Let’s start with this basic assumption: You can read something faster if you are familiar with it. Most people would agree with this statement. The problem is that most of the material you read is not familiar to you, which is obviously on of the reasons why you would want to read it.

So the idea here is to somehow get familiar with the material before actually reading it. Think of this as warming up before you read, just like you would before you exercise. The can easily familiarize yourself with an article and “speed read” it by following three simple steps.

Step #1 - Read the First and Last Paragraph

In well written material, the first paragraph is usually an introduction to what you are about to read in the article. Similarly, the last paragraph should summarize the article. So if we read the first and last paragraph we should, at the very least come away with a strong sense of what the main idea is in the article.

Step #2 - Read the First Sentence of Every Paragraph

Wouldn’t it be nice to know all of the main ideas in an article before actually reading it? Since most well written paragraphs are structured with the main idea as the first sentence, we can read the first sentence of every paragraph in the article and come away with a lot of information about the article before even reading it.

Step #3 - Read the Entire Article

Think about the last two steps you did. You read the first and last paragraph, and then the first sentence of every paragraph. At this point, you should have a pretty strong idea of what this article is going to be about. The only thing you’re missing are the details, which you will now get as you read.

Remember we made the assumption that if you are familiar with something, you should be able to read it faster. At this we should definitely be familiar with what we are about to read. So we should approach it more confidently and naturally read it faster.

If you are resistant toward going faster, it could be because you are worried you may miss something. Try to fight that resistance and force yourself to go a little faster than you normally would through the material. You’ll probably find yourself picking up more than you expected.

President Kennedy was a strong proponent of speed reading after taking a speed reading course with his brother Bobby Kennedy. He encouraged many in his cabinet to take similar courses and helped make speed reading popular throughout the U.S. in the 1960s.

A passage from the book “Camelot at Dawn” titled “The Speed Reader” describes JFK’s ability to read fast:

JFK developed a phenomenal ability to read material quickly. For several weeks in the spring of 1954, Jack [his nickname] and Bobby had been traveling together to Baltimore to attend a speed reading class at the John Hopkins University’s evening college. Professor Elton Y. Mears taught the class, entitled, “How to Read Better and Faster.” It met Tuesday evenings 8:30 - 10:30, and the brothers had to drive more than an hour each way to attend it.

President Jimmy Carter

In addition to JFK, President Jimmy Carter also took a speed reading course at the White House with his wife Rosalynn and several staffers.

Evelyn Wood

Although not as well known as the two presidents, Evelyn Wood, popularized speed reading in the U.S. in the 1960s. She actually coined the term “speed reading” before it became a conventional phrase. After studying the habits of naturally fast readers she developed a methodology that was taught in many seminars throughout the country. She is famous for having her methods taught to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Until the late 1990s, her classes were frequently taught at college campuses throughout the U.S. She passed away in 1995 at the age of 86.

One of the first insights into speed reading was developed through the United States Air Force using the methodology behind the tachistoscope, a device that displays an image for a certain amount of time. The tachistoscope was being used to train pilots to quickly identify enemy planes while in the cockpit. After a little experimentation, they discovered that flashing four words on a screen at 1/500th of a second was understood completely by the reader. This had dramatic implications for reading.

It was originally believed that people read by looking at each and every letter in order to understand the meaning of a word. The U.S. Air Force experiments killed this idea of reading by letters and helped create an understanding the humans are capable reading not just a word at a time, but groups of words.

Speed reading became popularized in the U.S. during the late 1950s by a woman named Evelyn Wood. She actually coined the term “speed reading” before it became a conventional phrase. After studying the habits of naturally fast readers she developed a methodology that was taught in many seminars throughout the country. She is famous for having her methods taught to President John F. Kennedy, who was a strong proponent of speed reading. Until the late 1990s, her classes were frequently taught at college campuses throughout the U.S. She passed away in 1995 at the age of 86.

Although speed reading techniques have been refined through the years, the foundations remain the same. Speed reading involves reading multiple words at a time in phrases without sub-vocalizing every word.