you are reading), or regression (the eye flitting back to reread a word; most readers regress 50 or 60 times per page) or fixation (reading one word at a time with a narrow focus).
- If your reading rate is above 1000 WPM, congratulations; that's a great result.
If you also assessed your understanding and memory as excellent to very good, then you are a speed-reader.
Now that you know your current reading speed, next step is to learn how to read faster.