Speed ​​reading techniques: what is outline and how does it help you to read quickly?

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the things that you don’t know, that you don’t think are important, turn out to be the critical missing piece to your success? A strange word called schema is just like that. It is the missing piece to be able to read faster while improving the comprehension that most people seek to find. This article will explain the importance of outline in speed reading.

I learned about the schema while studying how to teach reading in graduate school. It sounds like a very technical word, because they like to use big words in college. Fortunately, it has a very simple meaning. Schema is your database. This is what you already know before you start reading. For example, if you read this sentence: “the man was wearing a blue hat.” Were you surprised by its meaning? No why not? Because you know the meaning of the words man, dress, blue and hat. What if you didn’t know the meanings? Now how difficult would it be to read the sentence? Very difficult. You are continually using your existing database to decode text.

Schema is your map. It is how you see and represent the world in your mind. For example, an astronomer would see the sunrise astronomically. They would perceive the rotation of the Earth causing the illusion that the Sun is rising above the horizon. Actually, it is the movement of the Earth that makes the Sun appear to move. An artist would watch the sunrise and see the beautiful variety of colors in the sky. A physicist would understand that the colors perceived by the eye are caused by the scattering of light because at the horizon the light has to travel through more air, causing it to bend and refract in a display of colors. Do you notice how each of these individuals perceived the exact same event differently? It was their map or way of seeing the world that affected the way they perceived the event.

Schema is your experience. For example, my first marriage was a storybook marriage. Unfortunately, Stephen King wrote the book. I thought happily married was an oxymoron. You know, like military intelligence, honest politician, and job security. Some words just don’t seem to go well together. At that point in my life I couldn’t conceive or be happy and get married at the same time. Now I am married to my perfect partner and I am totally happy. But my experiences influenced my understanding of the word marriage.

When you read words in a book, your database, your map, and your experiences affect the way you understand and perceive information. Outline is a very important part of understanding text while reading quickly, and even when reading slowly.