BUILDING SPEED #2

Today let’s check your stroking technique.

First, NEVER watch your hands/finger movements while writing. I won’t bore you with a lengthy explanation as to why. But please trust me: IF you rely on watching your fingers and try to "consciously" place them on the correct keys or even just "consciously" be aware of their placement, you will never become a high-speed writer. Fasten a picture of Brad Pitt or Mel Gibson or your favorite Playgirl or Playboy centerfold on the wall, whatever it takes to keep your eyes off that keyboard, but DO NOT WATCH YOUR HANDS.

Second, remember that in home position (between strokes) the fingers are ABOVE—not resting on—the keys. Why? Because when we move fingers to depress keys, we have a tendency to also move other fingers on that same hand ever so slightly. Even though the movement may be so slight that the keys they’re resting on don’t even create shadows on the paper tape, electronic keyboards are sometimes so sensitive that the keys WILL register electronically, and you’ll have extraneous letters in the strokes in the electronic data recorded on the writer or keyboard. I’ve seen numerous reporters whose paper notes are beautiful, BUT the corresponding electronic data is so full of extraneous, unwanted letters that the steno on the LCD or on the computer is GARBAGE—all because they started out on manual keyboards and they haven’t broken the habit of resting their fingers on the keys.

The biggest culprits are P- and -P because they’re stroked with the longest fingers (the forefingers). When the forefingers are resting even very lightly on the P keys, moving other fingers prompts those long fingers to also move just enough to cause the P keys to register electronically. And remember that there’s no "shading" in the electronic data, so these extra letters don’t appear as "shadows" which can be ignored or fairly easily read through. There’s nothing to clue you that the N- should really be a TH, the M- was intended to be an H-, the B should have been a W, the F should have been a T, the -M should have been an -L, the -N should have been a -B, etc.—except you have an unwanted P in the stroke.

Third,. fingers are slightly curved, NOT held straight. If you hold your fingers straight and stroke "flat-fingered," (1) your fingers have to travel slightly farther to reach the correct position to actually depress the keys (loss of speed); (2) your dexterity is reduced (loss of speed); (3) it’s more difficult to depress a key on the top bank without also "triggering" the key on the bottom bank (extra letters resulting in non-translates or mistranslates).

Fourth, keys are depressed with the padded TIPS of the fingers. And I’m sorry, ladies, but you can’t depress an upper and lower key combination with the padded tip of the same finger IF YOU HAVE LONG FINGERNAILS. Place your hands, open-fingered, palms up in front of you. If you can SEE your fingernails extending beyond the tips of your fingers, they’re too long.

I know, more groans from those of you who love your long fingernails. And probably some of you can say, "But I know a court reporter who has long fingernails!" I’ve known a few also. And it’s no coincidence that their notes are full of "extra" letters, that they have to spend more time editing to produce a final product, and that scopists are NOT standing in line clamoring for the privilege of scoping for them. As a working reporter, if you’re happy with that tradeoff, fine. But as a student who wants to build speed, get out of school, and start your career, for heaven’s sake cut off those fingernails. You’ll be surprised at how much more secure you’ll feel on the keyboard, how much cleaner your notes will be, and how much FASTER you can write. For me, the choice was pretty obvious: short nails; write cleaner and faster; graduate sooner and go to work making enough money to be able to afford a jazzy set of nails for any special occasion.

Fifth, stroke with a light, quick stroke—on and off the keys and immediately ready to move to the next stroking position. DO NOT give a little "push" at the bottom of the keystroke, flex (straighten) your fingers between strokes, or raise your hands above the keyboard. Any of these extraneous movements will SIGNIFICANTLY reduce your speed.

Let’s take giving a little push at the bottom of the strokes as an example. That’s the least time-consuming of these extraneous movements, so it causes the least hesitation and the least damage to writing speed. And let’s see just how much giving that extra little push can affect your speed. I’m certainly not an expert on time and motion studies, and the EXACT amount of time lost may be slightly less or slightly more than I’m postulating. But if that extra little "push" at the bottom of the stroke only takes one-fifth of a second on each stroke, you’ve added 20 seconds to the time it takes you to write every 100 strokes—you’ve sacrificed about 20% of your writing SPEED. And that’s without even considering the additional wear and tear on your hands and fingers, all the unnecessary energy you’re wasting, and the fact that you’re going to become very tired very quickly—which will REALLY hamper your speed.

If you’ve fallen into any of these poor stroking habits which detract from your speed, make a concerted effort to correct them NOW. Practice by writing audio material that is slow enough that you can make a conscious effort to execute each stroke with a very light, quick stroke, and immediate release; NO PUSH AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STROKE, NO STRAIGHTENING OR FLEXING OF FINGERS, NO UPWARD MOVEMENT OF THE HANDS AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD. If it helps, pretend there are electrical contacts at the bottom of the keystrokes which will give you an electric shock if you don’t release the keys instantly. Correcting your stroking technique is very, very important to being able to reach your speed potential, so if you find any practice methods, special techniques, or tricks that help you in overcoming flaws in technique, please share them here with other students.

Sixth, when writing, only your FINGERS should move. Keep your HAND movement to an absolute minimum. I’ve seen students who actually lift their hands six to eight inches above the keyboard between each stroke—the "Liberace Syndrome." If you can lose about 20% of your writing speed by giving an extra push on the bottom of the stroke, just imagine how much speed can be lost with all this extra hand movement!! And who do you think has the highest likelihood of hitting the correct keys: the person whose fingers are just slightly above the keys or the person whose fingers are "diving" at the keys from several inches in the air?

It you have more than very slight hand movement while writing, place a "reminder" on the back of each hand (a small, flat object such as a quarter, a flat rectangular eraser, etc.) and practice writing without dislodging your "reminders" from the back of your hands. With enough practice, you’re guaranteed to accomplish one of two things: (1) Become a much better writer by learning to write with MINIMAL hand movement; or (2) Lose an inch or two off your waist from bending down so often to pick your "reminder" up off the floor.<<VBG>>