Here we present a five-step speed-reading system:

1. Prepare. This should take no more than five minutes. Preparation helps you to focus. Ask yourself what you already know about the subject. What do you need to know? How and when do you intend to use the new information?

2. Structure. Take an overview of the material to familiarise yourself with the structure: developing an overview of the structure of a 200-page book or document should take between one and ten minutes. Mark parts of the book that you are sure you will not need. Highlight areas that you will need.

3. Language. Familiarise yourself with the language. Is there jargon? Is the language complicated? What do the acronyms mean? This should take five to ten minutes. Highlight words linked to your purpose. Try to recognise recurring themes or concepts.

4: Content. Most well-written material outlines the main element of the chapter in the first paragraph. Similarly, the main idea of each paragraph is usually in the first sentence. So read the first paragraph of every section, the first sentence of every paragraph (if the paragraph is long, read the last sentence too), summaries or conclusions.

5: Purposeful selection. Once familiar with the book, select exactly what you need or want to read. Then learn how to read it, fast.

Most people read at about 150 to 300 words per minute (wpm). And here’s why: as you read this paragraph, do you hear your own voice in your head saying the words? If you do, then you are reading to yourself. This happens because of how you were taught to read. It is the reason why you read at the same speed that you speak. To increase your wpm you must accelerate your reading speed until you transform the old habit of sounding out the words in your head.

Two methods for achieving this are:

The guide – place a guide underneath the first word of a line, move the guide smoothly across the page; repeat on each line, move the guide a little faster than is comfortable. When the guide moves quickly and smoothly, your eyes are forced to follow.

Selective reading – read the first sentence of the paragraph. Skim the rest of the paragraph for key words, and, if you think it’s necessary, read the last sentence of the paragraph.

This is an edited extract from Instant Manager: Overcoming Information Overload, by Tina Konstant and Morris Taylor. Order this and other books in the Chartered Management Institute’s Instant Manager series, published with Hodder Education, at £6.99 with free postage and packing (RRP: £8.99) at pressoffers.co.uk/thetimes

Next week: how to deal with verbal overload

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