Here I look into Common Misconception #1 that people have about reading. The first misconception is regarding the fact that many people believe that using your finger slows you down. When the opposite is true - that if you use your finger as a pacer to control the flow of your reading - makes you an exceptional reader.

Common misconception #1: Reading with your finger on the page slows you down

In this short video series, I will go into three of the seven very common misconceptions I hear from my students regarding their reading habits. These are misconceptions that might be holding you back – and you need to find out if this applies to you. If any of the three misconceptions I mention here apply to you – that is alright – do not worry about it - because that only means that you are on the exactly right page for you. Because in order for you to take the next step – you need to know what misunderstandings or fallacies you have today in order to fix them – and take the right step in going forward.

The first common misconception is that reading with your finger on the page slows you down. I have also heard people say that only kids read that way or worse still only bad or inexperienced readers read that way. This could not be further from the truth. Using your finger on the page to control your eyes – makes you an exceptional reader.

I have for years offered a short lecture - Introduction to Speed Reading – for teachers in various schools, and these are mostly teachers of kids at the age of six to twelve year – the budding readers. And it amazes me still that I even today get teachers who ask if it is not only the inferior students that use their finger while they are reading.

I ask them in return that when they are finding a phone number in the phone book (a lost art these days) do they just scan the names they are looking for or do they take their finger and run down the page with the names? They always answer that they use their finger. I ask them simply; Why? And their answer usually is that they see the names better and are able to focus better within the column.

This is true of every routine fact-finding task, searching for a word in the Dictionary or a bookkeeper or an accountant running down the tally in a column in a book. When you pace your reading with your finger it does not slow you down – it speeds you up – it creates focus and helps your eyes.

The simple reason for this misconception is that when people try it, and I have had this happen on courses. People feel like this slows them down – they feel like they are reading slower. And the reason is simply that – this is a technique that they are not used to – and they pace their finger too slowly through the text. Yes – of course, the finger is then slowing you down. What you need to do is to make the finger go faster through the text – and that will speed you up.

In my courses and books I always tell my students that you need to keep in mind that your eyes were not designed to read. Reading – the way we use it today – is a fairly new invention in the history of mankind. You are using your brain and eyes – to do a pretty remarkable thing. It is no wonder that we sometimes stumble with this technique in the beginning.

Reading is a skill – and like any skill can be mastered. When you use the CORE Speed Reading EXERCISE daily for at least ten to fourteen days – you are giving yourself time to learn to use the finger to control the eyes. In the beginning, you pace your finger horizontally through each line in the text. As you grow your reading skills and reading speed increases.

When you reach 600 to 800 words per minute in the exercise you can change your technique to pacing your finger through half a line – your eyes are still reading all the line but now it groups the words – and by pacing only half a line, you easily double your reading speed. When you reach 1100 to 1400 words per minute in the exercise, you can change your technique even further by pacing your finger vertically down the page – and doubling your reading speed again.

But you need to grow your skills as a beginner first. Learn to use the technique in the right manner before you evolve your reading further. Take baby steps – do not try to go faster than 600 to 800 until you have mastered reading at that pace.

In conclusion

Pacing your finger through the line in the text while you are reading does not slow you down – it helps you – gain more speed and focus in your reading.