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Welcome to the Steno Wizard's Realtime Journey!






Remember when life was simple and all you had to do was make a selection on what your steno really meant? Those days are long gone.





Reporters must get themselves into top realtime form to compete in today's job market. This is my contribution toward ALL of us reaching the realtime goal.



My Steno Wizardry concept is based on the idea that writing realtime actually doesn't require magic -- just hard work, determination, and a little bit of FUN imagination.



My hope is my sharing of the ideas I've incorporated into my realtime journey will assist you in yours.



Saturday, May 1, 2021

REVERSE "Y" USING *RBG

This is a great and simple-to-apply technique to add "your" to the end of common phrases.


It may help to visualize your hands on the steno keyboard.  We learn KWR on the initial side of the keyboard for Y.  For the final side of the keyboard, it's the same fingers for the Y, just in reverse, RBG  -- with the addition of the asterisk.. *RBG becomes your.


You'll want to take advantage of this fantastic (TPAFBG) speed enhancer.  :)



Friday, April 30, 2021

Pretty amazing briefs! :)


 

The word "pretty" is amazingly simple to incorporate into our phrasing repertoire (ROEURPT). 

Out of an abundance of caution, I've inserted asterisks in a couple of the phrases, but you may not need them if the stroke without the asterisk is conflict-free. 

Explore and enjoy!  Maybe you can think of others. 

If so, please share.  😉






Thursday, April 29, 2021

Forward phrases

Moving forward!


Forward is such an easy word to phrase.  Let me share with you some of my favorites!

To help discern "to it" from "to the" -- remember one of my favorite methods:  The asterisk dots the "i" in the phrase.  😎


 


Thursday, April 22, 2021

HOPE!

 

    

How many times HOUPLTS do we steno writers hear the word "hope" in a proceeding? 

From my Gregg shorthand school days -- anybody remember those pen strokes -- we would write "hope" with the P stroke. 

I never did learn a method in machine shorthand for adding "hope" to a phrase, so I invented my own -- at least I think I did.  😉

So...I add *P to phrases for hope!

For good measure, I pulled up my other "hope" phrases as well.  I hope you want to explore this idea.  It's working for me.



Monday, April 19, 2021

Quite phrases

 I'm expanding my repertoire on the phrases I use that start with the word "quite" -- and maybe you'll like them quite a bit as well. 



Adding "few" and "ago" to some common phrases

I'm sure we've all learned the particular phrases below during our court reporting school days.




In an effort to grow our repertoire, we can add the  -F key to add "few" -- with the addition of an -S or -Z for the plural versions.  

We can also add the -G key for the word "ago."  How spectacular is that!


SKWREBGD, the -G is already in the outline for the phrase "just a second."  In order to add "ago" to the phrase,  my suggestion is to add the asterisk, SKWR*EBGD.  Voila!  Just a second ago! 

It's easy enough to add the -F and the -Z to transform the phrase to "just a few seconds" SKWREFBGDZ and add the asterisk SKWR*EFBGDZ for "just a few seconds ago."

Bonus - if you phrase "quite a while" KWAOEUL, you can add the -G for "quite a while ago" -- KWAOEULG. 

Double bonus - you can also add the -G to some time ago - STAOEUPLG.

😁  It pays to phrase!!!!!!!


Thursday, August 13, 2020

Phrases try to, trying to, and tried to

 

 

I've been exploring a new set of briefs that I spied on Facebook.  I've put some tweaks on them so they work for me.  Sharing...

TRAO is try to.

These are my "try to" briefs with various endings.  It's a work in progress, and there may be some older attempts at "trying to" phrase.   "Tried to" is DRAO.  "Trying to" is GRAO.  I know it seems a little backwards, but I think this is a Clay or Chase Frazier concept with some Mark Kislingbury thrown in for good measure.




Sunday, August 9, 2020

Briefs with the word "paper"

 Spied these in the last few days and think they'll work...

sheet of paper SHAOERP
sheets of paper SHAOERPZ

piece of paper PAOERP
pieces of paper PAOERPZ

sandpaper SPAEURP

newspaper NUP (from RWG theory so this is pretty much automatic)

paperwork PAEURBG



Thursday, August 6, 2020

New phrases with evidence

I recently purchased a book written by Ed Varallo.  It was mind blowing!

I'm developing more strategies for keeping pace with all these fast speakers. 

I write "evidence" EFDZ -- some people use EFD, so you can obviously adapt this concept to what works for your writing style.

Hopefully, in school, you were taught some basic phrases with the word evidence.

direct evidence DREFDZ
circumstantial evidence SEFDZ
preponderance of the evidence PREFDZ
greater weight of the evidence GREFDZ

I then developed a couple of additional phrases due to my work exposure to these:

tampering with evidence TWEFDZ
credible evidence KREFDZ
competent evidence KPEFDZ

Ed's book expanded the possibilities.  He writes evidence EFD, so mine is just a tad different. 

