CONTENTS - Chapter 1

Introduction

· Benefits of better reading skills
· Everyone can improve and have fun
· What will this book do for you?
· Readers are leaders
· Beliefs for success
· Exercise for the disbelievers
· How well can you read right now?

· Working out your present reading ability

· Reading test

Step 1: Read in Your Head - Don't Subvocalise

· What happens to your brain when reading?
· Can you read and chew gum at the same time?
· Key points

Step 2: Keep Moving - Don't Regress

· Let's have some fun!
· How can you overcome regression?
· Use your finger!
· Rules to help you avoid regression

Step 3: Eyes Right

· What are your eye movements like?
· How much information do your eyes take in?
· How does peripheral vision help you read?
· Eye exercises
· How can you train your eyes to read faster?
· The fun upside-down reading exercise

Step 4: Take a Bigger Chunk

· How do you read in groups of words?
· The bigger the picture you take in, the quicker and more effectively you read

Step 5: Read Only Half the Words

· Words are symbols

Step 6: Use Your Brain

· Whole brain
· Questions
· Previewing
· How do you preview?
· What are the general-purpose questions which good readers want answered?
· Why are previewing and questioning so effective?
· Visualisation
· The 80:20 rule
· Are you a debater or a sponge?

Summary of the Six Steps

What Do Good Readers Do?

If You Want to Remember What you've Read, Write It Down

How Can Parents Help?

· What are you saying to your children?
· What happens when school isn't enough?
· Go for meaning
· Can a parent be a teacher?
· Make reading fun
· Are comics acceptable?
· Should I read to my child?
· Should I listen to my child read?
· Neurological Impress Method (NIM) for reading with
· your child

How Can You Check Your Speed At Any Time?

· The three-minute test

How Can You Make It Easier for Other People to Read What You've Written?

· Get straight to the point
· What's the point?
· Who are you writing to?
· Business people want to stop reading as soon as possible

Layout

· How readable is your writing?
· The 20:10 rule for writing

Spell well

· Spelling is more a visual skill than an auditory skill
· Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) approach to spelling

Where to now?

Conclusion

References

Forthcoming titles by the same author

About the author

INTRODUCTION

Benefits of better reading skills

We all have incredible amounts of information we need to process on a daily basis. This information is complex and varied, from detailed business reports to the local paper and school newsletters. Our own ability to immediately understand and respond to the information can:

· increase our productivity

· save us time

· prevent negative emotions; for example, frustration

· enhance our relationships with others

· give us a greater feeling of self-worth

· improve our job prospects

Everyone can improve and have fun

Your reading skills may be poor or fairly advanced, but there is still room for improvement - often by an amount that will astound you. As long as you can read, you will improve. This book is really a performance booster, so if you have been able to read this far you'll get a real power surge as you read on. You won't believe how quickly you will be able to scan and comprehend reading material, simply by putting into practice a few easy strategies. Improvement in reading comes about by following the same basic process as in any other skill area.

You need:

1 A desire to improve
You obviously have a keen urge to improve already, or you wouldn't even be reading this book.

2 Time to practise
All you need is 13 minutes a day for just two weeks.

3 Clear explanations and reasons

We all learn best when we understand the 'why' and can make the information relevant to ourselves. As adults, it is particularly important to us that we understand why we are doing certain things.

4 Appropriate examples

Once we clearly understand what we want to achieve, and can find relevant examples, our learning is far more successful.

5 Support

Anyone trying something new will feel more confident with plenty of support and encouragement. Think of this book as a patient friend who wants nothing more than to see you achieve your full potential.A friend who will gently guide you one step at a time. A friend who will show you what slows your reading down, then reveals the secrets of rapid reading and vastly improved comprehension. Best of all, a friend who makes all activities challenging but fun.

Make the decision to spend a little time. Spend a little effort. And then look around in delight at the riches that you've gained.

When you learn to read more effectively, you will find that study and learning are more effective.Those who have attained superior reading skills are going to have an advantage. In this age of information, an efficient reading technique is not just desirable - it's a survival skill.

Years ago, survival skills meant something quite different.

People like the Truk Islanders, for example, were able to travel thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean in open longboats, and still arrive at precise, predetermined locations. Survival to them meant knowledge of the heavens, the location of stars and the movement of planets. Eskimos once depended on their ability to detect the almost invisible movement of seals under the ice to survive. In today's global village, they have other ways of obtaining food. They're more likely to need computer skills than finely honed physical abilities. Computer literacy has become more important to survival than seal hunting.

