Some Swem Shortcuts--Should You Use Them?

[Deb]

Below are several Charles Swem shortcuts.

Have you, as an Advanced Shorthand Writer, used such shortcuts/brief forms and phrases?

Should you use them?

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Charles Swem wrote 280 wpm on a test (here is the information). Here are some of his notes for advanced students might find fun to learn and maybe even helpful.

Use these with caution, just for fun or if you need to. Some of these are very abstract and not found in other shorthand material. Just something I thought advanced students could handle if they wanted to. Most of these were for court reporting, so again, you may never need them, but they're fun to see.

You can also see how he did shortcuts and how you could incorporate some into your own personal shorthand, if you choose to do so.

[Deb]

[Deb]

[Deb]

[Deb]

Phrasing in shorthand depends largely upon the temperament of the writer.

Phrasing can be carried to the extreme. Should you do that? It depends on how much you, personally, want to transcribe and if you can.

New shorthand writers should be somewhat discouraged, except for those used regularly in whatever they take down in shorthand. Advanced shorthand writers however, can use them for frequently if they choose to.

Will this help with speed? Only if you can remember or memorize them. As you can see from the above suggestions, some are heavily abbreviated.

Rule of thumb: if they are natural in speaking and can be read easily, then they could be phrased. Could be.

Study the phrases that are in your manual (the Anniversary has a phrase book, available free online). These will give you ideas on new phrases, if you choose to use them.