Improving Your Average Reading Speed: 5 Free Tips to Get Results

The average reading speed decreases as you grow older.

What Is the Average Reading Speed?

Reading speed is the number of words you read per minute. The most common average reading speed is 300-350 words per minute.

But, there may be some outliers with reading speeds as fast as 500 or as slow as 200.

Technically, the more words that are over your reading speed per minute, the more active reading you are doing. However, there is plenty of disagreement on the best reading speed.

In other words, scholars have not reached. consensus that on the best reading speed.

Some experts argue that the reading speed varies. Certain scholars, for some reason, recommend reading at a slower pace. As a guideline, the higher the standard reading speed, the faster you should read.

Now you’re wondering whether slow reading might hinder success? Let’s find out.

A person reading a long text to improve their average reading speed.
Reading photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Do You Read Fast Enough to Be Successful?

Reading fast is important to be successful because it allows you to understand text a lot quicker. This can help you be more productive and efficient at work.

That means if you’re not reading fast enough, you might be wasting time.

This is because you might be slow to read larger texts that are assigned. Instead, try to move your reading speed up so that you can read these longer reading passages faster. The importance of reading quicker is that it allows you to be more productive at work and school.

Moving your reading speed up will help you understand what you’re reading a lot quicker and what slows you down. This will allow you to read more at a quicker pace, and review more work.

Reading fast is a quality that great thinkers, entrepreneurs, and public speakers need to be successful.

Five ways to make that quality your ownto be more successful:

  • Place a bookmark on each page you read
  • Read in an area of light
  • Practice speed reading
  • Read aloud
  • Make reading a habit

These methods can help you develop the quality to be more specific. But, there are debates about the speed at which one should read. Let’s discuss this a bit more.

How Fast Should You Read?

How fast you should read is debatable. The speed at which you can read falls in the range of 250 words per minute on average. This is about as fast as you can read without losing your comprehension of what you’re reading.

Improving your reading speed should not decrease your ability to understand the text. It should enable you to understand content a lot faster. If you’re unable to read at the speed you think, talk to the person asking you to read faster.

Going at a pace that you are comfortable with should allow you to read faster. It is important not to feel pressurized because this can slow you down even more.

Consider reading at a speed of 300 words per minute and consider testing your reading speed. To read 300 words per minute, give yourself around 4 minutes per line of text with no breaks.

There are more tips to help you read faster.

Five Tips to Help You Read Faster

Here are five tips to increase your reading speed:

  • Use your finger or pencil to follow along with the text.
  • Read everything slowly to get more words correct. Only skim the words you don’t understand.
  • Read passages up to three times.
  • Remove all distractions when you start reading
  • Breathe deeply

Read countless times to improve the skill. When you encounter a word you don’t know, don’t panic, just glance over it and move on. This applies to general reading. Don’t waste your time.

Someone reading many books on their bed to practice speed reading.
Speed reading practice photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Wrap Up: Why Would You Read Faster?

Nowadays, with an abundance of information being generated and given instant access, being able to read faster has obvious benefits. These include learning more, doing more, and going through more material.

Some people can read a book or article quickly and understand the information. They were able to master the skill a lot faster than those who read at a slower pace.

Reading is an important skill. However, not everyone can become an avid reader or have great comprehension. This makes it crucial to develop the skill early on in childhood. That way when you are grown, the ability to read and naturally want to improve the skill is chosen rather than forced.

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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