I frequently get asked what single action should a practitioner take to improve their speed. Being a holistic type of chap, I find myself immediately spouting off a ream of suggestions rather than just one – more practice, looser grip, less white space, tighter outlines and so on.

But it has sparked an idea. What if, in and amongst the composite approach to speed improvement, we focused on improving a single aspect of our shorthand each week? It’s the type of thing athletes do all the time – they’ll focus on stride pattern one week, elbow movement the next and so on. Perhaps it could work with shorthand too, and build better long term style discipline by focusing our minds on a single aspect of practice above all others for a given week, rather than bombarding ourselves with too many things to concentrate on.

If there’s something in this (and it is only an idea), then the next thing would be to put together a programme. Now I’ve been thinking about this for a little while. And, in the self-help style,  I’ve come up with a 12-week programme! It would run more as a guidance list within existing classes, providing an area of focus each week rather than a course in itself.  It goes like this:

week one: posture and preparation

week two: penmanship (how to hold a pen)

week three: what to do with the left hand while you take notes (if you’re right handed, of course)

week four: proper form, rather than speed.

week five: reducing white space between outlines.

week six: shrinking outlines or making them tidier.

week seven: review the theory learned so far.

week eight: attempt dictations 20wpm faster than your perceived maximum.

week nine: learn and use more abbreviated outlines where they are available and put them to use wherever possible.

week ten: write (wherever possible) nothing but shorthand – telephone calls, diary notes etc. Make it become part of your life.

week eleven: go back to proper form over speed once again, ensuring all outlines are perfectly formed, gap space minimised without compromising separation between outlines.

week twelve: attempt dictations 20wpm faster than your perceived maximum.

And it could run as a rolling programme. So there you have it, my athletics-inspired speed improvement programme. Feel free to use, ignore, praise or condemn. All comments welcome!