Cricket’s Shorthand Course

Recent Revisions

2025-07-17: Lots of changes to Preparation and Endurance.

2025-07-09: Added Rev to hidden codes.

2025-07-07: Linked to more of Beryl’s advice on Reddit.

2025-06-28: added link to Beryl Pratt’s advice on Reddit for building endurance.

2025-06-26: removed speed goals for each level; replaced them with accuracy of first dictation;

Canonical copy, contact and license at https://cricketbr.github.io/Crickets-Shorthand-Site

Table of Contents (Short)

This course will (hopefully) work with any shorthand system and any book. Options are given to accommodate different types of systems and quality of books.

Graduates of this course are encouraged to start Swem’s Systematic Course for Advanced Writers.

Introduction

Most modern shorthand learners do not have the luxury of a teacher, or even a good self-instruction book (especially those of us who prefer older systems).

A good book will:

This course will help you overcome those deficiencies in your book, and to do for yourself most of the things a good teacher would do.

Experts, even from the same company, do not agree on teaching methods, even when using the same textbooks. This book is my advice and the reasons behind it. It is heavily influenced by two books:

xxx links

Leslie makes a good case for delaying writing until you know most of the shapes, minimal copying (each exercise once at home), and most of your writing in class being at the edge of your ability. That method works if the book has enough well-written shorthand, which his did, but most don’t.

Adjust this program as you see fit.

Typical Hour

If you use shorter sessions, do a bit of each work each session, or do one after the other. Finish writing and building speed on each passage the session you start it. Always end with a bit of precision practice. (Second thoughts: What happens if you spread a passage over multiple days?)

Just like with music, shorter and more-frequent works better than longer and less-frequent.

15 minutes reading the text.

Review the theory and copy words that demonstrate each rule. You will work through the book several times. You can stop this step this once you can take dictation from unseen material at 125wpm on your first attempt. (Swem)

Modern books (beginner and advanced) often incorporate a systematic review in their exercises. If your book does this, then you can spend less time reading theory and more time reading and writing shorthand. Swem’s course starts after you know all the theory and can write new material at 80wpm for 5 minutes – and he still recommends reviewing the basic manual at least 1-2 more times, until you reach 125wpm.

If you are ready for an advanced book, but it does not review the basic rules, then alternate the basic and advanced books.

Reading instructions are in a later section.

If your book says to just read then keep reading for the rest of the hour. (The Gregg Functional Method books do this.) If you can’t resist picking up the pen, then continue with these instructions.

10 minutes reading your own writing.

Use material that has rested for a bit. This give you practice reading your own writing, and will catch bad habits early. Practice a few words that need it. Only redo the entire passage if you think it will help, but usually not. At first, focus on recent work (to catch bad habits quickly). Then gradually extend it to six months or more, so you practice reading old material. Note that your first writing will be so bad that, while it’s good to read it to find problems to fix, you may not benefit from reading it weeks later. Use your own judgement. (Keep a sample so in a year you can look back and see how far you’ve come.)

30 minutes copying and/or writing from dictation.

If you have not already written for 5 minutes (copying example words), do that now to warm up. Use penmanship exercises from your system, or one similar, if you have them.

As said before, reduce time in this block if your book has more reading material.

4 sessions out of 5, follow the usual copy and dictation pattern, described later. Start slow, increase speed until accuracy is fairly low, then finish at a medium speed.

1 session out of 5, experiment.

5 minutes practicing penmanship.

End each writing session, no matter how short, with accurate but not-slow writing. Music teachers also recommend this. Your body remembers the final minutes of a lesson strongly.

Divide your penmanship time equally between tracing, penmanship exercises (usually repeating the same shape, or a family of similar shapes and outlines), and copying a recent exercise carefully – but keep it fluid. You are writing, not drawing.

Swem suggests tracing shorthand in the textbook. This will force you to notice subtle details, but isn’t always an option and may not give much variety. Many systems have penmanship exercises. Do some from your system, or one similar, or invent your own. Sometimes work on problems you know you have. Other times work on other aspects. Often the real problem is something we think we’ve mastered.

Leslie worked with Swem under JR Gregg, and recommends against tracing outlines at any stage. They were both successful teachers.

Once you know the shapes well, add speed to this, enough to make your writing smooth but not enough to sacrifice accuracy.

Diary

Optional, but I like the information. This is for your own use. Be as specific or vague as you like.

A diary shows progress (reassuring) and the results of experiments. It will also show when you need to push through a plateau. You do not need to count or time all the readings or copies, but do enough that you get a feel for speed vs accuracy vs duration, and the effect of different types of repetition. This will change rapidly at first, then settle down, then change again as you increase your target speeds.

Reading skill is as important as writing skill. Test it every few sessions.

How to Read Shorthand

Finish reading the entire book before writing words not taught, unless the book says otherwise. Later rules often contradict the general rules in early chapters.

Your goal at this stage is to become familiar with the rules and the building blocks in a variety of settings. (Paraphrase of Leslie)

If you have enough reading material, then do not memorize the fine details of the rules. You will absorb them by reading. Leslie goes so far as to say that if teachers are asked about the details and reasons, they should tell the student to wait until the end of the course for an answer.

For each new word, or old word that you forgot:

This process will help lock in the shapes of each letter and combination, and the outline of the entire word. Doing this out loud involves senses in your throat, mouth and ears, which enhances learning. It also helps prevent skipping steps.

Use the key instead of struggling with a word. Leslie recommends you keep one finger on the shorthand and the other on the key. When you can read 9/10 words reasonably well, try reading the entire sentence a second time before using the key. Then spell and say as before. When you can read 19/20 words reasonably well, use the Column Method.

