Summary Magic — Improve Reading Retention

A Simple Way to get More out of Your Reading

We live in age of excessive information. Reading, sifting and assimilating copious amounts of information- text, video, signs, icons and more- is the norm today.

While keeping track of everything efficiently looks very different for each individual, there is one strategy to easily retain and recall all that you are reading or perusing.

Read with the intent of sharing a summary with your BFF.

That’s it.

Imagine you are at the pool side table in a fancy hotel. Dressed in a cool summer outfit, a tall glass of your favorite drink waiting on a table for two. In your hands lies the novel you are reading currently. You feel a light tap on your shoulder. You look up and your BFF peers down with a grin and a ‘Sorry- I am late. Traffic!’ You smile and your BFF sits down.

‘What are you reading?’ your friend asks.

Did you imagine that scene?

Good!

Now what would your answer be?

Are you thinking? Trying to summarize? It’s only a line or two that you have to answer. Should not be so difficult right?

But initially, it is.

Now imagine how much easier it would be if you had started reading with the intent of having that answer ready in the first place. Much easier.

As that is the premise of this simple technique. Reading for retelling works better because this way we are reading for comprehension. Because the goal is to retell to a friend, your takeaways are genuine.

It is not so easy or fun when you imagine the same thing with a boss or colleague. Then- looking ‘smart,’ ‘intellectual’- and a host of other expectations start creeping in. Then, we start imagining books or articles that we might not be reading in real life. The titles become more boring and snobbish. And that does not always help retain what you are absorbing in real life.

This fun hypothetical scenario has been super useful to me to keep track of what I am reading. Considering I alternate between my children’s books and my own- personal and professional- it is what keeps me on top of my reading. I have shared it with friends and colleagues and trust me it works.

Now, if you are reading for a test- use this technique to get an overview of the material. And then come back for a second pass for the details.

Some of you might scoff at this ‘so-called strategy’. Don’t!

Because it is in fact just a grown up, fancier version of what school children use to aid comprehension. (as does my first grader) The five fingers or five questions method.

For those who need a recap, kids have to answer five questions at the end of the passage or story they read or hear and paraphrase the following questions.

Who: Main characters or ideas.

What: Explain the central concept.

Start: Describe the initial setup or section.

Middle: Paraphrase the scene in the middle or ideas described midway in the passage.

End: Answer what happens in the end.

The fabulous part here is that this can apply to fiction and non-fiction, to articles, books and magazines, and it works regardless of whether you finished a page, a chapter or even are about to abandon the resource because you hate it.

So, what are you waiting for? Go forth and read.

After all, as Dr Seuss says:

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”