What is RSVP reading?

By the Lince team · November 2, 2026 · We make Lince, an RSVP reading app.

RSVP stands for rapid serial visual presentation: words appear one at a time, always in the same spot, so your eyes don't have to travel along the line.

How RSVP works

In a normal page, your eyes jump from one group of letters to the next and sometimes go back. With RSVP, the text comes to you instead: you look at one point and each word appears there at a speed you choose.

Many RSVP readers color one letter in each word. It marks where to rest your eyes, so you don't have to search for the start of each word. You can try it in your browser in 30 seconds.

Does RSVP make you read faster?

It lets you set a pace and hold it, but it isn't a shortcut to understanding more. A major 2016 scientific review of reading and speed reading found a trade-off between speed and accuracy. It judged it unlikely that readers can double or triple their speed, from about 250 to 500-750 words per minute, and understand a text as well as at normal speed.

The same review says that reading faster with good comprehension depends on practice and language skills, such as a larger vocabulary. So be wary of any app that promises to triple your speed.

When RSVP is useful

• Articles, newsletters and light fiction, where you want to move along.
• Reading on a small phone screen, without scrolling.
• Keeping a steady pace when you tend to drift off the page.

When a normal page is better

• Study material, contracts or anything you need to remember in detail.
• Tables, formulas and images.
• Texts where you often need to look back. In RSVP you have to pause to do that.

How to start

1. Measure your normal speed.
2. Start close to that speed, not at the highest one.
3. Raise it a little at a time, and slow down as soon as you stop following.
4. Try a text you enjoy for a few minutes: the first moments feel strange.

Is RSVP good for ADHD or dyslexia?

We don't know of solid evidence that it helps, and RSVP is not a treatment. If you want to try it, go at a comfortable pace and keep what works for you.