PDF Summary:10 Days to Faster Reading, by The Princeton Language Institute and Abby Marks Beale

Do you have a pile of reading material you’ve been meaning to read for ages? Do you feel you could learn more if only you could read faster? In 10 Days to Faster Reading, Abby Marks Beale and the Princeton Language Institute offer a variety of strategies to help you reach your reading goals. By practicing their speed-reading techniques, you can learn new information more efficiently, rid yourself of unhelpful reading habits, and understand the things you read on a deeper level.

In this guide, we’ll explain why the authors believe speed-reading is important for adults. Then, we’ll look at a selection of their strategies for quicker, more effective reading, especially of nonfiction texts. For instance, we’ll explore how to teach your eyes to take in more information at once. In our commentary, we’ll look at some of the science behind speed-reading. Additionally, we’ll examine some alternative philosophies on reading instruction, such as Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren’s ideas in How to Read a Book.

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In addition to assisting you with Strategy #1, this strategy helps you meet the following three goals:

1) Getting a sense of the structure and topics covered. Almost all nonfiction writing follows an internal outline that offers a map of the topics covered. This strategy takes advantage of that framework to give you a clear overview of what you’re about to read.

(Shortform note: The internal outline is also important in nonfiction texts because it helps readers understand the author’s narrative thread throughout the piece. If a text has a clear structure, readers can follow the main points and argument without getting lost in the details. A lack of a clear outline and the author going off on too many tangents can undermine the main point of the piece.)

2) Improving your reading efficiency by giving you context and direction for a text. When you don’t familiarize yourself with a text beforehand, you don’t know where it’s going. Therefore, you may be unsure what you’re supposed to get from it. This often makes it more difficult to concentrate and understand what you’re reading. As you struggle to figure out what you’re supposed to be learning, you read more slowly.

(Shortform note: Some research suggests that looking over a text before reading improves comprehension as well as efficiency. Previewing allows you to connect the broad ideas you see in the text to any prior knowledge you have of the subject, aiding in your understanding of the ideas once you begin fully reading.)

3) Reviewing a text after reading it previously. (Shortform note: This could be particularly useful when studying or reviewing information in advance of a meeting or presentation.)

To pre-familiarize yourself with the contents of your nonfiction reading material, the authors suggest identifying and reading certain elements of the text before working through its main body. We’ll highlight two sets of elements here: 1) the title, introduction, headings, and conclusion, and 2) details about the author and the book’s copyright.

The Title, Introduction, Headings, and Conclusion

According to the authors, reading the title provides your first clue of what the text covers. Then, read the introduction (usually the first paragraph or paragraphs of the text). Once you know where the text is going, move on to the headings, which communicate the text’s content and structure. Finally, read any concluding paragraphs at the end of the text—these will often offer a synopsis of the main ideas.

Further Thoughts on the Roles of Titles, Introductions, Headings, and Conclusions

Title: In How to Read a Book, Adler and Van Doren state that a title’s usefulness for understanding what a book is about varies. Some titles tell the reader exactly what to expect from a book (like Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist). However, many modern titles are less explicit (like Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink).

Introduction: According to other reading experts, introductions are important because they often contain definitions of key terms and other important context you need to understand the book’s ideas. Without this knowledge, you might be lost as you read.

Headings: When you move on to the headings, consider using them to organize any notes you take. Copy them down and write your notes for each section under the correct heading or subheading—this will help you figure out what information goes with what point when you review the notes later.

Conclusion: Finally, in addition to being a summary of the author’s main points, a conclusion typically offers important takeaways from the text. This is where the author lets you know why their ideas should matter to you after you stop reading, how their ideas connect to larger issues, and how to apply their ideas to your life.

Author and Copyright Details

According to the authors, details about the writer of a piece offer insight into their unique perspective. For instance, background about their life may indicate why they’re writing about the topic.

(Shortform note: You can typically find details about an author near the end of a book, on the back cover, or on the left inside flap of the dust jacket. When reading an article, you can often find this information at the end of the text. If you want to learn more about an author’s point of view and their reasons for writing, consider also looking outside of the text for information about them. For example, visit their website if they have one, or look at their accounts on social media sites like Instagram and Goodreads. If an author is dead, look up biographical information about them.)

