Howard Stephen Berg - Super Reading Secrets

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Copyright 1992 by Howard Stephen Berg

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First eBook Edition: September 1992

ISBN: 978-0-446-55327-8

NOW YOU CAN SPEED-READ WITHOUT TEARS!

SUPER READING SECRETS is a revolutionary, easily applied speed-reading technique.

Whether you are a professional, a student, or a book lover, youll be surprised at how much fun youll have learning how to super read.

This complete guide includes:

guided exercises for mastering speed and comprehension

self-testing drills

hands-on techniques for practicing

tips for slow readers and those for whom English is a second language

appendices of essential information.

All thisand morewill help you tap your minds hidden potential and reach reading levels you never thought possible in the classroom, on the job, and in your life.

Dedicated to the memory of my mother,
who didnt live to see the seed
that she sowed flower.

While walking in a crowded mall you suddenly spot a familiar face; one you havent seen in years. Yet, you instantly recognize it as belonging to a friend who you have wanted to contact for a long time. How is it that a mind that distinguishes a face that appears unexpectedly in a large congregation of people reads one word at a time in a book? The fact is that you do not have to read this way. You can change the way your mind reads so that you can use the same visual power you exercise in every other life activity.

Once properly trained, your mind can identify large groups of words with the same unconscious effort used to spot objects in your day-to-day life. The brain is like a wonderful computer, capable of visually processing huge amounts of data in an instant. All you need is a system that enables you to apply your full visual power to reading. Super reading is a system that will allow you to accomplish this task. Using the techniques described in this book, you will soon be reading phrases, paragraphs, and even whole pages with as little effort as you now give to reading single words.

WHAT IS SUPER READING?

Super reading will provide you with a wide range of skills that will have you mastering information you once considered incomprehensible. By using super reading, you will be able to:

reach you maximal reading speed

increase your comprehension of text

memorize quickly large amounts of information

master study skills

concentrate and maximize your mental power

Reaching Maximal Reading Speed

Maximal reading speed can be achieved in two ways. Most speed-reading courses usually rely upon drills that develop your mechanical skills to increase your reading speed. These drills train your eye to scan text at high rates. Mechanical skills of this type are called motor skills by psychologists. All motor skills involve learning to co-ordinate physical activity with a task. You are already familiar with a large number of motor skills which may include typing, driving a car, playing an instrument, performing in sports, and dancing. The key to mastering motor skills is frequent practice on a regular basis. This is more important than attempting to cram all your study into a single practice session each week. Mastering speed-reading motor skills is best accomplished by brief daily exercises rather than studying several hours on a weekend. No doubt there will be days when you will be unable to find even a brief moment for practice. This is of no consequence unless it becomes your pattern. Just like learning an instrument, the more regularly you practice, the sooner you will master super reading.

Unlike most speed-reading programs, super reading does not rely solely upon motor skills to increase your speed. Instead, it uses the latest breakthroughs in psychology in teaching people how to read more intelligently. The area of psychological research that deals with how the mind learns is called metacognitive psychology. By using metacognitive techniques, you will increase your reading speed even without practicing your motor skills. How- ever, using both motor skills and metacognitive techniques at the same time will produce reading speeds greater than either method produces on its own.

Increasing Comprehension of Text

No matter how quickly you read, nothing of value is accomplished without understanding. Many reading professors now believe that the single most important factor used to understand text is schema. Schema is a term describing all the information you already possess when learning something new. Super reading is crammed with tips on using schema to master details even when you find a book confusing.

Developing a Powerful Memory

Isnt it strange that you can remember the words to songs on the radio simply by hearing one or two notes from an instrument? This is even stranger when you consider that you probably have never read the lyrics. Yet the memory of these songs persists in your mind for years. One twang on the bass guitar and you remember the lyrics to one of a hundred Beatles songs; yet, a book you read last night can be difficult to remember. Wouldnt it be wonderful if you could learn to remember things you read as effortlessly as you remember the words to songs you hear? You can. Chapter Seven, How To Develop A Super Memory, is crammed with techniques that will help you memorize even complex information with a minimum of effort.

Mastering Study Skills

Youve just spent days studying for that important meeting or exam. Confidently, you prepare to answer the questions and then it happens. Question after question is asked that you know nothing about. Performing poorly when you fail to properly prepare might be expected, but failing after diligent studying is an undeserved frustration. Is there anything you can do to avoid this situation? The section on Mastering Study Skills describes how to determine what questions are most likely to be asked of you before you begin to study. It even describes how to use far less time to master information.

Increasing Concentration

You are about to learn how to read a page in only three seconds. At this speed even a brief distraction can result in missing important details. Nonetheless, the world will not come to a silent halt while your mind is focusing upon information you want to learn. Learning to concentrate is a skill that will enable you to tune out the annoying distractions around you. The screeching horns, the noisy children, and countless other distractions will no longer draw your focus away from your reading.

Environmental conditions arent the only distractions that can interfere with learning at high speeds. Negative emotions like depression, anxiety, and fear exert a detrimental influence on your ability to comprehend and retain information. Fortunately there is a solution to all these problems. For centuries, those with the most advanced minds have developed their mental powers by mastering meditative techniques. Super reading will provide you with several different meditation exercises that will enable you to develop a well-focused mind that can comprehend information at high speeds.