Phrases with the word evidence:
any evidence NEUFDZ
best evidence BEFDZ
some evidence SMEFDZ
clear and convincing evidence KLEFDZ
in evidence NEFDZ
received in evidence SNEFDZ
forensic evidence FREFDZ
convincing evidence KWEFDZ
weight of the evidence WEFDZ

Yesterday's hearing, the magistrate started using a new phrase -- admissible evidence - ARGH!

So...my brief for admissible evidence...DMEFDZ

I'm still debating whether I'll incorporate a couple of the others that are in Ed's book.

Is there any evidence  STHREUFDZ
is there evidence STHREFDZ
was there any evidence STHR*EUFDZ
was there evidence STHR*EFDZ

I highly recommend getting his book.  Edvarallo.com is where it you can find it.  It's temporarily reduced in price -- a COVID special.  :) 




Wednesday, April 22, 2020

"Work" in phrases

A new idea -- to the Steno Wizard anyway -- is adding -RK to phrases for the word WORK. 
I spied it originally when watching a Dee Boenau webinar, and THEN the book I just purchased that is written by Ed Varallo also had a list of phrases for -RK/work.   Of course, you can also add -RK to create a compound word that contains work. 

I'm sharing in case you'd like to explore this concept.  So amazing!

Do you work TKOURK
did you work TKURK
where do you work WROURK

going to work GOEURK
I'm going to work SGOEURK

paperwork PAEURK
framework FRAEURK
blood work BLAORK
fireworks FAOEURKZ
network NERK

I didn't work KWREURK
I don't work KWRORK
you didn't work SKWREURK
you don't work SKWRORK



Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Con- prefix words




Steno Wizard recently began exploring new ways to write words that start with "con."   My original theory pretty much had all "con" words being written KOPB as the first stroke and then writing the rest of the word in the next stroke.   There were a few briefs, but not as much as I'd like for high-frequency words.

Often SK- for cons-/conc- is working for me when inserting an asterisk -- which is helping me to avoid conflicts.  :)

SK*EPT concept
SK*EPGS conception
SK*UR concur
SKAO*EF conceive
SK*ERT concert
SK*EPBT consent
SK*EUFT consist
SKO*RM consortium
SKAO*ED concede
SKO*LT consolidate
SKPA*ERT co-conspirator (SPAERT - conspirator -- definitely needed something!)
SK*EUF consecutive
SK*EUFL consecutively
SK*URPBT concurrent
SK*URPBL concurrently
SKAO*UPL consume

I may not need to use an asterisk for these in the future, but for now that's a path I'm following.

K*EFPLT context
K*EPLT contempt

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

I'm going to brief

Steno Wizard's latest briefing strategy is incorporating a technique across an array of "going to" phrases.

On the left-hand side of the keyboard...

I'm going to SGOEU
going to GOEU

On the right-hand side of the keyboard add the following keys.

-FRPZ  impose
       I'm going to impose SGOEUFRPZ
       going to impose GOEUFRPZ

-FK ask
       I'm going to ask SGOEUFK
       going to ask GOEUFK

-FPL explain
      I'm going to explain SGOEUFPL
      going to explain GOEUFPL

-RG agree
      I'm going to agree SGOEURG
      going to agree GOEURG

-S say
     I'm going to say SGOEUS
     going to say GOEUS

-RB show
     I'm going to show SGOEURB
     going to show GOEURB

-RPBLGS do
    I'm going to do SGOEURPBLGS
    going to do GOEURPBLGS

-DZ describe
    I'm going to describe SGOEUDZ
    going to describe GOEUDZ

-B be
    I'm going to be SGOEUB
    going to be GOEUB

How handy!

Monday, December 3, 2018

Oh, to be a winner!

Latest brief is a fun one.

Jackpot JAPT


winning W-G   (no conflict for me with wing)

Ticket TEUKT 

Understanding

I frequently phrase the word understand and understanding in my daily writing, so I am sharing my common phrases.  Perhaps you'll find something useful to you.

