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As published in the Autumn issue of Career Secretary, the quarterly magazine of IQPS - the UK’s leading association for office professionals.
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Liz Kemp (ACIPD, MIQPS), Senior Learning Consultant, Capita Learning & Development led the development session at the East Midlands Branch, IQPS, on Saturday 13 May 2006. Liz has been a learning and development specialist for 15 years. Liz joined IQPS as a student member in 1978 and has supported IQPS at Branch and National level since she has worked in Learning and Development.
During the session Branch members assessed their current reading speed and comprehension rate. The average starting speed for most readers is 240 words per minute with 40% or less comprehension. It is possible to at least double the speed and bring the comprehension to a higher level on a one day programme.
Branch members then learned about reading habits which impede progress, such as excessive fixation, regressions and visual wandering. Excessive sub-vocalisation is also often a problem.
Effective reading involves more than just reading faster but speed is critical, and speed depends on efficient eye movements. This often means getting rid of bad eye-movement habits such as excessive fixations, excessive regressions, and visual wandering.
Excessive fixations
You don't need to fixate on every word, but many of us have been doing it since childhood. If you are, then just picking up two words per fixation will double your reading speed! But aim for more than two words. Trust yourself to see whole groups of words with each fixation. Force yourself to expand your eye-span and use fewer fixations. All fast readers do this and you can too. When you first start doing it, you may suffer loss of comprehension, but don't worry. Once fewer fixations become automatic, your comprehension will return.
Excessive regression
Keep your eyes moving forward and avoid backward glances. Backward fixations, called regressions, really slow down reading and are seldom necessary. Have the confidence to keep moving forward, ever forward. This is not to say you can't reread a passage to improve understanding, but avoid involuntary backward flicks of your eyes. Regression should be by choice and not an unnecessary habit in your reading. It is often quicker, and always more effective, to read a passage right through twice than to read it once with constant regression. Once again, if you've taught yourself to depend on regressions, your comprehension may suffer without them at first - but not for long.
Visual wandering
If your eyes flick all over the page while reading, you're guilty of visual wandering. This is normally the result of poor concentration. If you’re thinking of other things while reading – what you’re going to have for dinner or that long list of things you’ve got to do by Friday – you may find yourself staring at some point on the page and wondering what you’ve been reading. Unlike regressions, which can be intentional to help retention, visual wandering is never intentional and always bad.
All of these bad habits will start going away when you start forcing your eyes to move faster. The faster you go the less time there is for excessive fixating, unintentional regressing and visual wandering. And as you go faster, you'll automatically get rid of another impediment to speed: sub-vocalising (saying each word to yourself).
During the session East Midlands Branch members measured their eye span and worked on practical exercises to increase their eye speed. Many increased their reading speed by over 100 words per minute in a one and a half hour session.
At the end of the session, June Page, Honorary Chairman, IQPS East Midlands Branch, kindly presented Liz with the Branch award for 2006 for her commitment to investing in her career and that of others and for her support and enthusiasm.
In her work for Capita Learning & Development Liz specialises in communication skills training, personal organisation and administration skills. Liz and Capita Learning & Development believe passionately in the power of personal development and its ability to improve performance and confidence in employees.
Each year Capita Learning & Development provides around 4,000 learning events, attended by some 50,000 participants from every sector of the economy. Capita Learning & Development offers a range of learning solutions from standardised content and delivery through to highly customised services, depending on individual and organisational needs. This includes open courses, in-house training, managed services and blended learning.