Learning from my mistake.

A strange thing happened during my last speed test. Throughout the dictation I was writing beautifully -- I didn't jump over too many words and my fingers seemed to be dancing along nicely. I couldn't wait to transcribe my notes!

I set up my laptop and I started typing. A couple of sentences later, I noticed a problem. I had consistently stroked words the wrong way. I typed "re" for "we" throughout the dictation. I typed "in the" instead of "if the" throughout the dictation. I typed "the the" instead of "is the" throughout the dictation. I also confused "has" with "had" -- and the list goes on. ~Sigh~

Great! Somewhere along the way, I've developed some bad habits. I have been trying to increase my speed by practicing to television and audio takes that were in the range of 180-220 words per minute, which is much faster than my current speed of 70-80 wpm. Since I knew I wasn't getting ALL the words, I didn't take the time to read back my notes. Yes, I know what you're thinking. "What a bonehead!"

Thankfully, when I arrived home that evening, the book I ordered had arrived in the mail. 61+ Ways to Write Faster. I sat down and started reading it that night. This book is chocked full of great suggestions. The one that seems to be repeated throughout the book is -- wait for it -- READ BACK YOUR NOTES. You may not think it's important to read your notes, but if I had done this more often, I would have noticed my problem much earlier.

Focus on the speaker

Class was cancelled last night because of the snow storm. The timing couldn't have been better. It gave me a chance to practice on the newly redesigned RealTime Coach website. Have you seen it yet? It's very nahz . . . I took the "tour" of the new website and was able to find all the features that I had used previously. Other than a new look, it pretty much runs the way the old website did.

You'll be happy to hear that I learned something new last night. For the first time, I watched video clips on RTC instead of simply listening to the audio of each take. What a difference it made in my writing! My theory teacher suggested that we should focus on the speaker when transcribing, but I found that difficult when I was still in theory. But since I no longer have to stare at my keyboard while I'm writing, I can look at the speaker. Once again, my theory teacher was right ~ it really makes writing a little easier. Maybe it's the distraction of looking at the speaker. Who knows? And, frankly, I don't care. As soon as I started to focus on the speaker, I was able "disengage" my brain from my hands and let my fingers do all the work. True, I was still slow and skipping over some words to keep up, but the words that I was typing were coming a bit more naturally.

It was a good practice session.

61+ Ways to Write Faster

I just ordered the book, 61+ Ways to Write Faster from the National Court Reporters Association online store. Shop online here. I decided to buy it when I read a couple of tips from the book that I hadn't seen anywhere else, so I thought I'd splurge and buy it. Actually it's not expensive if you're a member of NCRA. ($13.45)

I hope it arrives soon!

Here are a couple of tips from the book:

1. Practice in the dark. Initially, I thought this suggestion was to help those who look at their keyboards. (A no-no, by the way.) But practicing in the dark helps your concentration. Hmmm, who knew?

2. Read your perfect notes out loud. I don't read my notes as often as I should, and when I do, I always search out my mistakes so I know what strokes I'm missing. That's helpful too, but you should read your perfect notes for reinforcement. I used to read my StenEd Reader for perfect notes, but I've long stopped doing that. Reading your own notes for reinforcement makes perfect sense. Additionally, it's a great confidence booster to see how well you're doing!

3. Practice to strengthen your weak hand. If you have a weak hand (one hand makes more mistrokes than the other), practice to dictation only writing the parts of the outline that you would with your weak hand. Do this for one minute. Then switch, and use the same technique using your strong hand. Do this for 3-5 mins every day, and you will begin to train THE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN TO CONNECT THE STROKES. This is such a cool idea! I'm not sure if I have a weak/strong hand, but I'm still going to do this type of practice because it's so unusual.

Happy writing, ya'll!

Test driving an ergonomic stenograph

One of my fellow court reporting students has on loan from a friend in Arizona a Gemini Revolution Grand stenograph. She brought it in for us to see, and our instructor let us try it out during class. This ergonomically-styled stenograph is pretty retro looking. Its split keyboard is infinitely adjustable, and the numbers "bar" has been replaced with individual keys for each number which I found a little awkward.

Thankfully, I've never had any carpel tunnel issues (knock on wood), but I can see how the adjustability of the keyboard could benefit someone who does.

I could probably get used to this type of machine, but on my first attempt, it felt like my hands were in two different rooms trying to make a ham sandwich.