Last-Minute Tips

NOTE: If you are serious about increasing your reading speed, we highly recommend you check out this popular speed reading software

Find Your ERR

ERR stands for Effective Reading Rate and it not only indicates your reading speed, it additionally indicates comprehension. Because some comprehension could be missed at speeds that aren’t appropriate for the reader, ERR computes true reading speed. That is, ERR indicates the speed at which a reader is most capable of reading.

For this reason, it’s a favored unit of measurement among those who study the effectiveness of speed-reading. To find your ERR, read some material that offers a small comprehension quiz at the end of it (like the one available in Lesson 10). When finished with the quiz, multiply your current WPM by the percentage of correctly answered questions.

Let’s say that after reading an essay, your current WPM is 300 and you scored 75% on the comprehension part its test. To find your ERR, multiply 300 × .75. The ERR of this example is 225 and it means that a reader’s true reading speed is 225 WPM rather than the initial 300 WPM.

Use the Table of Contents and Index

We only briefly mentioned skimming the table of contents earlier, but we neglected to mention skimming the index. Both the table of contents and the index offer invaluable time-saving information you can use to reduce time spent reading.

Press Ctrl + F

If you’re reading material on the computer, take advantage of the Ctrl+F key combination. You can use Ctrl + F to read documents on your computer and documents on the Internet. This combination brings up a search box so you can enter in the terms that you want to read about. It then highlights the terms after you press Enter. Some software programs will highlight each instance of a search term while others will highlight only the first instance.

Abandon Speed-reading When Appropriate

Speed-reading isn’t appropriate for everything. You’ll certainly want to abandon these strategies when you’re reading a novel or a book of poetry for example. Literature written for enjoyment is to be savored, like great tasting cuisine. Speed-reading quality literature can really ruin the moment, so only use it when you’re looking for a small amount or specific type of information.