Frustration With Not Using Briefs!!

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

I went to the Mark Kislingbury seminar this weekend for the third time.  I'm so frustrated with myself because I came home and was proofing this job and noticed how many times I could have used briefs that I've learned from two years ago and I'm only using them 40% of the time.  I'm talking about the little briefs that just save you physically, such as:

that you were

that you had

that you believe

when you were

take a look at

that she was

that he was

The job I proofed yesterday had a ton of these little phrases and I'm writing them in three strokes 60% of the time.  I just don't understand why I can't get my brain to use them more.  I know what they are.  

Does anyone have an idea how I can make myself use these more?  I've been using them for two years but I want to use them "all the time."  It would really cut down on the fatigue if I could MAKE myself use them.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

No, don't get me wrong, Janiece, I use "Auto Brief" all the time and I'm a huge briefer on my own.  My issue is these little phrases that I wrote above.  Those are a no brainer and I should be incorporating that stuff because it probably comes up more than any brief I've ever come up with; that's mainly my issue.  Just is a tad bit frustrating.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Well, the thing is, Mary Ann, I do get comments all the time how great my realtime is, but it's exhausting.  I want to brief more just to save my body.  It's crazy how fast Mark can type and barely moves his fingers.  I know I could actually do this job for another 10 years if I could just learn half of what that guy knows.

I met a woman 72 at the seminar still working and she's in so much pain and she was telling me how many drugs she's on to get through the day.  I said, "There ain't no way I'm working till I'm 72."   We all know writing short makes it easier to make less mistakes.  The problem is making it spontaneous and just slide off your fingers.  I don't know why my brain isn't doing it.  What's wrong with me?  I know this stuff.  If I make up my own briefs, I'll remember them the next day and always use them.  If it's someone else's, like Mark's, I'm really struggling to do it even though it make perfect sense...most of the time.

[Janet]

I have the same issue, Kelli.  I can remember my own briefs and certain briefs that I get from other people, but some of them just don't come to me fast enough.  There are certain phrases that I'll hear that I automatically brief, like "you can answer," "you may answer," "correct me if I'm wrong."  But the "that you believe" type of briefs don't come to me automatically.  I think I'm so focused on chopping multi-syllable words down to one stroke that the phrases slip by without me thinking about them.

[kathy - iamwrdsmth]

I don't always hear brief phrases, but I frequently hear two-word phrases, so

I've developed more of those.  I believe = EU BL

                                     you believe = U BL 

[Debbie Taggart]

Kelli, I know exactly what you mean about trying to get yourself to use new phrases.  Briefs I can use, but the phrases you have to hear before you can write them.  I'm kind of lucky that I learned a lot of phrases in my theory from day one.  And phrase to me are almost like one word.  I hear phrases as one word/stroke.  I don't know if that makes any sense.  In other words, something like "that you believe"  I hear almost the same way as I hear "available."  It's the same amount of syllables, but I'll bet you don't write out "available."  I don't know if the way I think helps anyone else think that way, but that's what works for me.  Also, when I'm learning a new brief or phrase, I make up sentences with those briefs or phrases, and use them to warm up before I start a depo.  Just throw in a piece of paper on your laptop with three or four sentences full of whatever it is you're trying to learn and write them over and over before your job.  It kind of helps to keep those words in my head.

[kathy - iamwrdsmth]

SRAEUBL/ available

[Laura Renke]

Kelli, if you're using auto-brief, do you have it set to show you entries from your dictionary that will save x number of strokes?  If those phrases you're trying to ingrain are in your dictionary, they should be coming up as reminders on the auto-brief list.  You can also increase the number of reminders so you see more of those.  I use the entire left pane (info bar) when in RT to show me reminders, requested briefs, and auto-briefs.  I don't use any of the Auto-Magic stuff, but that space works great for showing lots of briefs.

You might not be aware of this since it's a feature in the development version, but Eclipse now offers an option for "Mark Kislingbury suggestions" so that you can have those coming up in the auto-brief suggestions.  They don't need to be in your dictionary. 

The development version runs from a different icon than the regular release version, so you can work in either version.  Just because you install the development version doesn't mean you have to commit to using it all the time.  Also, this version can be used with or without the hardware key.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Yes, I use Auto Brief all the time and love it.  It is set up to show me what's in my dictionary, but I don't remember seeing these little phrases before.  Another problem might be I always write on top of every word; like I've already written "that you" before the "believe" word is said, so it's to late to write THAUBL.  Just a guess.

[Brytta Fitzgibbons]

Don't feel bad, Kelli.

The same thing happens to me all the time. I tend to "blank out" on some of the briefs, and when I'm told them, I say, "Oh yeah, that's what it was!"

BTW, what is "Auto Brief"?

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Auto Brief in Eclipse software gives you suggestions on what you're writing.  It is wonderful and really helps.  When you're in a deposition, say, and the phrase temporary restraining order keeps coming up over and over again.  The software will pick up that you're writing that phrase a lot and throw out a suggestion, like TREAR for you to write.  Very helpful.  It will also remind you of briefs that you have in your dictionary that you're not using.  I love that too because it's a reminder, oh, yeah, I write that this way.

[Ana Dub]

I learned this from a really excellent reporter.  He would do this on his writer, but you can do it in your main dictionary also.  

Write out "that you were"; global the three strokes together as one global; global again as the new brief and make a conflict.  Now when you write out "that you were" in three strokes, a conflict will come up and it will show you the brief that you want to start using.  As you're working, you'll see it on your computer screen and it will remind you that you want to use the brief.  I hope I'm explaining this right.  For example, I want to change the way I write report (RORT) to ROP.  So I have the steno RORT globaled as "report" and I have the steno RORT globaled as "ROP" as a conflict.  It works for me.

[Martha R]

Very creative solution.