Jim Kwik uses a counting exercise to show how most people miss Fs in text because they hear "of" as a V sound. He explains that subvocalization, the inner voice reading every word, caps reading speed at about 200-250 words per minute, and that training attention can dramatically increase speed while keeping comprehension intact.
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How do you upgrade your reading abilities and your remembering skills? If you've ever wanted to be able to read faster, remember what you read, recall people's names, in this video I'm going to share with you the big secret. The big secret. But before I do, I want to take you through a very quick exercise to see where your mind is right now. In a moment on this video, you have to look at this video and And pay careful attention. I'm gonna show you a phrase. It's gonna be a very simple phrase. I want you to read it out loud with me. That's the exercise. The first part of the exercise, read it out loud. You have to do it out loud. So wherever you are, wherever you are, whenever you are watching this, you have to read it out loud in unison with me. And it's a very simple phrase. So I'm gonna challenge you to try to count the number of Fs. The number of Fs as you're reading it out loud. Are you ready? Let's do this. 1, 2, 3. Finished files are the results of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years. Okay, we're back. How did you do? How many Fs did you see? Post it down below. How many Fs were there? How many Fs? Did you see them? Were there 0, 1, 2, 3, more than 3? How many Fs did you see? All right, let's try it again. In a moment, I'm going to show you the screen one more time. The key is read it out loud. Ready? Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience Of years. All right, we're back. How many Fs are there? How many Fs are on that screen? Put your answer down below. And just one more time, here you go. For those of you who saw a different amount of Fs the second time, let's try it one more time. You got to get this right. 1, 2, 3. Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of Years. You have to say it out loud. Good. How many Fs? What's your final answer? I want you to put it down below. Now here's your answer. There are 6 Fs. Now I know some of you saw 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or more Fs. There are actually only 6 Fs. 6 Fs. Now if you didn't get it the first time, Where were the Fs hidden? In the ofs. In the ofs. Finished files are the results of— of— your eyes see the F, but your mind hears a what? A V. It sounds like a V. Of. So you didn't see it, right? It was a little blind spot, if you will. And in psychology, we have blind spots all the time. We have these cognitive biases where we can't see something that's right in front of us. And it's kind of interesting also that we all have the same thing in front of us and we got different experiences. So what I want you to put down below is what did you initially see, and then what did you see later, and was there an aha? Because the Fs were really hidden in the ofs. Now, why do I have you go through this exercise? What's the key to reading, to improving your memory? Of course, the answer is attention. Attention. The art of reading and the art of memory is the art of attention. And most of us really don't pay attention. And so the other reason why, by the way, I share this with you is because by saying it is what made it difficult. When your mind went finished files result of and you saw the F but you heard the V, really what made it difficult was pronouncing it. And it's interesting because really why people read slowly— people don't know this, but it's not just your lack of focus. It's something called subvocalization. Subvocalization. What does it mean? It means your inner talk. Sub, under, vocal, speech. Your inner talk. Have you ever noticed when you're reading something to yourself, you hear that inner voice inside your head reading to yourself? Hopefully it's your own voice, it's not some other voice inside there. The reason why it's a challenge when it comes to reading is if you have to say all the words out loud or inside your mind in order to understand them, that means Your reading speed is limited to your talking speed, but not your thinking speed. Let me say that one more time. If you have to say all the words inside your mind in order to understand something, it means you can't read any faster than you can speak. That's why the average person reads about 200 to 250 words per minute. Now, here's the question: do you need to pronounce a word or a series of words like New York City in order to understand what New York City is? The answer is, of course not. Most words look like, like signs. Like you see a stop sign, you don't say to yourself, stop, but you understand what that word means. Of course, 95% of all the words that you read each day probably are what they call sight words. Sight words, words you know by sight, you don't have to pronounce them by sound. So one of the common traits of fast, effective readers who not only read with greater speed but have better comprehension is they don't take the time to pronounce those words. And that's what we teach in our online programs, 21 days to be able to reduce that subvocalization. If you'd like to join us into an introductory masterclass on how to read faster and improve your focus and understanding, I want you to go to this link, Kwik Reading. Again, that's Kwik Reading, and you get free access to an online masterclass you could do with me where I'm gonna share with you the secrets to reading not only faster, but better, so you can enjoy the process. 'Cause remember, leaders are readers. Reading is to your mind what exercise is to your body. So hit that little airplane button, share this video, tag 3 friends down below to see how well they do on the Finish Files test, and also it invites them to this free masterclass on how to be a real super reader. So I hope you enjoy this free masterclass, and I'll see you On the inside.
