Beyond words

In the course of our careers, we stenographers get really good at sharing the narratives of others. Our brains and bodies work together with machine shorthand and turn sound waves into text on a page or screen to communicate what was said.

The testimony I hear and transcribe is often beyond words, and I couldn't talk about it even if I wanted to; so more and more, making art has become one of my favorite means for self-expression. This practice, whether it's sketching, coloring, or maintaining an art journal, puts me in a great mood, probably by helping to release emotions and pent up energy from working in this intense but rewarding field. When I'm able to creatively express myself, my days are just somehow more awesome.

What is your favorite creative outlet?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Work & (Game) Play

I used to think that work and play were mutually exclusive. Well, it turns out that they're not, so what would be better than combining the two? Not much. For that reason, I want to share with you an awesome way to practice steno while having fun. After all, time flies when the latter occurs.

The art of stenography

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll be brief.

This marker drawing of a Diamante steno machine was completed in honor of Court Reporting and Captioning week, February 14-20, 2016. It represents the amazing opportunities that stenography offers the willing student and shows my appreciation for it and all other forms of art. This design is available for purchase as wall art, a tote bag, travel mug, or even a throw pillow, so get yours now!

Free Steno Practice Material

Just a quick postaroo here about a great YouTube channel that's been brought to my attention. It contains a bunch of free practice material and videos about court reporting technique. Check it out!

Breck225's YouTube channel

Dirty Secrets

Source

I have a dirty secret: I have conflicts and slop in my dictionary.
There. I feel better now with that off my chest.

They had us doing realtime pretty much right out of theory at the school I went to, so having perfect notes and being conflict-free was stressed. That's a great teaching style, and I agree with it, especially in early speeds. You're more likely to pass tests if your fingers have been trained to go to the right keys and when you don't accept sloppy writing.

That said, there came a point in my 190s, I think, where I started adding to a separate slop dictionary my repeated keying mistakes in order to make defining my untranslates and editing easier. In the 210s or so, a few teensy-weensy conflicts crept in, and I have no* idea how they got there. *some

But this dictionary atrocity is what helped me pass tests and get through the last leg of school. In addition to lots of daily high-speed practice, of course. I'd much rather have two or three choices while editing to figure out what I meant to write there. I'd prefer to have my CAT software translate my common slop instead of fumbling around trying to find out what that word's supposed to be.

Just be cautious, is my advice. And don't take my advice blindly, either. Any of it. Every stenographer is different.

Playing Detective

Did you ever play detective as a kid? I grew up playing/watching Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and reading Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown books, which admittedly were a bit before my time, but were some of the best reading material around, in my opinion. Doesn't everyone fancy themselves a gumshoe?

Once upon a time, my dad and I played actual detectives. I was probably 11 or so at the time, and we were out walking during the winter and somehow found a Wisconsin Heights High School class ring near our house in a snowbank.

There's Method(s) to My Briefing Madness

Source

Briefing on the fly is a very important skill that any court reporter or steno student needs to learn to be good at. It's essential for keeping up with speech above your current speed level. I think even Mark Kislingbury is a proponent of briefing on the fly. It's how he gets through his 300+ dictations, by briefing "gold bullion" as TKPWOUBL or whatever brilliant nonsense he might come up with.

To start off, what is briefing on the fly? It means you're making up a brief or phrase as you're writing for something that keeps coming up over and over, like a three-word place name or technical term or just a common word that you never thought to shorten before. There's a few methods, I'm sure, but I'm going to spell out a couple for you that I've been noticing I've been doing lately when creating new briefs.

7UP, Break Up, & Make Up

To 7UP, to make up, or to break up? Hmm. Why can't you have all three? With steno, you can. If you guys are longtime readers of Court Reporter Bound, you know I like word families. This week's post is about a word family that comes up a lot and has so many incarnations; The Up family.

I think I was given a few of these while I was in theory class, though I don't know if they were part of Sten Ed or something my teachers threw at us. Whatever. Doesn't matter. The point is that sometimes you can see patterns in a list of similar briefs, and then boom, you add to the family following the same principle(s). Here's my non-comprehensive list of the "up" family. Feel free to add to this list in the comments if you think of any good ones.

