How to speed read PDFs and work documents

Start at 400 words a minute. Reports, contracts and decks are mostly boilerplate around a few sentences that matter. The skill is finding those sentences fast.

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The method, in four steps

Import the file. Headers, footers and page numbers are stripped out.
First pass at 500 to 700 to find where the substance is.
Second pass at 300 on those sections only.
For anything you will sign, read the operative clauses at normal speed. Every word.

The mistake to avoid

Trusting a skim on a document with consequences. Speed finds the clause. It does not replace reading it.

See the pace first

Not sure what 400 words a minute looks like? Take the 400 wpm test, or measure your own speed and start 50 above it.

Questions

How fast should I read PDFs and work documents?

Start at 400 words a minute and adjust by the quiz: at 80% or better, go up 25; below that, come down 50. The adult average is 238 for non-fiction.

What is the biggest mistake when speed reading PDFs and work documents?

Trusting a skim on a document with consequences. Speed finds the clause. It does not replace reading it.

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