Article

Information Overload

4 Obstacles to Effective Business Reading – By Jim Kwik

Are you overloaded with too much to read and too little time? (Email, books, newspapers, magazines, journals, mail, memos, faxes, reports, trade publications, technical reading, etc.)
Do you ever forget what you just read?
Does your mind wander when you read?

With the amount of information in the world doubling every few years, in order to survive and thrive, it has become necessary that today’s professionals upgrade their old and outdated reading habits.  To keep up in today’s competitive information age, we must learn to read and think in a new way.

According to a recent study, it is said that today’s business professional must read 1,000,000 words per week to stay current.  With the average person’s reading speed only about 200 words per minute, you can see why most people are struggling so hard to keep up.  In order to become a more efficient reader, you must become aware of what is standing in the way.  There are many obstacles that keep a person from becoming better reader.  Here we will describe four of them.

First Obstacle is “Lack of Education.” Were you born with the ability to read?  No.  Reading is a skill, and like all skills, can be improved.  Yet when was the last time you took a class called “reading?”  For most people, it was when they were about nine years old.  It’s no wonder most people are so stressed.  It’s like we’re living in a high-tech age of jets & spacecraft and our vehicle of choice is a horse and buggy.

Second Obstacle is “Lack of Focus.” This is a big one.  Do you have trouble concentrating while reading?  They say the human brain is the most powerful computer on the planet.  Yet when we read, we feed this supercomputer one … word … at … a … time.  So slowly, metaphorically, we starve our brain.  And if you do not give your mind the stimulus it needs, will it seek entertainment elsewhere?  Absolutely, in the form of distraction.  Interesting enough, many fast readers report greater comprehension because they have better focus.  It’s like driving.  Who’s more focused on driving, a person at 30 mph or a racecar driver at 200+ mph?  The racecar driver is probably not thinking, “Did I pick up my dry cleaning?”  Greater reading speed leads to greater focus, which leads to greater comprehension.

Third Obstacle is “Regression.” Do you find yourself sometimes rereading words?  Reading regression is the act of backskipping.  Researchers say up to 30% of our time can be spent wasted in regression.

Forth Obstacle is “Subvocalization.” While reading, do you notice a voice inside your head saying the words?  Subvocalization can be considered by far the major obstacle to effective reading.  If you know someone who took a speed-reading class that didn’t work for them long term, it’s likely due to subvocalization.  What is subvocalization?  It is the ”inner voice” you hear inside your head when you read. (You may hear it now as you are reading this.)  The reason it is the major obstacle, is because if you need to say all the words inside your head while you read then … you can only read as fast as you can speak.  That means that your reading speed is limited to your talking speed, not your thinking speed.  Reading experts say that a person does not have to “say” the words they read in order to comprehend them.  (Do you ”say” the word “STOP” every time you see a red eight sided sign on the street corner?)   Subvocalization is among the top reasons people have reported that other reading programs did not work for them, but Kwik Reading did.  Efficient readers subvocalize far less than the average reader.

“I took a speed reading course.  I read War and Peace.  It’s about Russia.” – Woody Allen

Traditional speed-reading has long been associated with skimming techniques resulting in low levels of comprehension.  We attribute the remarkable success and effectiveness of our Kwik Reading training to two primary factors.  Number 1: Since memory training is one of our core competencies, we place great emphasis on teaching techniques that improve reading comprehension, retention and recall.  Number 2: We overcome all of the above obstacles to reading, including subvocalization, with the revolutionary Readmate™ technology we utilize.  In very easy and simple steps, this patented device allows its user to learn to not only read with greater speed, focus and concentration, but also to dramatically reduce the process of subvocalization.  All participants in our Kwik Reading program receive their very own Readmate™, theirs to keep.  One graduate described the results as, ”It’s like broadband for your brain.”  For more information about how Kwik Reading corporate training can help your employees keep up, save time and support your company’s bottom line objectives, call Kwik Learning at 914-949-3172.