This study intended to investigate the effects of pre-reading activities on ELT trainee teachers’ reading comprehension of short stories. An exploratory quasi-experimental design was chosen for the study since there were already two intact groups of students in the ELT department where the study was conducted. A Previewing/Brainstorming activity was used as the treatment condition vs. a Brainstorming only condition. 49 students, 8 of whom were males and 41 were females, participated in the study. They were all third year students and their levels of proficiency varied from upper-intermediate to advanced level. Statistical analysis showed that the Previewing/Brainstorming condition yielded better results than the Brainstorming only condition. The study concludes that Previewing activities contribute immensely to the comprehension of short stories and can be usefully used to help readers digest new stories.