The fact is that the faster you read, the lesser you will comprehend[26]. There is a compromise between reading faster and understanding what you read.
Thus, there are some distinctions that must be made on where to apply speed reading itself as against speed reading for the purpose of extracting the main message out of a text.
If you intend to take only the information that you consider important from what you’re reading, then that’s nearly the same as skimming. But speed reading is not skimming. True speed reading is the ability to read the whole text at a relatively fast rate while at the same time being able to cover all the details. That is speed reading.
The goal of reading is to learn something new, and reading is not merely a visual process, but a language process. Skimming may be two to four times faster than silent reading, but it provides you with lesser comprehension. That is why it is important to limit speed reading, the kind that is in the nature of skimming, only to simple text or documents such as email, news articles, etc.
Speed reading itself is a valuable skill that anyone can master. This doesn’t happen in a single setting though. You have to read up on a lot of varied materials, from simple to complex and challenging materials, and you have to do it regularly. The fact is that skilled readers are already speed readers themselves. They don’t necessarily have to attend speed reading classes nor use technology to accelerate their pace. They just read, read and read.
According to Staples.com, the ordinary adult has an average reading speed of 300 words per minute. A speedy reader can read 1,500 words per minute and the fastest reading champion in the world can read a staggering 4,700 words per minute.
According to Staples, an average reader can finish Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, which has about 560,000 words, in about 197 hours. Scientists doubt whether comprehension was really taken into account in these tests.