EVELYN WOOD
(Expert # 67)Evelyn Wood Quick Facts
Main Area: Speed Reading
Profile: Teacher; Speed Reader; Writer; 1909-1995
Corporate Affiliations: The Literacy Company; Reading D
ynamics International
Evelyn Wood Biography
Evelyn Wood was well-known for developing a system to teach speed reading an
comprehension. Her discovery began when she watched her college professor rea
her 80-page term paper in less than ten minutes. Her professor could not explain
how he did it. Wood wondered if she could do the same thing and if there were
others with similar skills.
d
dWood learned that people have been reading rapidly for centuries. After a two-year
t a time and saw words in
meaningful patterns. They moved their eyes quickly and easily down the page,
al they were reading, and did not vocalize
ords as they read.
Wood started to teach herself these princi
tho a bering everything
she read. She then developed a system for teaching others. Taught and proven at
the University of Utah, the first Evelyn Wood Institute opened in Washington,
Da d houghts
search, she analyzed 50 people who could read between 1,500 and 6,000 words per
minute. She found that they read more than one word a
adjusted their speed to the type of materi
w
ples and soon was able to read several
us nd words per minute, while still understanding and rememD.C. in 1959.
vi Riklan’s favorite Evelyn Wood Quotes and Ty method because they think
say which would you rather do—eat a dish of
rice, kernel by kernel, or take a spoonful to get a good taste? My reading
technique is actually comprehension by accumulation.- So many people are dubious about trying m
they’re liable to miss a lot. I