“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”

Gentlemen,

For most people, it is easy to learn to read faster. Your reading rate is often just a matter of habit. But to begin, you may need to try to change some habits and try these tips:
1. Pay attention when you read and read as if it really matters. Most people read in the same way that they watch television, i.e. in an inattentive, passive way. Reading takes effort and you must make the effort.

There are some simple methods that you can use to pay better attention and get more out of your textbook reading time.
"preview" the passage before you actually sit down and read every word.
To do a preview you:
• take 30 to 60 seconds.
• look over the title of the chapter.
• look at all the headings, subheadings and marked, italic or dark print.
• look at any pictures or illustrations, charts or graphs.
• quickly skim over the passage, reading the first and last paragraph and glancing at the first sentence of every other paragraph.
If you do the preview correctly, you should have some very good general ideas and if you have a general idea of what the passage is about before you really read it, you will be able to understand and remember the passage better.

Question
• ---Close the book and ask yourself:
• ---What is the main idea?
• ---What kind of writing is it?
• ---What is the author's purpose?
• When you finally get to the point where you are actually, slowly read the passage, read in a "questioning" manner as if you were searching for something. It sometimes helps if you take the heading or title of a chapter and turn it into a question.
• For example, if the heading of a section in the text is “Abraham Lincoln” take that title and switch it into a question like: "Who was Abraham Lincoln?". Now you have a goal; something to look for; something to find out. When you are goal-oriented, you are more likely to reach the goal. At least you'll remember one thing about the text which you have just read.