Cool Tips

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things. Lewis Carroll

Every student should have a notebook full of trouble strokes. Type up those strokes into a file. You may want to split them into two or more groups. Briefs and phrases could be one group. Medical terms could be another. Etc.
If a drill is causing you trouble, break it down into smaller chunks. Work on one section at an extremely slow speed if that is the only section that causes you difficulty. Work on the other sections at a higher speed.
Create a drill made up of briefs. These should all be time-savers. Which ones do you slow down on? Those need practice or replacement.
Take a regular Literary drill and place a number between each word. Now 6 you 8 have 4 a 5 drill 9 that 1 looks 7 like 3 this. This will strengthen your ability on the number bar very quickly. Add larger numbers when you begin to master this.
Drill for endurance, but remember to reduce the speed every few minutes. The reason for this is that nobody can do anything at top speed forever. If you reduce the speed as you tire, you can continue to write efficiently and you will learn endurance. If you don't reduce the speed, you lose all benefit and you gain bad habits.

Memorizing Briefs

Cool Tip: (by Barb DeWitt) Memorization of frequently-used words is a skill by itself. It is not a steno skill. It is a product of memory. The memorization merely happens to involve steno briefs. But it is work that is best done without the steno machine.

Do not confuse the act of memorization of the brief with the act of stroking the brief. Memorization comes first and may actually be impeded by the steno machine. When you can remember the stroke instantly, then you may begin to practice. Never use briefs until they have been properly memorized. You will hesitate while you try to remember the stroke. Briefs are good for one thing: They save time by reducing the amount of strokes. If you hesitate, you will not save time.

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Pros and Cons of Briefs

Cool Tip: (by Anna Mae Tedley) What are the benefits of briefs and phrases? We all know that answer. Briefs and phrases cut down the number of strokes. Cutting down the number of strokes saves time. If it takes us less time to get through a brief or phrase, then we have more time for the other words.

Now for the hard part. What are the drawbacks to using briefs and phrases? There are quite a few. They have to be memorized. They have to be at your fingertips on demand. They have to be written with a higher degree of accuracy. They are harder to read than stroked-out words. They look like Garbage with a Capital G when they are misstroked. Newly memorized briefs and phrases induce hesitation because you pause to choose the new pattern of stroking. Poorly memorized briefs and phrases induce hesitation because you pause to think of the outline of the stroke.

The only benefit to briefs and phrases is the time factor. If you do not gain time, you have traded good easy-to-read strokes for hesitation-inducing, rhythm-breaking, hard-to-read strokes.

In my class, you may use as many briefs and phrases as you wish. But you must be able to write them accurately without hesitation at all times. Do not tell me that you hesitate or write sloppy because you are "learning" the stroke. During dictation, you must employ the strokes that you can write competently.

When you have properly memorized the stroke, and when you can write that stroke correctly, and when you can recall it without hesitation, and when you can form the stroke and write it without hesitation, then you may use the stroke.

And if, at the end of all of that, you do not save time by using the stroke, then you have unnecessarily complicated your writing by learning the stroke in the first place.

"Hear it, stroke it, forget it. It's as simple as that."
Joseph Kinaim

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Carrying Drill No. 2

for Class or a Dictation Tape

By Stephen Shastay

Purpose: To reduce the number of words that you normally carry.

Drop all words each time the speaker reaches the end of a sentence. Do this until you can write smoothly.

If you are using a dictation tape, choose a slow, easy drill and drill for no more than one minute at a time.

When you have reached a rhythm for Step 1, write one extra word when the speaker reaches the end of a sentence. In other words, if you are three words behind the speaker by the end of the sentence, write one of them, but drop the other two words.
Resist the temptation to carry the extra words. Carrying is the fault that you are trying to correct.
When you have reached a rhythm for Step 2, write two extra words when the speaker reaches the end of a sentence. In other words, if you are three words behind the speaker by the end of the sentence, write two of them, but drop the third word.
Write for a minute using the pattern in Step 4. This forces you to drop words on purpose before you begin carrying needlessly. This is the training. Learn to do it now. You will need this skill on the test.
Write for a minute without dropping on purpose. Carry words if you must, but try to stay close to the speaker. This is not training. This is performance. Step 5 was training.
Step 5 teaches you what to do when you begin to fall behind. Step 6 teaches you not to fall behind. Neither step, by itself, is enough. In combination, they give you the tools to succeed.

Eventually, you want Step 5 and Step 6 to be virtually the same. In other words, you want to stay so close to the speaker that you never have to carry and/or drop. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 until you have graduated.

Carrying Drill #1 for the Speed Teacher

By Stephen Shastay

Set the number of words at 14.
Set the speed at no more than half of your normal goal speed.
Select the Top 100 drill from the Common Words. This is the easiest drill.
Drill for approximately one minute.
You must stroke all words before the screen changes to a new set of 14 words.
If any section of the drill is stroked considerably slower than the others, lower the speed, and concentrate on keeping the fingers moving at all times.
If all sections of the drill are stroked relatively the same, and if you are finishing well before each screen changes, increase the speed.
You must finish all screens before the next screen appears. If all sections of the drill are stroked relatively the same, and if you are finishing all of the screens relatively close to when the screens change, then you have found your Optimum Drilling Speed.
When you have conquered Step 8, reduce the number of words on each screen to 10 and decrease the speed by approximately one third.
Repeat Steps 5, 6, 7, and 8. Pay particular attention to Step 6. Your goal is to reach the original Optimum Drilling Speed that you set in Step 8.
When you have again conquered Step 8, reduce the number of words on each screen to 6 and decrease the speed by approximately one third.
Repeat Steps 5, 6, 7, and 8. Pay particular attention to Step 6. Your goal is to reach the original Optimum Drilling Speed that you set in Step 8.
Repeat Steps 1 through 12; but for Step 3, you should choose increasingly harder and harder drills. Here is a partial list to choose from. Some of these drills will force you drop your Optimum Drilling Speed to a much lower speed.

