Watching him in action for the first time, one might think White Plains native Jim Kwik is part man, part machine. Assign a list of 20 words to 20 numbers, and he’ll recite it all back to you – forward or backward – without even a hint of hesitation. For most people, it’s a challenge that would seem impossible, if not panic-inducing. But, Kwik insists, “What I can do, you can do.”

The co-founder of Kwik Learning in downtown White Plains, Jim Kwik travels the country, teaching executives at well known organizations such as MetLife, Harvard University, HP, the United States Postal Service and General Electric that they have the ability to remember, read and comprehend far more than they ever thought possible. “It’s not a matter of having a good or bad memory,” says Kwik. “It’s a matter of having a trained or untrained one.”

Kwik says research has shown that only a third of our memory capabilities are genetically predetermined, and the remaining two-thirds is within our control. “People see me memorize a roomful of people’s names, a deck of cards, or a long series of numbers, and they think I was born with this ability. I don’t have a photographic memory, just a trained one.”

A trained memory is essential to survival in today’s business environment, Kwik emphasizes. The amount of information that’s available doubles every few years, he says, and those who retain, read and absorb it will not only survive, but thrive. This explains why some companies might not openly admit that Kwik has addressed their executives — they regard Kwik’s strategies as a secret weapon of sorts. With Kwik’s help, businesspeople can recall vital information such as client names, product details, speeches and long lists of figures.

His Mission: To Remember Kwik’s quest to master his own memory skills began when he was just eight years old. During a family gathering at a restaurant, a waitress took the dinner orders of all 25 people at the table without writing anything down. “I thought, ‘No way — someone’s order is going to be wrong,’” Kwik recalls. “But she got everything perfect. It blew my mind and made me curious about what was possible.”

Later, in college, Kwik became frustrated with the workload and wondered why school taught students what to learn, but not how to learn. “I could take every course from organic chemistry to French Impressionism, but not a class on how to read, remember or study effectively.”

Kwik decided to take on the subject himself, meeting with top memory experts, reading every book he could find on the topic, and devising his own system that is now the foundation of Kwik Learning. Kwik borrows the well known line of the Hair Club’s Sy Sperling: “I’m not only the president; I was my first client.”

Today, Kwik helps people read two to six times faster and use their memory skills that give them a strong edge in business, such as remembering the names of everyone they meet. Asked how Kwik Learning differs from typical speed reading programs, Kwik explains that those programs are traditionally associated with skimming, scanning and skipping words; Kwik Learning focuses on comprehension and retention.



Kwik’s clientele includes physicians and attorneys who, because of their profession, need more than just the gist of what they read, so his program is not about scanning.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Kwik is extraordinarily active at all times — both physically and mentally. He reads a book a day, runs (which is helpful with a name like Kwik, though his interest in the activity is purely coincidental), juggles, plays golf and tennis (as a teen, he taught tennis lessons for the White Plains Department of Recreation), and is learning to pilot a plane.

Kwik may soon achieve even greater notoriety, as he is currently writing a book while also training to break the Guinness World Record for memory. But even with goals that will put him in the public eye, Kwik says modestly, “My real goal is to help as many people as possible tap their true potential — and to make my parents proud.”

Although he travels extensively to conduct his memory and reading workshops and deliver keynote addresses, Jim Kwik is often a guest speaker for local groups such as the White Plains Rotary Club, the Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester County Association. White Plains Times readers are invited to join Kwik for an upcoming seminar. For more information, visit www.kwiklearning.com/guest.html. WPT