Lesson 2: Vocalizing and Regression

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

We have identified some key habits that actually slow down reading. In this lesson, we’re going to discover whether they’re present in your current reading strategy and work on eliminating them.

Vocalizing

Vocalizing is essentially reading out loud, ‘silently.’ And by that, we mean while reading, vocalizers demonstrate the physical aspects of reading without emitting sound. They may move their lips, tongue, and throat. They may even adjust their breathing pattern as if they were actually speaking, even emitting air from the nose in conjunction to the way certain words are pronounced. All of these physical activities are subtle and barely noticeable to anyone but the reader. If you notice that you do these things while reading, you’re a vocalizer.

What’s wrong with vocalizing? While vocalizing may seem to work fine for you, it slows down your reading rate. All of us read faster than we speak, and by vocalizing, you reduce your reading rate down to your speaking rate. That’s a rate that slows down to about 150 – 200 WPM. Vocalizing also makes comprehension more difficult. More often than not, vocalizers concentrate on the way words are pronounced rather than how they contribute to the picture the author is trying to portray.

If you are indeed a vocalizer, stop this activity by giving your mouth something to do while reading. You can chew gum while reading for example, or hold a pencil between the lips. Anything short of taping your mouth shut with duct tape will do.

Regression

Regression is reading a little bit forwards, then backwards, then forwards again, but then backwards again. It’s an attempt to ensure that we understand what we’ve read. Perhaps you’re not sure you really understood what a word means or what a particular phrase is trying to express. Perhaps while vocalizing, you’re not sure if you’re pronouncing a word correctly. Whatever the reason, regression slows down reading even more than vocalization.

Note that in certain cases, regression is normal and expected. You will for instance, regress if you’re having difficulty understanding a word in the context that it’s used. You’ll regress if the author isn’t very clear too. This is normal and no fault of yours. Problematic regression is when it’s habitual and unnecessary. If you find yourself regressing for no reason at all other than losing focus and maybe a limited vocabulary, there’s help and it involves a straight edge.

Many people (even speed-readers) use a visual aid to help them stay focused and maintain their place in what can become a mess of words. They use a straight-edged tool (ruler, index card, piece of paper, etc.) to cover up what has already been read to prevent regression. You can do the same.

Exercise 2

In this exercise, we merely want you to acknowledge your tendency to vocalize and regress if applicable. Should these habits infiltrate your reading capabilities, make a commitment to stop them now, and follow the advice above to ensure their elimination.