Speed is of the essence for Anne
Last updated 13:23, Thursday, 22 May 2008
“I TOOK a speed reading course and read War and Peace in 20 minutes,” goes an old Woody Allen gag. The punchline? “It involves Russia.”
It’s a joke that Riding Mill resident Anne Jones may find amusing, but one that expresses a misconception she’s been fighting against for many years.
To her, speed reading is not a quirky hobby reserved for geniuses, but a practical skill that can be learned by anyone, bringing enormous benefits.
Anne should know. While most people can read about 250 words a minute, her “relaxed” speed ranges from 800 to around 1,200.
Throughout the years, she’s won the World Speed Reading Championship six times, gained seven gold medals at the Mind Sports Olympiad, and achieved the jaw-dropping record of 4,251 words per minute over the final Harry Potter book.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that her skills are in demand from clients throughout the world, from scientists, lawyers and company executives, to students studying for their exams.
“It’s good for me, because it means I get to work with some really interesting people,” she says when we meet at Hexham Library, a place she holds in high regard.
“I’ve flown out to Palm Beach to work with a millionaire and his family. That’s one extreme.
“The other extreme was working with a young lad who had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), autism and dyslexia.
“He was 10, with the reading age of six, but was actually very intelligent.
“He was originally at 24 words per minute, but I was able to teach him to speed read, and he got up to 300 words per minute.”
Before our interview, I had assumed that Anne would be reluctant to share her secrets, but in the event she’s more than happy to explain the fundamentals.
Essentially, picking up reading speed is the result of upping one’s game in a number of areas where distinctly sloppy performance normally holds us back.
To begin with, we make too many ‘fixations’ – or pauses between eye movements – and have a tendency to regress rather than move steadily forward through the text.
It doesn’t help that we’re staring at a page or computer screen with nothing to guide us – and so a pen, pencil, or just a finger can prove an invaluable tool.
“It’s much easier for our eyes to track a moving object,” Anne says.
“We’re irresistibly drawn to moving drawn objects – we’re programmed to do it.
“If you were a caveman and you saw something moving, either it was something that was going to eat you or you were going to eat it.”
Anne, (55), didn’t start speed reading until well into adulthood, but links her enthusiasm for it to her experiences as a child in Hexham.
She was born into a large, artistic family – two of her four siblings are writers, one of whom also paints – and spent much of her time absorbed in books at school, Hexham Library, and the library that was at the Moot Hall.
“I used to go down to the library and work my way through the children’s section,” she recalls.
“It was great delight when I discovered The Hobbit – that was a moment of sheer magic.”
She went on to study English and related literature at York University, before moving to Leicester where she worked as a teacher.
While employed by Regent College, she was given the brief of raising achievement and was introduced to a variety of so-called accelerated learning techniques.
“I did a training course that involved mind mapping and speed reading, but the crazy thing is I wasn’t interested at all in speed reading,” she says.
“I didn’t think I could do it. I thought if I read fast I couldn’t take it in.
“But I was bringing up three young children and they took up a lot of my time.
“I also had a full-time job, so the only time I could read for pleasure was at the weekend, when I would get a book from the library and speed read it.”
At the college, Anne set up a Brain Club where youngsters could meet at lunchtime to play chess and other ‘mind sports’.
When the first Mind Sports Olympiad was announced, she obtained sponsorship for her students and, after being grilled by one over why she wasn’t taking part herself, decided to enter the speed reading.
To her own surprise, she took home the first of her seven gold medals, leading to a number of requests to speak about the skill and to offer courses herself.
Anne, who has travelled back and forth to Tynedale all her life before settling in Riding Mill around a year ago, has now retired from competition.
She still, however, takes part in many events that showcase her incredible skills – most of which, oddly enough, seem to involve Harry Potter.
She was part of a team put together by The Times to compile the first online review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Last year, she broke the world speed reading record at a Border’s bookshop in London, by tackling the 250,000 word Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in just over 47 minutes.
“I read and re-read all the previous Harry Potter books beforehand, as I wanted to become as familiar with the plot as possible” she says.
“I also went on the children’s BBC website to find out what the children thought was going to happen. One lad did predict the storyline, but I was way off.”
She practised hard before the competition, but was astonished at the final result.
“And I had a good understanding of the book when I was reading it,” she adds. “I was totally in there enjoying it.
“I was devastated when a certain character died, like everybody else.”
These days, Anne is concentrating more and more on her own writing.
Under the name of A.L. Williams, she has already published a children’s book, Knights’ Quest, in which the ghost of Harry Hotspur returns to Alnwick Castle.
Her current project is a non-fiction book she believes could have a significant impact on disorganised children and their long-suffering parents.
“I’m looking at issues to do with homework – for example, the youngster who does the homework, but loses it or forgets to hand it in, or the youngster who leaves things to the last minute,” she says.
“It’s to do with child development, but it’s also to do with brain development and organisation, and I’m interested in interviewing parents about any interesting stories they may have on these issues.”
Motivating children has always been an interest of hers, she adds, but when the child lacks organisational skills, he or she will usually struggle.
As a case in point, she mentions a youngster who showed her the planner his school had given him.
Every page was blank but one, which held the lone, heartbreakingly simple instruction: ‘Find Lost Work’.
To learn about speed reading courses, or assist with Anne’s book, visit www.speedyreader.co.uk or email info@speedyreader.co.uk
