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. [caption id="attachment_133" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="50 words per minute dictation passage"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_134" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="60 words per minute dictation exercise"][/caption]

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 ...

1. Sleep well the night before - go to bed early and avoid doing any shorthand the evening before. 2. Remember to check AND DOUBLE CHECK your transcriptions before you submit your script. Oh, and write your transcriptions out clearly - many students fail not on their shorthand but on their transcriptions, so make sure the transcription can be read by an examiner! 3. Half an hour before the exam, loosen and relax your hands, fingers and neck with light stretches and joint rotations. During the exam sit with a straight, but forward-slanted back. Despite the urge, don't hunch over with bunched up shoulders - it constricts your breathing and blood flow. 4. Breathe well and try to keep your mind clear of distractions. 5. Once the passage has been read out, read back your shorthand notes before transcribing them. Mark any outlines you are uncertain of. 6. When transcribing, leave those marked shorthand outlines out of your longhand transcription - only try filling in the blanks afterwards, when you can confidently compare your notes with what you think the word might be. Remember, the context of the piece itself might just solve the riddle. 7. Triple check your transcription for any ...

Shorthand World readers frequently ask us which are the best books for learning shorthand. There are hundreds of excellent books out there which will help you learn or improve, so choosing from them is no mean feat. But we’ll have a stab at naming our top ten books for Pitman and Teeline. To find out more about any of the books below just hover your cursor over them! Teeline Fast (Teeline) Teeline Revised Edition (Teeline) Teeline Gold: Speed Ladder (Teeline Gold) Teeline Gold: Word List (Teeline Gold) Teeline Gold: Student Pack (Teeline) Shorthand Pitman 2000 (Teach Yourself) Pitman 2000: Shorthand Short Course Pitman New Era Shorthand: Anniversary Edition Pitman 2000: Shorthand First Course (Pitman 2000 Shorthand) Shorthand, Pitman’s: New Era: Facility Drills (Anniversary Edition) But what do you think? What are your top ten books? Why not drop us a line to let us know!

I imagine most of us have been writing since we were children. Most of us don’t remember the day we learned to hold a pen – at least I don’t Holding a pen seems a little like riding a bike, or speaking, or breathing. We just do it. Although we might occasionally ask why we write, I doubt many of us think about how we write But for those of us learning and/or using shorthand, how hold a pen might have a major bearing on what we write and, more importantly, how quickly we write shorthand. Ben Pitman, the brother of Sir Isaac Pitman, knew the how of penmanship was controversial. Nevertheless, he was undeterred from making a suggestion. He said, in his Manual of Phonography: “The learner is advised to hold his (or her-Ed) pen or pencil in the manner usual in writing longhand – between the first and second fingers – unless he (or she-Ed) finds that in so doing, he (or she!) is unable to easily and accurately to write the stroke “t” in an exactly vertical vertical direction. If after a few days’ practice any difficulty may be found in doing this does not disappear, he may find it ...