It's a balancing act

I've come to the realization that many of us court reporting students have that one speed level that is harder than all of the others to pass.  For me, getting past my 160s was the most difficult and frustrating of them all.  It was like, my fingers would freeze and just wouldn't move.  I would get so tense and have to take a break to rid myself of my nerves during tests.  After six months of spending four to six hours daily working towards improvement, I finally saw results.  Nonetheless, it was a rough six months, and I'm glad they're over.

What I like about my online court reporting program is that it incorporates two different learning techniques in our speedbuilding regimen:  mostly writing clean notes and dropping when it's too fast; and at other times just write and let your fingers move freely.  During my 160 wpm journey, learning to practice both of these styles was key to my success from that point forward.  I say that because I learned that I had to write clean enough to be able to read my notes, however I needed to loosen my thinking cap and turn it to the side a little bit in order to keep my fingers from freezing up.

Now, this is just what has worked for me in my training so far, and I'm by no means an expert on this.  Being that I'm a Libra, I naturally find happiness in achieving balance.  Clearly, everyone functions in different ways, so I don't expect that this "way of going about it" will be that magic key for everyone.  I've found a couple of resources online, and I'll share them so that you all can explore them and see which methods best suit you.

I really like the video teachings that Stephen Shastay has on YouTube.  Although this is for students in slower speeds, the technique is applicable to students in the higher speeds as well.   Steve advocates writing clean notes, however he also emphasizes the importance of becoming an expert "dropper" when your speaker starts to babble so quickly you mentally rename him/her Chatty Cathy.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mark Kislingbury teaches on YouTube a method that involves getting a stroke for everything.  I have found this method to be more enjoyable than the flipside, but I still believe a balance should be maintained between the two.  I like to practice in this manner when transcribing TV shows or radio shows because it allows me to sort of turn my brain off and really enjoy writing and let my fingers move more smoothly than they usually do.

I actually did a lot of free writing like this when I was getting through my 160s, simply because of the fact that I would get bored listening to my school dictations after hearing them over and over again.  I think that by practicing from shows that kept me entertained and by allowing my brain to relax while still being engaged with my writer, I was able to stick to my practice sessions for extended time periods without getting frustrated and calling it quits prematurely.

One more thing worth sharing is a document written specifically about the rough patch, which I previously made reference to, that many student reporters experience during their training.  It is called The Plateau, and you can read read it here: http://www.cheapandsleazy.net/filez/the_plateau_older.pdf.  Stephen Shastay was one of three authors on this.  It gives a more in depth explanation on why writing clean and learning to drop are crucial to getting through court reporting school.

As a side note, I want to congratulate my dear friend, Stacy, for passing her 160s today!  She was actually the inspiration behind this post because we've chatted many times about how the 160s were a huge challenge for her, just as they were for me.  Congrats, girl!  So happy for you!

Happy steno-ing, my friends!  :)