It’s possible to review most documents quickly, in about eight minutes. This is a valuable technique for any activity that requires you to read more than a paragraph or two of text. You may be reading to:
- Review existing or draft material.
- Decide whether you want to spend time with a longer article.
- Get the gist of shorter things without investing too much time at the moment.
It’s the answer to those common “please take a quick look at this” requests that are part of a normal workday.
Read the introduction
The first one or two paragraphs should lay it out for you; ideally just the first one for everything but the longest articles. If this intro doesn’t draw interest, or isn’t clear, it’s probably not well written. In that case, stop there and push back that you “can’t understand the purpose of the article; please make it clear what you’re trying to say in the introduction.”
As a non-fiction book editor once said, “If the first paragraph doesn’t slap and sparkle like the sun in the water, we editors can’t bother unduly with the rest.”
Topic sentences are the key
There’s a really fast way to decide if you want to read further: Read the first sentence in each paragraph. If the topic sentences make a complete argument, you may want to read more carefully (either now or later). But don’t get excited about the topic lines until you check the last sentence of each paragraph too.
Last sentences say even more about the quality of the documentation. A well-closed paragraph does two things: it sums up the intermediate conclusion (“here’s what I’ve learned so far”), and in doing this, it sets the stage for the next paragraph or section.
What did the author conclude?
The conclusion should answer each of the points in the introduction. Did the argument hold up, or did it collapse for good reason? If the idea didn’t pan out, what new things did the author discover as a result? Did the author completely forget to conclude the piece?
Missing conclusions are a major red flag. Sometimes, an author doesn’t bother to add a conclusion, especially in technical documentation. When this happens, it’s very likely that the writer didn’t have enough information to convey the complete message.
You can vet long reads quickly
Read only the introduction, the opening and closing sentences of each paragraph, and the conclusion. Decide whether you think the author has made a complete and logical argument. Read more if you want to clarify or confirm. And, if necessary, set a timer to keep you honest, because this isn’t an exercise in sifting all the evidence.
When someone says, “Take a quick look at this,” they should be asking for some immediate feedback. If they wanted more, the request didn’t match the ask, and you’re free to defer.
References
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UNC Learning Center – Skimming Strategies
https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/skimming/ -
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga – Skimming
https://www.utc.edu/enrollment-management-and-student-affairs/center-for-academic-support-and-advisement/tips-for-academic-success/skimming -
Regent University – Efficient Reading Techniques (PDF)
https://www.regent.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Regent-Writing-Lab-Reading-Skimming.pdf -
Raul Pacheco-Vega – Writing Topic Sentences and Crafting Paragraphs
https://www.raulpacheco.org/2018/10/writing-topic-sentences-and-crafting-paragraphs/ -
Jesse Wisnewski – How to Skim Nonfiction
https://www.jessewisnewski.co/article/skim-reading -
Verywell Mind – How to Read and Understand Academic Articles
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-read-and-understand-a-psychology-journal-article-2795709 -
Wikipedia – SQ3R Reading Method
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQ3R