What is skimming?

Skimming is a reading technique that can help you to:

• read more quickly
• decide if the text is interesting and whether you should read it in more detail

Skimming is a fast reading technique. Use it to obtain the gist of a piece of text (i.e. to quickly identify the main ideas in the text).

How is 'skimming' different to 'scanning'?

The term skimming is often confused with scanning. Remember:
Skimming is used to obtain the gist (the overall sense) of a piece of text.
E.g. Use skimming to get the gist of a page of a textbook to decide whether it is useful and should therefore be read more slowly and in more detail.
Scanning is used to obtain specific information from a piece of text.
E.g. Use scanning to find a particular number in a telephone directory.

Sometimes you can use both reading methods. After you have skimmed a piece of text to decide whether the text is of interest, you may wish to use scanning techniques to locate specific information.

How do you skim read?

Don't read the whole text word-for-word. Use as many clues as possible to give you some background information. There might be pictures or images related to the topic, or an eye-catching title. Let your eyes skim over the surface of the text and, whilst thinking about any clues you have found about the subject, look out for key words.