You may want to make a chart of letters by shape, including prefixes and suffixes, so you can look them up quickly.

Reread each passage until you can read it without referring to the key, pointing to each word so you pay attention. It is ok if you inadvertently memorize it, but be sure to look at each word as you say it.

As you gain experience, look for letters that often occur together, and think of them as a single letter. Eg TR and SH.

Delay writing as long as you can. Your pen will be wobbly the first few times you write, but your brain will know the building blocks and how they fit together, and you will avoid most mistakes made by new writers.

Column Method to Read Difficult Words

Don’t worry about deciphering difficult words at first. They will all be difficult! For now, seeing the building blocks in a variety of settings is more important than practice deciphering.

Continue to use the key frequently, until you only struggle with 1 word in 20.

The column method works well if you suspect a penmanship issue, or are not sure which of several sounds or abbreviations are intended. It also works for checking if a proposed abbreviation has other possible interpretations.

Make one column for each letter. The first row is the letter in shorthand. The following rows are your best guess at what each letter might be, roughly ordered by probability, written in plain text. Then work through all the combinations by brute force.

You will have to adapt it a bit if combinations of letters create word parts.

How to Copy Shorthand

Your goal at this stage is for your hand to be comfortable with the building blocks in a variety of settings, not to build speed. That will come later. (Paraphrase of Leslie)

Read the passage, if it exists, in the same way as before, then copy 4x using the Four Column Method (below). Read the entire sentence, then memorize a few words and write them. Practice problem areas as you go, then read the entire thing, make corrections and practice problem areas.

If you do not have a sample to copy, you will have to make your own. Be extra careful checking it.

Your hand will be unstable at first. (Leslie) Work only until you stop improving, then take a break or do a different exercise. We can only improve so much each day, and working longer will not help.

Start dictation when your hand is somewhat comfortable with your system’s shapes and you can copy with 95% accuracy. Dictation will build knowledge and speed faster than copying.

The way you write will change when you speed up. Shapes will blur a bit. Your hand will change position. You’ll even sit differently. Pay attention to the bits that matter. Experiment with the rest. Sometimes a position that’s better in the long run takes some muscle building and stretching.

Strangely enough, many shorthands are actually easier to write fast.

As you speed up, let the shapes form groups. Think TR instead of T, then R.

Four Column Method for Copying

This method works well while you are at the copying stage, in the early stages of dictation when you should have well-written shorthand in front of you, when you cannot take dictation, and at all stages for penmanship practice. It also helps you build hand speed separate from brain speed.

It will not, however, help you build brain speed. I speak from experience. Only dictation will do that.

Make four columns by dividing two pages into two columns each, so you can see all at the same time. Copy the passage from the book into the first column. Aim for a slightly uncomfortable speed, at which your notes are readable and follow the rules, but are not perfect. If you are creating your own material, write your first attempt in the first column and leave room for corrections.

The 1st column needs to be accurate, since it will be the model for the others. Accurate means readable and following the rules, not perfect penmanship. Go as slow as needed to reach this level, but no slower.

Check your work and make corrections. Choose a few outlines you struggled with, copy them a few times.

If your writing is still unstable, go directly to the 2nd column. Once your writing is reasonably good, wait a few days, then re-read the 1st carefully. You will see things differently after a rest.

Then copy from the first column to the second, check your work, make corrections, and practice difficult sections. Then copy from the second column to the third, and the third to the forth. Check your work, make corrections, and practice difficult sections after each copy.

Speed up a bit for the 2nd column. Counter-intuitively, shorthand is easier to write neatly with a bit of speed.

Speed up even more for the 3rd column. Go so fast that your writing is only 95% accurate – unless your goal for the exercise is penmanship. In that case go slower.

The 4th and final column should be slow enough for 98% accuracy, but no slower. Your hand will remember this copy most. Too slow will teach slow writing. Too fast will teach inaccurate writing.

It will take a bit of practice to learn how fast to write each column. The speeds will increase over time. Some passages will be easier or harder than others. Find speeds that usually work and don’t worry about it.

Some people do this in rows, leaving four rows between each original copy, instead of in four columns.

Accuracy and Perfection

Every teacher manual I’ve read agrees: Mark the transcript, not the shorthand.

95% accurate means someone who is familiar with your penmanship, or yourself in 6 months, can read 95% of the words. You might add “uses the appropriate abbreviation for your chosen level,” but that is still a far cry from perfection.

On the opposite side, if your notes are poor at slow speeds, then they will be even worse at high speed. When you copying or taking from slow dictation, aim for perfect shapes. Do a variety of penmanship drills.

This course says to use speeds at which you expect a stated accuracy. Use your best guess. Your accuracy will change with the difficulty and length of a passage, and your practice with it.

Progression milestones are 4 passages out of 5. Do not let the occasional difficult passage hold you back.

Your accuracy at lower speeds will increase as you increase your barely-readable speed.

Do not strive for perfect notes. That will slow you down. Besides, what is perfect?

Having said that, constantly working at barely-readable speeds will create bad habits. Being able to write perfectly at medium speeds will improve your penmanship at higher speeds. Slow down and work on penmanship for some of every session.

A Note on Repetition

As you repeat a section at the same speed, your writing will improve, then plateau, then degrade. Stop when it plateaus, usually within 5 repetitions.

Repeat until it degrades, breathe, shake out your hand to reset, and continue. When it degrades a second time, change the exercise. Sometimes try a second or third reset. For now you should focus on accuracy, not the separate skill of endurance.

“Anything that is dull and uninteresting is of doubtful pedagogic value. Also, excessive repetition generally results in progressive deterioration of the outlines practiced.” — Gregg Shorthand Functional Method Teachers Handbook (1936), from stenophile.com .

