Getting a feel for 225

I have always subscribed to the theory that you should work on your accuracy first and train your fingers to "remember" strokes thereby reducing your hesitation and increasing your speed.

As I struggle to pass my 80s threshold, I've opened my mind to other theories and have found that most, if not all, make sense to me. So I'm going to try other suggestions to see what works best.

I recently read a blog post on a Facebook court reporting group that suggests you listen to audio at 225 words per minute to help with your speedbuilding.

Here is a quote from Jillian Woods Facebook post:

"First things first, at around 100wpm, the realm of 'realtime' and 'speed' will split in two, each moving in separate paths, but heading in the same direction. What the hell does that mean, you ask? Well let me tell you... I am paraphrasing many teachers and students when I say that in order to perfect your realtime output (at speeds above 100), you need to work on SPEED. It feels counter-intuitive. How can you increase your speed without perfecting your accuracy? And yet, to quote the Director of Admissions at a very well-respected school, "you cannot get to realtime at 225 without knowing the speed of 225." The point being, that you need to know what it FEELS like to write 225. You need to get used to HEARING 225 (yes, throw on a dictation at 225 and sit back and listen). The trick to speedbuilding is staying on top of the speaker.

NOW, what I just said really implied so many things. First of all, staying on top of the speaker is a very hard thing to do at a speed that is, currently, out of your reach. What has worked for me is doing two things: 1) begin to shorten your writing, using briefs and phrases ONLY when it comes to words/phrases that are spoken OFTEN and that you feel comfortable writing, and 2) APPROXIMATE the strokes. Let your fingers do the dancing. If you are THINKING about how to write something, you're going to get left behind. To stay on top of the speaker (at your push speeds, 20-25%ish above your control speed) you have to let go and completely trust your fingers. Trust that all the work you've done perfecting your strokes thus far, through finger drills and perfecting your realtime output at the lower speeds, have trained your fingers to do the thinking for you. You CANNOT have a distracted mind when practicing at high speeds. You cannot THINK about what is being said and how to write it. Just let go. DON'T LOOK AT YOUR SCREEN! Believe me, you're not going to be happy with the outcome... LOL!... But when you pull up your paper notes, you might be in for a big surprise."

If you're on Facebook, you may find the complete post here: Jillian's blog post

So I tried this suggestion the other night. I logged on to Realtime Coach and practiced steno to audio at 225 words per minute.

After the initial shock of listening to people speaking at higher speeds, I got into a rhythm of writing. I tried to get down what I could and tried to "let my fingers do the dancing" -- which is tough for a perfectionist like me. It was difficult for me to simply type an outline, any outline, in an effort to keep up with the speaker.

After about an hour and a half of this style of speed practice, I sat down to "read" my tape. It wasn't perfect, but I could actually read it; even with the many, many mistakes that I had made. I considered this a very successful practice session and now understand why this is beneficial to speedbuilding in general. I am adding 225 speedbuilding exercises to my ever-evolving practice routine. It's a great suggestion and I recommend that you try it too!