Some of us failed to learn to read in our early school years. We may experience ongoing difficulties - but it is possible to do something about poor reading skills, no matter how old you are. Unfortunately, for many of us, our self-image is closely tied to our reading level. As our reading ability rises, so too does our self-esteem.

You've probably all encountered people with a poor self image because of reading problems. You may have been one of them.

I've met many students with low self-esteem, but the memory of one young man I taught years ago stays with me. When I first met him, Peter was about 15 years old and struggling with his school work. He was from a broken home, and the damage this had done was evident: he was overweight and had the reading age of an eight year old, and his self-esteem was rock bottom.

Peter's grandmother was determined to do what she could to help him overcome his problem. She asked me to help him.

Peter didn't communicate much at first. His shoulders were hunched over defensively, and he avoided eye contact. After we had worked together for a while, however, he started to open up. As I expected, it took a while for Peter's mind to stop playing the same old negative tapes (You're no good; you can't read); but bit by bit, I could see progress as we worked our way through an intensive reading program. We had to start from the beginning with his reading, right back to sounds and simple words.

One day, however, it really came home to me how much his improved reading skills meant to him. Just before his lesson, I heard the sound of whistling, accompanied by confident footsteps in the driveway.

It was Peter.

'Hi! You sound happy today,' I commented, smiling at him. I took a second look. He seemed taller. And he seemed to have lost weight. Or was it just his increased self-confidence showing in his general bearing?

'Yeah. I got 100 per cent in the comprehension,' he informed me, thrusting a piece of paper at me. 'Look. The next kid only got 93!'

I was just as delighted as he was. Of all the people I've worked with, Peter most clearly demonstrated the power of good reading skills and the incredible improvement of self-esteem that goes with it. He now had more control over his life and knew that he was a competent, useful member of his school. He was looking good and feeling great - a far cry from our first encounter six months earlier.

What will this book do for you?

This book will show you how easy it is to overcome some bad reading habits and to replace them with powerful reading skills. It assumes you can read, but want - and need - to be more efficient. Back

Readers are leaders

Some of the world's most famous leaders were also exceptional readers. John F. Kennedy flashed along at a warp speed of 5 000 words per minute (wpm); Jimmy Carter was hot on his heels at 3 000 wpm. Compare this with:

· the average Australian - 220 wpm;

· the average Briton - 230 wpm; and

· the average American - 215 wpm.

The level of reading ability assumed by the tabloid press is about seven years of formal education. The more sophisticated daily newspapers target the slightly higher level of 8.5 years. Newspaper editors, it seems, expect the general population to read at a first-year high-school level. Does this surprise you? Or the fact that researchers have found that 13 to 50 per cent of the population have some trouble reading?

We all have the potential to read and understand far more than we do. Our brains easily handle 800 wpm. In one of the last classes l taught, a geologist read at 5 950 wpm with 100 per cent comprehension.

The faster we read, the more likely we are to keep our brain focused on what we are reading. No drifting off into fantasies!

Back

Beliefs for success

Right now you may not believe the following statements. But what if you did? Would you act any differently? Read through the following statements. As you read each one be aware of what it would feel like if you believed it totally, fully, without reservation.

(Incidentally, this technique will work for any self-improvements that you want to make in your life, not just reading.)

Exercise for the disbelievers

Your brain can easily handle massive amounts of information. In fact the average person does this all the time without apparent effort. If you are doubtful, try this exercise.

Take a couple of seconds and have a good look at everything around you.

How long do you think it would take you to describe what you have just seen and with the same detail? Chances are you would be writing or talking for some time. Yet you were able to visually comprehend a great deal.

The same thing happens when you are reading. You are 'looking for the pictures'. And the bigger the pictures you take with reading, the quicker the speed and the better the comprehension.

By following the ideas in this book, you can expect to double your reading speed and improve your comprehension by at least 20 per cent.

What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve - Napoleon Hill

How well can you read right now?

If you are serious about improving your reading ability, then it is important to find out: (a) what your ability is when you start this book; and (b) what you are capable of when you reach the end.

So it's time for you to do a reading test. Yes, a reading test.

Listen to the thoughts passing through your mind. What are you saying to yourself in response to the above two sentences?

How did you react to the word test ?

I know what it feels like to have scornful little mental voices telling me scathing things about my reading ability. I know just where those came from, too. Whenever I hear them I am transported right back to a certain day in Year 4 at school. I immediately picture the hateful face of Glennys, the school bully. I can hear the words she spoke as clearly as if they were spoken yesterday: 'You're so dumb! Even your little sister can read better than you!