7UP                         #UP
(lolJK. Just came up with that one, but I kinda like it for no particular reason other than my guy drinks it all the time.)
back up/backup       BAUP    BA*UP
break up/breakup    BRAIP   BRA*IP
broke up                 BROEP
check up/checkup   KHUP     KH*UP
clean up/cleanup      KLAOEP  KLAO*EP
close up/closeup      KLOEP   KLO*EP
come up                  KMUP
flare up/flareup         FLAIRP  FLA*IRP
follow up/followup   FLOUP   FLO*UP
give up                    GI*FP
grow up                  GROE*P (beware, RTers, of possible, um, conflicts.)
grown up/grown-up GRUP    GR*UP
hold up/holdup        HOUP    HO*UP
line up/lineup           LUP        L*UP
lock up/lockup        LOUP     LO*UP
make up/makeup     MAIP     MA*EUP
pick up/pickup/pup  PUP       P*UP      PUP/PUP
(Not a great solution, I know. Suggestions?)
screw up/screwup    SKRAOUP SKRAO*UP
shut up                     SHUP
stand up/stand-up     STAUP  STA*UP
start up/start-up        STARP  STA*RP
stuck up/stuck-up     STUP     ST*UP
walk up/walk-up      WAUP   WA*UP

Philosophy aside: Strange how powerful the word "up" is. For being just two teensy letters, it's very transformative. Every word in this list seems so final or powerful but wouldn't be so much so if it were on its own. Huh. Everything really is a metaphor for everything else.

How to Gain/Maintain Speed as a Working Court Reporter

So how does one gain or maintain speed on the steno machine after they've graduated and start working as a freelance court reporter? I've been seeking answers to this question myself. As a freelancer, you're not necessarily writing on your machine every day, unlike someone that works within the court system. Granted, you probably do spend a fair amount of time on the computer keyboard while transcribing, so that at least exercises similar muscles, I would assume.

Right Brain/Left Brain and Steno

To be successful in anything, especially court reporting, CART, or captioning, one has to have both halves of their brain in on the deal. I found an excellent article online that explains the idea that we're really two different people coexisting in the same body. It says that because each half of the brain is wired to the opposite side of the body, one can actually express two emotions at the same time. That helps explain why when I force a smile occasionally, it comes out as a half-smile.

Putting on Your Court Reporter Hat

When I was a kid, I loved to watch Reading Rainbow.  It came on right after Sesame Street, if I can recall correctly.  My all-time favorite Reading Rainbow episode was one I remember seeing many, many times. The episode was called a Three Hat Day and featured the same-titled book, A Three Hat Day by Laura Geringer and Arnold Lobel. Something about that episode was so magical. I watched it every time it came on. When LeVar Burton, the host, put on different hats, he was transported to different places based on the hat he put on. He put on a jockey's hat and instantly he was riding on the horse in the middle of a race.  He put on a hockey mask and became the goalie in the NHL, and the last one, I believe, was putting on a train conductor's hat.

So the question occurred to me, what kind of a hat does a court reporter wear? And wouldn't that be awesome if it were that easy? To just put on a court reporter's hat and be done with school and be out in the working world would be pressing the proverbial easy button. Unfortunately such a magic bullet doesn't exist, so get practicing! Of course, you can finish reading this post. THEN get to practicing.

Figuratively speaking, a student does have to put on their thinking cap. Always be listening to others, TV, and radio for new words to add to your dictionary. Never hesitate to try a new steno technique out. Be a force of positive energy around your fellow students. Dress the part.

Or literally speaking, when it comes to breaking away from your loved ones to go get your practice hours in, you could don a favorite hat or sweatshirt to get in the zone, so to say. Then take it off when you're done practicing. (Wash it frequently!) Make a rule that there's no surfing the net or being interrupted in between takes while wearing your court reporting "hat." We have to learn to tune out distractions while working, so we might as well start now. Sorry, hun, for not saying hi right away when you get home. xoxo

Just like a runner can buy a new pair of jogging shoes or athletic gear to spice up their workout routine, we too can find "the magic" again and get excited to practice. These are what I throw on when I'm not to be bothered while practicing.

I made these. So happy w/ how they turned out!

Another Brick in the Steno Wall (Frustration!)

No one's immune to experiencing frustration and a lack of focus, even steno students. I've been experiencing a bout of steno ADD and a string of unsuccessful takes lately, but I'm confident that this, too, will pass.