Having said that: You do need to build endurance. Push your ability to write more repetitions, but pay attention. Do NOT practice bad forms. Practice does not make perfect, but it does make permanent.

Vary the speed. Slow helps precision. Speed helps fluency and reduces hesitation. You need both. Play with the speed and see what happens. Our brains and bodies remember the first and final repeats more than the middle ones. They should be as fast as possible without losing readability.

Working on difficult areas, slow and then fast, works better than repeating the entire passage. 8 Things Top Practicers Do Differently

Graph Paper

Graph paper can help you practice correct sizing, especially for horizontal lines. It can also backfire and make you try to be too perfect.

Use it for precision drills when needed, but not as a regular practice.

Find the Size Your Hand Prefers

Writing too small will slow your writing, since you need to be more precise. Too large will be awkward for your hand. Aim for a comfortable, flowing size. There are a few Gregg articles about size, with samples from expert writers. One fits 500 words per page, another fits only 100.

To Start: Draw straight lines on paper, a full inch apart, and copy the previous paragraph, in cursive and/or print at whatever size your hand likes. Then measure the height of several letters. Typically lowercase letters are 2-3mm and uppercase letters are twice that. If your longhand is larger than average, then your shorthand will probably also be larger than average, and vice versa. Adjust a bit if needed to keep the lengths distinct.

Then write your system’s equivalent of Gregg B P S, S P B, B B B B P P P P S S S S – repeat for the other shape families, including horizontal. The small letters should be as small as you can write comfortably, probably the size of lowercase longhand or smaller (since they’re less complex). Large should be as large as you can write comfortable, at least 3-4 times the size of small. Medium should be between that, probably the size of your longhand capitals or bigger.

Image of Gregg Letter Family

xxx todo make an image of the full set of shape families.

Consistency is more important than exact lengths. All tall letters should be the same height.

Repeat this test with shorthand before and after every few writing sessions. Your hand will change when it’s tired, and as it learns the shapes better. As you become more consistent you can reduce the frequency. Results may change as you get more familiar with the shapes, and as you build speed.

I only learned about this test a few years ago, and tried it after decades of writing Gregg. I discovered my hand was happier, accuracy better, and speed faster when my large letters were 8mm instead of 7.

Experiment with skipping lines. Even if the size doesn’t change, it sometimes gives your hand a bit more freedom.

“The actual size of the characters may be varied according to circumstances, such as the goodness of the light and the writing materials. The minuteness of any kind of writing is limited by the size of the smallest characters. In Orthic the small size may be made as small as desired, and the small circle may be reduced to a dot, but it is best to make the small characters about one-twelfth of an inch long (2.1mm), and the large ones at least twice as big.” — Clarey, Orthic Revised, General Rules

A Note on Making Your Own Material

Modern books usually have enough exercises that you do not have to make your own material until you know the core theory well. Luxury!

Do not make your own material until you finish the core theory.

Forkner and Gregg both say to leave out vowels, so Can -> CN, right? Several chapters later, they say that C means can and CN means cannot. All your old notes are wrong. For the next year, every time you try to write Can your hand will write Cannot, and every time you read CN you will wonder if you wrote Cannot correctly or Can incorrectly.

Orthographic systems such as Orthic and Teeline quickly teach an acceptable way to write all words – just use the alphabet. You can start writing after learning the alphabet and combinations, or so they say. I recommend you wait a bit, since the next few pages usually teach simple but powerful ways to reduce writing. You do not want your hand to get stuck on the Fully Written versions.

Older phonetic books are a challenge. Work through the core theory and available samples, then be very careful to proof-read all your writing and make sure you follow all the rules.

If you aren’t sure where the core theory stops and optional theory begins, read more of the book, not to learn, but to see which sections are core theory, which are optional but useful, and which can wait. Some books separate those nicely. Some mix them together. Quickly reading the entire book will also give you advance warning of additional sizes, positions, and shapes that you might confuse with the earlier shapes if not aware. Read to see what exists, not to learn.

Personal Reference Binder

Optional, but I found it worthwhile.

Make a small binder of reference material, and add to it as you learn. Make sections for:

Only write as much of the rule as you need for quick reference.

Update this book at the end of each homework session – after your hand is comfortable with the new shapes. Sort the contents of each page in any order that makes sense to you. The order does not have to be perfect.

When a page is filled, rewrite it spread over two or more pages, to make room for more. This copying will help you remember the rules.

You will find that you need shorter explanations and fewer examples for familiar rules each time. I wouldn’t omit rules, though, since a list can help with the column method for reading difficult words.

A Note on Word Lists

It is tempting to build a dictionary of all new words. I found this a waste of time. At first, all words are new to you. After reading a few passages, you will realize you’ve memorized some words, are familiar with others, and still have to build most from scratch. After a few more passages, some that were only familiar will now be memorized, and some that you had to build from scratch will be familiar. Building blocks will follow the same progression. This is a natural process, and will happen with very little extra effort.

No matter how much practice you get, and how many words reach the stages of memorized and familiar, there will still be many thousands of words that you have to build from scratch. Practice using the building blocks in a variety of words, instead of memorizing vocabulary or building a dictionary.

That is not to say word lists are never useful.

Working With Word Lists — Spaced Repetition

As stated earlier, a list of all the words you encounter is a waste of time, but lists can be useful for other reasons.

The best way to learn lists is spaced repetition. Each time you successfully remember a word, promote it to a longer review frequency. If you struggle with a word you previously mastered, demote it.

