Quick Tips on Improving Reading Recall
Do you find yourself having to re-read a paragraph you just read? Do you
have trouble remembering what you read just yesterday? Here are some easy
exercises you can do to put a stop to this time wasting endeavor of information
overload.
- Turn to the editorial page of your daily newspaper. Read the lead editorial.
What’s the major point the editor is making? Is it reflected in
the title of the piece? Rewrite the title to reflect your understanding
of the writer’s point of view. The key is using your own language.
- Read two different letters to the editor in your newspaper. Have the
writers made their points of view clear? Are there parts that are not
clear to you? What questions would you ask these letter writers to clarify
what they have written? This forces you to pay better attention and be
more purposeful in your reading.
- For this exercise you will need a nonfiction book on any subject of
interest to you. Examine the table of contents. On a piece of paper list
the three chapters that interest you the most. List them in order of importance
or priority to you. Paraphrase the chapter titles in your own words. (hopefully,
you are beginning to see a pattern here.)
- Read the book jacket. Write down the two major selling points the publisher
gives for buying the book.
- Read the preface, or foreword, or introduction. Reduce this piece of
writing to one sentence. Again, reduction and simplification are two powerful
memory builders.
- Assume you are writing a book review on this book. Your editor tells
you to devote one paragraph to your recommendation for buying or not buying
the book. Write that one short paragraph with your recommendation –
of course this one seems to require that your read the book, but even
if you don’t read the book look it over well and try to write the
paragraph.
By applying these kinds of questions to all of your technical or nonfiction
reading, you will find that not only do you understand it better (a prerequisite
for recall), but you will also recall the information longer with more accuracy.
The basic principles you are applying are:
- Reduction
- Simplification
- Personal Interpretation
Of course there are more, but these strategies will pay big results.
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