How To Read Faster By Spotting Power Words

A four-panel comic showing a student learning to speed-read by focusing on key nouns and verbs whilst skipping smaller words.

Welcome to a game-changing approach to reading faster and smarter. If you've ever felt bogged down by dense text, here's the secret: not every word deserves equal attention. The real meaning of a sentence lives in its power words—the nouns and verbs that tell you who's doing what. Train your eyes to land on these heavy lifters, let the small connector words blur into the background, and you'll move through text at speed whilst still catching the core message.

Focus on Nouns and Verbs

The foundation of this technique is simple: nouns and verbs carry the weight. They're the who and the what's happening. Words like 'and', 'the', 'in', and 'of' are structural scaffolding—they help sentences hold together, but they don't add much meaning on their own.

When you scan a page, deliberately aim your gaze at the biggest meaning words. Your brain is brilliant at filling in the tiny connectors without you having to stare at them. This shift takes you from reading letter-by-letter to idea-by-idea, and suddenly the page becomes less intimidating.

Think of Power Words as Road Signs

Imagine you're driving down a motorway. You focus on the road signs—the ones that tell you where you're going and when to turn. You don't study every blade of grass or every pavement marking along the way. They're there, but they're not your priority.

Text works the same way:

  • Nouns and verbs are your road signs: subject, object, action.
  • Conjunctions and prepositions are the pavement markings: useful for structure, but you don't need to stare at them to know where you're headed.

Lock onto the signs, and the journey becomes faster and clearer.

Practice Scanning for Meaning

Start by picking a paragraph and deliberately skimming it. Let your eyes hop from one bold meaning word to the next, skipping over the small filler words. At first, it might feel unnatural—your brain is used to reading every single word. But with a bit of practice, this selective focus becomes second nature.

You're not skipping ideas; you're skipping clutter. The fluff that slows you down gets trimmed away, and what remains is the core message delivered faster and with less mental effort.

Speed Up Without Losing Clarity

The payoff is speed with clarity. By hunting for nouns and verbs, you grasp the essence of a text more efficiently. You're still understanding the content—in fact, you might understand it better because you're not getting lost in the weeds of every tiny word.

This technique is especially powerful for study sessions, research, or any time you need to absorb information quickly. Keep your eyes on the words that carry weight, and you'll find yourself reading faster, retaining more, and feeling less fatigued.

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