She made a horrible face, stuck out her tongue, formed two circles out of her forefingers and thumbs and put them over her eyes to mimic my glasses. 'Look at stupid old four eyes, can't even re-ead!' Then she cackled with laughter, gathered her cronies around her and went off to pick on someone else - leaving me with an awful pain in my stomach.

That day all I wanted to do was go home. I hated Glennys. I hated school. And I especially hated reading.

At home, my father reacted with anger and frustration. 'This is ridiculous! Roslyn can drive the ute and tractor as well as any of the workers on the farm. She's a reliable worker. She prepares all the labels for the fruit to go to market. We've had her eyes checked. So why can't she read?'

(Dad knew I was falling behind in my school work and couldn't keep up in class. I had taken so many sick days from school. Actually, I was sick of school - the thought of reading made my stomach turn.)

Dad, beginning to wheeze from the stress, reached into his blue overalls for his funny old asthma puffer. He was quick to anger, and didn't like to think any of his kids were not coping. He knew perfectly well that I used to pretend I was sick so I didn't have to go to school. After all, by lunchtime I had usually recovered enough to work in the orchard.

Dad went to see the principal. As president of the P & C, he had a bit of influence. He wasn't about to let one of his daughters fail in reading. After talking to the principal, they decided together that a new reading system known as SRA would benefit not only me, but others who were experiencing difficulties. It was expensive, but they felt the school community would be behind it.

So I became one of the first at little Oakdale country school to learn to read through the SRA system. Overweight, dumb Roslyn Hughes (my assessment of myself, as well as Glennys's) finally began to make progress. Every day I did a reading test. Every day my score crept higher and higher, for both comprehension and reading speed.

I actually began to look forward to those reading tests because they were proving Glennys to be wrong. I don't think it was just coincidence that I started to lose those excess pounds and was able to give up my glasses, either. And years later, I felt pretty darn good when I went back to a school reunion with my Masters in Education Administration and bumped into Glennys (the former school bully).

So I really do know that for some of you the reading test might conjure up a picture of childhood fear and anxiety. A" I can say to you is that I'm here to help you. This isn't school and I'm not your parent or schoolteacher. Working on this book can be as private as you would like it to be. I also plan to make it fun. So sit back and enjoy!

Working out your present reading ability

Please take this test with the idea that it is a tool to help you. And know this:

Wherever you're at right now is just fine.

Don't be hard on yourself Accept that this is purely an indication of your present ability and be aware that improvement is just around the corner (or over the next page). In fact the poorer you perform on the test, the better the potential improvement is likely to be. So be gentle with yourself. Enjoy each forward step. Remember:

There is no failure in life, only feedback.

Back

Reading test

I haven't put in a specific test because you all have different interests and no one test would truly suit the variety of readers. In fact it could be inappropriate and counterproductive. So you will have the opportunity to choose your own reading material to check your speed.

Just as you know better than anyone else how much you need to improve, you will also know when you've made that progress. You know about your reading ability and level of comprehension. You are the best judge to determine if you are improving.

The following method will show you how you can check your speed at any time with any reading material that is relevant to you. Choose something reasonably light. You will also need a timer to tell you when five minutes are up.

1. Count the number of words in 3 lines of print.

2. Divide by 3. Round down to the nearest whole number. You now have the average number of words per line.

3. Count the number of lines per page. Ignore lines that have only a few words in them.

4. Multiply the average number of words per line by the number of lines per page. This gives you the average number of words per page.

5. Count the number of pages or parts of a page you read in 5 minutes.

6. Multiply this number by the average number of words per page and then divide by 5 to get your word-per-minute rate.

For example, on a page of 50 lines with 10 words per line, there are 500 words.

If you read two and a half pages in five minutes, then your word-per-minute rate equals 500 x 2.5 divided 5 = 250. (If this looks tricky use a calculator).

Always, when you stop reading, write down answers to the following:

· What was the main point?

· How did the author support those points?

· How is this information relevant to me?

The advantage of this method is that you can choose your own reading material and read for as long as you like. Ten minutes should be the maximum for testing purposes.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

Now that you know a little bit about your reading ability, put the test behind you. You will be able to check your progress at any time using this method. Every time you look back on the tests you have completed you will be amazed at the improvement you've made.

Are you ready to remove the old habits that slow you down and develop new skills? Let's go!

Words don't describe reality, they create it.

Shakespeare

Now would be a good time to take a break before you read on.

Go and do something that you find pleasurable.

Then come back to the book.