Kwik Brain Episode 28: Boost Your Reading Comprehension (And Retain More) with Jim Kwik

Welcome to Kwik Brain, bite-sized brain hacks for busy people who want to learn faster and achieve more. I'm your coach, Jim Kwik. Free your mind. Let's imagine if we could access 100% of our brain's capacity. I wasn't high, wasn't wired, just clear.

I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. I know kung fu.

Show me. Okay, Kwik Brains, I have a big one for you. This is one of the biggest questions that we get on a regular basis. It's about reading, but it's not about reading speed. We've done previous episodes on how to read a book a week and how to get rid of subvocalization or reduce subvocalization. We did episodes on how to read faster. This is actually on the other part of it, which is reading comprehension. How do you boost your ability to understand what you read better? Because there's 2 parts to reading, right? There's reading speed and reading comprehension. And it doesn't make sense to have the speed if you don't understand what you read. You see, traditional speed reading has long been associated with skimming words, skipping words, getting the gist of what you read. Now, maybe because I started as a memory trainer, I think it's very important not just to read something but to retain it and understand it. A lot of our clients range from the world's top financial advisors to attorneys to doctors, and I don't think you want your doctor just to get the gist of what she's reading, right? So this episode is about understanding more of what you read and retaining it better. Because have you ever read a page in a book, got to the end, and just forgot what you just read? Have you ever been asked to talk about something you just read? I remember years ago, I got a call late at night, and the person was frantic. They were like, help me, help me, help me. And I was like, what's going on? It's like, my keynote speaker, they canceled last minute. They can't get out to New York to give this keynote speech tomorrow. And I need help. I need a replacement. I'm like, oh my goodness, what's the topic on? And they tell me the topic, and I was like, I don't know anything about that topic. Why are you contacting me? He's like, yes, but the person that referred you said that you're a speed reader. I'm like, so what? Yeah, well, this person, he wrote a book. And I was like, so? He's like, why don't you get here a little bit earlier and read his book and then present on it? And I was like, oh wow, this is really gonna cost you. It actually worked out. We actually went there, got there in the morning, picked up his book, read it, and I gave the presentation. And humbly, it was the best presentation, highest rated presentation of the conference. And it's not because Maybe I'm such a great speaker, I've never taken a minute of public speaking training, but it's just I have the ability to assimilate the information and be able to memorize it and give a presentation on it and make it interactive using the things that we teach about in Kwik Learning. In this episode, I'm going to give you 3 techniques to boost your reading comprehension. And if you'd like to go deeper in this, we have a full program. It's a month and a half, and it's our flagship program called Kwik Reading. And it's not just about speed reading, it's about smart reading. So even if you're not reading something faster, you want to read it smarter. So in here, I teach you how to read information online on digital devices, speed read and remember your emails and act on them, to be able to go through books and technical information and textbooks. And it's all about smart reading to really boost your understanding. In this episode, I'm going to give you 3 tools and techniques for you to be able to apply. And I call them the 3 Rs. So let's do this right now. The first R to boosting your reading comprehension, number one, is you have to read. Now that's obvious, right? Because you can only understand something if you actually read it. So you start by reading it. So remember to go back to past previous episodes, 'cause this is not just a podcast. This is your online brain training academy. So there are prior episodes and trainings on how to read one book a week, How to reduce subvocalization. You remember subvocalization? That inner voice you hear inside your head. You hear that voice inside your head while you read. Hopefully it's your own voice. It's not like somebody else's voice. But that's a big obstacle because if you have to say all the words to yourself, you can only read as fast as you could speak. That means your reading speed is limited to your talking speed and not your thinking speed. That's why our Kwik Reading Program is so effective because it helps reduce subvocalization. And finally, we did an episode on how to read faster. So I would refer back to those episodes. Because this is your, again, your Kwik Brain Training Academy. Now, once you read something using those techniques, the second thing I want you to do is I want you to relate. That's the second R, is to relate. What do I mean by that? I mean, read something and then talk and relate about what you're reading to somebody else. And now, why is that important? Because you're going to be training yourself to learn what it really means to understand something. Maybe even for the first time. And this is a very sensitive topic for me because, as many of you know, I had a brain injury at the age of 5 and I had learning difficulties and challenges. I had bad focus. I had a really challenged memory. Teachers would have to repeat themselves 4 or 5 times in order for me to understand what they were saying. And it took me an extra 3 years just to learn how to read. And when teachers asked me to talk about what I read, I couldn't do that because I didn't understand it. So relating and talking about what you read is a very powerful tool to teach yourself what it means to understand something brand new. Because as you've learned in the first episode, I talked about the FAST method, and the T stands for what? Stands for teach. Because when you teach something, you get to learn it twice. So what I'm going to ask you to do after you read something to train your comprehension, the second thing I want you to do is relate it to somebody else. So what I'd like you to do is to dedicate 3 minutes just to talk about what you just read. So maybe you're reading 20, 30 minutes a day, and then afterwards call up a friend or tell them that you're going through this online reading course and you want to talk about this book and talk about the book. Talk about who the characters are. Talk about the plot, what's going on. Talk about when it's happening. Talk about where it's happening. We all know the 5 W's and the H, of course. And here's the magic. When you're reading something, this information is going through your eyes, is being processed by your brain in order for you to be able to talk about it out of your mouth. You have to do something really special with that information. You have to make it your own because no longer does it belong to just the author. It's your information. When you're talking about it, you're not even using the author's words. Whose words are you using? You're using your own words, and that's the power of it. In order for you to do it, you have to own it. You have to personalize it. You have to organize it and be able to articulate it to another human being. So the question people ask is, how should I relate to people? What's the best way of doing it? And I would say, The best way is to talk to somebody live in person in front of you because you can interact with them, you can see their facial expressions and so on. The second best way I would say is to get somebody on the phone saying, yes, I can't wait to see you on Saturday, but let me tell you about this book I'm reading really fast, and talk about your book and relate to them. The third best way I would say is to talk to a live non-human. It could be talking to your cat, it could be talking to your dog, you could be talking to your plant. They say actually it's good to talk to your plant because it helps them to grow, maybe because of all the carbon dioxide. The 4th way of talking and relating is to relate to an inanimate object. You could be talking to your phone, like your voice recorder. You could be talking to the carpet. You could be talking to that bottle of water. In fact, there's not a big difference between talking to an inanimate object like a bottle of water and a human being in terms of the effectiveness. Some of you would say, well, it depends on who you spend time with. And I would say that the important person not to be talking to is Yourself, right? That's the one thing I would stay away from because if you just talk to yourself, you're just going to mail it in. You're just going to keep it in your mind and just kind of na na na na na na na and then just be done with it. But you have to externally verbalize it, and that's what's important when you're relating. And finally, the third R I'm going to ask you to focus on is writing. So first you read, then you relate, and then you write spelled R I T E. And what is writing? I'm going to ask you to take notes. So again, information is being processed through your eyes into your brain. In order for people to put it out there, you either verbalize it through relating or use your hands and you write it in handwriting. And I would recommend you handwrite this if possible. We did a prior episode on note-taking, and that's a must-listen-to episode. Many of you in our podcast community on Facebook have said that this is the most powerful episode that you've listened to. And this is all about how to take effective notes. So I'm going to ask you to take notes about what you read, to organize it. In our program, we actually have a grid system to do that. We take a piece of paper and we break it into 4 parts, and we ask specific questions if you're part of our Kwik Reading program. Now, if you're not part of that, then I would recommend you listen to the note-taking episode and do it that model, where on the left side you take notes and on the right side you make notes, meaning on the left side you're capturing the information about what you're reading. About who the characters are and what's going on with the plot and when and where and all those questions that you're answering. And on the right side, you're creating notes about, wow, I wonder what's gonna happen, what's coming up, how does this relate to what I've already understood and understand? So there you have it, Kwik Brains, 3 Rs to building your reading comprehension. Number 1, you read. And I would recommend you schedule your reading because if you don't schedule it, it's not gonna happen. The second R is you relate. You talk about for a few minutes, give yourselves 3 minutes, to fill it in. And if you're talking to a human being, ask them to ask questions. If you only get to 1 minute or 2 minutes, ask them, where is this taking place? Ask them to ask you, when is this taking place? Who's the main character? What's going on? Because questions are the answer. They're one of the keys to better comprehension. And finally, make sure that you write, that you take notes. And if you've gone through our big system, you know exactly how to do that. Or at the very least, listen to the episode on effective note-taking and And you'll be able to follow that. If you enjoyed this episode and you want to go really, really deep and improve your reading speed about 300%, 300%, effectively reading something in 20 minutes that normally takes an hour, I invite you to go to kwikreading.com, kwikreading.com. And that's our flagship reading program, which is not all about reading speed, but boosting your reading focus, your reading comprehension, your reading retention, and your reading enjoyment.

