How to read faster and understand what you are reading: Part 2

In the first part of this article series, you discovered the importance of reading faster. You learned to use your hands to dramatically increase your reading speed by 10-15%. By now, you should have practiced the technique described in this article and experienced this increased reading speed for yourself. This second article will focus on improving your understanding of what you read.

Most people read in one step. They open a book and go to the first chapter. They begin by reading the first sentence of the first paragraph and continue down the page until they reach the end of the book. After all, this is how most of us were taught to read when we went to school. Unfortunately, this is a terrible strategy and causes all sorts of comprehension issues. Fortunately, there is an easy solution.

Reading experts use a simple formula to improve comprehension as they read. In fact, this same formula can be used during speed reading. The formula has an acronym that is SR2Q. SR2Q stands for: Browse, Read, Review, and Ask. These four steps are easy to learn and will make a dramatic improvement in your reading comprehension. Let’s start.

Before you start reading a text to learn the details, you should skim through it from beginning to end. This skimming must be done at very high speed. For example, it should take no more than 10 minutes to complete a lengthy college text. Once you have finished skimming through the material, you are ready for the next step.

Now start reading the material. It’s a good idea to look up the main ideas and any supporting information. After all, why should you believe what you’re told if there’s no evidence to back it up? As you read, place a check mark (-) in the margin with a pencil. Put this check mark next to anything that is confusing to understand.

Next, find all the checkmarks and review that material. You can use other texts and sources of information to decipher meaning that is confusing to you.

The final step in this process of improving reading comprehension is to continually ask questions as you read. Questions create curiosity. Curiosity creates interest, and interest results in better understanding.

SR2Q is an easy-to-use process to improve your reading comprehension. With just a little practice, you’ll be amazed at how much better you can read for comprehension.