Evelyn Wood
Evelyn Wood speed reading
Nearly sixty years ago, Ms Wood spent substantial time seeking out people who possessed the skill for reading rapidly: Results ranging from 1500 to 6000 words per minute were sufficient enough to spark her interest.
Her studies revealed that those who were reading in this above average speed bracket were usually doing at least one of a few things: They would commonly read several words at once instead of each word at a time, they could pinpoint meaningful words within paragraphs to focus on and they could alternate the pace at which they read according to the overall importance of each paragraph.
The difference between a person attempting to read fast and a true speed reader is someone who has not developed the skill will be unable to remember detailed information from what they have “read”. Speed readers are able to selectively fly through reading material and still have a complete and sound understanding of exactly what it was about.
After deciphering exactly what the best readers were doing, Evelyn Wood set about training herself to do the same. Through this process she developed her first set of speed reading lessons which were initially taught on her own campus at The University of Utah: records show they had success right from the first group of students who learned her techniques. The next step was to open an Evelyn Wood Institute for Speed Reading, which she did in 1959 and it was located in Washington DC.
As the word spread that it was now possible to cut reading times down substantially, the demand for Evelyn Wood speed reading courses started to grow. People from all walks of life were applying to study and more institutes were opened over the United States: They were officially named Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics and in the sixties they were also opened internationally in countries such as Australia.
It is because of the work of Evelyn Wood that speed reading is now possible for everyone. Companies have long been sending their executives to learn the Evelyn Wood Speed Reading techniques and students, professors, journalists, authors and pretty much any person who enjoyed reading had heard of her institute.
Of course, now days you don’t have to travel to Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamic every day to learn how to speed read. With computers and the internet it’s much easier to access the information and apply to learn rapid reading from the comfort of your own home. Imagine reading an entire book in an hour or even being able to read several books a day with ease? Thanks to Evelyn Wood’s profound interest in speed reading, every person can have above average reading abilities if they so desire.
