Davis / Kushner PoweReading®

Read Faster, Save Time, Increase Efficiency
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-3-941546-24-0
Verlag: Peoplebuilding-Verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 166 Seiten

PoweReading is a tried and tested step-by-step system that guarantees above-average success. With PoweReading 1.378 users have been scientifically proven to achieve an average increase in reading speed of 124,5 % with a 4 % higher rate of text comprehension. With this system you will to ride the wave of information instead of being smothered by it. Inclusive: Interview with Markus Hofmann

Zach Davis was raised in Germany and received his degree in Business Administration from the University of Cologne. After Working for KPMG Consulting AG in the area of human resources consulting Zach has been on the road as a speaker und trainer on the topics of Time Intelligence and PoweReading, delivering 'infotainmaint at its highest level,' (Handelsblatt newspaper on a review of his work. He is currently one of the most sought-after speakers in Germany, having published additional 12 book, video, and audio products. He was recognized speaker of the year in 2011. In 2012, in Indinanapolis, he became the eighth and youngest German Certified Speaking Professional. Juliana Kushner was born in Cologne, Germany, and attended school in both Germany and Switzerland. She received her Bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies, with a focus on Japan and Korea, from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Juliana is currently residing in New York, where she is pursuing a career in early childhood education.

Zielgruppe

Jede Person, die viel lesen muss oder möchte und hierbei an Effizienz gewinnen möchte, d.h. doppelt so schnell lesen möchte bei mindestens gleich hohem Verständnis und langfritigen Behalten: Führungskräfte, Schüler, Studenten, Anwälte, Berater, Sekretärinnen etc.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Davis, Zach

Kushner, Juliana

Weitere Mitwirkende

Hofmann, Markus

Ticic, Gustavo

Leseproben

Chapter 2:
Enthralling Glances

The Human Eye

All our techniques are based on the natural strengths of the eye and the brain. Try the following active exercise so you can experience a few aspects of the human eye on your own.

Active Exercise 1 (Circle)

For this exercise you need another person. If no one else is around, it is fine simply to read through this part. You can always come back and carry out the exercise with someone later. We do recommend this, because reading about an exercise cannot replace one’s own experiences and conclusions.

The exercise works as follows: sit across from another person so that you can look into each other’s eyes. Now person A has the task of drawing a circle about the size of a car tire in the air with his/her eyes (as if tracing the perimeter of a car tire hanging between you). Person B watches person A’s eye movements. Three to four circles are enough; you don’t need to make yourself dizzy. Then you switch roles (you don’t need to switch seats for this, as someone attempted in a seminar recently).

What did you see? The eye movements generally look something like this:

Chances are you have concluded the following two things:

1) You need quite a bit of imagination to call the shape a circle.

2) The movement does not occur smoothly and regularly but in a jerky, irregular way.

This shape and way of moving are not due to your partner being untalented in dealing with round objects but rather are caused by the mechanics of the human eye. Even if the exact shape is always somewhat different, we have never seen anyone produce anything even close to a perfect circle.

Now repeat the exercise, but this time give your partner some help by drawing the tire in the air with your index finger, which your partner will follow with his/her eyes. Again observe the eye movements of your partner.

What did you see this time? The eye movements will have changed from the first part of the exercise (even if they might not be a perfect circle). You have probably been able to notice two differences from the first attempt:

1) The shape is more recognizably circular.

2) The movement is much more even and regular.

You have now learned that the human eye can follow moving objects well, much better than it can steer itself. The crucial conclusion for this exercise is:

The human eye can be guided!

Evolutionarily, the human eye developed to fix on still (not moving) objects and to pinpoint and follow objects that are in motion. What we demand from our eyes during reading, however, is something completely different. We ask our eyes to travel over this stationary object. The problem here is that we don’t have enough control over our eyes. Therefore, to increase your reading speed and efficiency you need to find a way to control your eye movements. Control over your eyes will be a major key to success in PoweReading! But how can we use this realization in order to read more efficiently?

Reading Inhibitor No. 1: Regression

One of the most common speed reduction factors in reading is that the eyes tend to jump back in the text occasionally. Especially relatively slow readers lose a lot of time because their eyes move forward a few steps and then back one. Even if your eyes only jump back a step every 20 steps you need at least ten percent longer for the same text. Why? Because your eyes take 20 steps, then take one back and need to take one forward again to get to the same spot they had already reached.