Top 100 from the Common Words
Top 1000 from the Common Words
Vowels from the General Section (not the Finger Drills)
Essential Jury Charge from the Common Words
Essential Testimony from the Common Words
Three-Letter Words from the EMMAnator
Four-Letter Words from the EMMAnator

Follow the instructions with no deviation. Of all the rules, Step 6 is the most important. Step 6 is where carriers will most likely “cheat.”

Steno Body Posture

Anna Mae Tedley

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs." Henry Ford

Posture is very important in stenography. Sit comfortably. Put both feet on the floor. Let your arms hang to the side. Try not to use the back of the chair. Instead, sit as "tall" as you can. Relax just a little.

Hold your head and neck normally. Rock back and forth until you find the balance point. You may be able to feel your back muscles relax as you hit the correct position. This position should feel very good. It's as close to relaxation as the back can get without support. In this position, your shoulders and head are centered directly over the hips.

Too bad that this position doesn't work for stenography. You want to stay as close to this comfortable position as you can, but stenography requires that you extend your arms and hold them in front of your body. To do that, you must change your posture, and that will inevitably increase the tension in your back.

To help your hands reach the keys of your machine, you will probably lean forward and reach out with the arms. This will put tension into your entire back. The upper back has to support the neck, head, shoulders and arms. The lower back has to support everything, including the upper back. Lean forward as little as possible. Extend the arms as little as possible.

Experiment with the correct position. Lean forward a few inches more. You may feel a great increase in tension. The back now has to work harder to keep you erect. Many people choose this position because they can now reach the keys without stretching their arms forward. This is very hard on the back. You only need to lean forward slightly to get into the correct position.

There is a great benefit to leaning forward slightly. This tiny bit of movement will also move the hands forward. They are now in a much better position to reach the keys.

Compare this position with your totally balanced position. The tension is much greater. A little is okay, but keep it under control.

It is time to look at your elbow.

Drop your arm to your side. In this position, your elbow (and your entire arm) is directly below your shoulder. That is the easiest way for your shoulder to support the weight of your arm because all of the weight is directly under the shoulder.

Raise your forearm again until it is horizontal. This shifts the center of weight. Rock your arm gently back and forth until you find the most relaxed position. When you find this position, your shoulder will not be holding your arm in a particular position. Your arm will merely be hanging from the shoulder.

Look at your elbow. If you have found the correct position, then your elbow will be a bit to the rear of the shoulder. To support your forearm, the easiest way is to center the load. The body does this by moving the elbow to the rear.

Look at your elbow again. Move it forward so that it is directly under your shoulder. Do you feel the tension? You should feel it in your arm, your upper back, and your lower back. Keep your forearm horizontal and let the upper arm relax again. The tension went away as soon as the elbow moved to the rear, didn't it?

Overextending your arms causes several problems. It puts unnecessary strain on your lower back. It is the major source of upper back pain. It forces your upper arms to tense up. Many, many bad things can happen by overextending your arms.

This article is about posture, but leaning forward too much is also detrimental to your ability to stroke. It will hamper your writing in two significant ways. You will find it harder to stroke the upper keys and especially the number bar. As your arms tire, you will lose the ability to keep your fingers on the home keys. Instead, your hands will move back and forth involuntarily as you fight to maintain your position.

Most people who overextend their arms are also leaning forward too much. Once they lean back a little, their arms seem to naturally come back to a more correct position.

Every inch that you stretch your arms out to your machine is a burden to your back. The farther you stretch, the more your lower back has to strain to keep you erect.

Here is the final exercise. Get your body in the correct position. Align the spine. Lean forward slightly. Let your arms hang. Put your hands in your lap. Keep your hands close to your body and raise your forearms to the horizontal position. Look at your elbows. Move them forward until they are directly under your shoulders.

Look at your hands.

You now have plenty of room to stroke. Your hands are well away from your body. This is how you should sit. It won't feel comfortable at first because it is not the normal way that you sit, but it is the correct way.

Practice getting into this position without a machine. After you can do that, set up your machine and adjust it to what you feel will be correct. Now get into the proper position again. Ignore the machine. Just get into the proper position.

Is the machine too high? Too low? Too close? Too far away?

Adjust your machine and try again. Concentrate on the proper position. Make your machine adapt to you, rather than the other way around.

Find the correct position. It will make it much easier to write. You will have less stress and strain. Your fingers will be in a better position to stroke.

Let me close with this caveat. Nobody can hold their body in one position forever. You will become fatigued eventually. Fight back by stretching when you have a chance. Roll your neck. Shrug your shoulders. Twist your torso. Get the blood moving. It will make it a lot easier to maintain the correct position while drilling.