Speed reading techniques are very straight forward and simple to apply and the effects can be quite staggering. 

We all have to read and every day it seems like there is more and more that we have to read. 

The rapid expansion of the internet in our lives has not only increased our access to more knowledge, but it has created new forms of information that 5 years ago never even existed.

So there is a tremendous amount of pressure on today's reader with the ever increasing amount  of written stuff that we have to process.

Of course logic says that if I have too much to read then being able to read faster and improve my reading speed should help me deal with this problem. 

That is an interesting perspective on the challenge but the reality of it is quite different (more of that at the end of this post).

I teach people to read faster because that is what I am asked to do by my clients for their staff. 

I like to think I do that quite well and in a way that the readers on my course really enjoy.  That last part can be quite subjective but I do have results to back up the first part.

Here are the results from a recent speed reading course I ran for a client.

What you see in the table below are two sets of results.  The first set, the "before" is a baseline test of the reading speed of the group at the start of the session.  T

hey were briefed to read for "normal comprehension" which means I wanted them to read so they understood what it was they were reading.

Now the issue of comprehension is an interesting one because the majority of people confuse it with being able to remember what they have read.  Anyway that is another topic and I am not going to go into that one now - maybe another time. 

The key thing to understand is that the "before" test was done at a speed they felt comfortable at where they understood every word.

The second set of results show the reading speed of the group "after" they had been through the training.  Again the brief for the group was that they should read so that they comfortably understood everything they have read. 

I will stress it again because it is important - comprehension does not mean remembering.  If you want to remember something you have read, you have to commit it to memory and not expect the reading process we have been given by our schooling to do it for you.

So here are the results from this particular speed reading course:

 If you do the sums, the average increase was 97.07% which means on average the reading speed of the group DOUBLED!

Now this course was a morning's session with a group of people for whom the act of reading is what they get paid to do and so the benefits to them of doubling their reading speed were tremendous.

I mentioned earlier that most people, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of reading material they have to process, think that an improvement in their reading speed is the answer to the stresses of this situation.

Unfortunately, it is only part of the answer.

Yes doubling the rate at which you can read new material will increase your throughput of the written word but it is like trying to stop the sea rushing in with one hand and believing that using your other hand as well will stem the onward rush of the waves.

They key to being an effective reader in this day an ages goes beyond the tactical (i.e. increasing the rate you read) and must focus on the strategic and to a certain extent, the philisophical.

By that I mean:

• getting absolutely clear on what it is you need to read,
• understanding what you need from what you have to read,
• developing a range of appropriate strategies to deal with the different types of material and not just use the one we got from school
• Having the personal discipline to focus on the vital few and not be distracted by the trivial many

So the answer to the question is YES, speed reading techniques do work.

However they must be placed in the context of a larger framework of strategies, tactics and philosophy to be able to survive and thrive in an information environment where the majority merely wallow or worse still, drown.