How to Read More Quickly

Ruth Sasaki
GlobalEnglish Magazine

News Article: Advanced

Ruth Sasaki
GlobalEnglish Magazine

This article presents some helpful reading strategies. To use these strategies as you read the article, try the following steps:

1. Preview the article.
First, look at the title of this article. What do you think the article is about? What do you already know about reading strategies?

Then, scan the article (look it over quickly to find specific inFormation) to answer the following question: How many steps are recommended for reading a document?

2. Skim the article (read it quickly, focusing on key sentences without stopping to look up unknown words). Read the introduction. Then look at the italicized topic sentences in each section.

3. Read the article for details. Read the whole article to confirm your understanding after previewing and skimming it.

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How much time do you spend at work each day reading documents in English? How much time would you save if you could understand these documents more quickly?

There are several strategies that can help you read more quickly. Of course, there are many different kinds of documents: short email messages, long reports or proposals, articles, contracts, and others. The following are some general strategies that you can apply when reading a variety of business documents.

1. Preview the document to establish the context.
Look at the sender or writer and the topic (the title or subject line). Knowing the topic and who wrote the email or document can sometimes help you anticipate the objective and general content of the item. The more context you have, the easier it is to understand what you are reading.

Ask yourself: What do you already know about this topic? What do you need to know? You can use context to help you narrow down your objectives for reading the document. Few people read every single word in a document. One trick to reading quickly is being able to identify which inFormation you need to read carefully and which inFormation you can skim or skip.

Scan the document to understand its organization and probable content. Understanding the inFormation structure of a document can give you more context and help you to understand the content. Look for subheadings, numbers, bullet points, and other Formatting techniques that can help you to identify the parts of the document

2. Skim the document to get the gist.
Now that you have an idea of the topic, the objective, and the structure, you can focus on the sections that contain the inFormation that you need.

Look for the topic sentence in each section or paragraph. The topic sentence is the sentence that should summarize the main point of a paragraph. It's often the first sentence. The rest of the paragraph should simply explain that idea in more detail.

Look for transition words. Transition words are like road signs that tell you what is coming (for example, "In conclusion"). Paragraphs often begin with transition words or phrases that tell you how the inFormation is organized. These words can help you to predict the content of a paragraph. Here are some examples:

Five years ago/Today, ... (inFormation is arranged chronologically)
First/Next/Finally, ... (sequentially)
As a result (cause-effect relationship)
On the other hand/However, ... (contrast or opposition)
On the positive side/In terms of disadvantages, ... (positive-negative)
Overall/In particular, ... (general-specific)

3. Read the document for details.
Now that you have an overview of the document--its purpose, general content, and organization--you can read for details. Again, it is not necessary to read every word. However, you do need to confirm whether your understanding of the inFormation from previewing and skimming is correct.

Don't stop to look up every unfamiliar word. Use your understanding of the context and the words that you DO know to guess the meanings of words that you DON'T know. The important thing is to understand the meaning of the sentence, paragraph, or section--in other words, the main point. You may want to mark unfamiliar words so that after reading through a section in this way, you can check a dictionary to confirm your understanding.

In a short document like an email message, people might preview it and then simply scan it to get the important inFormation that they need. For example, they might scan an email message to find out the time, place, and agenda of a meeting.

In summary, if you don't preview a document to understand the big picture first, you may feel like an ant, making its laborious way up the mountain of each word. You may never reach your destination. By getting an overview of a document first, it is easier to tackle the "mountains." You have a map and can plan a more manageable path through the document, possibly avoiding a few of the peaks. You will also know where to find specific inFormation, so even if you miss it when you skim the document, you can always go back and look it up