In the speed reading classes that I facilitate, I get participants to perform a difficult exercise.
They’re asked to look through a major article in Time magazine, one that they’ve never seen before. I set the stopwatch running and after 60 seconds, I ask them to close the magazine. The participants then have a few moments to write notes before they’re asked to describe to the whole group what the article was about.
Sometimes, as they close the magazine, people will say: “I just looked at the pictures and diagrams. So I cheated.”
That’s not cheating!
And here’s another example.
You arrive at a meeting and a document is handed out.
“Sorry I couldn’t get this to you earlier,” says the meeting chairperson. “Can you please read this before the meeting starts.”
You look in dismay at the document that appears to be about 20 pages. You start grimly reading from the first line of the first paragraph, ploughing along and knowing you’re never going to finish it in the available time.
Next to you, the person is looking through the pages, turning them after only five or ten seconds of scanning each page.
“That’s cheating,” you say to yourself.
That’s not cheating either!
And a final example.
You’re reading a novel. It’s for relaxation, to send you into another, more interesting, world. Some parts of the plot are gripping, full of excitement and action.
But other parts? Well, they’re just straight-out boring.
After a while you start skipping the boring bits, homing-in on the parts that are great.
A few hours later you’ve finished the novel – it was a satisfying experience.
You place the book on a side table and your partner says in surprise: “What, you’ve finished that already?”
“Yes,” you reply. “But I cheated by skipping the boring bits.”
That’s not cheating either!
So why isn’t it cheating?
The idea that in every piece of reading it is a requirement that you read every word is crazy. What you should do is to read the material to achieve the best possible outcome in the time you have.
If you know that time will be too short to closely read the piece, or you know that a detailed understanding isn’t required anyway, then don’t even attempt to read every word. Instead, look for key ideas and key content. In many cases, that can be achieved by just glancing through the pages.
If the material uses a lot of visuals (including photos, flow charts, graphs and diagrams), then looking at these will far more rapidly communicate the content to you than attempting to read the content line by line.
And the novel? You’re reading it for your own enjoyment – read it however you like!
It’s not cheating……
Julian can be contacted directly or courses can be arranged through training provider Anne Jenkins and Associates.
