| 1. Warm up exercise for Soft-Focusing:a) First use | | | | sharpest, most acute vision.e) It helps your eye |
| your left-hand, and then your right hand, to make | | | | to focus on the upper-half of the letters of the |
| six-inch wide Air-(imaginary), Infinity-Symbols - in | | | | words, using a soft-focus.f) Do not be concerned |
| space. Time spent: sixty-seconds.b) Now close | | | | with following the laser-trace or the underlining |
| your eyes and mentally-visualize producing a | | | | movements of the Pen or Cursor because the |
| narrow Infinity- Symbol descending down a | | | | eye-follows-a-moving-object. It goes on auto-pilot |
| lined-page. Time spent: sixty-seconds.c) Be aware | | | | with peripheral-vision.g) It is instinctual (hardwired), |
| of your Eye-Movement Patterns going | | | | for our eyes to be Motion-Detectors, and causes |
| left-to-right, and right-to-left in your | | | | our reading to speed-up. Your eyes play the |
| Field-of-Vision.d) Take your RasterMaster or Pen | | | | game of catch-up with the trace-marks of your |
| and practice going down a page, the width of a | | | | RasterMaster, Pen, and Cursor. |
| sentence, using the Z for Zorro strategy. Time | | | | Key Point: Your moving-hand automatically |
| spent: sixty-seconds. | | | | manipulates the Pacer to move at about 2.5 times |
| A soft-focus consists of three-elements: | | | | fast then your normal (random |
| One, focus your eyes on the upper-half of the | | | | eye-movements).h) Practice Pacing twice-as-fast |
| letters of the words in each sentence. It is easier | | | | as you can mentally-echo the words on the page. |
| on your retina and increases your reading speed | | | | At 650 words per minute, subvocalization is not |
| up to 35%. | | | | silenced, but is reduced by up to 66% because |
| Second, peer Indirectly at the words of the | | | | you can speak no more than maximum of 200 |
| sentences, as if your eyes are binoculars; snailers | | | | words per minute. |
| focus on one-word-at-a-time, as if their eyes are | | | | Endwords |
| reading sentences through a microscope. | | | | Some students believe that these warm-up |
| Third, mentally divide (separate), each sentence | | | | exercises are a waste-of-time. |
| into three clauses of about three-words each. | | | | First, they are required for only 21 days, after |
| Now use your RasterMaster or Pen to underline | | | | that your eye-movement-patterns enter |
| each sentence into three parcels of about | | | | auto-pilot as habits. |
| three-words each. Continue practicing | | | | Second, please remember that you have |
| Triple-Chunking the sentences for two-pages. | | | | programmed yourself into snailing by daily |
| A Hard Focus | | | | reinforcement; you use only about six-degrees of |
| To really understand Soft-Focus is to compare it | | | | your one-hundred-and-twenty degrees of available |
| to a Hard-Focus. When we are reading | | | | field-of-vision. |
| one-word-at-a-time, watching TV, playing a Video | | | | Snailing use six-degrees to read |
| Games, and using our Word-Processor, we | | | | one-word-at-a-time, while Speed Reading |
| engage our narrow-vision called Hard-Focus. | | | | employes up to thirty-six degrees, about |
| It is also called Tunnel-Vision, like a horse with | | | | six-words in each chunk. If you choose to have |
| blinders, used to eliminate what is lateral left and | | | | the competitive-edge over your peers, and live in |
| lateral right. When communicating we | | | | the Fast-Lane in your career, we recommend |
| narrow-focus on the eyes of the other party to | | | | owning the skill of reading three books, articles |
| the conversation. | | | | and reports in the time others can hardly |
| Hard-focus is seeing in a narrow spectrum, while | | | | complete one. |
| Soft-Focus is relaxing the muscles of our eyes, | | | | With use, you will find your comfort-zone with |
| and those of our face, neck and shoulders. | | | | one-strategy of speed reading. Remember, speed |
| Remember that snailing uses a Hard-Focus, and | | | | reading uses all of your left-brain reading skills we |
| speed reading requires a Soft-Focus. | | | | call snailing, in addition to your right-brain speed |
| Underling With Your Pacer:Practicing your Pacer | | | | reading strategies. It is not a question of ignoring |
| strategies changes how your brain functions in | | | | horizontal, lineal reading, it is combined with |
| reading. | | | | vertical, visual techniques called speed reading. |
| Reprogramming your brain (through daily practice), | | | | Practice is your secret weapon - use-it-or-lose-it. |
| causes the structures of comprehension to | | | | Each time you triple-chunk a sentence you are |
| enlarge from one-word wide, to up to six-words | | | | create an engram (memory-trace), that excites |
| in width. It permits you to permanently triple your | | | | your speed reading neuropathways. After 21 |
| reading speed.a) Your Pacer undermines the | | | | days, you create a long-term habit, and speed |
| snailing strategies of regressions, losing your place | | | | reading becomes your norm, and snailing is |
| on the page and rereading sentences up to | | | | out-dated. |
| ten-times per page.b) It reduces subvocalization | | | | You do not become a speed reader by thinking |
| (mentally hearing each word), as you read up to | | | | about it or just mastering the scientific and |
| 66%; improve memory about 50%.c) The Pacer | | | | technical details. It is not an intellectual exercise, |
| causes your eyes to chunk (group), words of the | | | | anymore than you can learn to drive a car by |
| sentences, instead of focusing on | | | | reading a book. |
| one-word-at-a-time. Speed is improved up to 33% | | | | How do you get to Speed Reading nirvana? |
| by chunking with a Soft-Focus, when we | | | | Practice, more practice, and then the Aha |
| consistently use Peripheral-Vision.d) | | | | moment of personal insight has done it for 2 |
| Vestibulo-Ocular-Reflex (Fresh Pursuit Tracking), is | | | | million others. |
| moving your eyes-and-head to obtain the | | | | |