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That's 916-82-BRAIN. Growing up struggling with learning challenges from a childhood brain injury, it's been my life's mission to help you have your very best brain so you could win more every single day. Now, want more Kwik Brain? Here are 4 ways to fast-track your results in lock in what you just learned into your long-term memory. Remember FAST. F-A-S-T. The F stands for Facebook. You're not alone on this journey. I invite you to join our free private online group. There you can connect with me, your fellow brain lovers, links to resources, and even submit your questions for me to answer in future episodes. Go to kwikbrain.com. That's K-W-I-K brain dot com. The A stands for apply. Act on what you learned today. Remember, knowledge is not power, it's potential power. It only becomes power when you use it. So use what you just learned. The S stands for subscribe. Don't miss the next episode and other free brain training. And finally, the T stands for teach.

You want to learn faster now? The key is to lock it in right away by teaching it to someone else.

When you teach something, you get to learn it twice. Here's a simple way to do that. Leave a review on iTunes. Leave a review with your biggest takeaway from this episode. You could also post and share this podcast on your social media. It helps us spread our mission of building better, brighter brains. And of course, tag us so our team can properly thank you. #KwikBrain, K-W-I-K Brain. Mine is @JimKwik, K-W-I-K. On Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. So what does FAST stand for? Facebook, apply, subscribe, teach. I'll see you in our next episode of Kwik Brain. Until then, remember, you are faster and smarter than you think.