SPEED READING CHECKLIST
This checklist is designed to give you a quick reminder of all the essential activities required to
successfully speed read with high comprehension. You may briefly review all of the items
before you start practicing to remind you of the new habits you should be incorporating into
your routine.
MARKERS
Encode each of the significant details of the paragraph with a marker
Good markers have lots of rich details avoid foggy or generic mental images
Emphasize visualizing the first and last item of a list with more detail
Focus on combining individual markers into one “compound marker” (4-7 objects)
Consider drawing a rough diagram of the complex marker in the margins
PRE-READING
Survey → Skim content 5-8X your current reading speed.
Look for titles, subheadings, proper nouns, numbers, words, or things that just
don’t seem to fit in. Get a feel of the structure of the text.
Envision using the material
QuestionsAsk yourself questions to improve motivation
The goal is to inspire a burning curiosity
Consider different perspectives
What viewpoint do I anticipate the author taking?
What viewpoint do I have going into reading this article?
Where might the author be wrong?
Where am I open to being persuaded on this topic?
How could this article be improved?
What might critics of this article say?
Who do know that might agree or disagree?
Read → Read
RecallAdd details to the markers after reading each paragraph or page
ReviewAnalyze the content from multiple perspectives, and connect it to previous
knowledge. **spend extra time here
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Speed Reading “Flight Checklist”
© 2019 SuperHuman Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
superhumanacademy.com
SPEED READING CHECKLIST
SPEED READING
Avoid SubvocalizationAvoid reading the words in your own mind
Saccades → Imagine 2-3 columns per page and train eyes to jump between
Do NOT start a saccade on the first word or end on the last word
Train with a card → Never go back on a paragraph of a text
Train yourself to only go back after you’ve finished the entire paragraph and
reviewed it’s markers to see how much you’ve retained
Progressive overloadInput information at the speed you set with the card during
the phase you’re in, which should be just at the edge of your comfort zone
Trick your brain into speeding upMove the card along the page more than
double the speed you are trying to hit don’t expect to catch much of anything
Do this 3X and try to catch as much as possible on the page
You can focus on left side one pass, middle the next, and right the last
Avoid confirmation biasAfter pre-reading and speed reading a section of the test,
jot down everything you remember. Compare notes side by side with what you just
read.
Look out for details you neglected or remembered incorrectly
Whenever you miss information, ask why it happened
If you added information that wasn’t there, ask yourself why
Managing PausesDo not create markers while reading simultaneously, until it
becomes “second nature” (takes months of training)
Make small pauses of around 1 second in-between paragraphs
Make medium pauses of 2-3 seconds between pages
Make larger pauses of 15-30 seconds between chapters
Add additional pauses if you feel distracted, overwhelmed, or frustrated
Start with simple markers that are not lively and have limited detail they will
become more detailed with practice
If you feel like you cannot finish a paragraph because you subvocalize a word
or your attention drifts off, you need to stop and review the markers, because
your short term memory is being overloaded
Take regular pauses and look up to review markers and prevent eye strain.
Look at something far away.
2
Speed Reading “Flight Checklist”
© 2019 SuperHuman Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
superhumanacademy.com