Speed reading training is a lot like training for the marathon. At first, you wouldn’t even be able to finish a 10 km race; but as you practice, you’ll find yourself not only finishing a 10 km marathon but going another extra 5 km like the rest of the seasoned runners.

Likewise, it doesn't matter if your reading speed is at a snail's pace right now. With the right training, you’ll dramatically increase your reading rate and comprehension in no time!

Want to know the steps to an effective speed reading training? Read this article.

Step 1: Determine Your Base Rate.

The first thing you must do is figure out how many words you can read per minute. That is your base rate and will serve as your first checkpoint.

There are several ways to measure your reading speed. You can either time yourself with a stop watch as you read a certain passage, or you can make use of some of the free speed reading exams available online.

Either way will tell you how many words you can read per minute. Once you have determined your base rate, you can now proceed to the actual speed reading training.

Step 2: Let Your Eyes Do The Reading.

Most of us read silently, although our minds are still mentally reading the text word by word. Speed reading training tells you otherwise. Our eyes can actually comprehend more than one word at a time and are definitely faster than our inner voice.

To train yourself to read with your eyes, read with one finger gliding through the text. This will encourage you to read faster and not read word by word.

Step 3: Read Faster Than Your Current WPM.

There are a number of free online programs that flash words from your chosen text onscreen at a customizable rate. Choose a setting that’s higher than your base rate and try to keep up with the words flashing on screen.

You may not be able to comprehend a lot of what you have just been presented, but it’s part of your training. Tweak the setting back to your base rate, and you’ll be surprised at how slow the words are flashing.

The more you train with a higher setting, the faster you’ll be able to adjust and the faster your reading speed will be.

Speed reading training has helped a lot of people through the years. It has helped them absorb the overwhelming abundance of information hurled at them every single day. With the proper speed reading training, you’ll have no problem absorbing and understand anything that comes your way.