I get asked lots of questions about improving reading speed.

In particular I get a lot of questions that ask me to de-mystify some of the strategies and techniques recommended by the various specialists in this field.

Here is a typical question:

"I've bought Tony Buzan "the speed reading book" and got almost in the middle of it, where there is a detailed description of meta-guiding techniques, and I was just wondering if you have to master the double line sweep in order to be able to use one of the advanced visual guiding movements (for example, I especially like the 'S' and the Zig-Zag ones).

When I am using 'the double line sweep' method I cannot comprehend what I read at all, but maybe it will come in time with practice. Also, I sometimes come back to reading just one line instead of two at a time, because of the old habit. I would appreciate if you'd give me any tips how to avoid it. 

Is it possible to start learning and using Zig-Zag meta-guiding technique and get visible results instead of starting with the double line sweep method?  When I use double line sweep method I cannot comprehend anything. Is that normal? When should I start comprehending anything? How long it takes to get first bits of comprehension? How much should I practice"

First of all, let's explain what some of the terms in that question mean.

Tony Buzan coined the term "meta-guiding" in his speed reading book that the question refers to.

What it means is a series of ways of swiftly running your eyes across a page relying on your peripheral vision to "take in" what is there.

Conventional reading as taught in schools is very limited because we …..read…..one….word…..at…..a……time.

Our natural capabilities extend far beyound that where we can read more than one word at a time.

In fact we can make sense of 3, 4 ,5 and more words in one go and this is one of the core principles of an effective reading course.

Beyond that we get into skimming and scanning technques which allow us to seek out what we have to read and also help us swiftly filter out what we don't need or want.

At the very advanced level these techniques are the basis for actually "reading" what is on the page at very high rates and here we are drifting into the realm of Photo-Reading and Quantum Reading. 

However we shall just stick at the basic level for now.

So the meta-guiding concept is really another (trade marked?) name for describing a range of options we have for guiding our ours across a page.

This relates to another key principle of Speed Reading which is the use of a guide to help our ours across the page when we are reading.

Even now if all you did was use a pen and run it along the underside of the line as you read it, your reading speed and effectiveness would improve.

So what are the techniques that come under this term "meta-guiding"?

Well here is a quick sketch of the ones mentioned:

 In the double line sweep you move your guide (usually a pen but it can be your finger) along a line and then you bring it to the start of the next line down +1 (hence the term "double line").

The "S" and the Zig Zag should be fairly self explanatory.

The coloured line in each case showing the path followed by the guide (and hence the eyes).

Now as you look at these you might think "Wierd! - There is no way I can read like that!"

Well that is an understandable thought because it is likely to be very different from the way you have been  taught to read and the way you have probably been reading all these years.

But let me just point out that if you want to improve your reading effectiveness, then these sorts of techniques are what you must use.

They will feel unusual, probably uncomfortable but that is just because they are different to what you have been used to but believe me, they do work if you give them the chance.

And it is during that discomfort phase that our questioner finds themselves.

They ask if they should master one before moving onto the next one.

Well the answer is that the options offered in the book are exactly that, they are options.

Each method achieves the same things but in slightly different ways.

This person prefers the Zig-Zag and so that is the one they should persist with.

They go on to ask about comprehension and this again is another very common question when using these advanced techniques for the first time.

If you take your age and subtract 5, that is likely to be the number of years you have been reading.

That is a long time to create and condition a habit and so when you try and change that habit, your brain is not going to be used to the new way.

And so initially you will find you won't be able to comprehend very much, if anything at all.

However the brain is an extremely adaptable mechanism and given enough time and enough practice, it can pretty much adapt to anything physiologically and psychologically possible.

What will affect the transition from one way of doing something to another is the belief that the new way will work and just how much effort they are willing to put into it.

I believe that specific practice on training the technique (as opposed to just trying it out in your everyday reading) is required and when it comes to reading you should "practice" for 20 minutes a day for at least 21 days.

But the key thing is to set the goal and put the effort in UNTIL it works for you.

Believe me, these techniques work and thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people use them every day, the only question is are you going to do enough to make them work for you.