Writing is only half the skill
Students spend hours building writing speed, then lose marks because they can't read their own notes in the transcription time. In a steno skill test you are marked on what you type, not on what you wrote. An outline you can't read is the same as a word you didn't take down.
Reading back is a separate skill, and it can be trained. This guide covers why notes become hard to read, how to read them back accurately, and a daily routine that improves both reading and writing.
Why your notes become hard to read
When you can't read an outline, it is almost always one of these reasons:
- Size and position. Outlines written too large, or not clearly above, on or through the line, lose the position that tells you which vowel is meant.
- Shading. Under pressure, light and heavy strokes look the same, so pairs like p and b, or t and d, get confused.
- Missing vowels where they matter. You don't need every vowel, but some outlines are ambiguous without one.
- Invented shapes. At high speed you sometimes write a shape you would never normally use. It made sense for a second, then it is lost.
- Running phrases too long. A long phrase written fast can look like a single unfamiliar outline.
- Losing your place. Skipping a line or a column during transcription can make a correct outline look wrong because the context is wrong.
Every one of these can be reduced by how you write and how you read.
The first read-through
Before you type a single word, read through your notes once. In an exam with 40 or 50 minutes for transcription, a quick read of a few minutes pays back the time.
During this first read:
- Read for meaning, not for single words. Follow the topic of the passage.
- Lightly mark any outline you can't read at once. A small tick above it is enough.
- Don't stop on difficult outlines. Keep going; later context often answers them.
- Notice where paragraphs and sentences seem to end, so you can type the structure correctly.
By the end you should know what the passage is about and where your trouble spots are.
Using context to decode difficult outlines
Most hard outlines can be worked out from the words around them. When you reach a marked outline:
- Read the whole sentence and ask what word would make sense there grammatically.
- Check the subject of the passage. In a budget speech, an outline that could be "fiscal" or "physical" is almost certainly "fiscal".
- Look at the strokes you can see. Even if the vowel is missing, the consonant skeleton narrows the choice to two or three words.
- Check the position. Above, on or through the line points to the first vowel.
- Look for a repeat. Important words often come back later in the passage, sometimes written more clearly.
If two words both fit, pick the one that makes the better sentence. A sensible guess is usually better than leaving a gap, but check the rules of your exam on how omissions and wrong words are counted.
Never type a word that makes the sentence meaningless just because the outline looks like it. If the sentence reads badly, look at the outline again.
Keeping your place
Losing your place costs more than any single hard outline, because it can drop a whole line. A few habits help:
- Keep a finger or the edge of a ruler under the line you are reading.
- Number your pages before the dictation starts.
- If you write in columns, finish one column before moving to the next, and draw a small mark where you stop.
- When you look up at the screen to check your typing, glance back at the last word you typed and find it in your notes before continuing.
A daily read-back routine
Add 15 minutes of read-back practice to your day. It improves your writing too, because you start to notice which habits make notes unreadable.
- Read yesterday's notes cold. Take notes from a passage you wrote the day before and read them aloud without listening to the audio. Mark every outline you hesitate on.
- Compare with the original. Check against the passage text and count the outlines you couldn't read or read wrongly.
- Find the cause. For each one, decide why: size, shading, position, a missing vowel, an invented shape or a run-on phrase.
- Fix it in writing. Write each problem outline correctly ten times, then write it in a short sentence.
- Note the pattern. If most problems come from one cause, focus on it in the next day's writing.
Reading notes from the day before is harder than reading them straight away, which is exactly why it is useful. In the exam you won't have the sound of the dictation fresh in your ears for every line.
Reading aloud builds speed
Reading your notes aloud at a steady pace is a good test of how readable they are. Try to read a passage back at about the speed it was dictated. Where you slow down or stop, your notes need work.
Over time aim to read back faster than you type. If reading is slower than typing, your transcription speed is limited by reading, and typing practice alone won't help much. If you need to build typing speed too, the typing tests and the Learn Typing course are a good place to start.
Writing habits that make reading easier
These small changes in how you write make the biggest difference to reading back:
- Keep outlines small and even. Small outlines are faster to write and keep their shape better.
- Write clear positions. Exaggerate above, on and through slightly during practice so it stays clear under pressure.
- Insert key vowels in unfamiliar words, especially names, numbers written as words and technical terms.
- Leave a small gap after a full stop so sentence breaks are easy to see.
- Use only phrases you know well. A phrase you can't read later is a loss, not a saving.
- Write numbers clearly, in figures where your system allows it, and check them first during transcription.
Check before you submit
Keep the last few minutes of transcription time for a final check. Read your typed passage through once for sense. Gaps, repeated words and sentences that don't make sense usually point to a reading error you can still fix by going back to your notes.
Start today
Take any passage you wrote this week, wait a day, and try to read it back cold. The outlines you struggle with are your list for the week. Then write a fresh passage on the dictations page and transcribe it, checking how many reading mistakes you made compared with last time.