Skimming – The Art of Faster Reading

In today’s business climate, you have to stay abreast of current topics, and enhance your skill set. One of the best ways of achieving this is by reading.

You might say that your day is so full that you can’t possible find the time to read. How would you like to read faster and remember what you have read?

One technique to help you is called “Skimming”. Skimming allows you to get the main ideas, without reading every word of the article. You can understand what the writer is trying to convey without concentrating on all of the filler wording and examples.

Start by browsing the table of contents to find areas of particular interest. Read the intro paragraph to each chapter as well. Then read the first sentence or two in a paragraph. Use your finger to point to the line and look for the main wording and eliminate all of the filler words such as and, the, but etc. This will usually give you the main ideas of the content.

This technique will take some practice, but you will start to gain speed and be able to read more quickly, as well as understand what you are reading, in much less time than your traditional reading patterns.