Table of Contents
Start of Chapter : Introduction - Memletics Effective speed reading
Introducing Memletics® Effective Speed Reading
Let's set the record straight. This section discusses some hype and facts about speed reading. We then look at the second part of speed reading that's often ignored - comprehension. Next, we consider some common misconceptions about speed reading before getting into the six parts of effective reading. Lastly, we kick off your reading improvement course by measuring your current reading speed.
An entire industry is willing to teach you speed reading using many methods, from books and tapes to mechanical machines and software. Some programs claim to be able to teach anywhere from 2,000 to 25,000 words per minute (for example, PhotoReading, I-reading, image streaming, and Mind-Accelerator).
There is only one person I know of who can read at similar speeds with high comprehension, and he didn't learn the ability from any course! His name is Kim Peek. Kim was born in 1951 without a corpus callosum, the bundle of nerves that connect the left and right side of the brain. While he has some problems with motor co-ordination, his brain has developed some unique abilities. These have given him the title of a megasavant, and he is the only one in the world. Kim was also the basis for the character Raymond, in the Movie Rainman (1988, played by Dustin Hoffman).
Kim can speed read two pages at the same time, one with each eye. He can recall, and quote from, over 7,600 books he has read since age three. Most books he has only read once. Unfortunately, no one knows how Kim does this, even after much research. As no one knows how Kim's abilities work, no one has been able to teach it to others. Others have been born with the same brain condition; however, they have not developed the same ability nor has surgery had the same effect.
The design of our eyes and nervous system means there are physical limits to reading speed. Your eyes do not move smoothly across each line of words. Rather, they make small jumps, or "fixations". The maximum number of physical fixations the eye can do is about 300 a minute. In good readers, the distance between each fixation is about an inch. This means they see and register, on average, three words each fixation.
This is one reason why experts estimate the maximum reading speed for most people is 900 words a minute without skipping words. Anything above that means you are likely skimming or skipping words. So, no matter how good the skim reading technique is, as soon as you start skipping words your comprehension suffers. I suggest you treat with great skepticism any program or course that advertises reading speeds above 1,000 words a minute with full comprehension.
If you believe you have good reading speed already, it may because you skip words without realizing it. You may find your core reading speed is slower than average, but you make up for it by skipping words. This habit reduces your comprehension. The techniques in the fluency chapter will help you increase your core reading speed while maintaining comprehension.
Some people will tell you that you need machines, software, or expensive training to learn to read faster. Not true. Each of these methods has its own issues. For example, often these systems set a fixed pace. You will see in this book you need to vary your pace as you read. Other systems don't translate skills well from computer to paper (consider that most of what we read is still on paper). The techniques below are just as effective, if not more, than most of these tools. I have not yet found a properly conducted study showing that such devices are any more effective than the simple techniques taught in this book.
Lastly, some people will tell you that reading speeds of anywhere from 2,000 to 25,000 words a minute are possible. They will tell you "your natural ability is within your reach." These people might be selling you some system that "regular scientists don't understand yet." They will happily charge you $200 to $800 to learn what they know.
Companies that have made millions selling these systems seem unwilling to spend any of that money on reliable studies to show their systems work. When they don't provide proof, it's time to start exercising your critical thinking skills and ask "why?" For example, a quick search on a major research journals database found 368 research articles on reading speed. There were none, however, on "PhotoReading", "image streaming" and other similar topics.
Lastly, look at the results from the 2003 Speed Reading World Championships, held in the UK:
| Position | Entrant | Raw WPM | Compre-hension | EffectiveWPM |
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| 1st | Anne L. Jones | 2284 | 56.30% | 1285 |
| 2nd | Andrew Havery | 1108 | 56.30% | 623 |
| 3rd | Henry Hopking | 1330 | 45.80% | 610 |
Which method does Anne Jones teach? The same simple regulator technique I teach you in this book. If systems such as PhotoReading work, why don't we see much higher results in these types of events?
Remember the Memletics principle - "There are no silver bullets!" Personal development comes from time and effort. Make sure you spend that effort on techniques that work.
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