In today’s fast-paced world, speed reading has become an essential skill for many people. It is the ability to read quickly and comprehend the material being read. It is a valuable skill to have, especially when you must go through a large volume of information quickly.
During the brush up at Lagos Business School (LBS) we had a session on speed reading with Juliet Chunu a facilitator in the school. It was a very interesting session but engaging.
To test our present (initial) reading speed, we were given a class exercise to read a given text story within five minutes. Accounting to her, one is expected to read at least 250 words within 60 seconds with a clear understanding of the context. To test that, there was some questions attached to the story to answer.
Similar exercise was given, and I discovered that I was improving. In other words, the more you practice, the better you will become. So, the beauty of it, one can improve through constant practice.
However, Mrs. Juliet Chunu explained the relationship between our eyes and brain while reading. In her explanation she stated the following:
- “The eye contains 90% water.
- Continuous production of tears to keep the eyes moving.
- Iris movement is caused by changes in light intensity or by an emotional response.
- Eyelids blink based on environmental or emotional responses”.
On the other hand, the brain function as thus:
- “Images impressed on your retina and travel the length of the skull from the eyes to the occipital lobes at the back.
- There all these chemical formula information is re-assembled to create the image you see”.
My understanding:
Speed reading is essential for many people, especially those with busy schedules.
Executive managers can benefit from the logic behind speed reading. It will help them to speedily run through a report while attending a meeting or making an inform decision on areas that require quick response. Although some report may contain not only text, but tabulation, chat, graph, or images. One may choose to start with the one he understands better, we were advised.
Speed reading involves reading quickly while maintaining comprehension. To do this, you need to be able to identify the most important information and ignore the rest. Logically, you can identify the critical information in a piece of writing and understand its relevance to the topic at hand. When you use logic to identify the most important information in a text, you can focus your attention on that information and read it more quickly. This allows you to process the material faster and comprehend it more easily.
On the other hand, speed reading can also improve logic. When you read quickly, you are forced to think quickly, which means you have to make decisions about what information is relevant and what is not. This requires a certain level of critical thinking and analysis.
Finally, to improve your speed reading, it is advisable to practice reading and analyzing a variety of texts regularly, use skimming and scanning techniques to identify the most important information quickly. Lastly take breaks when reading for long periods. This will help you maintain focus and avoid burnout.
