You’re staring at a stack of books that looks more like a structural hazard than a TBR pile. We’ve all been there. You want the knowledge, you want the story, but your brain feels like it’s stuck in second gear while the world is moving at 100 mph. The honest truth about how can you read faster isn't about some "magic" pill or a secret photographic memory hack that 99% of people don't actually have. It’s mostly about unlearning the clunky habits your third-grade teacher drilled into you.
Reading is a physical act. It involves muscles, eye tracking, and a whole lot of neurological processing. Most people top out at about 200 to 250 words per minute (wpm). That’s the speed of speech. If you’re reading at the speed you talk, you’re basically just talking to yourself in your head. It’s slow.
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The Subvocalization Trap
Stop talking to yourself. Seriously.
That little voice in your head that "pronounces" every single word as you read it? That’s called subvocalization. It’s the number one anchor dragging down your speed. Your brain can actually process visual information way faster than your vocal cords could ever vibrate. When you subvocalize, you limit your intake to your speaking speed.
To break this, you have to treat reading like a scan rather than a recital. Some experts suggest humming or chewing gum while you read to keep your "vocal" brain busy while your eyes do the heavy lifting. It sounds goofy. It kind of is. But it works because it forces your brain to realize it doesn't need to "hear" the word "the" to know it’s there.
Your Eyes Are Jumping Around Like Crazy
Ever notice how your eyes don’t glide across a line of text? They jump. These jumps are called saccades. Between the jumps, your eyes stop for a fraction of a second—this is a fixation.
If you want to know how can you read faster, you have to minimize these fixations. Most people fixate on every single word. "The. Cat. Sat. On. The. Mat." That’s six stops. A pro reader sees "The cat sat" and "on the mat." Two stops. You’re literally doing 66% less physical work.
Use a Pacer (The Finger Method)
Remember when you were a kid and you used your finger to follow the words? And then a teacher told you to stop because it looked "juvenile"?
That teacher was wrong.
Using a pacer—a finger, a pen, or even a cursor—is the easiest way to immediately boost your wpm. Your eyes are naturally drawn to motion. By moving a pointer steadily across the line, you force your eyes to keep up. It prevents "regression," which is that annoying thing where you realize you just read the same paragraph three times because your mind wandered to what you want for dinner.
- Use a pen or your index finger.
- Keep it moving at a smooth, slightly-uncomfortable pace.
- Do not let your eyes move backward. Even if you think you missed a word. Just keep going.
The goal here isn't 100% comprehension on day one. It’s training the hardware.
The 80/20 Rule of Information
Not all words are created equal. In a standard English sentence, about 40% to 50% of the words are "filler" or structural. They don't carry the core meaning. If you see the sentence, "The protagonist walked slowly through the dark, eerie forest," your brain really only needs protagonist, walked, dark, forest to get the vibe.
Speed readers focus on the "meat" of the sentence. They skip the prepositions and the fluff. This is especially true for non-fiction or business reports. Most business books are one great 20-page idea stretched into 300 pages by an editor. Learn to spot the "fluff" and fly over it.
Stop Being a Perfectionist
If you’re reading a technical manual on how to perform heart surgery, please, for the love of God, read every word. Slowly.
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But if you’re reading a biography, a news article, or a business strategy book? You don't need every syllable. Most people struggle with how can you read faster because they feel "guilty" for skipping words. Don't. You’re looking for ideas, not counting commas.
The Physical Environment Matters
You can't speed read in a mosh pit. Well, maybe you can, but it’s not ideal.
- Lighting: Straining your eyes slows down your saccades. Get a good lamp.
- Posture: If you’re slumped over, your oxygen intake drops. Your brain needs oxygen to process data. Sit up.
- The "No-Phone" Zone: Every time your phone buzzes, you lose your flow state. It takes about 20 minutes to get back into deep focus. If you check your phone every 10 minutes, you are literally never at peak reading capacity.
Practical Drills to Try Right Now
If you want to actually get faster, you have to treat it like a workout. You can't just wish for bigger biceps; you have to lift the weights.
The 2-Minute Drill:
Pick a book. Read at your normal pace for two minutes. Mark where you finished. Now, try to read that same section in one minute. You’ll miss things. That’s fine. You’re training your eyes to move at double speed. Then, read a new section for two minutes. You’ll find your "cruising speed" has naturally drifted upward.
The Peripheral Vision Trick:
Try to start reading each line three words in from the left and stop three words before the end of the line. Your peripheral vision will pick up the edges. This narrows the "track" your eyes have to travel, saving you thousands of tiny movements over the course of a chapter.
When Should You Actually Slow Down?
Speed reading isn't always the answer.
Poetry is meant to be heard in the mind. Fiction, when the prose is particularly beautiful, should be savored. If you speed read The Great Gatsby, you’re missing the point. The goal is to have a "gearbox." You should be able to shift into high gear for a white paper or a generic thriller, but downshift into first gear for Shakespeare or a legal contract.
Take Actionable Steps
Becoming a faster reader isn't a weekend project. It’s a habit.
- Start with a pacer today. Don't read anything without a pen or finger guiding your eyes for the next week.
- Time yourself. Use an online wpm tester or just a stopwatch. You can't improve what you don't measure.
- Chunk your words. Practice looking at two or three words at once instead of individual ones.
- Kill the internal monologue. Consciously try to "see" the images the words represent rather than "saying" the words in your head.
The more you practice, the more natural it feels. Eventually, you’ll find yourself finishing books in a few sittings that used to take you a month. Your "stack" won't look so intimidating anymore. It’s just data, and you’ve upgraded your processor.