Just like most get-rich-quick schemes are too good to be true, there's no magic secret to success as a court reporting or captioning student other than physically putting in the practice hours. See my 10,000 hours post on the subject.

If you're just passing through, or if you have already read it and just need a quick refresher, here's the long and the short of it: Like learning an instrument, the most important factor that determines someone's success in steno is the amount of focused, practice-with-a-purpose time put in. No one that puts in the hours should not succeed in becoming a stenographer and passing their state CSR and/or RPR test.

I replied to a fellow student's frustrated message on twitter the other day saying, "... every practice hour is a brick in the wall of success."

Provided that you have a good foundation (solid knowledge of your theory), lay your bricks straight (practice with good technique, and don't accept slop), use the proper mix for the mortar (practicing drills in all categories), and check it with a level as you go (reading back from your notes, noticing patterns of mistakes, & working on those), you will eventually finish your wall and get out of steno school so you can start earning money.


If you're in the same boat as me, check out these inspiring links that should get you focused and back on track to steno success.

Distracted by Facebook/twitter updates, the internet, shiny things, and just about anything instead of practicing? Check out this article to kick the habit.

If your mind wants to get out of school but part of you is holding you back, listen to this excellent radio show that @StenYes shared on twitter.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao-tzu

Best/Worst Court Reporting Dream Ever

I'm not sure if it was the chili for dinner last night a la Homer Simpson in the chili cook-off episode of season 8, but I just had the craziest dream about court reporting ever.

Scene: A crowded conference room, up to 20 people in attendance.

I walked in to the deposition with all my equipment in tow, knowing full well that I was there 20 minutes early. I proceeded to set up my steno machine and laptop, sat down, and started warming up. Things were going well at first, and I remember making polite conversation with people at the table.

At about the two-minute countdown, I realized suddenly that my mouth and throat felt like they were filled with cotton and that I wasn't going to be able to report the proceedings to the best of my ability with a parched throat, wondering when they'd take the first break. I politely excused myself so I could go get a drink.

I left the conference room in search of the water fountain and figured I might as well use the ladies room while I was out there. Suddenly my surroundings morphed into a high school hallway maze, and I spent an undetermined amount of time trying to find the drinking fountain and restrooms and then my way back to the conference room.

When I finally made my way through the locker-filled labyrinth back to where the parties were waiting, I walked into a room filled with disapproving glares, only to find out they had gone on without me and had completed the deposition while I was out there lost in locker land.

I sat down at my chair to take the second deposition and placed my hands on my steno machine to start writing. I realized that while I was gone, someone had stolen my Stenograph 400 SRT steno machine and replaced it with a non-electric machine with no paper and no memory storage capabilities. You can imagine my disappointment at this time.

So they started the deposition, and I figured since I was already there, I might as well get some lap-tap steno practice and wrote the proceedings without my machine. After a few minutes, I raised my wriggling fingers up above the conference room table almost taunting the rude, mean-faced lawyer directly across from me, and also to let everybody know I wasn't recording the testimony. It was at this point that I looked around the room and all of a sudden realized that there had been a water cooler in the conference room the whole time. Come to think of it, I remember now that I also didn't swear the witness in.

And... scene.

Morals of the story: Arrive early. Make sure you have all your equipment. Use the facilities well before the proceedings, and it can't hurt to carry a bottle of water in your steno bag. Tightly sealed, people.

Keep an eye on your equipment. People do steal steno machines even though they don't know what they are. Ebay doesn't care what it is, just how much money it can fetch. My teacher had one stolen out of her car two years ago. Ask questions, and be honest with the people involved if you're having an equipment or other problems.

And last but not least, don't eat homemade chili within a few hours of going to bed. Trust me on this one.

A Finger Drill

Here's a finger drill for steno students.

Put this on repeat and get those confused fingers set straight!

brig, fled, bro, flick, brat, flub

bran, fled, bra, floss, brute, flag

bris, flow, breed, flat, bribie, flask

brick, flail, bread, flu, Braille

clue, smug, clod, smog, clip, smut

club, smack, college, smile, class

smooch, clog, smash, cloak, smell

clot, snob, claim, somebody

Want more finger drills? Click here.

