When your Professor Talks too FAST

Advice--

• Ask instructors to slow down. 

This is the most obvious solution.  If asking instructors to slow down doesn't work, ask them to repeat what you missed.

• Take more time to prepare for class.

Familiarity with a subject increases your ability to pick up on key points.  If an instructor lectures quickly or is difficult to understand, conduct a thorough preview of the material to be covered before you go to class.

• Before class, take notes on your reading assignment. 

You can take detailed notes on the text before class.  Leave plenty of blank space.  Take these notes with you to class and simply add your lecture notes to them.

• Be willing to make choices. 

 When an instructor talks fast, focus your attention on key points.  Instead of trying to write everything down, choose what you think is important.  Occasionally, you will make a wrong choice and neglect an important point.  Worse things could happen. Stay with the lecture, write down key words, and revise your notes immediately after class.

• Exchange photocopies of notes with classmates. 

 Your fellow students might write down something you missed.  At the same time, your notes might help them.  Exchanging photocopies can fill in the gaps.

• Leave large empty spaces in your notes. 

 Leave plenty of room for filling in information you missed.  Use a symbol that signals you've missed something so that you can remember to come back to it.

• See the instructor after class. 

Take your class notes with you and show the instructor what you missed.

• Use a recorder. 

Taping a lecture gives you a chance to hear it again whenever you choose.  Some recorders allow you to vary the speed of the tape.  With this feature, you can perform magic and actually slow down the instructor's speech. 

• Go to the lecture again. 

Many classes are taught in multiple sections.  That gives you the chance to hear a lecture at least twice--once in your regular class and again in another section of the class. 

• Learn shorthand. 

Some note-taking systems, known as shorthand, are specifically designed for getting ideas down fast.  Books and courses are available to help you learn these systems.  You can also devise your own shorthand method by inventing symbols for common words and phrases.

• Ask questions--even if you're completely lost. 

Many instructors allow a question session.  This is the time to ask about the points you missed.  There might be times when you feel so lost that you can't even formulate a question.  That's OK.  One option is to report this fact to instructors.  Often, they can guide you to a clear question.  Another option is to ask a related question.  This might lead you to the question you really want to ask. 

Adapted from Becoming a Master Student, Eleventh Edition, p. 125.