Hello, Susan, I found you on here. We can keep in touch on our progress since we are both in the same boat. I have "The Secret" to give to you on Wednesday.

Hey buddy,
How's school going? I didn't know you were on here!

Hello My Court Reporting Buddy,

I can't give much writing advice because I am in the same boat as you. I can tell you to stay motivated and focused We can do this. Look how far we have come. Next week is the week. Kathleen

Hi Susan, check out The Brief Zone !
Great Drilling Material For Any Steno Theory...
www.thebriefzone.com

Here is a little something that might help:

1: i must write clearly at all times and at all speeds;
2: If i write clearly, then i will work on keeping my hands moving at all times. Ignore the speed, but ensure that i keep my hands moving.
3: If i write clearly and i can keep my hands moving smoothly at all times, then i will work on the number of words that i carry.
4: If i write clearly, and if i keep my hands moving smoothly at all times, and if i reduce the number of words that i carry, then i will work on my graduation speech.

Susan,

I am just getting back into steno. I left off at 180. My speed is getting back up there pretty quickly. What I learned from when I was in school at 180 and what I've learned today is that practicing lit helps a lot. I also do a lot of finger drills. I used to practice 20-30 wpm above my speed, but now I only practice about 10-20 wpm and I do word count, which is much harder. When I finish my practice I make sure I do a take at my speed and accurately. Q&A and 4-Voice has always been my favorite. I'm doing really well on them and can write at a much higher speed because it's a lot of briefs for me. I end the practice on a good note. At courtreportinghelp.com it has the SpeedTeacher that helps a lot. It's a lot of fun to use as well. It lets you download a trial version. StenoDrills.com has great Finger Drill CDs.

Read your notes and type them. It's very important to read and type. I also am not focusing on my realtime right now.

The last time I was in school I spent a lot of time on my realtime and did CART for the hearing impaired students while in college as well. This time I am completely focused on just my writing and writing clearly but I'm not hooked up to my software working on my realtime. I don't want to be distracted by the realtime.

Another site I use is Stenolife.com; it has a like a brief dictionary. You just type a word in and it identifies a brief for the word. I only do this when I have hesitation and can't remember a word. If it sticks I use it. I also practice new briefs over and over. If they don't stick, I don't use them.

I hope this help . . .

Kimberly

Hey, Susan. Try less practice 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day and higher speed. Start practicing 20 to 30 words above your goal speed. I like the "less is more" approach. Sometimes you tire yourself out by practicing that long. Here's what I did and still do for speed building. Warm up for a few minutes to get loose. Then, do 15 minutes of your goal speed. Then do 45 minutes of higher speed building and then do 15 to 20 minutes of your goal speed. Also try to group your practice to lit, jury, Q&A so that will prepare you for taking the RPR exam. Finally, that 1 1/2 hours that you used to spend on practicing -- go out and have some fun. It's the summer time, go out and enjoy yourself.