Health & Fitness
20-Minute Speed Reading for SAT/ACT Students
Many students really want to learn to accelerate their reading speed for the Critical Reading sections of the SAT and the ACT. According to the graph, 70 minutes of the SAT is devoted to Critical Reading. This speed reading technique can be used to "skim" reading passages rapidly before looking at questions that follow.
I gratefully acknowledge this method, taken from Tim Ferriss.
How can you increase your reading speed in just 20 minutes, by at least 200%? Tim Ferriss, N.Y. Times Bestselling author of The Four Hour Work Week, gives a simple but effective way to boost your reading speed.
1. Two Minutes: Using a pen or finger, trace under each line as you read as fast as possible. Reading is a series of jumping snap shots called saccades, and using a visual guide (pen/finger) prevents regression.
2. Three Minutes: Begin each line focusing on the third word in from the first word, and end each line focusing on the third word in from the last word. This makes use of the peripheral vision, which is wasted in margins. For instance, even the highlighted words in the next line are your beginning and ending focal points, the entire sentence is “read,” just with less eye movement.
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In this sentence, you would only focus on the third word in from the first which is “a” and the third word in from the last which is “decided”. The remaining words would be picked up by your peripheral vision.
Don’t underestimate how much you can read via your your peripheral scope.
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Ex: “Once upon a time, an information addict decided to detox.”
3. Two Minutes: Once comfortable indenting 3-4 words from both sides, attempt to take only two snapshots per line on the first and last indented words. Practice doing this for at least two minutes.
4. Three Minutes: Practice reading too fast for comprehension but with good technique (the above three techniques) for five pages prior to reading at a comfortable speed. This will heighten perception and reset your speed limit, much like how 50 mph normally feels fast but seems like slow motion if you drop down from 70 mph on the freeway.
Finally, speedometer your reading
You can calculate your reading speed by counting the number of pages read in one minute. If you initially started at 1.25 pages/minute, and then read 3.5 pages/minute after training, that’s a 280% increase in speed.
Thank you, Mr. Ferriss, for clocking our speed!
Theresa Yin Michna, M.A., has coached over 2,000 hours of SAT and ACT prep. She enjoys finding ways to shortcut training. Visit her at www.TheresaMichna.com
