Speed reading myth # 1 – Speed reading makes memorization less effective.
What is the reality: All the tests carried out with fast readers clearly show that memorization is better than with slow readers. One of the reasons is that to be able to read a text quickly, fast readers must have a greater concentration compared to slow readers. In addition, fast readers are more self-confident in their abilities, further reinforcing the memorization process.
Speed reading myth # 2 – We can not enjoy what we read quickly.
What is the reality: We can compare slow readers to observers who are too close to a monument like the Statue of Liberty. Being too close, they cannot get the meaning that the artist wanted to give because they read word for word and therefore only see a small part of the statue and not as a whole.
In contrast, fast readers are far enough away to get an overview of the entire Statue and can fully appreciate the artist’s work.
Speed reading myth no. 3 – Fast reading increases eyestrain.
What is the reality: The speed reading principle induces less effort by fast readers because they make less eye fixations per line of text than slow readers.
In fact, when you read, the movement of the eyes along the lines of the text is not straight, but in a sequence of successive jumps. At the end of each jump, the eye fixes on the text and sends this image to the brain. Thus, a very slow reader will post one per word while a fast reader will post one every five or six words.
For example, imagine a 30-line page, 12 words per line, for a total of 360 words. A slow reader who reads word for word has to do 360 fixations (one per word), which means 360 eye movements. A reader who reads 5 times faster will only make 72 fixations, which means 5 times less eye movements than the slow reader.
Speed reading myth # 4 – People should always read at the same speed.
What is the reality: There is absolutely no rule or reason for this. The only rule is that you should be able to quickly read a maximum of information whenever you need it. The rest of the time, everyone is absolutely free to read at whatever speed they prefer.
Now that you know that these speed reading myths are just myths and not reality, you can be sure that learning to speed read is one of the best investments you can make in yourself today, as information is now money. new. The more information you have, the richer you will get. So, don’t wait to get rich and start speed reading right now.