The authors also recommend inspecting the book’s copyright details, as they tell you when it was written. This will give you historical context.

(Shortform note: Historical context offers insight into many aspects of a text, including the style of the language and vocabulary used, the contemporary social issues influencing the text, the historical and literary references included, the behavior of characters, and so on. In the case of non-fiction works, copyright information indicates how many editions of a text exist and the most recent publication date. You can use this information to determine how relevant a text might be in relation to the most recent developments in the subject it discusses.)

Strategy #3: Reduce Unhelpful Reading Behaviors

According to the authors, people commonly engage in several behaviors that slow down their reading. One way to improve your reading speed is by addressing three unhelpful habits, which we’ll further explore in this section.

Behavior #1: Mouthing or Speaking the Words

The authors state that one of the main behaviors that slow readers down is mouthing, reading aloud, or silently reading the words in a text at the rate of speech—also known as subvocalizing. The rate at which we speak is much slower than the rate at which we can think and read, so if you’re reading at a speaking rate, you’ll get through a text much more slowly.

(Shortform note: Though reading aloud slows us down, some researchers have found that it has several benefits we miss out on when we read silently. First, studies conducted with different age groups found that people who read a collection of words aloud remembered those words better than people who read the list silently. To a lesser extent, mouthing the words also improved people’s memory of the text. Additionally, some researchers found that reading aloud helped people understand complicated, difficult texts more easily.)

To reduce subvocalization, the authors suggest putting your pointer finger against your lips, as if you’re telling someone to be quiet. This will remind you not to speak. (Shortform note: Consider listening to instrumental music in addition to placing your finger on your lips. Calm music without lyrics helps reduce subvocalization and aids with concentration.)

Behavior #2: Unintentionally Rereading

Another slow reading behavior the authors discuss is rereading parts of a text by accident. As untrained readers move through a text, their eyes often unconsciously drift back to portions they’ve already read. This adds time by slowing their progress. Readers often do this because they’re unfocused.

To stop yourself from unintentionally rereading, take a blank note card and place it at the top of the page. As you read, move the notecard down so it covers the portion of the text you’ve already read. If your eyes drift, the bottom of the notecard will indicate where to resume reading.

(Shortform note: Some research indicates that preventing yourself from backtracking may hinder comprehension. One study found that when sentences participants had already read in a text were covered up, the participants’ comprehension was markedly worse than when their eyes were able to jump back to previous parts of the text. Therefore, eye movements that jump back to sentences we’ve already read may play a significant role in our ability to understand a text. This research focused on speed-reading apps that block readers from backtracking, but the same principle could apply to anything that covers text, including a notecard.)

Behavior #3: Getting Lost in Thought

Finally, people often read slowly because their thoughts drift to subjects that have little to do with the text. According to the authors, this affects reading speed and comprehension, as you continually have to redirect your attention back to the text.

(Shortform note: If your mind wanders while you’re reading, it may be because you don’t like what you’re reading. Some researchers think that we get lost in thought when the task we’re doing isn’t rewarding or engaging enough. When our brains find a task boring, they search for something else more interesting to think about.)

However, consciously directing your thoughts toward topics that are related to the text can help you remember what you read. Our brains remember new information by connecting it to things we already know, so connecting what you read to existing knowledge creates a lasting memory. For example, if you’re reading about the diet of a giraffe, you might connect what you read to a memory you have of feeding giraffes at your local zoo, creating a mental map between your past experience and the new facts.

(Shortform note: Our ability to make memories through association starts at the cellular level—according to Joshua Foer in Moonwalking With Einstein, our brains are made up of a web of interconnected neurons. Physiologically, memories are arrangements of connections between these neurons, so no memories exist in isolation. To retrieve memories, we must search for pieces of information by thinking about other things that are connected to them in this neural web of associations. Any connection you make between your experience and what you read will likely make a new connection between your neurons, forming a memory.)

Strategy #4: Increase the Amount of Information Your Eyes Take in

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the basic structure and content of a text, decided it’s worth your time, and reduced some of your unhelpful reading habits, turn your attention toward reading the body of the text efficiently. To do this, the authors say you must increase the amount of information your eyes take in at one time.

