Teaching a child the fundamentals of reading involves helping them learn the sounds each of the letters make and then joining those sounds together to form words. It’s amazing watching and listening to a child as they string sounds together and make a word. They are thrilled and excited at their accomplishment and for the parent or teacher guiding them, it’s a wonderful moment.

Children use this skill to learn new words as they begin to grow. Over time they are able to recognize words and instead of sounding the letters out individually they recall the entire word from memory. As the child grows and reads more and more they are able to read at a faster rate because they recognize many of the words.

One of the principles of speed reading is very much the same. The speed reader picks out the words in the text that they are reading that are essentially keywords. They are the words that stand out and hook the reader. By focusing on these words they are able to get a good grasp of the information and can do that without reading the material word for word. Having the ability to do this would obviously speed up anyone’s reading time substantially.

Another approach that some people who are adept at speed reading use is they very quickly scan the book or document they will be reading and pick out important words and phrases that give them a general idea of the information. After doing this, they read the material through briskly, absorbing more. This approach gives them an overview of the information during the first quick scan and then the second read through gives the speed reader a complete picture.

By approaching their reading in this way they are able to grasp the most pertinent information and when they are done speed reading it, they will have a good understanding of the context. This approach works well and it is used by many people who are able to speed read. It can also work for people who have to retain a substantial amount of information in a short amount of time. They may not consider themselves speed readers but they are, in the sense that whenever you scan a newspaper article or a magazine looking for specific information you are picking out certain phrases. You may not read the entire text of the piece, but you certainly have absorbed the major points of it and have a better than average understanding of it.

Everyone can gain useful information by quickly scanning text before thoroughly reading the material. Although it’s a technique that aids in speed reading, it can help the average person retain more information as well. Your mind focuses in on the key phrases during the first go through and as you read through a second time you pick up and absorb even more information.

Although not everyone has the desire to learn how to speed read, there are small tips we can take from those who do, that can help in our everyday reading adventures.