By Dr. Matthew Schneps
A number of people have asked me some questions in response to Winston’s blog.
Q: Do you start off reading a 650 words per minute or do you have to build up to it?
A: No. You have to build up to it. Sometimes even within a given story. You might want to start the story at something reasonable like 250 or 300 words a minute. And then as you get to know the story and understand how the author speaks, you can speed it up until you are going at a rate of about 650 words per minute. Not only does it take practice, but it changes from book to book, and so you don’t want to think of the speed as fixed, but something that you change as you become accustomed to the text.
Remember: the goal to superfast reading is to read AHEAD of the voice, and not just to listen along.
Q: What are the most important settings?
A: Most important is to set it so 2 or 3 words appear on a line, and to make the letter spacing large. The other settings are refinements. Remember, it’s an individual thing, and you may prefer variations on these settings. Go with your gut.
Q: How do you set up an iPhone or iPod Touch?
A: I have an iPhone 5s. Here’s how I set it up.
