Let Them Eat Cake

After reading a fellow CR blogger's most recent post about The pros and cons of going paperless as a student, I was inspired to share with you how you can have your cake and eat it too prior to buying your first professional steno machine. Included in the wealth of steno knowledge known as Cheap and Sleazy is an article about a how to temporarily shorten your keystroke depth on your Stentura or similar machine, thus making it more like a professional machine.

I did this to my Stenograph Stentura 400 SRT, and it's made a world of difference! It's not as hard a procedure as it sounds, and I'm not mechanically inclined by any stretch of the imagination. I could tell almost immediately that it made a positive difference in my writing speed. If I had to put a quantitative number on it, I'd say it added 5-10 words a minute in speed after doing this. See full article for complete instructions.

And call me eco-girl, but I reuse my paper pads over and over unless I'm taking a speed test. Some people just remove their ink cartridges to go paperless, but it seems like the platen (AKA rubber roller) still is getting direct impact by the keys with that setup. Personal preference, I guess. And as I write this, I'm reminded that reading back notes is an essential part of solidifying your steno strokes, so after I'm done testing, I'll be saving the paper notes for future readback.

Top TEN Ways to Get Better Grades & to Get More Out of School

While searching for evidence backing up my claim about sitting front and center in steno class, I stumbled upon a neat little document about the top ten ways to get better grades. It outlines some great habits that should translate well into steno success. My interpretation as it applies to steno is in red. You can read the whole article here.




10. Actually go to every class. Even if you’re an online student, sign in or download your audio files every day. That way you’re more likely to practice.

9. Sit in the front of the class. It’s widely asserted that there’s a correlation between where you sit in the classroom and your likelihood of success in that class. Try it!

8. Ask questions and volunteer answers in class. Amen.

7. Finish your assignments on time. Don’t fall behind and think you can catch up on your practice time tomorrow. This is one I need to work on…

6. Choose classes that you like and find interesting in the first place. If you enjoy what you’re studying, you’ll be more likely to devote your time to it.

5. Study a little bit every day. Cramming might help you pass a multiple choice test, but isn’t for long-term retention of information. Try practicing a list of briefs at the end of a practice session for 15 or 20 minutes. Steno is cumulative. Don't skip a single day! Even 10 minutes is better than nothing. As Michelle notes on her blog, steno is not like riding a bike.

4. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Work on your trouble areas, not just pounding keys. Make the most of your time.

3. Start or join a study group. Keep up on your fellow court reporting blogs. (Thanks StenoNerd!) Stay in touch with positive steno influences. Be hungry for knowledge.

2. When you study, set goals and take breaks. ‘Nuff said.

1. Study in a chair at a table. Sit with proper posture in a real chair. No couch steno-ing. Never underestimate the power of a well-lit room and some caffeine for staying awake during a late practice session.

The F'N -FN

Steno students always know better than their teachers, right? Not so, I’m sad to report. One teacher of mine in particular has harped on us since day 39, probably, about the dangers of using a too-difficult stroke when writing at 225 wpm. “But I can do that outline just fine,” I say proudly, practically feeling holes being glared into the back of my head. (That reminds me – sit front and center in your dictation class if you can! The glare-holes are well worth it to be able to hear the dictation perfectly and/or get more out of your court reporting class.)

It turns out, of course, she knew what she was talking about. What’s doable at 60 or 120 wpm is another story when going towards 200 wpm. For me, certain -FN-based strokes are coming out like garbage even after practice. So the latest tweak to my writing has been changing the "even family" to outlines with easier strokes.










I’m not saying the –FN stroke is not able to be mastered, but it’s going to take time. This is just somewhere to start, and I think this particular word family comes up enough to warrant simplifying. If it slows me down, practice it. If it doesn't improve, change it.

For more practice on the -FN stroke, check out Lady Steno's -FN and -MGS drill.

A Brief Look at Briefs

In the world of steno and court reporting, it's important to know your theory inside and out, backward and frontward so that when words come up that you've never heard of, you can at least write them phonetically.

That said, when other common words or phrases keep coming up day after day that X-Theory doesn't have a brief for, a smart court reporter goes looking for a brief (or makes up their own). Go with what makes sense to you
or what you automatically went to write.

Here are my favorite brief sites for when nothing comes to mind.

The Brief Machine Have to register for free to use this tool. Well worth the effort! While you're there, check out out past issues of StenoLife Newsletter for some great tips and insight.

Steno Tips Great free resource. You can enter the term you're looking for in the search box.

Briefpedia Good and free for when the briefs you find conflict or are too hard to stroke.

iSteno Brief Machine for iPhones costs $6.99. Haven't used this myself, though.

On a personal note, I turned in another 190 Q&A on Thursday, and it came back as a 94.2% -- not quite a pass. On the other hand, I know that I'll get it really soon. I can taste it!

Names, Names, Names

The last few days’ dictations have been brutal, just brutal. It's the kind where every successive utterance gets progressively more annoying and tedious. When I analyzed just what the problem was, it seemed to me that these particular drills had a bunch of names and exhibit numbers given in rapid succession. Today’s blog entry will focus on the dreaded names category. I’ll save the numbers talk for a different day.

My plan of action for tackling names is outlined in the article found here. I highly recommend reading that if this concept is new to you. That helpful article is found at CourtReportingHelp.com, a great resource where you can find free steno drills, practice tools, inspiration, and myriad information on all things a court reporting student could ever want to know.

