Read regularly, begin with easy material & work toward more difficult materials.

At the outset, read material with familiar vocabulary and ideas that can be grasped without effort. When you begin to see progress, step up to the next level of difficulty. Eventually you will work to improve your rate on all types of reading. As soon as possible, turn your attention to trade and professional journals in your field of specialization.

Understand what you read.

Rate is determined primarily by the ability to comprehend. Read aggressively to answer key questions. Before you start, turn the title into a question and keep asking “What is the answer? What is the author saying?” Go in with a question; come out with an answer.

Determine your purpose before you begin.

Decide why you are reading the particular selection and estimate its difficulty. Then set yourself to read at your most efficient rate in terms of these factors.

Schedule time to read.

By scheduling a time each week to do your reading for each class, you are more likely to complete the reading as if it were an assignment. Establish a reasonable goal for the reading, and a time limit for how long you’ll be working. Break long reading assignments into segments.

Set yourself up for success.

Pick a location that is conducive to reading. Read sitting up with good light, and at a desk or table.  Keep background noise to a minimum. Give yourself a quiet environment so that you can concentrate on the text.

Choose and use a specific reading strategy.

There are many strategies that will help you actively read and retain information (for example SQ3R). 

Before beginning to read, think about the purpose of the reading.

Why has the teacher assigned the reading? What are you supposed to get out of it? Jot down your thoughts. Read prefaces and summaries to learn important details about the book. Look at the table of contents for information about the structure.

Write as you read.

Producing a study guide or set of notes from the reading can help to direct your thinking as you read. Write possible test questions. Make connections with information sources (like lecture, lab, other readings, etc.)

Monitor your comprehension.

When you finish a section, ask yourself, "What is the main idea in this section?  Could I answer an exam question about this topic?"  When you don’t understand the reading, slow down and reread sections. Try to explain them to someone, or have someone else read the section and talk through it together.

See the pattern in the author’s plan of writing.

Before you begin non-fiction, spend a minute on a survey. Spot the central-thoughts and the author’s plan for developing it. The partial precomprehension will serve to speed you up and increase your understanding.

Reduce vocalization in all silent reading.

Understand how vocalization slows rate. Resolve to get the point by thinking meaning, not by saying the words. Press toward faster than the top speed at which words can be pronounced.

Read under progressive pressure.

During practice, read as rapidly as you can without jeopardizing comprehension. Read as if you were to take a quiz in ten minutes and hadn’t studied the lesson. If you are near a reading laboratory, practice everyday on the
reading accelerators. Work at top speed for a while, then turn off the motor and continue to read at the same speed, but without the mechanical stimulation. If accelerators are not available, you can still get excellent results by working each day to cover more ground in the same time than you did the day before.

Improve your vocabulary.

Strange words interfere with understanding. Since speed is a function of understanding, you will profit from a systematic attempt to increase your word knowledge.

Check your comprehension.

In pressuring to read faster, do not skip or skim and miss the meaning. To make sure you are getting the ideas, stop at the end of each unit and make brief notes from memory. This form of self-recitation clarifies your understanding and helps make the ideas stick.

Increase your store of knowledge.

Intelligent reading requires more than a mere knowledge of what the words mean. The more you know about a subject, the better and faster you can read about it.

Do not make a game of speed.

Slow down and speed up as the occasion demands. Experts use many speeds, not just one.

Be persistent.

There is no magic formula to show you how to double your rate overnight. Pressing to read faster and answer questions may be fatiguing at first. For a time you may even seem to be more inefficient than before. But keep at it. Use any free time for additional practice. With a little persistence, more effective reading will become habitual.