Some things never change. When I was in school, if I'd take a test that I thought I passed, sometimes I'd almost be paralyzed in between its completion and when I heard back from my teacher about how I did. It was almost like a state of suspended animation where I didn't want to practice or do anything but see my results. Cue my current state of limbo while waiting to see the results from the November 5 RPR.
Thankfully, though, after several days off from practice, I started doing almost-daily practice again in the hopes of gaining additional speed to keep up with fast-talking attorneys. So as hard as it seems to keep practicing while waiting for your results, do it because you'll thank yourself later. After a small breather or reward of some sort, of course. Take a couple hours off, do something you enjoy, and then get back to practicing. You'll get through school faster and become a better, faster writer for it.
How does a court reporter, CART provider, closed captionist, or student prepare for an important test? Whether its your national/state certification or your last test to move up to the next speed class doesn't matter. What you do to prepare is the same. After diligently training for weeks or months with a wide variety of material and techniques, you have built up your skill set, and this is what you have to work with on test day. You can't magically (physically) cram the night before and expect it to help you. Reviewing flashcards of steno outlines or reading steno notes can, however, benefit you.
I get so bored sometimes with typical school-assigned audio tracks, so when that happens, I usually change gears right away and do some song, video, or podcast practice. As alluded to in the previous post, there is a program you can use to speed up or slow down YouTube videos or other flash video.
It's called Enounce Myspeed. I personally use the regular $30 version of MySpeed for Windows, but there's a 7-day free trial of MySpeed Premier ($100) at that link, after which you'd need to register to continue using it. It's a good way to see if this is something you'd be interested in buying.
Staniel over on depoman.com has taken this concept to a new level and has created some videos of his song and podcast practice which can be found on here. Happy practicing, and keep changing up the practice routine to keep things spicy and fresh. (Hmm, I must be hungry.)
This is just a tool I find useful for practicing videos or other flash-based audio or video at multiple speed levels, like the practice tracks found on some web-based dictation libraries (like StenoU) or videos on YouTube. I'm not getting a thing for promoting this program, just think it's worthwhile to share.
Here are some video depositions that would be great to practice to:
Okay. As much as I talk about reading my steno notes, I really have not made it a habit since theory and early in speedbuilding. I'm going to practice what I preach in what hopefully is a different, fun way. Here's an excerpt from Practical Pointers for Shorthand Students first in steno, and then in plain English.
Don't Get Fits of the Blues
It is a mistake to think, in taking up the study of shorthand and typewriting that all will be smooth sailing. Periods of depression are sure to come, when storms of discouragement will sweep down and clouds of disappointment will almost drive away all hope of success. There may be times when you will think you are making no progress, but don't get these fits of the blues. On those occasions, instead of giving way to your discouragement, spend the time in overcoming the difficulties that have beset you. You will find the difficulties that seemed almost to overwhelm you have melted away like dim shadows. Don't have fits of the blues! Have confidence in your teacher, in your shorthand system, and in your own ability, for the difficulties you overcome add immeasurably to your strength and make the final only seem the more sweet.
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I used to think that speed on the steno machine was solely the product of taking down notes at push speeds and getting used to fast dictation, but I've recognized as of late that it's not that simple.
Yes, you do need to get your brain used to processing audio faster than you currently can; however, a strong foundation in one's theory and clear notes will go a lot farther for a court reporting student than writing *passably* at blistering speed. I just passed my first 170 literary on Tuesday, but at what cost to my accuracy? I kind of had to "pull it" from my notes and don't want that to be my Achilles' Heel any longer.
This week I've been focusing on my accuracy and am starting to think that reviewing one theory chapter a day and less super fast dictation (20% of the time) is my plan for the next week or two. After that is when I start working on Stenograph's Performance Accelerators. Will keep you posted on how those programs work.
Ignore the part about the fountain pen. You can keep using your steno machines, don't worry.
From Shorthand Dictation Exercises 1918 (no longer under copyright)
This is a couple pages from the Gregg Shorthand Manual 1916 (no longer under copyright), slightly modified by me to apply to machine shorthand. It still holds true today!
So most steno students hate reading notes off paper, right? It's so cumbersome, and then the wind from your oscillating fan catches the paper and scatters it everywhere across your living room. At least that's my experience... To get around this and still get the benefit of reading raw steno, either read off your notebar in a realtime file or open up a previously written note file. Great for when your hands or forearms are too tired to continue!
As per a blog post I commented on, I'm putting my goals into print so that I may be held accountable for my progress through court reporting school and in the professional world. This image sums up the goal setting process perfectly so that you can set your own goals to ensure your success in all things steno.
Put your goals up on a piece of neon poster board with glitter glue or something and hang it up in front of where you usually practice. Get creative with it! This is a form of visualizing, a great tool in helping people reach their goals. Set daily, short-term, and long term goals and work from small to large. And then for goodness' sake get to work achieving them!
So without further ado, here are my goals. Drumroll, please!