After writing them out once or twice to make sure I have them correct in the transcript, here's some of the names and how I’d shorten them. The idea is to capture as much of the name as you can, phonetically speaking, while keeping it readable and easy to stroke.

Dr. DR-, Mr. MR-, Mrs. SMR-, Ms. SM-
Sandra SA*RND, Sandra Colston SKO*LS,
Mrs. Colston SMRO*LS, Ms. Colston SMO*LS
Chuck KH*UK, Colston KO*LS
Chuck Colston KHO*LS, Mr. Colston MRO*LS
Michael Williams MAO*IMZ, Mike Williams M*IMZ
(shorter name gets the shorter outline)
Michael MAO*IBLG, Mike MAO*IK, Williams W*IMZ

This way of briefing names is something I’m trying to add to my court reporting arsenal, although it takes some getting used to. Hopefully if I practice this concept hard enough I will begin to be able to brief names on the fly.

Contraction Distraction

As mentioned in the previous post, one of the weak spots in my writing is contractions. Every time I’ve heard one during today’s dictation, it’s thrown me off. Rather than introduce more hesitation into my writing, I’ve decided to clear this problem up with a quick little drill. These are slightly modified from the way StenEd teaches these, as I like to have the asterisk in the outlines to sort of represent the apostrophe.

aren't R*NT, are not R-NT
can’t K*NT, cannot K-NT
couldn't KAO*NT, could not KAONT
didn’t D*NT, did not D-NT
doesn't SD*NT, does not SD-NT
don’t DO*ENT, do not DONT
isn't S*NT, is not S-NT
it’s T*S, it is T-S, its ITS
shouldn't SHAO*NT, should not SHAONT
they've THA*IF, they have THEF, that I have THAIF
wasn't WU*NT, was not WUNT
we’ve WAO*EF, we have WEF, weave WAOEF
weren't W*RNT, were not W-RNT
won't WO*ENT, will not L-NT
wouldn't WAO*NT, would not WAONT

Those are just a few. Enjoy.

Looking for the Good



Well, this was the first week back for summer session of the judicial reporting program at Madison Area Technical College AKA Madison College, and round one of testing is officially over. After anxiously awaiting the results of my first crack at 190 wpm Q&A, I was both frustrated and encouraged to see a big ol’ 94.1% at the top of my graded transcript. “A 94%," you say, "that’s an A, why so glum?” Yes, in any other program or class or academic setting, a 94% would be fantastic, but for gluttons for punishment known as steno students, a 94% is a big fat fail.
On one hand, I only turned that one in last night because I decided the previous semester to edit and submit at least one edited take a week, no excuses. In that light, I did much better than I expected to. I can also tell that despite being somewhat of a slacker as of late, my speed has actually improved since the end of the spring semester.
On the other hand, being a perfectionist, I hold myself to a standard of 100%. Anything less than that is extremely disappointing. Worst of all, there were a lot of rookie mistakes, like forgetting to capitalize “the Court,” and a superfluous comma after “so.” Get a hold of yourself, woman! Maybe (okay, probably) I’m being too hard on myself, but for goodness’ sake, I’ve been at this for almost two years now!
I’m strangely torn between these positive and negative emotions regarding my first test in about four weeks. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around something not being entirely positive or entirely negative, but I should probably just get used to it because that's life. The dark cloud usually does have a silver lining, but sometimes my binoculars just don't reach that far to see. This time, I've got a front-row seat to this cloud-lining check, so to speak.
With that, I’m going to take it upon myself to practice hard this week, focusing specifically on my weak spots (like contractions, apparently). Then I will "make it work" a la Tim Gunn on Project Runway and try again next Thursday with improved speed and all the moxie I can rustle up by then. 225, here I come!

Looking for the Good



Well, this was the first week back for summer session of the judicial reporting program at Madison Area Technical College AKA Madison College, and round one of testing is officially over. After anxiously awaiting the results of my first crack at 190 wpm Q&A, I was both frustrated and encouraged to see a big ol’ 94.1% at the top of my graded transcript. “A 94%," you say, "that’s an A, why so glum?” Yes, in any other program or class or academic setting, a 94% would be fantastic, but for gluttons for punishment known as steno students, a 94% is a big fat fail.
On one hand, I only turned that one in last night because I decided the previous semester to edit and submit at least one edited take a week, no excuses. In that light, I did much better than I expected to. I can also tell that despite being somewhat of a slacker as of late, my speed has actually improved since the end of the spring semester.
On the other hand, being a perfectionist, I hold myself to a standard of 100%. Anything less than that is extremely disappointing. Worst of all, there were a lot of rookie mistakes, like forgetting to capitalize “the Court,” and a superfluous comma after “so.” Get a hold of yourself, woman! Maybe (okay, probably) I’m being too hard on myself, but for goodness’ sake, I’ve been at this for almost two years now!
I’m strangely torn between these positive and negative emotions regarding my first test in about four weeks. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around something not being entirely positive or entirely negative, but I should probably just get used to it because that's life. The dark cloud usually does have a silver lining, but sometimes my binoculars just don't reach that far to see. This time, I've got a front-row seat to this cloud-lining check, so to speak.
With that, I’m going to take it upon myself to practice hard this week, focusing specifically on my weak spots (like contractions, apparently). Then I will "make it work" a la Tim Gunn on Project Runway and try again next Thursday with improved speed and all the moxie I can rustle up by then. 225, here I come!