The Complete Rules of Steno Success
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The Ten-Finger Two-Step1. At school: Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest.
2. At home: Learn every brief, phrase, and stroke that you come across. That's it, folks. If you follow those rules, you will succeed. Stephen John Shastay
Steno Rebel P.S. Here is a short explanation of those rules. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Carrying words may seem natural to you, but this is a very bad habit. You are using your brain in a nonproductive way. Instead of focusing on the stroke at hand, you are juggling 4, 6, 8 or more words. Break that habit now. When you are in school, you are warming up for the test. I don't care if this is your first day in a new speed class, you are there to learn to pass that test. Perform like a professional at all times. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. How many times do you use your Asterisk key? Stop it. The Asterisk key turns a one-stroke word into a three-stroke word. That forces you to fall behind unnecessarily. Write the best outlines that you can while you are in school. You have plenty of time at home to memorize those outlines. Your job at school is to chase the dictation. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Are you analyzing your strokes as you write? Stop it. It will slow you down. Turn your attention to the stroke that is before you. Forget about the ones that you have already stroked. You can't change them now. They are gone, and they are not coming back. Use your readback to analyze your writing. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Are you using briefs and phrases that you haven't mastered? Stop it. This will cause you to hesitate and fall behind. Learn those outlines at home. At school, use only the briefs and phrases that you have memorized. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Are you writing trashy notes because the drill is too tough? Stop it. This will cause you to hesitate which will cause you to carry which will cause you to write even trashier. Write clean notes. If you are writing as fast as you can, and you are still falling behind, well, that's why you are in that class instead of the next one. Everyone falls behind. You may not like it, but that's life. Be satisfied with performing up to your abilities. No one should ever ask more of you than your best. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Are you concentrating on perfect notes because you want to be a realtime writer? Stop it. You are writing slower than you should. Learn how to pass a test first. Later you can turn yourself into the goddess of stenography. There aren't any jobs out there for people who can write 120 realtime. There are plenty of jobs for 225 graduates, especially if their goal is to eventually become realtime writers. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Do you relax when the dictation is smooth and easy? Stop it. You will have no choice but to carry as soon as you hit a rough spot. You don't know what words will appear in the next five seconds. Keep your head in the game. How many tests have you given away because you got complacent? Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Do you consistently miss easy words? Stop it. You should be able to translate every bit of your steno notes at 95% accuracy. That is not your goal. That is a minimum standard. Let me clarify this. If the dictation contains 1000 words, and you drop 100 words, you should be able to translate the 900 words that you stroked at 95% accuracy. Less than that is unacceptable. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Are you proud of how you can catch up to the speaker? Stop it. You are wasting your speed. If you have enough speed to catch up, then you have enough speed to keep from falling behind. When you stumble, drop a word or two. This will keep you close to the speaker. Hear the word, stroke the word, drop the rest. Do your nerves affect your writing? Stop it. Of all the faults, this is the only non-stenographic one. You have created the anxiety that you feel. You can control it. It is possible. Breath deep, blow hard, and get back to work. Ain't nobody died yet because they potted an easy test. At home you should stop the dictation on every brief, every phrase, every outline that needs attention. If you must stop your drill twenty times in the first minute of drill, be overjoyed. You have just learned twenty valuable strokes. Never gloss over strokes that you haven't mastered. That is foolish. Stenographers have a duty to write as clearly as possible. We are paid a great deal of money for our work. We are not paid that much because school is tough or stenography is hard. We are paid that much because we always get it right. Keep your standards high. Click here to purchase the Speed Teacher | 