EMPLOY THE FOUR P'S

And what are those four P's? (Hint: For this CR student blog, they're not pirates and parrots... not this time! LOL!) They are: 1) Practice, 2) Practice, 3) Practice, 4) Persevere! The below article is by Stuart M. Auslander of the New York School of Court Reporting in North White Plains, New York. His "Four P's" is #36 from the book 61+ Ways to Write Faster: Speedbuilding Tips for Court Reporters and Students. To read another article from this book, click here. ENJOY, MATEY (emphasis mine)! :)

EMPLOY THE FOUR P'S

1. Good nutrition and proper amounts of sleep are essential to active brain function, thus enhancing the capability to process and record the spoken word accurately and expeditiously. 2. Repeat the same material at varying speed levels; that is, 40, 50, 60 wpm, with readback and analysis of notes at each speed. 3. Analyze notes during readback by identifying strokes that came just prior to drops or misstrokes. It might be that these preceding strokes caused you to hesitate and drop. 4. Practice takes at 20 wpm below your actual speed ability, striving for "perfect" notes. Accuracy is a must in order to enhance speed. 5. Set aside a certain time period to practice and at the conclusion do one more take for an additional five minutes each writing period. 6. Do whatever is necessary to eliminate mental distractions prior to practicing. Maintain a though mental outlook and always stay focused. Do not let the speaker get the better of you. 7. Always seek to expand your vocabulary. Familiarity with words makes them easier to record. 8. Delete from your system short forms that cause you to hesitate or misstroke. 9. If you have a problem with vowels, realize that the keys (left to right) do not go in in the same order as the alphabet (a, o, e, u). This causes some writers to misstroke because subconsciously they believe the keys would be in alphabetical order from left to right (a, e, o, u). 10. Maintain an even emotional level throughout speedbuilding. Don't get too high upon success; don't get too low upon failure. Stay levelheaded! 11. Practice, practice, practice and persevere.