READING FOR RESULTS
Ted W. Engstrom and Edward R. Dayton
April 1, 1992
In today's world, we are faced with more and more information that we need to process more rapidly, yet at the same time to process more selectively. Since we can read faster than most people can talk, nothing beats reading as a way of gaining information and understanding. And unlike oral and visual communication, the written word gives us the ability to review the material over and over and to highlight particular parts. Here are some tips to make your reading most effective. With a book, look through the table of contents and the material on the dust jacket to try to understand what the author is trying to say. Then scan the book. One way to do this is to read just the first and last paragraph of every chapter. This will let you know if the book is what you had hoped it was. Assuming you can keep the material you are reading, develop some kind of marking system. It doesn't matter too much what it is, as long as it is consistent, and you remember it. Circle key words or ideas. Note in the margin when the author is defining something or creating a term. Attempt a brief summary of each chapter by writing across the beginning of the chapter what it was all about. When you have completed the book, write on the flyleaf or inside cover what you consider to be the major benefit of the book to you. In addition, consider these suggestions-whether reading books, journals, or magazines. Don't worry about finishing everything you have started. Read a number of different things at the same time. Have them in different places where you can pick them up. Most of us need only one news magazine a week and probably no more than two "professional" magazines. If you are accumulating stacks of magazines that you are "going to read someday," scan ...
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