[ju-st]

I'm one of the guys who can pattern match. But for me this works only for novels and other "light" literature where remembering details of the story is not very important.

If I really want to learn/understand something it's much better to read the text in my head, so I have the opportunity to think more about what I just read. Or I pause after each paragraph.

Audiobooks didn't work for me at all - my mind always wanders away. Maybe I should try 2x speed.

[aliencat]

A lot of people(including me) who tried to learn speed reading spend much effort on trying to eliminate "reading out loud" in their head, instead of actually spend the time to read some book.

It's great to hear the experience from someone who actually knows speed reading techniques. I guess "reading out loud" isn't so bad after all. thanks for you input :)

[spocked]

I get very distracted at 1x. There is a speed of maximum efficiency that works for me - generally around 2X. When information is thrown that fast at you, as long as you can catch it, there is no way to get distracted (unless there is a physical distraction).

Try listening at 2X or 3X while lying down with your eyes closed. Apparently, your brain will start to engage your visual cortex for listening and the speed becomes quite manageable.