Some people use a deck of cards, one card per word, longhand on one side and shorthand on the other. Leitner Box is a famous system for managing repetition using cards. Apps such as Anki have virtual cards and keep track of which words should be repeated and how often. There might even be a shared deck for your system. I find the physical cards use too much paper and are hard to carry. It takes too long to scan and enter each word for a computer version, and your hand doesn’t get practice with each repetition. (I used a program similar to Anki to study music vocabulary, which was text-only and easy to enter. I got 100% on that section of the exam.)

Accordion Fold Method for Word Lists

Write the longhand in one column and shorthand in the column beside it. Fold or cover the paper so you can only see the longhand. Write the shorthand in the next column, uncover the key, and note the mistakes. Adjust it so you can only see the shorthand. Write the longhand in the next column and note the mistakes. (You can save time and paper by saying the longhand but not writing it. Say it out loud and follow with your finger to avoid shortcuts.) Now repeat the process with only the words you didn’t get first try. Repeat again, until you have gotten each word correct more often than you got it wrong.

Copy the words you did not get correct the first time to a page with tomorrow’s date. You will work on them again then. Copy the words you got correct the first time to another column (or page), marked with the date you want to review them. Words you always get correct the first time need to be reviewed less often.

Gradually extend the time between reviews of words you always get correct. If you get a word wrong, demote it all the way down to every day, and make it earn its way up again.

How to Take Dictation

The goal toward which you are striving is to reach the point where you can take new matter at your top speed and write it as well as you would after taking it two or three times. Of course, no matter how much skill you may eventually acquire you will occasionally “flunk” an outline or a phrase. In reading it back you will correct it, but the fact that you wrote it incorrectly the first time should be no cause for worry. It is done by everybody. Your aim should be simply to bring these errors down to a minimum. — Swem

That’s a far distant goal. Start where you are — with shaky knowledge of the theory, and hand and brain that struggle to make the basic shapes.

Reading well-written shorthand is the best way learn how the rules work together, but only works if you have reading material.

If you have the luxury of written shorthand keyed to the text, use that for dictation. It is much easier to write correctly if you know what it is supposed to look like. Only move to new material when you have mastered the theory.

Taking dictation involves several skills: Remembering familiar words, using the rules to build new words, making your pen write it accurately and quickly, and endurance. Sometimes work on each skill separately. Sometimes put a few of them together. Learning the rules so you can reduce preparation level is more important than speed. Dictation fast enough to make you focus and keep your pen moving smoothly forces your brain and hand to work without hesitation and highlights problem areas.

I have given very low target speeds. If you can increase the starting speed without sacrificing accuracy, do so. If you can push a passage faster, do so, but do not get stuck trying to improve it. Your hand and brain need variety. It’s impossible to know the right speed for each dictation. Some passages harder than others. Some are difficult just because the outlines are new, and are easy to speed up; others are difficult because the outlines are awkward. Some days are better than others. Try to minimize the times you go too fast, but don’t be afraid of pushing, as long as your last attempt is at a fast but accurate speed.

First Few Dictations

For an easy intro to dictations, you can use just one easy sentence but repeated say five times in a single sound file, to make a longer “passage”, in order to remove outline recall obstacles and just get used to the dictation scenario of having to write without hesitation…You can do the same without a sound file, just write the same sentence down the page, and by the time you get to line 20, you feel you’ve gone from snail to racehorse, gets the juices going and the cobwebs gone. (Beryl Pratt, Reddit, July 17, 2025)

Take dictation of a 10-word passage at 20wpm. Do that a few times, then speed up to 30wpm, repeat that a few times, then go to 40wpm or higher if you find it too easy.

Repeat with another 10 words, then put them together for a 20-word dictation. Expect to slow down by 10wpm when you increase the length.

Repeat with another two sets of 10 words, then combine them for a 40-word dictation.

It is ok to lag behind by a few words. This is called carrying, and is a useful skill. It lets you get a better sense of the words before writing, and helps you stay on track when the speaker speeds up for a short time. Advice varies between 5 words and half a sentence. Some teachers do not let students start writing until a few words in, to train carrying ability. Experiment, but remember that is a separate skill.

Next Few Dictations

Start with 20-word passage. Write each one a few times (until your pen is happy), take dictation, build to 40wpm or a bit higher, combine into 40-word passage and build speed again.

Repeat the process for 30-word passage, and combine them into 60 words. This is 1-minute at 60wpm, which is a good speed for the next stage.

Dictation Before Finishing Theory

Each passage should be 1-minute at your expected final speed.

Prepare the dictation by copying the entire passage once. When this stage feels easy, reduce preparation to only practicing new words.

Take dictation at a speed you expect to have 95% accuracy. Make corrections, practice problem areas, then take it 10wpm faster, make corrections, increase it another 10wpm, make corrections, and continue this way as long as you maintain 95% accuracy. Then lower your speed by 10wpm for a very accurate final copy. A typical sequence is copy,40,50,60,50 – for 5 copies in total. If the passage was easy, increase an extra time before reducing for the very accurate final copy.

Every 5th passage, experiment with a faster starting or top speed. Your starting speed should be within 30wpm of your top speed.

xxxx major revision in progress

The normal sequence for each exercise before mastering the theory is:

Read your work carefully, especially the preparation and first dictation of a passage. Make corrections, and practice difficult areas as needed after each dictation.

Stay with this method and 1-minute dictations until you are ready for Modified Swem’s. (60-80wpm for 1 minute on first attempt with no preview.)

Use 1-minute dictations until you master the theory – until you know everything you should write, and your pen can do it with 95% accuracy. (Experiment with longer, but in general leave endurance training until later.) Building endurance comes later.

