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A First for the General Public
For the first time in any book or publication for the general public, I’m
presenting all of the essential techniques involved in the Evelyn Wood
reading and learning system. This information is designed to be used by
anyone with at least fourth-grade reading skills.
Among other things, you will learn:
• How to raise reading speed by at least 50 percent in less than an hour
of study and practice, using certain key techniques.
• How to at least double reading speed, with increased comprehension,
after one week.
• How to reach the stratosphere of speed reading—the 1,200–3,000-
word-per-minute range—and perhaps go beyond.
• How to improve concentration and attention span.
• How to enhance analytical abilities, overall learning capacity, and
memory.
• Practical programs to raise performance levels—and grades—in all
subjects, including the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences
and mathematics.
• Techniques to improve test-taking abilities.
• Proven approaches for taking the most effective notes during lectures;
and
• Tips and strategies for increasing efficiency and achieving success in
doing research and writing term papers.
What Does This Mean for You?
Now, let’s take this discussion down to the most practical level: How can
you acquire these all-important abilities?
I’ve said that these important skills can be learned; they aren’t simply
inherent intellectual capacities that good students are born with. Let me
illustrate by getting you involved at the outset in a hands-on exercise
that will prove it’s possible to improve your reading speed dramatically
and almost instantaneously.
This exercise is designed to identify your present reading speed—an
important piece of information if you hope to learn how to improve your
reading and study rates. After you’ve completed the exercise, you may
want to let your youngster try it in order to determine his or her speed.
Here’s how it works: Using a watch with a second hand, note the
precise minute and second now shown on your watch. (You need to
record this time on a piece of paper
right now
so that you don’t forget.)
Next, begin reading the remainder of this chapter now at your normal
rate. BEGIN READING NOW.
Keep your watch, pencil and pad close at hand, and continue reading
until the direction to stop later in this text.
At Britannica Learning Centers—where the Evelyn Wood reading and
study concepts have become a staple of our student preparation
programs—we know that almost anyone can learn the study techniques
employed by superior students. These skills are not based on difficult or
arcane principles reserved for the elite or supersuccessful. Rather, they
can be learned by practically any individual, regardless of educational
background or prior level of achievement—so long as that person is
willing to make a relatively modest commitment of time and effort.
Before you’ve finished this opening chapter, you’ll be given some
simple tools designed to increase your present reading speed by at least
50 percent immediately. In another seven days, you can expect a
quantum leap forward to much higher reading and comprehension
levels. And finally, with a reasonable amount of practice in subsequent
weeks, you’ll find that the sky is indeed the limit for enhancing your
learning speed and capacity.
Of course, many of the elite and supersuccessful have already been
impressed by the Wood approach. The Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics
Program, which began in 1959, has been promoted and praised by three
U.S. presidents:
• John F. Kennedy, himself a very fast reader, brought teachers from
Evelyn Wood into the White House to help increase the speed of top-
level members of his staff.
• Richard Nixon commended the Wood program for teaching members of
his staff.
• Jimmy Carter actually took the course himself—and reportedly
achieved a 1,200-word-per-minute reading rate, with high
comprehension.
On the grassroots level, during its thirty-year history, the Wood
program has helped more than two million people read faster, more
efficiently, and with improved comprehension and retention. The other
learning and studying skills that have been added to the speed-reading
program over the years—such as high-powered note-taking and
successful test-taking—have greatly enhanced the average student’s
chances of improved grade-point averages.
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