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For 12 Wimbledon students, week 11 will be remembered as somewhat of a milestone in both their time at News Associates, and in their pursuit of a career in journalism.
The much anticipated results of the previous week’s shorthand exam emerged in the nick of time for Friday night celebrations, and brought to an end what were for many the longest eight days they have experienced during their training so far.
No-one who sat the dreaded 100wpm exam in week ten – the halfway point of the course – was certain they would pass. The nature of the beast with shorthand exams is that it all comes down to what happens on the day. The phrase ‘it’ll be alright on the night’ just doesn’t apply if the night then brings you stories full of confusing words, runs your pen out after 30 seconds, or, god forbid, makes you sneeze.
With this is mind, I decided to speak to a few of the lucky 12, to see if they could offer any pearls of shorthand wisdom for anyone thinking of taking a journalism course. After all, when it comes to an exam where last-minute cock-ups are always a possibility, the very best you can do is to be prepared…
When I asked them which aspect of learning shorthand they found the hardest, their answers differed. One, as expected, said speed was the biggest challenge:
“It was a big jump from 80wpm to 100wpm – I felt confident at 80 and then all of a sudden it got very fast and I had to put a lot more work in.”
Reading the frantically scribbled outlines back proved to be more of an issue for another, who found it extremely frustrating when, having managed to write something down, it later proved impossible to interpret.
Could they offer any tricks of the trade to make the shorthand experience any less painful? Each had clearly developed their own techniques which included:
- Practising above the speed you’re aiming for, i.e. if you’re supposed to be working at 80wpm, do a few passages at 90. Makes things seem a bit easier when you drop back down.
- Using an A4 pad. Personal choice of course, but you waste far less time turning pages.
- Writing in pencil. Again a personal choice, but pen automatically encourages you to press harder in order for it to work. And it smudges.
- Writing down the first letter or two of words you can’t remember the outline for. There’s a fair chance you’ll be able to work it out from the context far more easily than if you’ve left a gap.
- Adapting outlines slightly to suit your speed better. Teeline is the most flexible form of shorthand, and as long as you’re not straying too far from the rules this is possible. Just make sure you run it past Angela first…
Many of the students said they’d already used their shorthand in real-life situations, citing this as a great way to practise. As one pointed out, you can’t always rely on a dictaphone. However this isn’t always easy at first, as another noted:
“I use it at my placement most weeks when interviewing people but find it pretty hard to think about what question to ask next and at the same time think about the shorthand.”
So if they could offer one piece of valuable advice to prospective shorthand students, what would it be?
“Pretty obvious, but practise every day.”
“Don’t give up when it feels like you can’t keep up with the speed. There was one stage when I felt like I couldn’t keep up at 40wpm!”
“I think the real secret is learning all the theory well at the start and then just practise, practise, practise. The first few weeks are the clincher.”
Regardless of effort and determination, shorthand is a skill, and naturally some will take to it like a duck to water while others find it a tougher nut to crack. But with patience and perseverance it can be done, and there’s no avoiding the fact that shorthand remains a fundamental tool for even the most modern reporter.
To leave you with the words of Marie Cartwright herself:
“Although the learning process can be protracted and painstaking, there is no better method than shorthand to enable you to get all the facts and quotes you need to be a truly professional journalist.”
Nicola Hine
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