When you encounter a word you don’t know, or knew five minutes ago but can’t remember now, write your best guess and keep going. Stopping to think about a word and missing the rest of the sentence is a bad habit. After the dictation, look it up and practice it in context.

Preparation Appropriate to Your Ability

Leslie says writing shorthand from typed material is a waste of time, but his students have the luxury of an entire book of shorthand that adds theory a bit at a time, and a teacher to check their work. If you have well-written shorthand, work through the stages twice – once copying from shorthand and once from typed material.

To write from shorthand or typed material, read the entire sentence, then read a few words at a time out loud and write them. Keep one finger or a ruler on the text to keep your place, or print the text on paper leaving room for shorthand between each line, or text in one column and shorthand in another.

If a rule causes repeated problems, practice a list of words that use that and related rules.

If you have problems at slow speeds, it’s because either your overall knowledge of the theory is too low or you are letting a few difficult words throw you. In the first case, do more preparation. There is no benefit to unprepared dictation before you know the theory to support it. In the second, increase your speed, get down one letter for the unknown word, and keep up with the dictation, then go back and write the offending words until your pen is happy with them.

Stage 1

For your first few sessions, start with passages only 10 words long. Write them a few times so your hand becomes familiar with them. Create a dictation file with passage 5 times. Then take dictation and build speed as described below. You’ll probably freeze a few times, then be able to build each sentence to 40wpm or higher.

Then combine two exercises into a single 20-word exercise of familiar material, take dictation and build speed. You’ll probably need to slow down a bit for the longer exercise. Then combine two 20-word exercises into a single 40-word exercise, take dictation and build speed. Again, you will probably need to slow down when you increase length.

You’ll only need to do this level of preparation a few times while you get used to keeping up, but it’s useful to return to when you struggle with a new speed.

Stage 2

Take a 40-word passage (1 minute at 40wpm), copy it until your pen is happy with it, then take dictation for the entire passage at 20wpm. Build the speed as before. Repeat with another passage. Increase length of passage or speed of first dictation after every few exercises.

Move to the next stage when your first dictation is at 40-60wpm, 95% accurate.

Stage 3

Read the passage but only practice words you expect to be a problem. Drop your first dictation by 10-20wpm to compensate for less preparation

Stay at this stage until you finish the theory.

Stage 4

The final stage is writing from dictation with no preparation. Do NOT move to this stage (other than occasional experiments) until you know everything you should write, and your pen can do it with 95% accuracy. Writing a page filled with mistakes or “to check” flags is a waste of time.

Move to modified Swem’s when your final dictation is 60-80wpm with 95% accuracy, and all the mistakes are due to lack of pen speed, not lack of knowledge.

Text Reader (aka Dictation) Programs

Most text reader programs (aka test to speech) are too fast for early dictation, or are not properly calibrated. These are pretty good:

Slow Dictation

20wpm for 1 minute is suitable for your first-ever dictation. Your writing will be horrible, but will improve quickly as you get used to the process. Move up to 30 and even 40wpm starting speed as soon as you can.

At this stage of learning, your first dictation of a passage should be 90-95% accurate. I call this slow dictation because it is the slowest attempt at the passage, even though it is the same or worse accuracy than Swem’s fast dictation.

Remember to correct your work and practice difficult sections after each dictation. See Practicing Problem Areas below for more advice.

If your accuracy was <95% repeat the starting speed. If you cannot reach this on your 2nd attempt, slow down and/or do more preparation. Writing a page filled with mistakes is a waste of time.

Leslie recommends that students take dictation with the shorthand image in front of them, especially when they are new to dictation and trying to apply several new skills at the same time. All students – fast, slow or lazy – will reduce their reliance on the text as their confidence and speed increase.

A 1-minute passage is 1-minute long at the final speed, which is usually 20wpm higher than the starting speed.

Faster Dictation

Increase the speed by 10wpm. It will probably be more accurate than the slower attempt because your hand and brain now know the passage, and you have worked on the difficult sections. Make corrections and practice difficult areas.

Do not place too much faith in your observations of which outlines are faster or slower. Instead, pay attention to where you fall behind in dictation.

Increase the speed again, make corrections and practice, until you have written the passage 4 times, including preparation.

If any speed is <90% accurate, repeat that speed.

If the accuracy of your last take was >95%, you’re done. If it was <95% then drop speed by 10wpm for a clean final take.

Immediately after reducing preparation your starting speed will drop, but your top speed will not. Four writings might not be enough to reach top speed. If this happens, alternate preparation methods. On some passages work on dictation with less preparation. On other passages work on higher speed. Do not work on both at the same time if it reduces the variety of material in a week.

Do not write a passage more than 6 times, including preparation and a final take with at least 95% accuracy. You may need to stop below your top speed so you do not overshoot and have do a 7th take for accuracy.

Step Size

Previous generations of students succeeded with 10wpm steps through 80 or even 100wpm. I would use that size step both for increasing target speeds and repeating a passage, until you reach at least 80wpm. Larger steps are more likely to break you out of ruts and to highlight problem sections, but writing too fast too often does more harm than good.

Experiments and Challenges.

Try an experiment every 5th passage, from this list or anything else that strikes your fancy. These are experiments and maybe practice, not tests. Be curious.

Additional Advice

Don’t Rush, but Don’t Stall

It might take a chapter or two for an earlier chapter to sink in, but if that doesn’t work do not hesitate to review older chapters.

Difficult Words

Do your best to record at least something for each word, and leave a gap for the correction. This will feel wrong at first, but most of the sentence with a hint for the word is better than missing the entire sentence. After the first dictation (or meeting), play with options for the word and, if you expect to need a reminder, record your favourite in the back of your notebook. (You’ll be surprised how often you need a reminder.)

