Three practical ways to get the meaning from printed words quickly and efficiently are: (1) previewing; (2) skimming; and (3) clustering. Previewing and skimming are ways of getting through a lot of reading material without reading every word. Previewing is especially helpful for heavy reading like long articles, business reports, and nonfiction books. When previewing, read the entire first two paragraphs, then read only the first sentence of each successive paragraph, and finally read the entire last two paragraphs. Skimming is good for short, light reading. The reader's eyes should sweep across each line of material, picking up only a few key words in each line. These techniques give a fast, general idea of content. To read faster and understand more, use clustering. Clustering is looking at groups of words instead of one word at a time. This takes constant practice. Pick up something light to read. Concentrate on clustering the first time through, then reread it normally to see what was missed. Practice this 15 minutes every day; it may take a week or more to pick up this technique. (DC)