Moving on, I want to share with you some screen reading techniques I use to help read faster on screen.<\/p>\n
The first method is reformatting pages that present a challenge to your eyes.\u00a0 When you find an online page that\u2019s cluttered or difficult to read like the kind described previously, don\u2019t skip it.\u00a0 Instead copy and paste it.\u00a0 With the page pasted into your word processor or text editor all you need to do is reformat the text until it\u2019s easier to read.\u00a0 You can change fonts so they\u2019re consistent in size and appearance.\u00a0 You can adjust line spacing and delete distracting images and links.\u00a0 And from there, you could print the page and speed read it like you\u2019d speed read a page in a book.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, that can be a lot of work and you may not want to go through all that trouble, especially when you can probably find equally good information on another site with better presentation.<\/p>\n
Another useful speed reading method to help you read better on screen is to learn how to use different software and hardware features as pacers.\u00a0 A pacer is nothing more than a visual guide that readers can use to help guide their eyes across as well as down lines of text.\u00a0 In the printed world a pacer can be a card, or a finger, or even your entire hand.<\/p>\n
Back when we relied on those really thick telephone directories and dictionaries, most of us used our fingers as we read down each column in search of a name or word.\u00a0 Some of us still use our fingers to help skim through pages of text in search of certain information.\u00a0 In these instances, our fingers are our pacers.<\/p>\n
Using a pacer has many benefits.\u00a0 By guiding your reading, your eyes are forced into moving in the direction of the pacer.\u00a0 In other words, pacers force your eyes to focus when and where you want them to focus.\u00a0 With a pacer, it\u2019s nearly impossible to lose your place on a page and it\u2019s a lot easier to advance to each successive line.\u00a0 All of this helps increase reading speed.\u00a0 Since pacers involve using other parts of the body, it\u2019s easier to stay alert while reading and that helps improve concentration, too.<\/p>\n
This all works very well on paper and pages that lie flat on your desk.\u00a0 But fingers, hands, plastic rulers and cards aren\u2019t very effective when trying to speed read on screen.\u00a0 So you have to use what\u2019s available.\u00a0 And one of those things is highlighting.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re reading a document using a word processing tool that has a highlight feature, you can use that feature as your pacer.\u00a0 Simply click your cursor at the point where you want to begin reading.\u00a0 Then drag your cursor down and across the page to continue highlighting the areas of the page as you read.\u00a0 When you\u2019re finished with a section, release the mouse button and click to clear the highlighted area.\u00a0 Then move your cursor to the next section you want to read, and repeat the highlighting process.\u00a0 Continue this way until you\u2019re through.<\/p>\n
Although effective, the highlighting method could spell disaster if you inadvertently hit the delete key while highlighting a block of text.\u00a0 So only use this technique if your word processor or text editor has a Read Only mode.\u00a0 If it has an \u201cUndo\u201d feature you can use it if you accidentally modify a document in a way you didn\u2019t mean to!<\/p>\n
Something that\u2019s even easier to use as an online pacer is your mouse.\u00a0 All you do is use the mouse button or scroll wheel to navigate up and down your document at whatever pace is comfortable for you.\u00a0 If your mouse has an automatic scroll setting, you won\u2019t even have to touch your mouse.\u00a0 Simply set the speed and let your mouse loose on auto pilot mode, moving your page along as you sit back and read.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t experimented with your mouse settings before, now might be a good time to try.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t feel comfortable doing this, find someone who\u2019s more technically-inclined, explain what you\u2019re trying to achieve, and then have some fun!<\/p>\n
I have one more online pacer tip.\u00a0 But before I explain it I\u2019ll explain the way it works on paper first.<\/p>\n
When reading printed material, you can use a card to cover up the lines of text above the line that you\u2019re currently reading.\u00a0 As you move your eyes from left to right to begin reading, you drag the card down and over the text you just read as you continue advancing to each next line.\u00a0 The card\u2019s smooth edge helps keep eye movements smooth and helps improve reading speed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a really good pacer technique and you\u2019ll be happy to know that you can accomplish this same type of line-by-line pacer movement using the top edge of your computer screen.\u00a0 And it\u2019s really simple to do.\u00a0 All you do is use your mouse or the down arrow to scroll the page up until the first line of text you want to read appears at the top of your screen.\u00a0 Then with your mouse still positioned on the down arrow on the scroll bar click the down arrow each time you\u2019re ready to advance to the next line of text.<\/p>\n
What you\u2019ve done in effect is created a straight edge that helps guide your eyes in the same way a card guides your eyes when reading printed material.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not all.\u00a0 By keeping the line of text you\u2019re currently reading consistently at the top of your screen, the text that you\u2019ve already read scrolls up and out of sight.\u00a0 With already read text out of sight, your eyes won\u2019t be tempted to go back and reread!<\/p>\n
This is a great online speed reading method for anyone struggling with regression.\u00a0 It\u2019s also very effective when the materials are relatively easy and when you\u2019re just skimming a page.<\/p>\n
Video Version of Post
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