When you record spelling, note clearly whether it’s correct or best-guess.

Avoid the temptation to make abbreviations. Shorthand speed comes from using the building blocks well, not creating abbreviations. (See section on Klein’s motion picture studies.)

Some writers leave larger margins and use a mark instead of a gap to mark needed corrections or spelling. Experiment.

Relax

Tension and aiming for perfection are the biggest causes of slow writing. Relax! (Yeah, saying Relax doesn’t work for me, either.)

Treat each attempt as an experiment, not a test. There is no pass/fail, just information about what type of practice to do next. It is ok to slow down for a bit if you pushed too hard, too fast, or you are having a bad week.

A Note on Speed

Do both types of practice.

It is true, however, that if a learner is permitted to stay at 60 words a minute until he can pass tests with 1-5 errors consistently, his progress is being harmed. He becomes so accustomed to writing at that speed that he finds difficulty in going up to 80 words a minute. If he is started up toward 80 as soon as he can write 60 within 10—20 errors, it is much easier to make the transition to the higher speed. This is true at each speed-step on the ladder. – Leslie, Methods of Teaching Shorthand, page 187.

10-20 errors in 60 words is only 67-84% accuracy. I worry about penmanship and bad habits at that speed.

Each day the learner should write most of the writings for speed only, without regard to legibility. Each day the learner should write some of the dictations for legibility only, without regard for speed. The speed of those dictations should be moderate, so that the learner is free to devote all his attention to writing perfect shorthand notes. Thus it is important that the learner should seldom try to combine the two, yet should never go for a full class period without alternating the two. – Leslie, Methods of Teaching Shorthand, page 186

Comparing Speeds

For now, the only reason to care about speed is to know what speed to attempt next and possibly bragging rights.

Your school, testing agency, or professional association will clearly define the rules for accuracy, duration, and type of material. They will have sample dictations to practice with. Check with them early enough that you have time to meet their standards. Some even offer proctored practice exams so you can become familiar with the entire testing process.

Counting Words. Gregg says 1 word is 1.4 syllables. Pitman says a word is a word. German shorthands count syllables, not words. (You’ll know why if you speak German.) I don’t know what different text reader programs use. For now, while speed is just a setting on your computer, use that.

Accuracy. Most professions care only about the transcript, not the shorthand. The only exception I found was UK Journalists, whose shorthand notes are sometimes used as legal evidence. Even then, the shorthand does not have to be perfect. It just has to support the transcript. Most teachers say a transcript that is 95% accurate passes. This includes formatting and typing accuracy. Professions, however, expect closer to perfection.

Work on increasing your top speed at 95% accuracy. That will increase your speed at 100% accuracy faster than working at slower speeds.

Amount of Preparation. Only your speed for unprepared material matters to your employer. Before that? Writing a page filled with “look up rules” is a waste of time.

Length of passage. Speed goes down as length increases. Eventually you will write at close to the same speed for 5 minutes as for 1, but not yet.

Steady vs Burst and Pause. For now, take steady dictation. Practice with bursts and pauses once you reach 5 minute duration and close to professional speeds.

Familiarity with the Material. A parliamentary reporter is unlikely to have a brief form for “If it pleases the court.”

Type of Material. Even a court reporter will struggle with poetry.

Unusual Word and Names. Those are usually provided separately and not included in the speed test. However, you should practice getting down enough that you can make a good guess the spelling.

Typical speeds: UK journalists needed 100wpm until 2016. Toastmasters recommends 120-160 wpm. California court reporters need 200wpm for 13 minutes.

Practicing Problem Areas

Watch your accuracy as you practice. At first it will get better, then plateau, then degrade. Stop when it plateaus. More practice after this point will do more harm than good unless you can refocus and write well again. Usually that is five or fewer repetitions.

Observe where you begin to fall behind in dictation. The problem outline may be a few words before that. Questionnaire and motion pictures studies by Klein (described later) show even expert writers do not know which outlines they write faster or slower.

Include a few words on either side of the problem. This will prevent hesitation as you approach a word that worries you.

Vary the speed. Slow helps precision. Speed helps fluency and reduces hesitation. You need both. If you made your own outline, consider changing it.

Our brains and bodies remember the first and final repeats more than the middle ones. They should be as fast as possible without losing readability.

“Anything that is dull and uninteresting is of doubtful pedagogic value. Also, excessive repetition generally results in progressive deterioration of the outlines practiced.” — Gregg Shorthand Functional Method Teachers Handbook (1936). stenophile.com

Ruts and Plateaus

A rut is when the brain or body gets used to going a certain speed. Increasing speed beyond your capability and then slowing down will quickly break a rut. A plateau is when the brain or body simply cannot go faster until several new neural connections form. Trust that those connections are forming even if you see no difference. Keep the pressure on for speed, but also include a variety of speed, accuracy, and duration so those connections form properly. Eventually the last nerve will connect and your speed will increase suddenly.

(Dr. Kenneth H Cooper, The New Aerobics, 1978, compares building muscle nerves and blood vessels to building new roads. The entire network must be finished before any of it can be used.)

Be prepared to stall every time you increase the speed. Some increases will be worse than others.

Push each passage as far as it will go, but do not waste time pushing it farther. Some are harder than others. (If more than one passage in five is hard, you are going too fast.) It is better to practice all the building blocks in a variety of combinations than to perfect a few. In the same vein, some are easier than others. Use these to practice going even faster.

Leslie recommends pushing all passages to 20% error rate. Swem recommends even faster when you need to break a rut. “Push the speed up to twice as fast as you can actually write it, and make an heroic effort to get something down for every word. It will not be good shorthand that you write, but it will serve to jar your hand out of its habit of sluggishness.” He warns not to attempt this before 140wpm, no more than once a month, and to “always end a session of this sort with a goodly amount of precision practice to offset the shattering tendencies of forced speed.”

