The exercises that make the biggest difference to everyday reading are the ones done on real text: timed reading with a pacer, phrase reading, previewing, deliberate skimming and writing down what you remember. Drills such as Schulte tables and flashed words are good warm-ups for attention, but you should not expect them to raise your reading speed on their own. Below are 15 exercises you can start today, each with steps, time and an honest note on how much carries over to real reading.
The rule for every exercise: speed only counts if you can still say what you read. Check with a short written summary every time.
Exercises on real text
1. Baseline speed test
Time: 5 minutes. Trains: nothing; it measures.
- Take the free reading speed test, or time yourself on a 500-word passage and divide words by minutes.
- Answer the questions or write a three-sentence summary.
- Repeat on two other days and average.
Transfer: essential. Without a baseline you cannot tell whether any other exercise is working. See how to test your reading speed.
2. Pen pacing
Time: 5 to 10 minutes. Trains: steady tempo, less drifting.
- Hold a closed pen under the line and move it smoothly at your normal pace.
- After three minutes, speed the pen up slightly; keep it there for three more.
- Stop and summarise. If the summary is thin, go back to the slower pace.
Transfer: good for focus; large speed gains are not established. See meta guiding.
3. One-minute sprints
Time: 5 minutes. Trains: awareness of your own pace.
- Read for one minute at a comfortable pace; mark where you stopped.
- Read the next minute aiming to get a little further, without skipping.
- Read a third minute at a comfortable pace and count the lines.
Transfer: modest. It shows you that your comfortable pace has some slack; the push itself is skimming-adjacent, so do not treat sprint speed as your reading speed.
4. Phrase slashes
Time: 10 minutes. Trains: reading in meaningful phrases.
- On a printed page, draw light slashes between phrases: two to four words each.
- Read the page, letting your eyes land once per phrase.
- Read the next page unmarked and try to keep the rhythm.
Transfer: reasonable on easy text; the eye identifies words only within about seven letters to the right of where it rests, so keep phrases short. See chunking.
5. Preview and question
Time: 2 minutes per text. Trains: reading with a purpose.
- Read the title, headings, first and last paragraphs, and look at any figures.
- Write two questions you expect the text to answer.
- Read, then answer them.
Transfer: high. It works on everything you read from today.
6. Skim, summarise, check
Time: 10 minutes. Trains: deliberate skimming.
- Give yourself 90 seconds for a 1,000-word article. Read headings and first sentences.
- Write the gist in two sentences.
- Read the article properly and mark what your gist missed.
Transfer: high for deciding what to read closely; skimming always loses detail. See skimming vs scanning.
7. Card cover
Time: 5 to 10 minutes. Trains: fewer careless re-reads.
- Slide an index card down the page, covering each line as you finish it.
- Allow one deliberate re-read at the end of each paragraph if something was unclear.
Transfer: useful if you re-read out of habit. Do not aim for zero: some backward glances repair real misunderstandings (Schotter et al., 2014). See regression in reading.
8. Three-sentence recall
Time: 2 minutes after every session. Trains: retention and an honest speed check.
- Close the text.
- Write three sentences: the main claim, one supporting point, one detail.
- Check against the text.
Transfer: high. Recalling from memory is one of the best-supported ways to remember what you read (Dunlosky et al., 2013).
9. Vocabulary log
Time: 5 minutes a week. Trains: word recognition, the main limit on reading speed.
- Note words you meet and cannot define; look up ten a week.
- Write each in a sentence of your own.
Transfer: slow but real. Familiar words are processed faster, and researchers place language skill at the centre of reading speed (Rayner et al., 2016).
Exercises with Tachi
10. Paced reading ladder
Time: 8 to 12 minutes. Trains: a steady, slightly faster working pace.
- Open a text you want to read in the reader, in Highlight or Pacer mode.
- Set the speed to your baseline, rounded to the nearest 25 WPM.
- Every four minutes, summarise in one sentence; if it holds, add 25 WPM.
Transfer: the closest of these to real reading, because it is real reading.
11. Schulte table
Time: 1 to 2 minutes. Trains: visual search and focus.
- Open the Schulte table at 4×4.