You then lose additional time because your eyes have to readjust and find the place where you need to continue. And many readers jump back much more often than that, thereby experiencing an even higher percentage of ineffective reading time. Also, your eyes don’t merely jump back from time to time, they also jump up, down, and forward.

The most common question concerning the jumping back (also called “regression”) is, “If I don’t allow my eyes to go back, doesn’t that lead to a lower level of comprehension?” People often have the feeling that they regress only when they haven’t understood the text satisfactorily. Even if this sounds like a logical explanation and readers often feel this way, there are two false assumptions underlying this theory. First, the conscious choice to reread a passage is usually made at the end of a specific unit, such as at the end of a sentence or paragraph. Most regressions, however, occur in the middle of a sentence, phrase or even word - often also after words carrying less essential meanings (like the article “the”). Second, regressions, especially when they occur out of habit and in the middle of a sentence, do not increase the level of comprehension. We will share more details on the topic of text comprehension with increasing speed later in this chapter, as well as in the next chapter, “Understanding Texts Easily.”

So, how can you avoid regressions? Simply being aware that you run the risk of jumping back can help decrease the frequency. Still, there is an easier method than the constant fight between conscious and subconscious. You will now start with an exercise purposely comprised of meaningless rows of xxxxx so you can concentrate completely on the exercise - guiding your eyes.

Active Exercise 2 (Forward Leading)

Now you need a reading aid. What do we mean by reading aid? (Neither here nor at any point in this book do we mean a vision correction.) We’re talking about a tool to help you guide your eyes while reading. It makes sense to use an object that has a relatively thin tip. You could, for example, use a pen or pencil - the advantage being that many people carry pens and pencils with them and they are handy for taking notes, too. A chopstick also functions well as a reading aid, although chopsticks might not be a household item for everyone. You are also welcome to use your index finger, although this tends to be somewhat wider than the ideal reading aid.

You now have your reading aid in hand (or on hand). You will use it to do the following with the text consisting of xxxx (referred to from now on as the “x-text”) below: guide your eyes by gliding over each line of the text with your reading aid as if you were highlighting the entire thing. To get you started we have underlined the first three lines of the x-text. Move your reading aid at the same speed with which you read. Simply let your eyes follow along. It is important to let your vision be led and to keep your eyes on the text. At the beginning, you may find that you occasionally watch your reading aid, but try to avoid this. Instead, use your reading aid in such a way that the line you are currently reading is not covered. This is important for both your text comprehension and your speed. The point of this exercise is to automate the movement of your hand while making sure you can see the words of the text.

Practice Steps:

1) First practice with the x-text. Alternatively you could also take a different text and look at it upside down (assuming you are someone who cannot easily read upside down - there are some people who can do so with no difficulty). The point is to practice leading your eyes without being concerned about the text comprehension.

2) Once you have completed step 1, take a normal text and open it to any page. Now repeat the same procedure with this text. This time, however, try to concentrate more on the content of the text than on actively leading your eyes. Think of it as a game! Try experimenting with the speed. Try out whether a pen works better or whether you prefer using your finger. Spend five minutes and get to the point where you have automated this process, too.

X-Text:

Xxx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx, xxx xxxxx Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxx xxxx xx Xxxxxx Xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xxxx xxxxxx xxxx, xxx xxxxx Xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx Xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx Xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx Xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx, xxx Xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx Xxxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx Xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx. Did you understand everything?

This first exercise mainly serves the purpose of reducing the uncontrolled regressions. Generally people have one of two experiences: either they experience an immediate, noticeable improvement in reading speed or concentration and...

Über Autor(innen)

Zach Davis was raised in Germany and received his degree in Business Administration from the University of Cologne. After Working for KPMG Consulting AG in the area of human resources consulting Zach has been on the road as a speaker und trainer on the topics of Time Intelligence and PoweReading, delivering "infotainmaint at its highest level," (Handelsblatt newspaper on a review of his work. He is currently one of the most sought-after speakers in Germany, having published additional 12 book, video, and audio products. He was recognized speaker of the year in 2011. In 2012, in Indinanapolis, he became the eighth and youngest German Certified Speaking Professional. Juliana Kushner was born in Cologne, Germany, and attended school in both Germany and Switzerland. She received her Bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies, with a focus on Japan and Korea, from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Juliana is currently residing in New York, where she is pursuing a career in early childhood education.