The total repetitions for easy and hard passages will be about the same. The only difference is your final speed and accuracy. (That may change when you graduate from this course and move to Swem’s.)

Building Endurance

Your speed will go down for longer passages. This is normal.

Long dictations require longer attention span, which you need to build. They penalize slow spots more (pen and brain); you can’t catch up when the voice stops. Lastly, poor posture and tension and pen grip will start to become problems because you can’t rest as often.

Those are all separate skills. Try exercises that work on each one separately. Often the skill we think isn’t a problem is the one that’s holding us back. Work on pen speed by writing the same 10-word sentence repeatedly for a minute (per Beryl Pratt). Work on brain speed by visualizing outlines without writing. Work on focus, posture and grip by writing longhand.

Think of other exercises and experiment!

Working at the edge of your ability means sometimes you’ll over-shoot. Try to minimize this, and balance it with work that’s a bit easier. When your penmanship starts to drop, try to bring it back, but don’t reinforce bad habits for the sake of endurance until much later, when your penmanship is solid at speed.

Swem says to begin his Systematic Speed Course at 80-100wpm for 5 minutes, but until now you’ve mostly done shorter exercises.

Good Textbook

If your textbook has material keyed to each chapter, trust it. Dictation length will go up at a reasonable speed. Both Cricket’s and Swem’s methods for dictation practice will automatically adjust speed for easy or difficult passages. If you notice in advance that a passage is short, consider raising your key speeds to reach the top speed with fewer repetitions.

Other Textbooks

Leslie and Blanchard agree that speed will decrease as length increases, but not by how much. They disagree about when to start longer dictations and how to make the shift.

My best attempt to reconcile them is:

Do not work on duration until you are using the modified Swem’s method and your starting speed for 1 minute is 80wpm.

Begin building duration by using Blanchard’s Pyramid (below). Only use it until you are confident you can build a 5-minute passage up to 60wpm.

Alternate days of short and long dictations until your starting speed for 5 minutes is 80wpm and you are using the Swem’s course with no modifications. Then reduce short dictations, but do not abandon them altogether.

After that, use the modified Swem’s method.

If your long-dictation speed lags more than 20wpm below your short-dictation speed, use the pyramid again to prove that you can do the higher speed, then return to Swem’s method.

Occasionally experiment with even longer dictations, to build more endurance.

Berryl Pratt, who is an accomplished Pitman writer and teacher, recommends writing the same 10-word sentence for an entire page.

Professional Advice for Endurance

Leslie and Blanchard agree that speed will decrease as length increases, but not by how much.

Leslie Blanchard
— 30s at 100wpm
2-3m at 120wpm 2m at 90wpm
5m at 100wpm 5m at 80wpm
10-15m at 60wpm —

Beyond that? Advice varies.

Leslie recommends increasing speed on 1- and 2-minute dictations, which will automatically increase speed on longer dictations. He does not say how much to practice longer dictations, implying that we do not need to practice them at all. He believes lack of endurance is actually lack of speed.

Blanchard recommends that, once you build to the longer dictations, you stay with them. He recommends a pyramid method combining short fast takes with slower longer takes on the same material. “Mistakes in the last half are not due to lack of skill, but lack of endurance.”

Swem assumes you can already do 80wpm for 5 minutes, and says nothing about shorter passages.

None of them discuss dictation that changes speed, or the need to build mental endurance.

Blanchard’s Pyramid

Blanchard’s example assumes students can write at 100wpm for 1 minute, proves to the students they can write for 5 minutes at 60wpm, then increases their speed to 80wpm for 5 minutes.

The math gets a bit wonky if you start at a different speed. This chart assumes you have already read Blanchard’s article, Building Speed by the Pyramid Plan .

Step 100wpm Start 80wpm Start
Target Speed 80wpm 60wpm
1 Select easy 400 word passage, 5min at final speed 320 words
2 Homework. Limited preparation. Same.
3 Review homework. Same.
4 Dictate at 60wpm for 5min = 300 words. 40wpm, 200 words.
5 Check work. Same.
6 4 x 1/2min takes, 100wpm, 200 words 80wpm, 160 words
7 Same in single take, 90wpm 70wpm
8 Check work. Same.
9 Repeat step 6 for 2nd half. Same.
10 Repeat step 7 for 2nd half. Same.
11 Rest, then entire 400 word take at 80wpm. 60wpm, 320 words
12 Check work. Same.

The entire in-class procedure, after the homework, should take only 30 minutes.

You have now written a 5-minute passage at 20wpm less than your 1-minute speed. (It was 4 minutes at the faster speed, 5 at slower.)

It appears that Blanchard is ok with a high rate of errors for this passage.

Blanchard is very clear that the pyramid plan is only to be used when the gap between speeds for short and long dictations is too high. Go directly to a 5-minute take the rest of the time.

Other Methods

Other Advice, Sometimes Contrary

Blanchard, Factors of Shorthand Speed.

Starting Swem’s Systematic Speed Course

Comparison of Cricket’s Course for Beginners to Swem’s Course for Advanced Writers

Cricket’s course is for building theory with a bit of speed. The first dictation is slow and full of mistakes because your brain is learning the theory and your hand is learning the shapes. The next dictation is usually more accurate even though it is faster, because your brain and hand now know the passage better. One of the dictations (overshoot) is faster than you expect to be accurate, to find problem areas and keep up the pressure.

Swem’s course is for building speed once you know the theory. The first dictation is messy but readable. Your brain and hand know what to do, but can’t do it at the requested speed.

