Although some people naturally develop some of the skills used in speed-reading without even realizing it, it's not a technique you can learn simply by reading more (or trying to read faster!). There are certain core concepts and techniques involved, and once you learn and apply them you will see improvement. Study the Tips below and, most importantly, incorporate them into your reading.
Suggestion: After reading, take a piece of text and employ each of these strategies, one by one, to see their effect. After you feel comfortable with each of them, try using all (or most) of them at the same time.
Decide ahead of time how much you will read and mark the spot where you will finish. This kind of structure is essential to speed-reading. It is necessary to block off a certain amount of text at a time (say, one chapter) and to tackle each segment separately.
Most fact-based articles, books, chapters, and journals are based on a universal template. Knowing this can help you locate the necessary information quicker. Articles, chapters, books, sections and paragraphs all begin with a main theme, then lead into supportive material. Then come subthemes followed by supportive material, then sub-subthemes followed by supportive material. The concluding sentence/paragraph sums up what the text has arrived at. So if you just want to get the basic thrust of an article, you would focus on the beginning and very end of the document. If you needed details, you would indeed have to explore the subthemes.
But remember, so much of reading material is extraneous. There are countless words that connect ideas, make transitions, re-illustrate points, make citations, etc. By learning to recognize this "filler" and by understanding the universal reading map, you can learn where the information is that you need and skim the material. Learning to mentally edit superfluous words is not as difficult as you might think. In time you will automatically identify and ignore this "filler" material. When you first learned to word, it was necessary to look at every letter before you could determine what the word was. In time you learned to be able to identify most words almost immediately, at a glance. In the same manner, you will learn to instantly spot and skip extraneous text.
Pick key words before you start reading. Look over the text beforehand for the important words, then skim and "tune in" only when you find them. This saves a lot of wasted time reading material that is "extra". You may even want to quickly jot down the keywords, then glance at them occasionally if you find yourself loosing your focus.
Pay attention to subheadings. Bold typeface and other "landmarks" can guide you to the information you are really looking for. Check out the text quickly for the style and format, so you know how the writer emphasized the most important information. With practice, you will be able to identify these markers more quickly.
Find the topic sentence within each paragraph (at the beginning). Skim whatever does not apply to what you want to know, focusing on the main idea and trying not to get sidetracked. To improve your ability to find the topic sentence, ask yourself what the author's main point is whenever you read something new.
Determine your purpose before you start reading. If you only need main ideas, then skim. If you need details, assign yourself some keywords and skim for those. The more you clarify the purpose of your reading and the desired outcome, the more likely you are to actually achieve your goal.
Work on your timing. If you have poor concentration while reading, try reading for only 5-10 minutes at a time. It's better to be truly focused for short periods than trying to absorb information when your mind is elsewhere. Take short breaks and do something else to give yourself a "breather"...then plunge back in!
Listen to Mozart, Bach or Vivaldi quietly playing in the background. Recent studies show that it helps you get into that relaxed state of focus where you can really absorb information. It may distract you at first, but should eventually improve your reading. Avoid music with lyrics, especially those you know (and are likely to mentally "sing along" with).
