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12/13/2016

ScientificSpeedReading:HowtoRead300%Fasterin20Minutes|TheBlogofAuthorTimFerriss

ScientificSpeedReading:HowtoRead300%Fasterin
20Minutes
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WrittenbyTimFerriss

Topics:MentalPerformance

(Photo:DustinDiaz)

Howmuchmorecouldyougetdoneifyoucompletedallofyourrequiredreadingin1/3or1/5thetime?
Increasingreadingspeedisaprocessofcontrollingfinemotormovementperiod.
ThispostisacondensedoverviewofprinciplesItaughttoundergraduatesatPrincetonUniversityin1998ataseminar
calledthePXProject.Thebelowwaswrittenseveralyearsago,soitswordedlikeIvyLeaguerpompousassprose,
buttheresultsaresubstantial.Infact,whileonanairplaneinChinatwoweeksago,IhelpedGlennMcElhoseincrease
hisreadingspeed34%inlessthan5minutes.
Ihaveneverseenthemethodfail.Hereshowitworks

ThePXProject
ThePXProject,asingle3hourcognitiveexperiment,producedanaverageincreaseinreadingspeedof386%.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/07/30/speedreadingandacceleratedlearning/

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12/13/2016

ScientificSpeedReading:HowtoRead300%Fasterin20Minutes|TheBlogofAuthorTimFerriss

Itwastestedwithspeakersoffivelanguages,andevendyslexicswereconditionedtoreadtechnicalmaterialatmore
than3,000wordsperminute(wpm),or10pagesperminute.Onepageevery6seconds.Bycomparison,theaverage
readingspeedintheUSis200300wpm(1/2to1pageperminute),withthetop1%ofthepopulationreadingover400
wpm
Ifyouunderstandseveralbasicprinciplesofthehumanvisualsystem,youcaneliminateinefficienciesandincrease
speedwhileimprovingretention.
Toperformtheexercisesinthispostandseetheresults,youwillneed:abookof200+pagesthatcanlayflatwhen
open,apen,andatimer(astopwatchwithalarmorkitchentimerisideal).Youshouldcompletethe20minutesof
exercisesinonesession.
First,severaldefinitionsanddistinctionsspecifictothereadingprocess:
A)Synopsis:Youmustminimizethenumberanddurationoffixationsperlinetoincreasespeed.
Youdonotreadinastraightline,butratherinasequenceofsaccadicmovements(jumps).Eachofthesesaccades
endswithafixation,oratemporarysnapshotofthetextwithinyoufocusarea(approx.thesizeofaquarterat8inches
fromreadingsurface).Eachfixationwilllasttosecondsintheuntrainedsubject.Todemonstratethis,closeone
eye,placeafingertipontopofthateyelid,andthenslowlyscanastraighthorizontallinewithyourothereyeyouwillfeel
distinctandseparatemovementsandperiodsoffixation.
B)Synopsis:Youmusteliminateregressionandbackskippingtoincreasespeed.
Theuntrainedsubjectengagesinregression(consciousrereading)andbackskipping(subconsciousrereadingvia
misplacementoffixation)forupto30%oftotalreadingtime.
C)Synopsis:Youmustuseconditioningdrillstoincreasehorizontalperipheralvisionspanandthenumberof
wordsregisteredperfixation.
Untrainedsubjectsusecentralfocusbutnothorizontalperipheralvisionspanduringreading,foregoingupto50%oftheir
wordsperfixation(thenumberofwordsthatcanbeperceivedandreadineachfixation).

TheProtocol
Youwill1)learntechnique,2)learntoapplytechniqueswithspeedthroughconditioning,then3)learntotestyourself
withreadingforcomprehension.
Theseareseparate,andyouradaptationtothesequencingdependsonkeepingthemseparate.Donotworryabout
comprehensionifyouarelearningtoapplyamotorskillwithspeed,forexample.Theadaptivesequenceis:technique
techniquewithspeedcomprehensivereadingtesting.
Asageneralrule,youwillneedtopracticetechniqueat3xthespeedofyourultimatetargetreadingspeed.Thus,ifyou
currentlyreadat300wpmandyourtargetreadingspeedis900wpm,youwillneedtopracticetechniqueat1,800words
perminute,or6pagesperminute(10secondsperpage).
Wewillcovertwomaintechniquesinthisintroduction:
1)TrackersandPacers(toaddressAandBabove)
2)PerceptualExpansion(toaddressC)

FirstDeterminingBaseline
Todetermineyourcurrentreadingspeed,takeyourpracticebook(whichshouldlayflatwhenopenonatable)andcount
thenumberofwordsin5lines.Dividethisnumberofwordsby5,andyouhaveyouraveragenumberofwordsperline.
Example:62words/5lines=12.4,whichyouroundto12wordsperline
Next,countthenumberoftextlineson5pagesanddivideby5toarriveattheaveragenumberoflinesperpage.
Multiplythisbyaveragenumberofwordsperline,andyouhaveyouraveragenumberofwordsperpage.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/07/30/speedreadingandacceleratedlearning/

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12/13/2016

ScientificSpeedReading:HowtoRead300%Fasterin20Minutes|TheBlogofAuthorTimFerriss

Example:154lines/5pages=30.8,roundedto31linesperpagex12wordsperline=372wordsperpage
Markyourfirstlineandreadwithatimerfor1minuteexactlydonotreadfasterthannormal,andreadfor
comprehension.Afterexactlyoneminute,multiplythenumberoflinesbyyouraveragewordsperlinetodetermineyour
currentwordsperminute(wpm)rate.

SecondTrackersandPacers
Regression,backskipping,andthedurationoffixationscanbeminimizedbyusingatrackerandpacer.Toillustratethe
importanceofatrackerdidyouuseapenorfingerwhencountingthenumberofwordsorlinesinabovebaseline
calculations?Ifyoudid,itwasforthepurposeoftrackingusingavisualaidtoguidefixationefficiencyandaccuracy.
Nowhereisthismorerelevantthaninconditioningreadingspeedbyeliminatingsuchinefficiencies.
Forthepurposesofthisarticle,wewilluseapen.Holdingthepeninyourdominanthand,youwillunderlineeachline
(withthecapon),keepingyoureyefixationabovethetipofthepen.Thiswillnotonlyserveasatracker,butitwillalso
serveasapacerformaintainingconsistentspeedanddecreasingfixationduration.Youmayholditasyouwouldwhen
writing,butitisrecommendedthatyouholditunderyourhand,flatagainstthepage.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/07/30/speedreadingandacceleratedlearning/

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