Ever since we were able to buy comedy albums, we’ve laughed with Dr. Bill Cosby.

Bill Cosby – Far from Finished 2013  about 2 hours 34.5 minutes long (~90 minute show, 50 minute interview, and 10 minute behind the scenes).

Dr. Cosby earned a Doctorate in Education in 1976 from University of Massachusetts Amherst. He wrote the article ‘How to Read Faster’ that taught three methods to speed read with improved comprehension: preview, skim, and cluster, which appeared in the November 1979 issue of Ebony magazine on page 86 and in the March 1980 issue of Ebony magazine on page 72.

Here’s how to preview lengthy material:

1. Read the first two paragraphs of your reading material.
2. Next read only the first sentence of each of the following paragraphs.
3. Then read the last two paragraphs entirely.

You get the gist of the text so you can evaluate it. Then you know whether it’s worth the time to read the material in-depth.

I urge you to use Dr. Cosby’s preview technique when reading anything time-consuming (for instance, the posts on this blog).

Thank you, sir, for speaking out. I think you’ve been speaking out for decades but people weren’t listening very well.

Happy 77^th birthday.