Suggestions for gaining speed

[Deb]

SUGGESTIONS FOR GAINING SPEED

1. Most important of all is the acquirement of a thorough,
second-nature familiarity with the principles, and the adoption |
of a certain, unvarying way of writing every common outline.
This will eliminate mental hesitation in writing.

Much slovenly written | shorthand is improperly attributed to
faulty hand movement. Though we may not realize it, the
ill-shapen notes are really due | to the brain's being so overoccu-
pied with the halting, harrowing, laborious process of forming
mental conceptions of outlines, that | it is powerless to give any*
thing like a proper direction to the hand.

2. .Write carefully formed, mediumnsiaed notes, I 1 with a fine
pointed, flexible pen (such as Gillott's 604EF or Spencerian
No. 1), upon smooth, | calendered paper, using jet black ink
(such as Higgins' "Eternal" writing fluid). Let the unshaded
strokes be fine " hair lines " ; | let the shaded strokes be broad
and heavy, and made with a bold, firm stroke of the pen.
I think | it well to poise the hand on the tip or first joint of the
little finger, to hold the wrist | high, and to hold the pen as nearly
vertical as possible. Place the outlines in the same natural
rhetorical groups |* as those in which the words themselves are
spoken, leaving from three eighths to half an inch space between
the | groups and packing the outlines in each group as closely
together as possible.

3. la practice, write all shorthand notes | so slowly that you
will be able to read them fluently and accurately. Read every-
thing that you write, aloud, as | though to a jury, making short
pauses, for natural expression and emphasis, between the groups
of outlines. It is excellent | practice to read well-written notes
the second and even the third time, aloud. No matter how
slowly you may |' be writing, take the greatest pains with your
notes. When you are reading, no matter how perfect the notes,
concentrate | your mind to the utmost upon them. Aim to com-
prehend the outlines, not singly, but in groups, and to "look J
ahead " at' least one group.

In this way, your shorthand development will be whole-
some, substantial, and well balanced. Beware of | " mushroom "
speed, attained at the expense of your reading ability and the
quality of your shorthand. It may seem strange | to you that
slow practice should develop more speed than fast practice, but it
is nevertheless the fact. Shorthand practice | 4 at too high a speed
58 worse than useless as speed practice. Poring over slovenly
notes and laboriously digging out | their meaning is, so far as add- *
ing to your reading ability is concerned, an utter waste of time.

For one | who has been properly trained, it is just as easy and
natural to write well-formed, instantly readable notes, all | day in
court, as to write poor notes. It is largely a matter of habit.

4. While your advancement will | depend, in great measure,
upon the extent of your practice, it will depend, in far greater
measure, upon the earnestness | s and concentration of that prac-
tice. Remember that an hour's practice when you are wide
awake, alert, and eager, is worth | three hours' practice when
you are tired and stupid.

Follow unswervingly the shorthand gospel as laid down for
you by | those whom you have chosen to follow, and do not waste
your time in fruitless discussions with other tyros, like | your-
self, as to how you make this or that outline. Be humble,
earnest, and faithful -^ not chatty and know-it | -all. Some
writers will show more improvement in one year than others
will in five. Why not be of the |* former class ? (602)

Clyde H. Marshaxi*


from Shorthand and Dictation www.archive.org/details/shorthanddictat00bridgoog

[Deb]

Read lots of shorthand. This was emphasized in the Functional Method while learning. Also those who learned Anni, it was suggested having Gregg Speed Studies, which has drills but a lot of reading (in fact a lot of duplicate shorthand reading exercises to the FM manual).

Reading well written shorthand will put it in your mind so you can write it quickly. If you've never saw an outline, yes you can make one up, but if you've saw it, your hesitation will be less even if you saw it only once.

[joezzb]

Hello, thank you.

I am the Gregg shorthand learner. I like it very much. I practiced a lot time and I can write it very well and I also can read the books in Gregg Shorthand. I bought a lot of Gregg books, like "Gregg Speed Builder", "Gregg Dictation and Transcription", etc. But my problem is that my speed cannot follow the oral English speed. How can I improve? Thank you.

[Deb]

How fast do you read shorthand? In books? Your notes copied from books?
Sometimes this can be a factor. If you're not reading very well, it's probably due to theory learning and you need to relearn some of it. Time yourself reading the key/transcript, then time yourself reading the shorthand. Then reverse that on another piece of shorthand and trascript. See if your reading of shorthand notes are close to your reading of longhand words.