Cricket, Beginner and Intermediate Swem, Advanced
Mistakes are due to both lack of speed and lack of knowledge. Very few mistakes are due to lack of knowledge.
Squeeze in what you can. Several shorter sessions works better than infrequent long sessions.
Experiment every 5th passage. 		7 x 1-hour sessions per week. 5 of one type of practice, 2 of a different type. Double up some days to create a rest day each week. Never more than 2 days without practice.
10 minutes per hour read your old writing. Not done.
15 minutes per hour (re)read theory. 15 minutes per hour (re)read theory. Even though you know the theory, a review helps, especially for the optional rules.
1 minute passage, as many as will fit in the session. Increase duration when reach 80wpm. 5 minute passage, 1 in each each hour-long session.
Preview depending on theory knowledge and available materials. "A speed at which you must exert yourself...Just get it down some way or another." Swem does not specify an accuracy until you reach 125wpm and 95% for a first attempt.
First dictation slow enough for 95% accuracy, then correct it. Next dictation slow enough for "practically perfect" (but no slower).
Read, correct, and practice problem areas for all attempts. Read and correct first attempts only. Practice problem areas after all attempts.
Increase until above target speed. Increase until reach starting speed, which will be much better than the first attempt.
Decrease to target speed for final attempt. You will probably be able to take it even above the speed of the first attempt, and by now the hour will probably be up.
Usually five repetitions, plus preparation. At least four repetitions, including the first attempt.
Finish every writing session, no matter how short, with penmanship practice. Alternate methods between sessions. Finish every session (sessions are an hour) with 5 minutes penmanship practice tracing textbook with dry pen.
1 session in 5, experiment with other speeds and methods. For 2x30-minute sessions/week, start dictation at highest readable speed. Correct but do not write again.

Modified Swem’s Systematic Speed Course for Intermediate Writers

When you are confident with the theory, move from Cricket’s Beginner Sequence to Modified Swem’s.

Read the full article for details.

Swem wrote his course for advanced writers, who could write new material at 80-100wpm for 5 minutes on their first attempt. Make the following adjustments until you reach that stage.

Keep a diary as before. Watch for changes, ruts and plateaus.

Swem uses speed descriptions, but does not give accuracies. I would say:

Again, accuracy is measured by the transcript, not by the shorthand.

You should be able to make 100% accurate notes if you slow down just a bit more. That is your exam speed.

Weekly Plan

For reading, Swem recommends:

I’d simplify that to alternating days.

For writing, Swem recommends using long passages only (remember he thinks you already built endurance):

I’d simplify that to 3 days of fast/slow/build and 1 of readable notes with no repeats.

Continue with 1-minute dictations until you reach 80-100wpm for 1-minute, then build endurance as described elsewhere.

Alternate days (or dictations) of short/fast and long/slow dictations until your long speed reaches 80wpm for 5 minutes. At that point you are ready for Swem’s course with no modifications.

Unmodified Swem’s Course

Even though Swem does not say to, you should continue to experiment on short fast and longer slow passages, in addition to the recommended 5-minute passages.

Increasing your 1-minute speed will help if the speaker’s speed is erratic. Two dictations with the same average speed can have very different top speeds.

Increasing your endurance will prevent you from running out of steam after 5 minutes, especially if you are running behind. The (Gregg) Expert Shorthand Speed Course recommends 10 minutes dictations to prepare for a 5-minute competition.

Motion Picture Study by Klein

Leslie reports on a motion picture study by Klein. Experts took dictation at 220wpm for five minutes. “Good school learners” took dictation at 140wpm. They also answered a questionnaire.

“Of the three experts, Dupraw and Rifkin were better able than Swem to tell with what relative speeds they wrote the combinations. When the total number of instances and occurrences of all the combinations is used, it is seen that Dupraw was right in approximately half the instances; Rifkin, in seven-tenths of the instances; and Swem in but one-fifth of the instances.”

All writers’ pens moved at approximately the same speed while writing. The difference in overall speed was in the time spent not writing. The learners’ pen speed was 333-440wpm, with as little as 31-42% of the time spent actually writing. The experts’ pen speed was 417-447, with 47-53% of the time spent writing.

“The students paused about five times as frequently as the experts in writing the combinations of this study.”

There was no consistency between number vs length of individual pauses between experts, only in the total time paused.

In one 10-second section of the film, Swem, who as stated before, is constantly analyzing his writing processes, paused 11 times, whereas Dupraw, who seldom attempts to analyze his writing habits, paused but 3 times.

Thus the one expert, taking dictation at 220 words a minute, 80 words a minute faster than the dictation of the learner, wrote with a pen speed of only 415 words a minute, compared with the pen speed of 451 words a minute of Learner No. 3, taking dictation at 140 words a minute.”

Final Words

I hope this advice will help. Let me know how it goes and if you would recommend any changes.

References

Most of this advice comes from books I read over the years without noting the source.

I did, however, remember to note a few. They are are available on stenophile.com, and also at the links given (most of which are on Stenophile’s DropBox account).

Shorthand Groups

Often a study buddy, penpal, or mentor a few levels above you can make a big difference. Many groups have a quote of the day or week, where you can see and discuss how different writers handle the same passage. Comparing methods and abbreviations from other systems, in moderation, can help you understand yours better.

How to Teach Shorthand

How to Learn Shorthand

Dictation Recordings

Text for Computer Reading

Acknowledgements

Thanks to: Shorthand Discord V2, especially @vevrik, @stenophile, @richard, for ideas and review. Reddit Shorthand, especially u/BerylPratt whose site has excellent advice.

Full Table of Contents

Revision History

Still very fluid and hard to track.