A journalist colleague of mine asked me today what I did with my old notepads. I explained to her that I kept them for a couple of years (used to be advised to keep them for three years, later revised to just one) and then binned them. More than binned them, I explained, I recycled them, because that's the type of chap I am. And I was feeling very virtuous and superior in my greenity. "But what about data protection?" she asked. "Erm..." I replied. "It's just I've got so many people's names and telephone numbers and personal details and their stories in mine," she said. I thought about the law and remembered once being told that Data Protection didn't really apply to work as a journalist or, and I thought for a second, law enforcement. And that was what I said to my colleague. "That's true," she said, gently. "But that part of the law is to do with the use of information, not its disposal." "Erm..." Now then, I'll be honest. The connectedness of the disposal of a shorthand notebook and the Data Protection Act is not something I've ever thought about before. But I think my colleague is asking a legitimate question. What should ...

Few would argue that Sir Isaac Pitman, the inventor of the shorthand system that bears his name, should not be held in high esteem, revered even. But I was stunned to come across an article with the headline "The land where Isaac Pitman, shorthand inventor, is a god". His deification appears to have happened in the Indian city of Chennai. In his fascinating article for The National, reporter Samanth Subramanian tells how: "The entrances to many buildings in this southern Indian city are graced by small shrines, miniature temples, almost, to one or the other of the Hindu pantheon's gods and goddesses. "Among the most extraordinary of these sits in the courtyard of a building in the crowded neighbourhood of T Nagar. Resting on a plinth is a garlanded, foot-high bronze statuette of a lushly bearded 19th-century Englishman named Isaac Pitman. "The building houses the headquarters of the Stenographers' Guild, which explains the devotion to Pitman, a vegetarian and teetotaller who was knighted in 1894 and died aged 84 in 1897. In 1837, he developed the most widely used form of shorthand, a system of strokes, hooks, dots and squiggles, based on phonetics, which ...

The merits of shorthand vs tape recorders is not a new one. However, it is a debate that appears to be ongoing, with Roy Greenlade recently writing on his blog that he would like courts to allow reporters to bring in tape/digital recorders. His argument starts with an MP being caught saying something he wished he hadn't on tape. Greenslade states: "He could not deny having said it because his words were on tape." However, Greenslade asks, what would have happened if the unwise statement had only been captured in a shorthand note? If the MP claimed he had been misquoted (not uncommon), would the shorthand note be trusted? If so, by who, and to what degree? His main points are that shorthand is a less trusted means of capturing what was said than a tape/digital device, that shorthand is a pain to learn and that people develop their own shorthands as they use it (to the extent that, he says, most shorthand users gradually develop a "personal shorthand that only they really understand"). I think he is right on all three points. Shorthand is less respected than it once was. That's partly because it is less prevalent in society per se ...

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 ...

Hi everybody. Just a few days until Christmas and it is now snowing in the UK. These are some passages which have been on the site before but were taken off line during a complete site rebuild. Hopefully they'll be useful - either for those visiting the site for the first time or for those who have tried them before (though hopefully forgotten about them)... They're courtesy of WaveMedia and are taken, in Mp3 format, from the CDs which are available in the shop.

Just a quick note to let everybody know that the Shorthand World team (yes, both of us...) have finally added Google Checkout as a payment option for the Shorthand World CD shop. We've always used Paypal because it is so simple but my wife used Google Checkout recently to buy a desk and said it was even simpler to use than Paypal so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm pleased to say it seems unbelievably straight forward so we're now offering that system as well. Hope everybody is looking forward to Christmas - we'll be blitzing some posts up on the site in the run-up to the New Year! In terms of other developments, some have noticed the look and feel of the site has changed periodically. This is because of a complete rebuild of the website behind the scenes. A number of test sites and themes are being explored and tinkered with and in the next few weeks (possibly months) I'd like to post some of the options up on the site for people to choose.

Anybody who has ever learned shorthand has, at some stage, experienced the “speed plateau”. It’s not a nice place. No matter what you try, it seems you’re stuck with a certain speed. We blame our hands (they just can’t go faster), we blame our brains (it just can’t go faster) we may even blame shorthand (why did I learn this lousy system in the first place). First things first. Plateaus with shorthand speed are natural. You’ll get them in pretty much any activity you could think of – sprinting, piano playing or ping pong. I believe plateaus are where knowledge and skill consolidate, levelling and steadying the ground for further progress. The key is to use our plateaux as a srpingboard for the leaps forward we are about to make. If we don’t do this, we run the risk of our plateaux becoming a rut. So what’s the plan? Essentially, breaking out of a plateau is a two-fold process – consolidating what you know and pushing yourself onto pastures new similtaneously. Sound difficult? It needn’t be. First, establish your maximum speed – the speed at which you can only just keep up with the speaker, where you only get down a hint of an ...

Imagine the scenario… Your editor gets a letter threatening legal action over an article published some months ago – they are claiming the article is not only defamatory in nature but their client has been repeatedly misquoted. Understandably, your editor is nervous and demands to see your shorthand note of the interview and all notes taken down at the time in relation to the story. It’s a situation no journalist wants to find themselves in, but sadly it happens from time to time and, if you don’t pay attention to the way you organise your notebook, it can be disastrous. shorthandYour notebook (if you can find it amongst that swollen bottom drawer stuffed full of notebooks which have not been taken home or destroyed) is your best line of defence against legal action, and can carry a great deal of weight in court. What follows is a set of simple guidelines that all notebook users should take on board. We’ll start with a golden rule: think of your notebook not as your workbook but as evidence on which a major defamation trial depends. What I mean by this is that you need to think not only about your notebook’s practicalities, but also about the ...

Okay, so they’re not the most fascinating items in the world (for most people), but choosing a good pen can play a vital role in ensuring your shorthand flows smoothly, your note is neat and legible and your wrist doesn’t ache after prolongued use or practice. Moreover, as Shorthand World found in testing some of the following pens, picking the best point can boost your speed by up to seven words a minute. In preparing this article, Shorthand World asked a number of experienced shorthand practitioners for their views and recommendations. Here are the four pens which stood out from the rest. Pilot V5 Extra Fine Needlepoint Rollerball Blue Box of 12 The Pilot V5, is an excellent pen. The ink runs smoothe, feels great in the hand and glides over the page. On our test, this pen improved shorthand speed the most – a staggering 7wpm over the standard disposable ballpoint at 100wpm. A great buy. Bic Velocity Gel Rollerball Pen Comfort Grip Retractable 0.7mm Tip 0.3mm Line Blue Ref 820566 [Pack 12] Again, this is a great pen. The gel ink is smoothe and it feels incredibly comfortable in the hand. Although on our test the improvement on speed was not as ...

Thanks to the contributor who raised the following points and questions: Do reporters really need shorthand in this day and age? An age of hi-tech wizardry and miniature digital recording devices? I understand that its pretty much mandatory to get 100wpm to get a reporting job in the UK - but in the US it's not and you have loads of trainee reporters starting their careers without shorthand. I think they only learn shorthand if they are inclined to do so - and many are not. What do you reckon? Shorthand's days are numbered? My personal view is a little old fashioned - shorthand has survived thousands of years and it's got a few more years left. You're right to point out that the requirements for getting a reporting job in the UK and US are different. You do need shorthand to get a newspaper reporting job in the UK - and for good reason, too. First, an editor has an element of legal leverage if a reporter is accused of making up a quote (which is often levied at reporters when those involved in stories don't like their words printed in black and white). The editor can check his reporter's shorthand note, waive a certificate ...