Before putting speed reading practices to use, prepare to read by getting rid of distractions, pinpointing why you are reading, and doing a quick scan-through of the book to find the most important parts.
To be able to read fast, you may need to change your mindset. Allow yourself to become comfortable with the idea of reading faster. Give up the idea that every word is worth reading and has equal importance. This will free you to recognize the most important parts of the material and focus on them.
Go back to your grade-school roots and use your finger to guide you across the page. This will focus your eyes and speed up your reading.
Manage how your eyes work when you are reading by eliminating bad habits such as back-skipping, or going back to words that you previously read; and rest stops, in which you focus on and stop on particular words. Both of these habits slow you down. Imagine a line down the middle of the page, and read what is on both sides of the line at the same time.
Key words exist in every sentence, but along with them come words that have little or no importance; you can usually get the gist of a phrase by finding the key words even if you don't read the rest of the sentence). Wordpress.com explains that reading for the key words and just skimming through the filler material will shorten your reading time.
Before beginning to read a book, set a reading time goal to keep you on track and focused, Wordpress.com advises. Taking five-minute breaks every hour or half-hour helps speed your reading by giving your eyes a rest.