- Tap 1 to 16 in order, keeping your gaze near the centre. Do two or three grids.
- Move to 5×5 when your time levels off.
Transfer: you will get faster at the grid; evidence that this speeds up reading is lacking. Use it to settle in. See the Schulte table.
12. Flashed-word recognition
Time: 2 to 3 minutes. Trains: recognising a whole word from one glance, and telling look-alikes apart.
- Do ten words on the tachistoscope at a level where you get most right; go up a level after 9 or 10.
- Follow with one round of Similar Words.
Transfer: limited. Recognising words in normal reading depends mostly on knowing them, which is what the vocabulary log trains.
13. Scanning hunt
Time: 1 to 2 minutes. Trains: finding a target fast.
- Do one 30-second round of Text Scan, then ten rounds of Word Search.
- Off screen: find every date or number on a newspaper page in under a minute.
Transfer: good for scanning documents for facts; scanning is not reading.
14. Peripheral letters
Time: about 2 minutes. Trains: identifying letters away from your point of gaze.
- Run ten rounds of Peripheral Letters with two letters, eyes on the centre mark.
Transfer: not shown. Training can improve the task itself, but it has not produced faster reading with good comprehension. See peripheral vision training.
15. Eye warm-up
Time: 1 to 2 minutes. Trains: deliberate gaze shifts and smooth tracking.
- 30 seconds of the 13-Point Eye Workout, then 30 seconds of Circular Eye Motion or Hourglass Focus.
Transfer: a ritual for starting, not a speed gain. Eye exercises do not treat vision problems; if reading brings on eye strain, headaches or double vision, see an optometrist. More in eye warm-up exercises.
A 10-minute and a 20-minute session plan
10-minute session
- Minute 0–1: eye warm-up (exercise 15).
- Minute 1–2: one or two Schulte grids (11).
- Minute 2–3: preview your text and write two questions (5).
- Minute 3–8: paced reading at your working speed (10).
- Minute 8–10: three-sentence recall (8).
20-minute session
- Minute 0–1: eye warm-up (15).
- Minute 1–3: Schulte table, then one Text Scan round (11, 13).
- Minute 3–5: tachistoscope and Similar Words (12).
- Minute 5–7: preview and question (5).
- Minute 7–15: paced reading ladder (10).
- Minute 15–18: skim, summarise, check on a second, shorter article (6).
- Minute 18–20: three-sentence recall on the paced text (8).
Do either plan five days a week and take the speed test again after four weeks. Keep the weekly vocabulary log alongside. These plans are a practical structure, not a dose established by research; if you only have time for one exercise, choose paced reading of real text followed by recall. Each technique behind these exercises is rated in speed reading techniques, and the bigger picture is in the speed reading guide.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I practise speed reading exercises each day?
Ten to twenty minutes, five days a week, is a sustainable amount. Spend most of it reading real text with a pacer and a recall check, and keep drills to a few minutes as a warm-up. Measure your speed and comprehension again after four weeks, because day-to-day numbers vary too much to judge.
Do eye exercises make you read faster?
Not on their own. Moving the eyes takes only about a tenth of reading time, and most of the rest goes on recognising words and understanding them. Eye drills can be a useful routine for settling in, but they do not treat vision problems. See an optometrist if reading causes strain, headaches or double vision.
What is the best exercise to read faster?
Paced reading of real text at a speed slightly above your comfortable one, followed by writing a short summary from memory. It trains the actual task, gives you a measurement every session and tells you when you have gone too fast. Over months, wide reading and vocabulary building add the most lasting gains.
Can I do speed reading exercises without an app?
Yes. Pen pacing, one-minute sprints, phrase slashes, previewing, skimming, card covering, recall writing and a vocabulary log need only a book, a pen and a timer. An app adds an exact pace, timed drills and saved results, which is convenient but not required.
Sources
- Rayner, Schotter, Masson, Potter & Treiman (2016). So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4–34
- Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan & Willingham (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58
- Schotter, Tran & Rayner (2014). Don't believe what you read (only once): Comprehension is supported by regressions during reading. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1218–1226
- American Academy of Ophthalmology (2017). Vision Training Not Proven to Make Vision Sharper