I read therefore I am
Well, that is not exactly what French Philosopher Descartes said. But I have often heard people read and have been tempted to judge their entire personality by their reading skill. I know it sounds cruel but it is true: There is very little time in life and often, the way you read leaves lasting impressions on your listeners. Reading skills are imperative and you cannot do without reading. It is the sine qua non of everyday life, of communication and human relationships.
While each person differs in his style and capacity to read well and there lies no objective way to read well, we could still afford pointers to great reading! Reading well has quite a lot of advantages
Reading well has advantages
Ø When you read well, people take notice and want to hear you out. It is your first mark of impression on others. Reading in debates, competitions or even in Churches or otherwise are a great way to get noticed. This is the age of networking. To get noticed is to create your profile, to launch yourself for success.
Ø Reading well is a essential facet of one’s personality too. You are more likely to choose a person who can read well for an important task than otherwise
Ø Reading well is also an indicator of communicating oneself and one’s message across although this is not a full-fledged theory.
Ø When we read well, we better enjoy what we read and this helps us take further interest into what the text is trying to say.
Ø Did I tell you reading well also helps develop for others their listening skills. You didn’t see that coming, did you?
Ø Reading well is a very important part of daily work in just about every company.
So how do I read well?
So how do I go about acing my reading skill? There is no prize-winning book on this but here are a few tips to take home
Breathe – learn to take a deep breath. No one is going to leave the scene. You don’t have to ‘get it done with’. You have to read well and others around should feel like they are enjoying an ice-cream. Learn to take a deep breath before you start your first sentence and breathe deeply many times in between paragraphs. Your audience should be able to ‘stand up’ and take notice. Pause – You are not there to perform but really disseminate something useful. Pausing often even when you see a ‘comma’ is useful, helps your audience to really absorb what you are saying and gives you time to make a healthy dialogue between reader and listeners. Eye Contact – Eye Contact is tantamount to body language in this mode of communication. You aren’t reading a presidential speech but perhaps all the same, wish that people vouch for what you have read or agree with you. A lot of this will depend on your eye-contact. Modulate – Reading shouldn’t be a dull and dreary activity. It has to sound like music without the scores. Modulate your voice often according to the emotion that the content is trying to convey. Voice modulation helps listeners from being distracted. Smile – Yes, it’s true! You have to smile when you are about to read or after it. You have to smile because it tells your audience you have come to them ‘in peace’. It helps to calm oneself down too. Punctuation– Last but not the least, learn the basics. Watch out for those punctuation marks. They have been put there for a reason. Learn to follow them, they only exist to help your reading be fruitful.
Now go out there and get reading! Those libraries await you. So it going to be Milton or Shelley?