(Shortform note: If you want to increase your eyes’ ability to absorb visual information, your eyes need to be strong overall. There are many exercises you can do to strengthen your eye muscles, improve circulation in your eyes, and hone your vision. These exercises also decrease your chances of eye strain, which would impede your ability to read. For example, three times a day, roll your eyes in a circular motion 20 times. Widen the circle as far as your eyes will allow. Rest your eyes for 10 seconds, then repeat the process by rolling your eyes the other way. This strengthens your eye muscles, so you can use them for longer periods without them getting tired.)

The authors note that you can read faster by expanding your vision field—the full extent of what you’re able to see when your eyes pause. As you read, your eyes flit from one part of the page to another in rapid movements. When your eyes pause on a spot, they absorb information. Expanding your vision field allows your brain to take in more information each time your eyes land on a piece of text.

(Shortform note: Though they might feel still, our eyes are actually moving when they pause to look at something. A 2013 study suggests that these movements enhance our peripheral vision (and thus our vision field). These minuscule movements are called microsaccades. Scientists previously thought that microsaccades served no significant purpose, but the researchers in this study found that they alter our visual perception, improving our eyes’ ability to send visual information to the brain. This enables us to see from the corners of our eyes and absorb more visual information—like the words in a text.)

Practice the following technique to expand your vision field:

Technique: Widen Your Peripheral Vision

In this technique, the authors describe how to train your eyes to see more to the left and to the right of your peripheral vision when you're looking at a fixed, central spot. Start by creating a page of several rows of randomized characters (such as numbers or letters), putting three per row. In the first row, space the characters closely together, and widen the space between the characters in each subsequent row.

Starting at the top, go down the rows, keeping your eyes trained on the central character in each line. While focusing on the center, you should still be able to see the characters to the right and left in your peripheral vision. As you move through the rows, it becomes more difficult to see all three characters because your eyes must work harder to take in the information on either side. Practicing this regularly with ever-widening spaces between the characters will help you expand your peripheral vision and read with greater efficiency.

Further Ideas for Improving Peripheral Vision

In addition to increasing your reading speed, exercising your eyes can help prevent them from getting irritated or strained, as we mentioned earlier. Likewise, improving your peripheral vision helps increase your awareness of the world around you.

If you want to continue improving your peripheral vision but would like to try a variety of exercises, there are many you can use in addition to the authors’ suggestion. Generally, they involve focusing on a central point (as in the central character in each row) while gradually spreading your awareness outward. For example:

Exercise #1: Go to a public place and sit down with a piece of paper and something to write with. Pick a spot to focus on, and write down everything you can see, including whatever’s in your peripheral vision. Repeat the process several times, and each time, try to increase the number of things you write down.

Exercise #2: Take a straw and draw a black line around its circumference midway between the two ends of the straw. Place the straw horizontally on top of a glass. The length of the straw should run left to right as you’re facing it. Grab two toothpicks, and fix your gaze on the black line in the middle of the straw. Without moving your eyes away from the black line, try to put the toothpicks in either end of the straw. Your brain must use the information in your peripheral vision to complete the task.

Strategy #5: Read Only Essential Words

Finally, the authors argue that you can read more quickly by focusing your eyes only on the most important words in a sentence. You’ll still be able to understand the meaning of each sentence, but you won’t waste time reading every single word.

(Shortform note: Other speed-reading experts suggest pausing from time to time while reading a text using this strategy. Pausing to reflect on what you’ve read ensures you’re comprehending the text and not jumping so quickly that you’re missing important information. Summarize what you’ve read to yourself, and think about how you might use the information. Also, consider how the knowledge fits with what you already know; what you still want to learn; and what’s unclear.)

Important words are essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence. For example, look at the following sentence:

“Monarchs migrate to overwintering groves along the California coast.”

The most important words are in bold—if your eyes jump from bolded word to bolded word, you get the salient information you need to understand what the text is about.

When you’re just getting started with this technique, you may want to highlight or underline important words in a text before you begin reading in order to guide your eyes. The more you practice, however, the more automatically your eyes will jump to the most important words.

(Shortform note: As you begin practicing by highlighting or underlining important words in a text, consider focusing on nouns and verbs. These represent the subject or actor, the action the subject is taking, and the object or target of the action. Thus, they offer a lot of the information you need in order to understand what a piece of text is about. Meanwhile, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions will likely repeat more in the text, and they probably aren’t as necessary to read.)