The reader should think of himself as a kind of reviewer upon a parade-stand, before whose eyes the ranks of facts go filing by.

Thus, as an observer, you are interested in the groups of facts which comprise the paragraph. And in each paragraph, you are looking for the leader of the fact -- the main idea.

Where will you find it?

For the most parat, the leading thought in each paragraph is obvious and clearly expressed. It is contained in the sentence that is known as the topic, or leading sentence. In such cases, you will need to coin one as you read.

Your eyes perceive many times faster than your brain apprehends. But it also means that, while seeing all the words, your brain learns to disregard all of them, except the key words and word combinations which speed you on your way.

When you look for the key words and phrases, you concentrate upon the main stream of the thought. So long as the thought flows smoothly, completely, and without irregularity, you move forward rapidly and smoothly. Let something out of the ordinary occur, however, and you are suddenly aware that here is a situation which demands the exercise of caution and skill. You are concentrating on the thought. And that is where you should concentrate, if you are an expert reader until, of course, a verbal pedestrian darts out. Then, because you are seeing everything, you are prepared to meet such a verbal emergency.

Telegraphic reading does not mean that you have lost any of the thought content. In every sentence, in every paragraph, there is just so much thought content. You cannot augment or diminish that thought content by increasing or decreasing the number of words used to express the thought.

By looking only for those words which are the key words of the sentence, you are establishing a habit of rapid, economical reading which is sound both educationally and psychologically. Your eyes will travel with speed along the lines of print; but as your eyess speed, your mind idles.

SKIMMING -- KEY TO RAPID READING

Contrary to the popular notion, skimming is not just glancing down the page. Instead, skimming is a well-defined reading skill: a highly selective process of looking at a page so that the reader is able to grasp quickly that which he seeks.

But in any event, the topflight reader does not rely upon mere chance. He knows where to look to find quickly, and with the least margin of error, exactly what he wants. It is this knowing how and where to look that distinguishes the first-class reader from the dawdler. The eyes of the expert reader move down the page with swift, unerring skill. And as soon as they alight upon a paragraph -- at the object of their search -- with the deadly aim of a cobra. It may be that the reader is trying to see as many main ideas as he can in the shortest space of time. If such is the case, he keeps himself free from the underbrush of trivia and detail so that he may concentrate more effectively upon the main line of the author's thought.