Sirve para leer material que necesites comprender y retener de forma eficaz, no olvides que no sólo se trata de leer rápido sino de leer activamente.
No sirve para leer novela, teatro o poesía pues se suele perder la frescura y el disfrute que estas proporcionan.
Este es uno de los objetivos de la lectura rápida, intenta tomar notas mientras lees (al final de cada capítulo por ejemplo) y realizar un resumen o esquema al final. Te serán de gran esquema para repasar.
Pues, aunque pueda parecer lo contrario, sí. La lectura rápida, ante todo, intenta ser una lectura activa, inquisitiva y eficaz. De nada nos serviría leer un libro a la velocidad de la luz si no alcanzo a enterarme de mucho más de lo que me enteraría leyendo la contraportada. Recuerda: hazte preguntas antes de empezar a leer, toma algunas notas breves al terminar un capítulo o fragmento importante y evalua al final si has encontrado la respuesta a todas las preguntas que te hacías al comenzar.
¿Cuánto tengo que practicar?
Fuente: 
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/msg/78f407799058d4d5
Most speed reading courses focus on a number of similar principles. One major impediment to speed
reading is subvocalizing (saying words to yourself while reading). The motion of the eye is another key
factor. Instead of reading just one word at a time, you are taught to pick up phrases, sentences, lines, or
groups of lines in a single glance (depending on the method being taught). In order to increase
comprehension, some methods try to make the user more active in the reading process by having the
user take notes in a specific way, ask questions before and after reading, etc.
j...@netcom.com (Jim Whitaker) writes:
1) Sit down at a well lit table and sit up straight.
2) Take a hardcover book with big easy to read print. preferably not a novel — some kind of no-brainer
non fiction works best
3) Take your finger or a pen and underline the words as you read them. Get used to pacing with your
finger for a few minutes.
4) Now speed up. Simply move your finger FASTER THAN YOU CAN SOUND OUT THE WORDS.
You probably will not be able to understand what you read. In fact, if you think you can comprehend
what you are reading, speed up till you simply see a blur of words that you recognize. If you are having
problems and keeps sounding out the words compulsively — humm a tune. This disables your brain's
capacity for verbalizing words.
5) Aim your eyes above the line of text you are reading, as if you were trying to read “between the
lines”. This makes it easy to focus your attention on GROUPS of words rather than your eye stopping
on individual words, which slows you down. At first you are not aiming to understand; you are trying to
train your brain to accept that it can see and know what phrases of words mean simply by looking at
them.
6) Practice this exercise for no more than 15 minutes at a sittting, no more than one sitting per day,
usually after your morning wake-up ritual when you are at your prime. If you practice for more than 15
minutes, you will exhaust the overworked neurons that are trying to adapt to a new skill, and will have to
wait for 2 to 3 days and restart. If you try to push too hard or too fast, your brain hardware will resist
you.
7) After 8 or so sessions, your brain will start to abandon trying to comprehend what you read as
“sounds” and instead will visually grab words and process them in parallel, instead of one at a time.
Typical reading speeds at this point in time are around 800 to 1500 words per minute.
8) The ultimate key to speed reading is realizing that your brain is learning to process words with the
process of seeing them in groups, then processing their meaning. We are taught to read by seeing words,
sounding them out, and then using our spoken speech hardware to comprehend what we read. The brain
doesn't need this slow speech step.
9) After a number of sessions in which you are comfortable with this technique, get rid of the finger and
use a small brown index card with three black semicircular dots along one edge on it. The black dots tell
you where to position your eyes as you read across the page. Take this card, and drag it down the page,
scaning each line 123 123 123 123 with your eyes fixating either on the dots or above the text lines. With
your finger out of the way, you can pick up some serious speed. As with before, don't expect perfect
comprehension right away.
10) Lose the card. Get in the habit of just scanning with your eyes. (If I'm tired, sometimes I still pull
out the card. It's a great crutch.)
There are more techniques for speed than just these. I used to crank along at 30K WPM. This 10 step
plan is good for about 3K WPM or sometimes a little more. The fantastic rates come from learning to
scan in text essentially out of order, grabbing entire paragraphs as your eyes pop around them almost at
random.
As you read, try to ask questions to yourself about what is going on, or who the material is suitable for,
or something to allow you to “correlate” it. If you are not reading with need or potential purpose in mind,
your brain won't remember it. In fact, your brain will not even process it. It will just see words flying by.
The purpose of studying for an exam just doesn't cut it. You have to try to imagine using the material in
the real world, or sifting it for “junk” or planning something to do with it, and considering what effect
what you are reading will have on your plan or your needs. In short, your brain will slowly get in the
habit of “asking questions” at lightning speeds. It won't even bother to sound these questions out or
formulate them — just instantly come up with them and compare them relative to the material being read.
You will remember what you read relative to the questions you thought up as you read the material.
Some people try to speed read novels. Forget it. It really doesn't work so well. They become lifeless,
because you have to read for “this did happen and this did etc” Speed-read novels often lose that sense
of life. If you have an exam in a Lit class, then speed reading is for you. Just expect the novel to be a
little less “alive” than it might otherwise be when you otherwise read slowly and can feel the emotions
that were conveyed in the words.
The success of speed reading varies from individual to individual and is likely dependent on commitment
and practice. The average reader reads about 350 words/minute. After speed reading training, speeds of
500–2000 words/minute are not unlikely. It is difficult to measure exactly how this effects
comprehension. I am not currently aware of scientific studies that show the effectiveness of speed
reading programs.
The most famous speed reading method is called 'Evelyn Wood's Reading Dynamics'. You can learn this
method through a number mediums including seminars, books, cassette tapes, or computer software.
The number to call for more information is 1–800–447-READ. A book is also available called “The
Evelyn Wood 7 Day Reading & Learning Program”, ISBN 0380 715775, $4.99. A computer software
program is also available called “The Evelyn Wood Dynamic Reader” from Timeworks. See Appendix A
for details.
Another program is called 'Speed Learning' from Learn Inc. They claim their program goes beyond
ordinary speed reading.
Last updated: 22nd June 1995