Active learners are voracious readers who consume a tremendous amount of information from many sources. To stay abreast of events and news and to advance their thinking, many leaders have learned to read with speed.
The many versions of speed reading typically combine several fundamental techniques, including focusing on key words and phrases rather than reading every word, using a pointer to guide the reader’s eyes, and minimizing subvocalization (reading aloud in your head). With practice, these tactics help people to read much faster.
Examine a learner who is not as focused on speed as on efficiency and superior comprehension and you are likely to see someone who does something very odd. (Spoiler alert: This is going to ruin your reading enjoyment but, if practiced, will make you more efficient in consuming vast amounts of information.)
They read backwards.
This approach operates from the premise that if a reader knows the conclusion or ultimate endpoint of a nonfiction book, article, or essay, then returning to the beginning of the work with this knowledge makes discerning what is important to comprehend and retain more obvious. This, in turn, allows the reader to breeze through the main body of the text, picking out the arguments, examples, and stories that are more critical to the thesis.
This usually means reading the last chapter of a book or the last few paragraphs of an article to learn the primary argument or proposal of the work before returning to the beginning. When a reader knows where the author is going, reading the supporting arguments can be accomplished much more quickly without sacrificing comprehension. In fact, comprehension and the critical thinking that surrounds it are often amplified with this approach.
Reading backward in this fashion allows some learners to consume stacks of materials and retain all the important information they contain. Speed is replaced by efficiency in this process and will enable readers to spend the time they believe is necessary to capture the critical ingredients of a book or essay. But the time spent with a work is typically much less than reading in the traditional manner.
Consider trying this approach before beginning the next new book on your nightstand. Don’t do it with a work of fiction unless you disdain reading for enjoyment. Some surprise is worth waiting for. But, when it comes to nonfiction, reading backward is a way to read more.
