When you read, do you hear the words in your mind or even subconsciously say them under your breath? Break this one habit, called subvocalization, and you can double or even triple your reading speed.


When you say the words as you read them, you can't read any faster than you can talk.

Spreeder, a web app that teaches speed reading, offers this tip to quiet the little voice in our heads that slows us down when we read: Keep your mouth occupied.


One simple way is to preoccupy your mouth. When you give your mouth something else to do while you read, you can disengage the speech mechanism in the brain, allowing what your read to go straight to your conscious awareness rather than being slowed down by your brain needing to figure out how to say the words first.

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So chew some gum, hum, or eat lunch while reading and you may find yourself going through a ton of reading material like never before.

How to Read Faster by Eliminating Subvocalization | Spreeder

Photo by Gordon