When we read normally, our reading speed can increase or decrease randomly as our attention grows and fades throughout the material being read. To maintain a constant words-per-minute rate which you are comfortable with, the method I will be introducing is about pacing yourself so that you won't fall into habits of slowing down. Pacing enables you to read material at a constant speed, and also stops you regressing through material (re-reading what you have already read), a common habbit which often slows down your words-per-minute.

There are two ways you can pace yourself when reading, the first is with the use of a your hand, which aids your reading by moving in a certain pattern. The second is by using a flat object such as a card or a bookmark. Both are effective, and both are proven to speed reading techniques which will help you read faster if you put them into action.

Pacing Your Reading With Your Hand

This technique is fairly straigtforward. There are two approaches, both of which are effective speed reading techniques. The first approach is to move your hand with a fluid motion left to right for each line. This is often known as sweeping, as the name refers to the sweeping motion of your hand accross the page. Because this sweeping motion may become tiring, especially when your reading speed increases, you may be more comfortable using the second approach. The second approach to pacing with your hand is to move your hand vertically down the page at a slow constant speed, as your eyes follow the text in the normal manner, but keeping up with the movement of your hand down the page. If you are confident at speed reading, this method is probably more suited to you, as it gives way for a faster reading speed and it is not as tiring as the first method. With either of these techniques, it is best to use whichever hand feels most comfortable and natural to you, but it is often the case that right handers will use their right hand and left handers their left.

Pacing With a Bookmark or Card

As with the hand pacing method, pacing your reading with a bookmark or card has two different approaches(I like to give you a choice). First of all, the method is to use the card in the same way as you used your hand for the second hand pacing method, in which you bring the card down the page as you read the lines which are uncovered by the card. Alternatively, you could bring the card down the page, but read the lines which are about to be covered up, whcih also helps to stop regression.

As I have mentioned several times, regression is a common habbit which does tend to decrease your reading speed. With the aid of these pacing techniques however, the old habit of constant regression is easily overcome, and your reading speed will benefit hugely.