Speed reading courses, apps, and books have promoted this advice for decades. The claim sounds logical: if your inner voice limits you to speaking speed, removing it should unlock dramatically faster reading.
The Myth: Why People Think They Should Stop Subvocalizing
You’ve probably encountered this advice if you’ve ever tried to improve your reading speed. Speed reading programs—from classic courses to modern apps—consistently target subvocalization as the enemy of fast reading. Their logic seems straightforward: since most people speak at 150-200 words per minute, and subvocalization essentially involves “speaking” in your head, your inner voice must be capping your reading speed at a similar rate.
The solution they propose sounds equally logical: stop subvocalizing, and you’ll break free from this artificial speed limit. Some programs claim this can unlock reading speeds of 1,000, 2,000, or even 10,000 words per minute.
This myth has spread widely for several reasons. First, the explanation is intuitive—it’s easy to believe that your inner voice is slowing you down when you can literally hear it working through each word. Second, many readers do notice excessive, laborious subvocalization when they’re struggling with difficult text, which reinforces the idea that it’s a problem to eliminate.
“Subvocalization limits you to 200 words per minute. Eliminate it to read 1,000+ words per minute without losing comprehension.”
Why People Believe This Myth
The “stop subvocalizing” advice persists because it contains a grain of truth wrapped in a fundamental misunderstanding. Let’s examine why this myth is so compelling.
The intuitive appeal: When you read something difficult, you notice your inner voice working harder. When you read something easy, that voice seems lighter or even absent. This creates the impression that subvocalization is optional—a bad habit that skilled readers have overcome.
Marketing success: Speed reading is a lucrative industry. Promising dramatic results (“triple your reading speed!”) requires identifying something concrete to change. Subvocalization is a perfect target—it’s something readers can actually notice and attempt to suppress.
Confused testimonials: People who “successfully” suppress subvocalization often report feeling like they’re reading faster. What they’re actually experiencing is skimming—moving their eyes across text without fully processing it. The subjective feeling of speed doesn’t mean comprehension is intact.
The myth also benefits from a fundamental misunderstanding about how reading works. Reading isn’t simply a visual process where words go directly from page to meaning. It’s a complex cognitive act that involves multiple brain systems working together—and phonological processing is central to that system.
What Research Actually Shows
Decades of cognitive science research tell a very different story about subvocalization. Far from being a hindrance, your inner voice appears to be deeply connected to how your brain processes language and constructs meaning.
When researchers use articulatory suppression (having people repeat a word like “the” while reading to block subvocalization), comprehension consistently drops—even when readers are given unlimited time. This effect is strongest for complex or unfamiliar material.
Brain imaging studies reveal that even the fastest readers show activity in brain regions associated with phonological processing. The internal speech areas of the brain activate during silent reading whether people report being aware of subvocalization or not. This suggests that phonological processing isn’t a surface habit but a fundamental part of how the brain handles written language.
Memory and integration research shows that subvocalization helps maintain information in working memory while you process a sentence. Reading comprehension requires holding earlier parts of a sentence (or paragraph) in mind while processing later parts. The phonological loop—your inner voice—is a key mechanism for this temporary storage.
Studies of skilled readers don’t support the idea that they’ve eliminated subvocalization. What distinguishes expert readers isn’t the absence of inner speech but its efficiency. They process familiar words with minimal phonological activation while engaging more fully with novel or critical content. This is very different from complete elimination.
The Truth About Subvocalization and Reading Speed
Here’s what the evidence actually supports about the relationship between subvocalization and reading effectiveness:
Subvocalization supports comprehension. Rather than trying to eliminate it, effective readers learn to adjust its intensity based on text difficulty and reading purpose. Complete suppression hurts understanding more than it helps speed.
Subvocalization isn’t actually tied to speaking speed. Research shows that internal speech can be compressed—processed faster than actual speech without losing its cognitive benefits. Skilled readers don’t eliminate their inner voice; they’ve become more efficient at using it.
Different texts require different levels of engagement. When you read simple, familiar material, your phonological processing may be light and fast. When you encounter complex arguments, unfamiliar vocabulary, or critical information, fuller subvocalization supports comprehension. This flexibility is a feature, not a bug.
The speed-comprehension tradeoff is real. Reading at extreme speeds (1,000+ words per minute) is possible—but comprehension drops dramatically. When people claim to have eliminated subvocalization and read at these speeds, research consistently shows they’re retaining far less than they believe. You can learn more about this relationship in our article on Reading Mechanics.
What This Means for Your Reading
Rather than trying to stop subvocalization, focus on strategies that actually work with your reading brain:
Build vocabulary and background knowledge. Words you know well require less processing. When “mitochondria” is as familiar as “table,” you’ll process it faster—not because you’ve stopped subvocalizing, but because recognition is automatic. This is where real speed improvement comes from.
Reduce unnecessary regressions. Many readers lose speed not from subvocalization but from excessive re-reading. Working on focus and attention can yield genuine efficiency gains. Check out the broader Reading Concepts section to explore related skills.
Match reading speed to purpose. Not everything deserves the same level of attention. Learn to skim headlines and topic sentences quickly, then slow down for critical details. This strategic flexibility is more valuable than a single high speed.
Practice with increasingly challenging texts. As your comprehension improves at a given speed, you can gradually push faster while maintaining understanding. This organic progression is more effective than suppression techniques.
Instead of fighting your inner voice, work with it. Build the vocabulary and knowledge that make reading more automatic. Use your subvocalization flexibly—lighter for easy material, fuller for complex text. That’s how real reading improvement happens.
The speed reading myth about eliminating subvocalization is appealing because it offers a simple solution. The reality is more nuanced: your inner voice is a tool, and like any tool, the goal is skilled use rather than elimination. Reading faster while understanding deeply requires building your linguistic resources, not suppressing the cognitive mechanisms that support comprehension.
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