How fast have you pushed your speed? Did you try for 10 wpm more then your writing speed? How about 20 wpm above your shorthand speed on a shorter letter or piece of dictation? Then of course going back down to your regular speed so you gain accuracy. Do the 20wpm only once every few lessons if you're still learning theory. This is to push you and show you that you can write faster. Keep practicing this above average speed (10wpm or 20wpm) until you can write the entire dictation piece, even if that means inaccurate notes. This will give you confidence in writing faster pieces of shorthand and finishing all that was written. This faster shorthand is best on short pieces of dictation, less then 100 words in the matter. This is how I gained typing and shorthand speed. I only got up to 120 wpm in shorthand, but at a very poorly written notes. If I had stuck with it, I could have wrote that fast with accurate notes, but I had stopped learning. When I tried this with typing, I didn't type accurate after, that's why with my shorthand I wrote slower to gain my accuracy and proper writing back.
Here's an example to explain that better: you write 80wpm. Take dictation at 80, 90, 80 wpm. Push yourself one shorter takes at 80, 90, 100, 80 wpm. When 80 is too slow on unfamiliar or longer takes, move up 10wpm for that system.

If you're done with theory, you could even try for 30+ wpm more, although not recommended. but you could try it once or twice a week (or every 3-5 times you practice taking dictation). This makes your mind and hand think faster.

Maybe even listen to fast dictation. On Youtube (posted on this baord, too) you can find people taking 140 wpm dictation. Listen to the dictation to get the feel for fast dictation. Watch how they take dictation. This can also help.

I hope these help.

[Deb]

Some tips from the back of a phonographic record set I have.

Attachments:

[Deb]

The remainder tips, they were on the second side and it was too wide for one photo.

Attachments:

[Deb]

From the Gregg Writer on Google

It must be understood that before speed is attempted the pupil must have laid a perfect foundation of theory. Every principle and expedient must be at his command for instant application.

Assuming that this foundation has been laid, our advice for teh acquirement of the much-desired speed is embodied in the three oft-quoted word, "Practice, practice, practice."

In working up shorthand speed it means diligent, panstaking, systematic digging each day; not spontaneous, irregular practice or fits of inspriation which only keep one's progress in an indefinite state.

Practice--practice! Not only on shorthand writing, but on shorthand reading. The student must become familiar with his own writing, so that hemay know whether or not what heis to put down will mean anything to him.



link:
books.google.com/books?id=TOsCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Deb]

More from that book, on another page:

95 per cent of these outlines must be firmly fixed in the mind of teh writer--so firmly that they come at call and without hesitation--come, almost, without effort, before any reasonable headway can be made in speed.

The real way is to practice from matter that has been thoroughly gone over until every phrase and word form is thoroughly fixed in the mind, then try to teach the mind and hand to act in unison and quickly.

YOu will not have time for anything else, of course, but it will prove a specific for what ails you, you may be sure of that.

Hesitation kills speed--nothing else. Hesitation comes only from lack of knowledge of outlines, and all the dictation in the word will not help you in that particular. Know first, then do--that is the way.

[Deb]

"stick-to-it-iveness".

It may be a few weeks before you see a speed increase. Especiall if you are writing at a high level all ready.

Just keep going and you will see your speed increase.

................

do you have a mastery of such simple alphabetic joinings as were explained and illustrated in the lessons?

If you have not a mastery of those simple joinings which are at the basis of the system, you cannot hope to become really an expert.

[Deb]

Speed in the execution of shorthand can be increased by combining muscular movement with a slight closing of the fingers with the sweep of the pen.

Speed is vastly increased by eliminating all uncessary movements.

analyze the movements necessary to execute a form. Pass from one character to another in the most direct line, with the pen barely clearing the paper.

Do not stop at the end of a character.

From Gregg Speed Studies (this book is to review each lesson, but it had that tip for speed I thought was appropriate here).
books.google.com/books?id=UNsXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=gregg+shorthand+writer&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-FpcUqLqKqbjiwLTxIGQBg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=gregg%20shorthand%20writer&f=false

[Deb]

See also

High Speed in Shothand How to Obtain It
greggshorthand.proboards.com/thread/317/high-speed-shothand-obtain

[Deb]

See also

Speed in Shorthand - Advanced
greggshorthand.proboards.com/post/1895/thread

[Deb]

Do this only after you have finished theory.

Sometimes you can block yourself from gaining speed. So you need to train your mind and hand into believing it can go that fast. The best way to do this is to take short dictation. This Drill for Speed gives tips on how to train yourself to get your brain and hand 20wpm faster then what you are writing currently.

The reason why I put in bold at the top to do this after theory, is because it's a more advanced way of gaining speed. When you're just a beginner you want to learn theory. Worry about speed later.

[Deb]

At 80 wpm? Trey this procedure.

Progressive Speed Builder:
Use different letters or articles for each minute.


70 wpm for one minute
75 wpm for one minute
80 wpm for one minute
85 wpm for one minute
90 wpm for one minute

I would suggest going back down for accuracy or practice some slow drills.

It's hard to find the timing between some speeds, so just do the best you can if you can't find timings.

[Deb]

Forget the rules of how or why you write a word a certain way in shorthand.




archive.org/stream/ERIC_ED086788#page/n69/mode/1up