There are many speed reading exercises available in books and on the internet, which you can use to help yourself improve your reading speed. First of all it’s a good idea to do an exercise to measure your reading speed, just to know your starting point, and then there are many exercises which are actually designed to help to improve the speed of your reading.
The internet has a wide variety of self help exercises freely available and as with anything else, they won’t all be suitable but there are so many to choose from that you’re sure to find something which you’re happy with.
When we first learn to read as children, we learn word by word how to understand and pronounce each word in its written form. This is all well and good for when you are learning to read, but it is a habit which needs breaking if we are to considerably improve the speed of our reading.
One of the most effective speed reading exercises which I have found is to use a book which is easy to read and a stopwatch or timer. As you begin to read the page use your finger or a pen and point to each word as you read it. Try to move your finger faster and faster, and to take in more than one word at a time. Try to form some sort of smooth rhythm to your reading.
When you get to the end of the page check your timer and see how long it took to read. Keep practicing this exercise until you see some improvement.
Another one of the useful speed reading exercises which I have found is to practice reading small blocks of words at one time. This exercise can also be useful to improve your comprehension. One way to loosen up your eyes is to practice reading without worrying about comprehension, just looking at the words.
Another technique is to find a book which is easy to comprehend and read for 1 minute and then count the number of lines which you have read. The next minute try to read 2 lines extra, and then continue to increase the number of lines until you are unable to comprehend what you have just read. Stay at this level until your comprehension improves, then try to increase the number of lines again.
Of course, the real key to improving your speed reading is the same as the key to improving any other technique, practice. The more you practice, the better you will become.