The average college student is swamped with a huge workload. With multiple classes and multiple assignments due all the time, it can be hard to fit everything in and still have time for a life outside of school. To help fix this, many college students look into ways of improving their study skills so they can get work done faster. One of the ways is to improve their reading speed. The average student reads around 230 words per minute, but a speed reader is able to read as many as 460 words per minute, making speed reading a valuable skill. So how do people improve their reading speed?

1. Read in the morning. Most people’s reading ability decreases as the day goes by. The average person’s reading speed in the afternoon is half of what it is in the morning.

2. Prioritize. When you have a lot to do, organize your reading by importance. It will improve your reading because you get to the really important material first when you’re at your sharpest.

3. Skim for main ideas. This is a vital component of speed reading. Scan the table of contents so you understand the main points to look for. Read the first and last sentences of each paragraph. Understanding the structure of a book will also help you read faster.

4. Make a question before you start. Turning a chapter’s header into a question will help you know what the chapter will be teaching you.

5. Find a good environment. Most people don’t realize that a bad reading environment can hinder your reading skills greatly. Avoid having to angle your eyes and avoid reading in bed, where your mind starts to relax.

6. Don’t highlight. Many people assume that this makes reading faster but it actually slows them down. Highlighting causes them to pay attention to every sentence so they end up going back and reading it twice. They’re not absorbing anything but marking it for later.

7. Preview the material before you start. Learn to separate the important information and the filler.

8. Be flexible. Some things – like contracts or math equations – have to be read carefully. Other things, like magazines, can be safely skimmed without missing much valuable information.

9. Try to take in phrases as opposed to single words. Instead of focusing on a single word or letter, try to focus on actual phrases that go together so you can understand concepts as a whole.

10. Look for key words. Words like “an” and “the” are usually not important but nouns and verbs usually are, so your focus should be on those.

11. Use a pacer. Something like a pen or even your finger can act as a kind of focal point that draws your attention to the page and keeps it there. This helps avoid having to go back and reread sentences.

12. Avoid rereading. Most students end up rereading about 20 times per page, slowing their speed considerably. Try to take in everything important on the first time.

13. Reading direction matters as well. There are three different methods. Reading diagonally down a page, read the words at the start and end of each line, or read the words down the middle. This helps avoid the unimportant things and helps you focus on what matters.

14. Have your eyes checked. It may seem stupid but you should identify any possible eye defects that could be slowing you down.

15. If you are one of the people who articulate words as you read, don’t. It takes longer to say a word out loud than to read it silently.

For more information, check out these links.

• Guideli nes for Increasing Reading Speed: A .pf file that provides tips to help students increase their reading speed.

• Suggestions for Improving Reading Speed: Discusses the best ways to increase reading speed.

• Suggestions for Improving Reading Speed: Another page with tips on how to improve reading speed.

• Speed Techniques: A visual reference that helps students learn how to speed read.

• Impr oving Reading Speed: Shows why students read slower and how to help them read faster.

Speed reading is something that most students can learn to do on their own. Following the above tips can help students get results in weeks or even days, helping them to improve their reading speed drastically. Effective speed reading will also usually help increase comprehension, which can result in better grades!