Speed reading

Tony’s premise is that we are all capable of reading more quickly. The problem is that we haven’t been taught how. If we hold a book at the correct distance away. Tony explains that our eyes are quite capable of taking in a group of words at a single glance. We can thus read phrase by phrase and not word by word.

Contrary to what you might think, reading several words at time does not lead to a drop in comprehension. A single word isolated taken out of context is not as meaningful as a phrase of four or five words. As in the following example:

"The hairy red dog, ran along the muddy path for almost a hundred metres. Its coat was soon covered in a layer of filth"

Instead of reading:

"The — hairy — red — dog — ran — along — the — muddy — path..."

You should read:

"The hairy red dog — ran along the muddy path — for almost a hundred metres..."

The other point to note is that if you use a guide when you are reading, something like a pencil or a letter opener, the eye will find it much easier to follow the text. With practise Tony reckons its possible to increase reading speed by a factor of five or more.

More about Tony

Tony has dedicated his adult life firstly to encouraging all around him to be aware of the latent brainpower that we all possess and secondly to teach a whole range of memory and study techniques that aim to dramatically improve our performance. His book Use your Head has sold more than a million copies. This - and subsequent titles - have been translated and published in many countries around the world.

Tony has been retained as an advisor and gives regular lectures to commercial and educational institutions alike. His radical note-taking method known as Mind-Mapping is designed to mirror the construction of the human brain. He is co-founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad – an annual event where would be champions meet up to do battle over games like chess, backgammon, draughts and scrabble. Tony argues that mind sports should be put on an equal footing with physical sports.

Take it further

Tony has published a large number of books, including Use your Head Use Your Memory, The Speedreading Book, The Mind Map Book and Master Your Memory.

Fancy taking your interest in body & mind further? Why not explore some of the options we've gathered to help you explore this area in more detail.

Content last updated: 07/07/2008