Transcription Helps

[Deb]

Spelling skills. Even though a lot of things will help, you still need this. Some items (tablet, phone) will auto spell a word to something you do not want.

Punctuation knowledge. It changes, so just do the best you can. Usually how you say it outloud is the way to use puncutation. If you are unsure of a use (such as a semi colon) omit it. If someone else checks over your transcription, they can add it if they want. Also if you transcribe for a certain person, you will soon learn how they like things puncuated. Some people will change your puncuation, no matter how accurate yours is.

Grammar. Important so there's another board for it.

Proofreading. Even with spell check and auto correct, you need to proofread. Does it say "two" and you meant "too" or "to and you meant "too"?
One way to proof read is to start from the last word and go up through the document word by word.

[Deb]

From my book Gregg Dictation and Transcription
c1937

[Deb]

Typing helps.
Learning how to touch type. Practice typing straight copy. Posture. Etc.

There are several youtube videos on typing tips. There's even a 1943 Navy Typing help. It has some nice tips that even work today. It's fun to see the old typewriters. The last 10 minutes or so are just basic of using a manual typewriter.

If you learn to touch type without looking at your fingers, this will improve your transcription. You won't have to keep looking at your monitor or screen to see where you're at and where you are at in your shorthand copy. It's not a requirement, but it helps.

[Deb]

Straight typing (just from printed material) vs. shorthand transcription.

I use to read these and think, how can they type so slow if they know the shorthand outline? Even one book suggested a 50% decrease in typing speed when typing up shorthand. This might be fine for those who are just learning. But once you get better, it shouldn't matter if you are typing from straight copy or from shorthand notes.

Practice typing from a shorthand manual. This will give you a lot of shorthand practice.

Type a lot of shorthand copy.
I had to do this in my night class for an alphabetical shorthand. We had something similar to the Functional Method. It had a lot of shorthand to read, write, take dictation from and transcribe. We didn't do letter formatting, just a space between each typewritten letter. Since it was on the typewriter, we really learned how to use proper English (spelling, punctuation, etc.,). Go back a few lessons if you feel you aren't typing fast enough (at least 50% of your regular typing for beginners).