How to Increase or Decrease Spacing on your Stenograph Stentura SRT

If you own a Stenograph Stentura 400 SRT steno machine and want to know how to adjust the paper spacing, this post is for you.

Knowing how to adjust this spacing is helpful in that when you're trying to save paper, you can decrease the spacing. Or conversely, if you know you're going to be reading back from your notes in class, you might want to increase the spacing to make it easier to read. I found the instructions here but I'll put them here too.

-To make the adjustment, turn the power switch on your machine to the off position.

-Hold down the S- key as you turn it on.

-Press PH- (M- for more) to increase the spacing between strokes or press HR- (L- for less) to decrease the spacing between steno outlines.

-When you are done adjusting the spacing, press KWR- (Y- for yes) or TPH- (N- for no) to save the setting and go back to writing and test it out. Repeat until you have it how you want it.

Have a Stenograph other than the 400 SRT? Check this link for the online versions of user manuals. Click your type of machine in the left column.

How to Practice Without your Steno Machine

Steno students and working professional court reporters, captioners, and CART providers usually lead very busy lives, complete with work, family, and other personal obligations. For that reason, time is precious and when life calls, we sometimes have to put steno on the back burner while we answer. Knowing how to get practice time in without your steno machine is key.

Many of us have a commute that we'd rather be shorter, but what could be looked at as a waste of time can easily be turned into a worthwhile mental exercise. Fill your iPod or whatever flavor MP3 player you like with fun podcasts, dictated lists, and other audios that are a bit above your speed range.

While the tracks are playing, try mentally stenoing the words as they're spoken. You may find that this increases your speed when you go back to your machine and start writing again. A variation on this method would be to tap out the words with your hand or hands (only if you're a passenger -- 10:00 and 2:00, people!) Lap-tap the alphabet, numbers -- whatever comes to mind.

Or say you're in a boring meeting. You may not be able to get full lap-steno action without your coworkers noticing and giving you the stink eye, but why not bring a notebook to the meeting and jot down the steno outlines of words that come up during breaks in conversation or take down some notes too. Hey, it may even cut down on coworkers' requests to get your notes photocopied for them because they weren't paying attention.

Another way of getting in good practice is to review well-written paper steno notes while on the go, as recommended in this blog post by Stenonerd. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but reading steno really helps our brains associate a good steno outline with the word it represents. Happy mental steno, all!

"Will You Marry Me" and other handy phrases in steno (stenograph machine)

Occasionally I'll write a post based on the search terms that brought someone to my blog. This one, "Will you marry me in stenograph," is too sweet not to!  Apparently some thoughtful person wants to propose to their significant other in steno (using the language of the stenograph machine). I hope whoever it is searches those terms again and finds the information they need. So here's that phrase and a few other ones that might be useful for people that want to send personal messages, decorate cakes, or make homemade holiday or other greeting cards for the stenographers, court reporters, CART providers, and captioners in their lives. PS - The capital letters are standard and easier to read.

Will you marry me?   HR- KWROU PHAR/REU PHE STPH-
I love you    EU HR*UF KWROU
Happy birthday   HAP/PEU B*EURT/DAEU
Good luck   TKPWAOD HRUBG
Happy anniversary   HAP/PEU APB/SRERS/REU
Get well soon   TKPWET WEL SAOPB
Merry Christmas   PHER/REU KR*EUS/PHAS
Happy New Year HAP/PEU TPHU KWRAOER
Thank you   THA*PBG KWROU

! (exclamation point)   STKPWHR-FPLT
? (question mark)   STPH-

. (period)   -FPLT

Finger Twisters/Silly Sentences

When I was a kid, my grandma would watch me during the day when my mom was at work. The two of us would read, do activities, play games etc. (Note to self:  Do not play Aggravation with young children. It may teach them to be a poor loser for the rest of their life.) One of my favorite books to read was my illustrated tongue twister book. We would laugh and laugh at each other's attempts at saying "rubber baby buggy bumpers," or "she sells seashells by the seashore." My inner court reporting student thanks you for that experience, Grandma.

I think the key to these is the similarities and differences between the words, which make the brain really work at interpreting what you heard or read. It's also excellent for practicing soundalikes and conflict differentiation. I'm incorporating this type of thing into today's steno practice session. Some are actual tongue twisters found on the web, and a few are mine, specially written for finger positions that give me trouble. Try writing these on your steno machine several times.

