3min chapter

The Reader's Journey cover image

22. Howard Berg: Super Reading Secrets From The World's Fastest Reader

The Reader's Journey

CHAPTER

Why You Shouldn't Speed Read

Howard Kurtz: I speed up the boring parts of a book. He says it's better than being bored and gives you an emotional gratification. We should slow down when we get to more engaging or emotionally gratifying sections, he says. "I wish these techniques were taught in school where people actually need to learn how to learn"

00:00
Speaker 2
I definitely wish I had, you know, read this book or, you know, wish these techniques were taught in school where people actually need to learn how to learn. So definitely valuable information there. And Howard, is there like some situations where you shouldn't speed read like let's say someone's reading like Shakespeare or, you know, kind of just reading for pleasure. What's your
Speaker 1
opinion on that. And then Shakespeare for school, it's not for pleasure. You put a gun to my head and said you got to read how to do a report tomorrow. That's not pleasure reading. But if I'm reading for pleasure, what I do is I speed up the boring parts, the parts that I, oh my God, this is so boring. I'm reading the midst of Avalon, which is very nice fiction book on the on the King Arthur legend. And they were huge sections. There was one section about 16 pages long on the furniture, the King Arthur's throne room. And then I couldn't care less it talked
Speaker 2
about every napkin and fork and spoon
Speaker 1
the motifs. I was like, I'm not interested napkins and forks and spoons. So I read that in three seconds 10 pages turn turn turn turn up is the story. The boring parts that might have prevented you from finishing the book I've done so quickly that you're not bored. Just better than saying I can't stand this anymore. And then you get to the parts with this emotional gratification. And you should slow down. If you don't go to the roof and look at the motor Lisa on a skateboard, or truck Dom Perio is supposed to say this something. And you can't read a son in three seconds and leap over the beauty of the language. And then you can see that there's a lot of times when we want to feel emotionally connected. And so what we do is we go quickly through the chafe, the non non relevant, non interesting section. And what we're doing, we know what's going on, we just don't care which is better than being bored. And then when it appears more engaging, and more emotionally gratifying don't speed up. Read it at a speed that gives you that emotion or piphany that you were looking for from the book. And so we'll actually finish more novels now, we greater appreciation and less border. And I go through this again step by step by step in the
Speaker 2
full program.

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