Introduction: Reading Faster: Reading a Print Book While Listening to the Audio at Twice the Speed
Last Saturday, I set aside three hours to read The Hard Thing about Hard Things, while listening to the audio version, but it was not meant to be. I couldn’t get the mp3 audio version of the book to play. See my blog post Struggling with Technology. After wasting three hours, I didn’t want to read the book again that day, so I read Kiera Cass’ Selection trilogy, which I enjoyed. I will write and post my review later in the week. Monday morning, I decided to read The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
, while listening to the audio at twice the speed.
I mentioned previously that I learned about the technique. It sounded reasonable, so I decided that I would try it. Additionally, in my LinkedIn group, Leaders are Great Readers, Jarrett Maiben, indicated that the last book he read, he tried the technique and it worked very well. In his case, he increased the audio speed to 1.5 times. When I heard this, I was delighted, and had one more reason for trying the technique.
Have you read?
Obstacles, Reading Challenge, Benefits of Reading
What to Expect When Reading a Print Book While Listening to the Audio at Twice the Speed
We all fall into this trap, we make a recommendation without talking about our experience. I am guilty, and perhaps you are as well. Two people mentioned that they read the print book while listening to the audio at twice the speed, but they didn’t let others know what to expect if they decided to try the technique. The audio version of The Hard Thing about Hard Things is close to eight hours in length, so I was looking forward to read the book in just under four hours, but the reality is that it must have taken me close to six hours, and here’s why.
When I doubled the speed of the audio version of The Hard Thing about Hard Things, it sounded so unnatural that I reduced the speed to 1.5 times, which still sounded unnatural to my ears, so I reduced the speed to 1.25, which sounded a lot better. After listening to the audio book at 1.25 times for a while, I realized that it was too slow, because when I looked at the words on the page, I was waiting for the audio to catch up to where I was.
Hmm! Interesting insight!
I increased the speed of the audio book to 1.5 times, and although it sounded unnatural, I had no problem keeping up while reading the print book. After a while, when I got accustomed to the unnaturalness of the sound, I realized that I could speed up the audio book some more, so I made the leap to 2.0 times. Yes, it was very unnatural sounding, but when I ignored the way the audio sounded and instead focused on what I was reading, I discovered that the technique was fine and could work very well for me and what I am trying to accomplish. But, I wished that someone had told me to ignore the way the audio sounds and just focus on the words I am hearing and what I am reading.
I want you to learn from my experience, so set the audio to between 1.5 and 2.0 times, recognizing that it will sound bizarre to you, but that’s okay, you will get accustomed to it.
Remembering When Reading a Print Book While Listening to the Audio at Twice the Speed
Because the technique is new to me, and the audio was very unnatural sounding, I was somewhat tense for a while, and if you want to learn, and remember what you read, you have to be calm and relaxed. I wasn’t quite sure how to take good notes during the process, so I underlined several things, but that’s about it. I do remember points that I thought were very important and interesting in the book, but I intend to flip through the book to write out my notes, so that I can write a proper summary.
I suspect that I will do this until I feel comfortable with this new technique. I was feeling somewhat disappointed in myself, because in my perception, it was easy for the other two people. But I do not know that, I am making an assumption. Everything is new once, and I need to continue using this process until it becomes second nature to me. And it’s not a bad idea for me to flip through the book to take proper notes because it’s part of the learning curve.
At some point, I want to introduce speaking my notes using Dragon Naturally, while using the technique, but I am terrified of adding another element when I haven’t mastered using these two together – reading a print book while listening to the audio at twice the speed. So if you are interested in reading faster, without using speed reading techniques, it's worth your time to try reading a print book while listening to the audio at twice the speed. You will save a lot of time. One of the reasons why people abandon books is because they are reading too slowly.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
The SelectionThe Elite (The Selection)The One (The Selection)The Selection 5-Book Box Set: The Complete Series