1. Transcribe and edit at least one five-minute take during tomorrow's practice session.
2. Average three hours of practice time per day from now through next week Friday.
3. Pass two 190 Q&A takes during my first month back at school in the fall.
4. Reach internship speed (200 Q&A) by winter break.
5. Pass my 225s by the end of spring semester.
6. Obtain my RPR certification within a year of passing my 225s.
Did I mention aim high? "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land amongst the stars." -Les Brown
While I'm on the subject of becoming a master of one's craft, I have to share a video of famed violinist Jascha Heifetz, who is precisely that -- a master of his craft. I stumbled upon this while researching how his name was spelled when it came up in a dictation. His first name, for the record, is pronounced YA/SHA, so that's how I wrote it. Thank goodness for Google!
Start at 3:48 if you want to see something truly amazing. Just watch how the hand on the neck moves. He would have made an awesome court reporter!
I think this video demonstrates just how important good muscle memory is to both a stenographer and a world-class violinist. Imagine just how many countless hours of repetition and practicing went into perfecting this piece! Because court reporters don't have the luxury of taking the exact same dictation every time on the job, there are slight differences in the way a violinist practices for a performance and how a court reporter or student practices for a test or deposition or CART job, but I'll get to that in a minute.
Muscle memory, as defined by Wikipedia "is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated over time, a long term muscle memory is created for that task; eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems."
Muscle memory is so powerful that court reporting students must be conscious of their practice technique and be careful not to practice slop for too long. While musicians practice until they hit a sour note and then stop and do it over until they get it right, I still say the CR student should slop before drop in test taking situations. However, the bulk of a steno student's practice time still needs to be spent making good, clean strokes to build muscle memory for perfect outlines.
After you go through the super-fast blazing dictation once and "let your fingers fly," my teacher would say, go back over your notes or realtime transcript and practice just the words you messed up or hesitated on and those immediately before the trouble spots until they're automatic. Then use your VSP to slow it down and do it again, this time focusing on accuracy. Bump it up; slow it down, and write the take at at least three different speed levels. You've seen the P90X infomercials, right? This is classic muscle confusion, while still bringing it down to realtime speed to maintain accuracy and reinforce good muscle memory. A delicate balance, it is. Run, don't walk to your steno machines!
As promised in my previous post, here's some wisdom gained from an awesome book I read. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell explains how, with a certain amount of innate talent, preparation, and oftentimes extraordinary opportunities, the most successful people in their respective fields, such as Bill Gates and the Beatles, got to be that way. I believe we can apply these very same principles to the world of court reporting. I highly recommend reading this book when (and if) you get some downtime in between practice sessions. In Chapter 2, "The 10,000-Hour Rule," Gladwell refers to a study in which violin students were separated into three groups by their professors. Those three groups were labeled the "students with the potential to become world-class soloists," "those judged to be merely good," and then "students who were unlikely to ever play professionally." The following is an excerpt from this best-selling book:
All the violinists were then asked the same question: over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced? Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. In those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week. But when the students were around the age of eight, real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up the best in their class began to practice more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen, and up and up until the age of twenty they were practicing -- that is purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better -- well over thirty hours a week. In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.
Ericsson and his colleagues then compared amateur pianists with professional pianists. The same pattern emerged. The amateurs never practiced more than about three hours a week over the course of their childhood, and by the age of twenty, they had totaled two thousand hours of practice. The professionals, on the other hand, steadily increased their practice time every year, until by the age of twenty they, like the violinists, had reached ten thousand hours.
The striking thing about Ericsson's study that he and the colleagues couldn't find any "naturals," musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did. Nor could they find any "grinds," people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn't have what it takes to break the top ranks. Their research suggests that once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it. And what's more, the people at the very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.
Gladwell, Malcolm (2008). Outliers. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 38-39. ISBN 9780316017923
We, as court reporting students, have been given an extraordinary opportunity by just learning about this awesome profession, and perhaps by being enrolled in a quality school with teachers who care or knowing fellow students who support you in your quest. Now you may say, "Hey, but I didn't start court reporting when I was five years old. How will I ever get to reach the 10,000-hour mark before reaching retirement?" The answer is that the 10,000-hour mark represents the top of our profession, the NCRA speed contest champions, the realtime champs, the fastest and brightest of our field. We want to strive to be "world-class soloists," and to do that we must put our heads down and just put in the time and dedication. We can very well become certified, working court reporters long before that milestone, but just know it takes actual time and experience to get better on our machines. Just as a pilot has to have a minimum number of hours to become certified, we too need to put in our "required hours." Where are you on the road to 10,000?
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.
explains how, with a certain amount of innate talent, preparation, and oftentimes extraordinary opportunities, the most successful people in their respective fields, such as Bill Gates and the Beatles, got to be that way. I believe we can apply these very same principles to the world of court reporting. I highly recommend reading this book when (and if) you get some downtime in between practice sessions.