Click here for the audio file

Freshly fried flying fish.


How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.


The epitome of femininity.


Pop the cork. I'm home from work.


Should the child or could the child shine their thick leather shoes?


A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.


Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?


Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.


Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone.(I use TPHAOEPL for enemy.)


They could choose to share their chocolate cashews.

Want more tongue twister fun? Go here for an A-to-Z list or go here and follow the links for longer tongue twister poems.

Hah! They have rude/dirty tongue twisters here. Not offensive by themselves, but if you get going too fast out might pop a cuss word. A good way to check if your swears are well enough "hidden in your CAT dictionary" to not come out in realtime translation!

On a personal note, (like the above childhood memories weren't enough, haha) I passed my second 200 wpm Q&A on the last testing opportunity of the season. I'm excited, to say the least. It also means that I reached goal #4 of the short-term goals I set back in August, which you can read here. So on that note, why don't you all set a short term steno goal to reach by the end of break and some for the upcoming semester. Your future inner court reporter thanks you too. :)

NCRA 180 #2 and The Joys of Camping

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

Today's steno practice diary is from the same NCRA speed tape but is the second selection of 180 wpm literary material. This one is about camping, which happens to be both one of my favorite and least favorite pastimes.

While we're on the subject, I went camping once this past summer at my grandparents' pine tree farm with my boyfriend and another couple, which would have been cool if my boyfriend and my friend weren't butting heads all weekend. I'm sure my anxiety level was upped by the fact that they were shooting our anti-bear rifle at an archery target, and me thinking that the neighbors would call the cops for fear we were killing somebody out there.

We only got stuck in the ditch once and had to be winched out by my wonderful cousin who lives down the road from there. There was a scary moment there where the Impala sat practically straight up and down, not unlike how the Titanic did just before it slipped below the surface. Only by the grace of God, I presume, the car landed gently on all four tires, safe and sound. Except for the broken tie-rod, that is, but the point is that we made it home safely.

Time: A hour and a half. (Hey, it's Saturday, and I had equipment issues.)
Pages: 45

Hesitation words: scratching SKRAFPG, camp KAFRP, Mt. M*T, agitation APBLG/TAEUGS, foundation, TPOUPBGS, gratifying TKPWRAT/TPAOEU/-G, municipality PHAOUPT, discovered STKO*FRD, accompanied AEU/KPAEPBD

Dictionary entries: sheets SHAOETS, packs, PABGZ, simply SPHRE, gather TKPWA*RT, triggers TREURGZ, hikers HAOEUK/ERZ, climbers KHRAOEUPL/ERZ

Practice Diary 180 Literary

Edit: This is a concept borrowed from fellow blogger Harley at the former stenorific.com. There was an awesome list of Q&A extensions on there at the time of writing of this article.

So today I've been working on an old NCRA 225 wpm tape, and first up is a 180 literary piece about the paper industry. I use PAIP for paper and STREU for industry. Eclipse mistakenly translated "paper industry" as "papistry," which is apparently a derogatory term used to describe Roman Catholics. No offense intended, anybody. Just might want to make a dictionary entry for "paper industry" to avoid alienating anybody while doing realtime in the future.

Time spent: 2+ hrs
Page count: 50
Speed levels: 70% to 100% of original speed

Hesitation (HEGS) words: KPWRAO*UFG improving, SPWRAOEFG increasing, KARB/RAEURT carburetor, TKRUPT disrupt, PROPT prospect, P*EFRPT perspective, PW*EU/KWRO/PHASZ biomass, O*UT/PUT output, TKPWAPBLZ gallons, SKPAPBGS expansion, HUPS hundred percent.

Dictionary Entries: HA*FRBS harvest, SPWEG/RAEUTD integrated, SPWEG/RAEUGS integration, SPWEG/RA*EUFT integrative, SHA*EUFGZ shavings, KW*EUFT equivalent, O*UBL obviously, A*UNL annually, SUL/FAOEUT sulfite, RE/NAOUBL renewable, PUL/-PG pulping, LEURZ liquors.

Soundalikes: WA*ES/WA*EUS waste/waist, TON/TUN ton/tun, ROL/ROEL roll/role

Mastered? Need to revisit.