Speed Reading “101”

I was reading a newspaper the other day and for some reason my mind went back 50+ years to 1962, and my taking a course in “speed reading.”

There isn’t a lot of media attention today concerning speed reading. I believe there continues to remain a huge misunderstanding of what speedreading actually means and is!

In late 1961, I took a position with a Washington, D.C. Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm. Main & Company was considered the tenth largest in the United States at the time.

President Kennedy had been elected President in the November 1960 election, and took office in January 1961. There were a number of articles in the newspapers concerning the fact that he had taken a speed reading course, VICORE, and that he gave it credit for helping him navigate the enormous amount of material that he had to deal with daily, as President.

VICORE stood for “Visual Conceptual Reading.” The concept was, that one needed to be able to comprehend whatever they read. It did no good to be able to read fast, if one did not remember what it was that they read. Speed and comprehension went hand in hand. VICORE, as a company, began in Washington, and was in the process of expanding.

In 1962, the General Partner of Main & Co.’s Washington Office, Howard Malloy, decided that he was going to return to college to obtain a Master’s Degree, and hopefully a Doctorate in Business. He was planning for his retirement, and wanted to teach at a University/College.

Howard had met one of the founders of VICORE, and decided that this program might help him, if he decided to go back to school. However, he was somewhat embarrassed, so he decided that he would make this program one that all employees of the Washington office would participate in. He arranged for VICORE to be taught in our office, every Monday morning from 9:00 AM until 11:00 AM. The program would last for 10 weeks.

At this time, the office staff consisted of approximately 10 accountants and one administrative assistant. Prior to the start of the program, there was much skepticism among the staff, concerning the program.

At the first meeting, we were handed a book, “St. Francis of Assisi.” This was going to be the benchmark, both before, and after the completion of the course, in determining our speed reading ability, and our comprehension. We were told to read a certain section of the book. There was a time limit, and at the end, the number of words were counted to determine how many words per minute we were reading. As for comprehension, we were then given a multiple choice test on what we had read. The result was so many words per minute, with a certain percentage for comprehension.

With the beginning benchmark established, the process began. Over the 10 week period, we learned, that in order to speed read, we had to be able to turn the pages fast and efficiently. That was the first component to the course. After that, we learned to increase our visual range so that we weren’t looking at each word, but each line. Then we learned to read down, not across.

The key to the VICORE program was what it stood for, “Visual Conceptual Reading.”

Teaching one’s self to read down, instead of across, is different than anything we had ever been exposed to. Also, we learned that not all material must be read the same. As an example, if you are reading technical information, you may need to read word for word in order to comprehend what you had just read.

Also, headlines in newspapers could be skimmed to determine what articles you were going to read. This could be done very rapidly. A pleasure book could be read faster than one that was more complex.

In essence, you reading ability would vary, depending upon the material, but your wanted your comprehension to always remain high.

Each week that we had a class, we began to see how this program could help us in our everyday life, personal as well as business.

At the end of the program, we were tested again to determine how much we had improved, in both our speed as well as our comprehension.

In my case, my beginning reading speed was approximately 500 words per minute but my speed at the end was over 3,000. My comprehension increased from around 50% to 85%. I also tested myself on a pleasure book and found that I could read this at 5,000 words per minute with over 85 percent comprehension.

Without a doubt, this program was incredible, and one that I have carried over my entire life, business as well as personal. I believe that this program was critical in allowing me to have the success that I have had, I believe that most all of the participants felt the same.

I was taking night classes at American University during this period, as well as working 60 hours a week, and raising a family. This program was significant in allowing me to successfully do that.

I have always wondered, why a program such as this, wasn’t compulsory for a high school student. This would be a leg up for anyone transitioning to college.

The benefits certainly outweigh the cost, and provide a basis for success. I continue to be amazed that one does not hear much about “speed reading” today. Is it because we don’t read today, as much as we should?

Jess Sweely

Madison, Va.

October 20, 2025