Steno Writing Tips

1. Shorthand speed comes as a result of eliminating all hesitation, making automatic the application of your basic writing principles through regular practice. A brief breaks this automatic response. To be of value, it must be learned to the point where it can be written without hesitation under the greatest dictation pressure.
2. If a short form occurs very frequently, if it does not conflict with any of your other outlines, if it is not so awkward to write that it slows you down in any way, and if you do not try any new briefs until you master the brief you are currently working on, then if you want to adopt this brief, go for it.
3. Using a brief is a two-pronged endeavor. First, it is important to understand the right time to use a brief and to have a clear reason to use a brief. Second, and most important, is the ability to remember the brief.
4. When you are reviewing your finished work and you see an error repeated on a particular word or phrase, you might want to think about using a brief.
5. Is the brief easy to stroke?
6. Use only briefs you can remember.
7. If a brief causes you to hesitate, then you have defeated the purpose of briefing.
8. It may be easier to write A*J for Angelina Jolie, but when you hear Afghanistan, is it easier to write it out than to hesitate over what the brief is? It is not necessary to use a brief for a rarely written word.
9. Use an asterisk when briefing a proper name, such as B*P for Brad Pitt. If B*P stands for something else, stroke it twice: B*P/B*P.
10. Drop vowels when creating a brief form, such as T*M for testimony.
11. Always test your brief to make sure it doesn’t conflict with anything in your dictionary.
12. Use the brief form once for the last name of a proper name, and use the brief form twice for the full two-part name of a proper name, such as PORB for Posh and PORB/PORB for Posh Spice.
13. In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never quit!”
14. If you aspire to increase your speed, you must incorporate practice for at least two to three hours a day, each and every day.
15. Reading your notes is as important to your learning experience as the writing experience. Take note of any drops you may have or of any misstrokes you might have made.
16. Push beyond your levels of endurance.
17. To keep from feeling like you are in a rut, transcribe lots of tests at every speed. Make sure you transcribe at least one from each category every week.
18. You might try to keep a hesitation book. Make a list of words or sections of theory where you have trouble, and practice those words. For example, if you hear an EX word and hesitate, write lists of EX words until they become second nature.
19. Practice from one of those little finger exercise books with drills for accuracy.
20. If you made it to the high speeds, you can finish.

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