What RSVP reading is
RSVP stands for rapid serial visual presentation. The reader shows one word, or a small group, in a fixed spot and replaces it at the pace you set, so your eyes stay on one point while the text moves past.
Each word is placed so that a letter at or a little left of its middle sits on the fixation line. Turn on the focus letter highlight to see which letter that is.
While the reader runs, you cannot glance back at an earlier word. When you lose the thread, step back with the previous-word button or the left arrow key.
Choosing a pace
A meta-analysis of 190 studies estimated that adults read English non-fiction silently at about 238 words per minute and fiction at about 260, with most adults between 175 and 300 words per minute for non-fiction (Brysbaert, 2019). The reader starts at 250 WPM, close to those averages.
Going faster costs understanding. A review of reading research concluded that readers are unlikely to double or triple a pace of around 250 words per minute and still understand the text as well as at their normal speed (Rayner et al., 2016). Showing one word at a time does not remove that trade-off.
Start from your own pace, which a timed one-minute reading measures, and raise the speed 50 WPM at a time. If you cannot say what a paragraph was about, go back to the last speed that worked, and check yourself with the reading comprehension test.
What actually raises reading speed, and what only feels faster, is in our guide to reading faster; see all reading guides for more.
Listen or read along
Listen reads your text aloud with a voice from your browser or device and highlights each word in the text as it is spoken. Select any word to start from there. Read along uses the same voice but shows each spoken word in the reader window, one at a time.
The highlight follows the word timing that the voice reports. This timing event does not work in some widely used browsers (MDN Web Docs), and some voices never send it. The tool then moves the highlight on an estimate from the speaking rate and corrects it at the start of each sentence.
Long texts are spoken one sentence at a time, so there is no length limit. Pause keeps your place and Resume carries on from the last spoken word. When the timing is an estimate, Resume starts that sentence again. If no voice matches the language of this page, the tool tells you instead of switching to an English voice.
Keyboard shortcuts
The shortcuts work after you click or tab into the tool, and in fullscreen. They are off while you type in a field.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Play or pause |
| ← → | Previous or next word |
| ↑ ↓ | Faster or slower: 50 WPM, or 0.1× when listening |
| F | Fullscreen in Read and Read along |
| Esc | Leave fullscreen |
Your text stays in your browser
Your text and your place are kept in this browser's local storage, along with your settings. Nothing is uploaded to SpeedReadr, and Clear text deletes the saved copy.
The voices come from your browser and operating system. Some are online voices run by a remote speech service (MDN Web Docs), which receives the text it speaks. The voice list marks them as online.
Frequently asked questions
Does RSVP speed reading improve comprehension?
No. A review of reading research by Rayner and colleagues (2016) found a trade-off between speed and accuracy: reading much faster than your normal pace means understanding less. RSVP suits practice and texts where the gist is enough.
What speed should I start at?
Start near your usual reading pace. A 2019 meta-analysis by Brysbaert put the average silent reading rate of adults at about 238 words per minute for English non-fiction, and the reader starts at 250 WPM. Raise it 50 WPM at a time while you can still follow the text.
Can I download the audio?
No. The voices play through your browser's speech engine, which speaks the text but does not produce an audio file, so there is nothing to download. SpeedReadr does not record the audio either.
Why is there no voice for my language?
The voices come from your browser and operating system. Install a voice for the language in your device settings, or pick another voice from the list yourself. The tool never switches to an English voice on its own.
Does the reader remember where I stopped?
Yes. Your text and position are saved in this browser along with your settings. When you come back, the Resume button takes you to the word where you stopped. Clear text deletes the saved copy.
Does this tool measure my reading speed?
No. It shows or speaks text at the pace you choose. To measure your reading speed, take the reading speed test on the home page, then check how much you understood with the reading comprehension test.
Sources
- Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E. J., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). So Much to Read, So Little Time: How Do We Read, and Can Speed Reading Help? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4–34.
- Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047.
- MDN Web Docs: SpeechSynthesisUtterance, boundary event.
- MDN Web Docs: SpeechSynthesisVoice, localService property.
- MDN Web Docs: SpeechSynthesis (Web Speech API).