“Speed reading is a skill that allows you to process information more efficiently, which is critical for anyone who wants to communicate effectively in today’s fast-paced world.” – Tony Buzan, British author and educational consultant, best known for his work on mind mapping and mental literacy

Have you ever thought how reading at a faster rate can help you become a better speaker? Probably not.

This article will explore three ways reading faster will enhance your speaking.

Faster Content Assimilation for Presentation Preparation

A higher reading rate allows you as a speaker to process and comprehend a large volume of information more efficiently.

This enables you to gather insights, examples, and data to craft compelling speeches.

Faster reading enables you to skim through large volumes of text quickly, allowing you to identify and extract key points, relevant examples, or data needed for your presentation without reading every word.

This allows for more focused attention on the most important aspects, saving time during research and content curation.

By reading faster, you can process and retain more information within a shorter period. This enhances your ability to remember facts, quotes, and concepts relevant to your presentations.

As you process more information in less time, you can integrate more diverse insights into your presentations, providing a richer and more well-rounded presentation.

Faster reading allows you to review and reference materials quickly during the preparation process, whether it’s checking facts, adding new insights, or organizing the content.

The ability to rapidly go over notes or other reference material ensures that you can adjust your presentation as needed without wasting time, improving overall preparation efficiency.

By increasing your reading rate, you can quickly grasp, absorb, and synthesize large amounts of content, leading to more efficient and effective presentation preparation.

So, you assimilating content faster in preparing your presentations is one reason reading faster will enhance your speaking.

Another reason is it improves your adaptability when you deliver your presentations.

Improved Adaptability During Presentation Delivery

Faster reading allows you to review notes, audience feedback, or last-minute additions more quickly, allowing you to adapt seamlessly during your presentation.

Faster reading enables you to quickly glance through your notes or slides during your presentation, allowing you to make real-time adjustments based on audience reactions or new insights.

If you need to expand on a point, shift the focus, or reference a specific detail, being able to read and retrieve information quickly ensures that you can maintain a smooth flow without losing track.

With faster reading skills, you can scan the room or audience feedback (e.g., body language, reactions) rapidly, helping you adjust your tone, pace, or content to better engage your listeners.

This allows you to make immediate decisions about adjusting your delivery, whether it’s slowing down, elaborating on a topic, or changing your approach to better match audience interest and engagement.

Faster reading helps you quickly process any questions or interruptions during your presentation and incorporate responses smoothly into your presentation.

With the ability to quickly understand the essence of questions or comments, you can maintain confidence and respond with relevant information without losing momentum, ensuring a more adaptive and interactive presentation style.

By increasing reading speed, public speakers can stay more attuned to the flow of their presentations, making it easier to adjust and engage effectively with their audience.

So, you assimilating content faster in preparing your presentations and improving your adaptability when you deliver your presentations are two reason reading faster will enhance your speaking.

A third reason why reading faster will enhance your speaking is it enhances your confidence and delivery.

Enhanced Confidence and Delivery

Faster reading translates to more time for practicing and refining your presentation delivery.

With thorough preparation, you exude confidence and engage audiences effectively.

Faster reading helps you process and absorb more material in a shorter time, leading to better retention and internalization of your speech content.

When you are familiar with your material, you are less reliant on notes or slides, which boosts your confidence. You can focus more on engaging with the audience, rather than worrying about remembering every detail.

By absorbing information faster, you free up more time to practice the delivery of your presentation, refining aspects like tone, body language, pacing, and overall engagement.

More practice allows you to become comfortable with your content and delivery, reducing nervousness and increasing your confidence in performing the presentation.

With faster reading skills, you can quickly process new information, including audience questions or feedback, allowing you to provide confident and thoughtful responses on the spot.

Knowing that you can handle interruptions or engage with questions without hesitation builds confidence, as it ensures you’re prepared to maintain control of the presentation, even when faced with unexpected interactions.

By improving your reading speed, you increase your preparation efficiency, improve familiarity with your content, and feel more confident when delivering your message. This leads to smoother and more effective presentations.

So, you assimilating content faster in preparing your presentations, improving your adaptability when you deliver your presentations and enhancing your confidence and delivery are three reasons reading faster will enhance your speaking.

Learn to read at a faster rate and see the results in your speaking!

Call to Action

Learn to read faster to:

• Assimilate content faster in preparing your presentations.

• Improve your adaptability when you deliver your presentations!

• Enhance your confidence and delivery.

References

• Buzan (1993) in The Speed Reading Book

• Berg and Ehrenberg (2013) in The Anxious Brain

• Carroll (2005) in Confidence in Public Speaking

Being a confident, engaging, and effective technical speaker is a vital personal and professional asset. With more than 40 years of engineering experience and more than 30 years of award-winning public speaking experience, Frank DiBartolomeo can help you reduce your presentation preparatory time by 50%, overcome your fear of public speaking and be completely at ease, deliver your presentations effectively, develop your personal presence with your audience; and apply an innovative way to handle audience questions deftly.

Working closely with you, Frank provides a customized protocol employing the critical skills and tools you need to create, practice, and deliver excellent technical speeches and presentations. Connect with Frank and explore how he can help you become the exceptional speaker you were meant to be. Please reach out to him at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com or 703-509-4424 for a complimentary consultation. Schedule a meeting with him at calendly.com/frankdibartolomeospeaks. Listen to his Successful Speaking for Technical Professionals podcast