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Introduction

If you want an improved reading speed, then you must first know the factors that affect a person's ability to read faster. By "read faster", we really mean "comprehend more quickly what you read". The factors we list below are factors that you can influence through practice, training, and the right tools.

1. Your Reading Vocabulary

Your reading vocabulary — that is, the number of words you read that you can understand — is a fundamental influence on your reading speed:

"Students need to have many and varied experiences with words in order to build semantic depth so vital to understanding the English language. Unknown words or known words in unusual contextual settings prevent rapid reading." (Bond, 102).

It follows that if you can improve your vocabulary, then you can improve your reading speed: "Any systematic plan to imrpove vocabulary will have a positive effect upon speed of comprehension" (Rauch and Weinstein, 357).

2. Span Of Recognition

You can see clearly only when your eyes are fixed on a given area. When you read, your eyes stop (are fixed) to focus on a part of the text — for example, a single word. Then your eyes move on to focus on another part of the text — for example, the next word. And so it goes on.

The "span of recognition" is the size of the part of text that you can see in one go, or at one "fixation". So, if you can increase the size of the text you see at each fixation, then naturally you will improve your reading speed. For example, someone who can see three words at a time will read faster than someone who can see only one or two words at each fixation.

3. Duration Of Fixation

The "duration of fixation" refers to how long your eyes stop at a given span of recognition. For example, you might spend a fraction of a second looking at a single word (or other small number of words in your recognition span). You can improve your reading speed if you can shorten the duration of fixation at your recognition span.

4. Number Of Regressions

When you read, you sometimes need to look back at the text you have just read. For example, you might have to re-read a paragraph in order to clarify in your mind the author's intended message. Looking back at what you have already read is called "regressing". Even the best readers regress. But if you can reduce the number of regressions, then you can significantly improve your reading speed.

5. Habit

Habit is perhaps the biggest influence on your reading speed. You have probably built-up  habits that slow your reading. With proper training, you can break these habits and markedly improve your reading speed. For example, try these speed reading exercises to break the bad habits of "inner speech" and "inner audition".

References

George W Bond, "Speed Reading in the High School" (1955) 39(2) High School Journal 102

Sidney J Rauch and Alfred B Weinstein, "A Slow Look at Speed Reading" (1968) 11(5) Journal of Reading 353