Scaning and subvocalization

Scan the entire reading, then focus on the most interesting or relevant parts to read in detail. Pay attention to when you can skim and when you need to understand every word.  

Note the main words when you read. Take notes and talk back to the text. Explicate and mark up the pages. Write down what interests or bores you. Speculate about why. If you get stuck in the reading, think and write about where you got stuck. Contemplate why that particular place was difficult and how you might break through the block. Record and explore your confusion. Confusion is important because it's the first stage in understanding. When the going gets difficult, and you don't understand the reading, slow down and reread sections. Break long assignments into segments. Read 10 pages, then do something else. Later, read the next 10 pages and so on.

Read prefaces and summaries to learn important details about the book. Look at the table of contents for information about the structure and movement of ideas. Use the index to look up specific names, places, ideas. Translate difficult material into your own words. Create an alternative text. After scanning, take a moment to digest what you've just skimmed and to formulate your mental questions about the text. Take a couple of slow, controlled deep breaths, then proceed to read line by line, using your finger. Make sure that you are using online soft focus and absorbing more than one word at once. Do not mouth the words or say them in your head.

Your finger should move quickly, which will force your eyes to follow at the same speed. Each subsequent time that you speed-read a document, move your finger or pointer at a faster pace. With practice your eyes and brain will speed up. As you get better in terms of speed and with your peripheral vision, you will be able to zoom down the page, following your pointer and taking in whole lines or paragraphs at once.