Ask HN: Legitimate speed reading method?
I know there's a lot of snake oil in this area. Are there any methods you guys are aware of that work well (increase reading speed while maintaining comprehension levels)?
The courses all teach you the same kinds of things. It's not exactly snake oil, but it's not something that's easy.
I took one of these years ago, as a kid, and got little out of it. Why? Because I didn't practice. Here are the main things that I recall from the class: 1) they trained you to read groups of words rather than individual words 2) they trained you to use your peripheral vision to increase the size of those word groups 3) they trained you to stop and recount what you just read, every couple of pages or chapter.
That was about it. It was about practice -- which most people don't want to do. There are no tricks; like anything else, getting better at reading speed + comprehension takes a lot of practice.
However, it definitely does help to be cognizant of the different techniques they teach, so that you can practice yourself. And, just like programming, you need to set aside time when you can actively practice these techniques. And practicing this stuff has generally made the reading itself less enjoyable, in my experience.
I think everyone can pick up reading by phrases to a certain extent. Scanning full pages or even paragraphs is probably a innate skill that isn't learnable.