Increase your reading speed and comprehension
When I was in junior high and high school in Kingsville, Texas, the beginning of each school year saw English teachers conduct reading and comprehension tests. Although I have always been an avid reader, I was not a particularly fast reader at that time, averaging merely 180 words per minute (wpm) while my friends were up in the 250-300 wpm range.
After my first couple of weeks as a freshman (freshperson?) at Texas A&M University, I realized that I was in serious trouble with my school work because there were not enough hours in the day to both party and study (notwithstanding the fact that one couldn’t party because party was not a verb; still isn’t in formal writing).
That’s when I discovered Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Dynamics. I took her course in Houston, Texas, during Christmas break in 1973. That was this farm boy’s first trip to the big city; culture shock.
In researching Evelyn Wood just now, I discovered that she was born in Logan, Utah, and grew up in Ogden, both cities of my youth from the ages of six to ten. Wood received a B.A. in English from the University of Utah and worked on a master’s degree in speech without completing the degree requirements.
Her master’s degree research found readers who were capable of reading up to 1,600 words a minute. The key to their speed was a common trait of reading groups of words and complete thoughts rather than individual words. They also tended to read down the page rather than left to right. She determined that the faster readers also had better comprehension.
Evelyn Wood died in 1995, and it’s been a long time since I heard anything about her speed reading dynamics.
Back in 2007 when I started blogging, I realized that blogging also had an inherent requirement to read, so I looked for a refresher course, looking to increase my reading speed and comprehension a little more.
That’s when I discovered EyeQ. After going through the EyeQ course, I was consistently reading 900-950 wpm, having started out at around 475.
This past Sunday I pulled out my CDs and went through certain parts of the course again. My purpose was to set some records yesterday when I went blog camping.
I succeeded.
My tracking sheet shows that I visited exactly 200 blogs yesterday, left 1,026 likes (that means that I read at least 1,026 blog posts; I probably read more but some blog posts didn’t have LIKE buttons and comments were closed) and 119 comments.
My goal had been 100 blogs, 500 likes, and 100 comments, so I totally, completely smashed my goals.
If you want to increase your reading speed and comprehension, or know someone who could be helped by reading faster and comprehending more, try EyeQ. There is a demonstration which takes about five minutes right here.
Of course, Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics is still available. I chose EyeQ because it also offered online courses.
Disclaimer: EyeQ has provided me with no compensation or any other incentives for this endorsement. However, if they wanted to do that belatedly, I would not complain.
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Posted on July 10, 2012, in Photos, SNIPPETS and tagged evelyn wood reading dynamics, evelyn wood speed reading dynamics, eyeq speed reading. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
Russel, I read very fast, always have. Sometimes I worry that I am not getting the whole gist of what is sitting in front of me so I have made myself slow down, especially when it comes to something I tap into that can be of value to my life as it is. Since I started blogging I too have had to go back to the habit of speed reading. It’s the only way that I can get through everyone’s blogs that I follow and still have time to do other things…LOL.
I went to high school in Kingsville, Ontario. I am trying to follow a zillion blogs a day while still maintaining some balance in my life – maybe I should take up speed reading.
How very interesting! When I was in high school in New Jersey (in the early 70′s), my English class had a semester of tachistoscopic training in order to increase our speed and comprehension. Thanks for following my blog. In any case, I try to keep my posts short!
Bless you for this most helpful link to help us meet our blogging goals! Wonderful!
I have been wanting to do that for so long just because I want more information… if there is one thing I enjoy in life it is learning. I’m going to give this some serious thought… Thanks for sharing Russel, this is great
I’ll have to check that out!
200 blogs – wow!
I was more impressed with my 1,026 likes because that’s 1,026 blog posts!
You are amazing!
200…U R amazing.
Some people would say obsessive/compulsive………lol
Nice to visit you back and camp here a while! I have this issue and had been discussing it today with a friend.. does the commitment to read so many blog posts outweigh the benefits? Apparently I need this speed reading course!
It just depends on what one’s goals are. I have this insatiable thirst for information and to meet people, so blogging allows me to do that.
Okay, so I took the test, and went from 247 to 473 or something like that. But there is no test for comprehension in the demo. Interesting concept, though and probably good for those who need to read quickly for some reason. I can see a certain use for it in blogging, too, but it sure doesn’t help increase typing speed for responding to those blogs!
I don’t see the benefits, however, for reading fiction. I’d just rather sit back and relax and read at a comfortable speed that allows me some time to absorb it all – in fact, when I’m reading a really good book, I hate for it to end, lol, so am in no hurry.
I guess it just depends on your intent. Great for business and blogging and all kinds of things, but I’m just on a different road where I’d rather stroll along and enjoy the scenery, rather than speed along to some distant goal.
For responding to blogs, you need voice recognition software. I have been using Dragon Naturally Speaking for eleven years.
The benefits for reading fiction are that you can read more! You basically doubled your reading speed so you could read two books where previously you would read only one.
Amazing reminder as that’s how I zip through like 100 blogs that I follow.. thank you!
this was very interesting.