I understand EURND
I don't understand KWROND
you don't understand SKWROND
you understand URND

your understanding AOURNG
my understanding MEURNG
with understanding WURNG, and sometimes I seem to like WURNGD for that. 

if I understand TPEURND
if you understand TPURND

is that your understanding STHAURNG
is it your understanding STAURNG

did you understand TKURND
do you understand TKOURND

as I understand it ST*EUND

it's the State's understanding STURNG

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Trial Briefs

I've come up with some new brief forms due to the content of some of the trials I've reported lately.  Maybe you'll find a gem.

retaliate TRAELT
retaliation TRAELGS
retaliatory TROEUR
discriminatory SKROEUMT - or - STKROEUMT
interpersonal SPWERL
harassment HAEURPLT

taxpayer TAERP
electronically *EBLG
taxable TABL

opioid OEUPD
opiate OEUPT

Monday, August 28, 2017

OIP for Multisyllabic Words Ending in -ship

leadership LOIP
relationship ROIP
township TOIP
citizenship ZOIP
dealership DOIP
friendship FROIP

membership MOIP
Partnership POIP
proprietorship PROIP

brinkmanship BROIP
championship KHOIP

scholarship SKLOIP
guardianship GOIP
sportsmanship SPOIP
censorship SOIP
internship SPWOIP
workmanship WOIP

ownership OIP
stewardship STOIP
bipartisanship BOIP



Monday, August 21, 2017

Names in the News...and Real-Life Applications

Steno Wizard is sharing briefs that were implemented during the captioning days and some are still very useful in traditional court reporting venues.  Perhaps you'll enjoy them. 
Franklin  FRANL
Lincoln   LEUNL
Kennedy K*END
JFK J*FK, twice for John F. Kennedy
Madison   MADZ
Washington   WA*UG,   Washington, D.C.    WA*UGDZ
Taylor   TAEURL   (tailor is two strokes)
Tyler TAOEURL
Roosevelt    RAOFLT
Cleveland   KLAOEFLD
Obama BO*EM
Barack Obama BRO*EM
Hillary Clinton HEURKT
Bill Clinton BLEUKT
Donald Trump DRUFRP
Melania MA*ENL
Melania Trump MA*ENLT
Ulysses KWRAOULSZ
Zachary STKAERK

Monday, August 7, 2017

Still on the realtime journey, just another adventure

Steno Wizard is no longer captioning, though it was a very valuable experience that I highly recommend any steno realtime writer to explore.  

In January of this year, Steno Wizard was offered a position in federal court within 45 minutes of home and couldn't say no.  

Realtime is definitely the difference maker in securing the federal court position, so onward and upward I go!

Here's some briefs I've been incorporating very recently.  Perhaps you've already known them, but regardless I'll share...

statutory STOERT
statutorily STOERLT
impossibly KPWOEUBL  -- surprised I didn't have it in my steno database, but there you go!
citizenship STKOEUP
naturalization NAURLGS
magistrate MAJT
inextricably intertwined STRAOEUND
bifurcate BAOEUFRKT
factual FABLG
seriousness SAOERNS
conspiracy SPAERS
conspirator SPAERT
co-conspirator SKPAERT
severe SWAO*ER
sentencing guidelines SGLAOEUNZ
is that your signature STHAURGT
is this your signature STHURGT
in forma pauperis NAUPZ or NAUPS  -- why limit yourself to just one  :)



Monday, October 24, 2016

More methods to resolve proper names

How about a sure way to resolve some proper names and a few of their more common spelling variations?   There are a few suggestions to help build perfect translation for names you may not have in your steno database yet.  

SW writes the Y- as KWR.  Here's a new ending the starts off with the KWR:

KWR-PB for suffix -yn

Megyn MEG/KWR-PB      
Robyn ROB/KWR-PB
Lauryn LAUR/KWR-PB
Jordyn JORD/KWR-PB
Karyn KAEUR/KWR-PB

-PB for -en or -an

Megan MEG/-PB
Robin ROB/-PB
Lauren HRAURPB or HRAUR/-PB
Jordan SKWRORD/-PB


HR*ERBG for suffix -ley

Ashley ARB/HR*ERBG
Hadley HAD/HR*ERBG --- or H (the stroke for had) H/HR*ERBG
Bayley PWAEU/HR*ERBG
Wesley WES/HR*ERBG
Westley WEFT/HR*ERBG (yes, I know, but this is legit)
Lesley LES/HR*ERBG
Farley TPAR/HR*ERBG

TPH*ERBG for suffix -ney

Whitney   WHEUT/TPH*ERBG
Carney KAR/TPH*ERBG
Barney PWAR/TPH*ERBG


Another possibly mind-blowing concept is using -RBG for the -Y.

Trey TRERBG
Payton PARBG/TOPB
Peyton PERBG/TOPB


Spelling may just help after all:

Meghan MEG/HAPB
Zach STKAFP
Zack STKABG
Tre TRE*
Trae TRA*E



Sunday, August 28, 2016

Proper Name Briefs

Realtime and captioning is full of proper names.   Steno Wizard is sharing some proper name briefs that have become more of a necessity to keep up in the steno realtime world.   Perhaps you'll like them or they'll spark an idea or two.   There's a previous post from a few years back with some suggestions, and hopefully SW won't repeat too many.   Unfortunately, names can also be spelled a few different ways, but these are the ones that SW uses for the common ones.

Christopher KREUFR
Jeffrey JAEFR
Geoffrey GAEFR
Jeff JEF
Geoff GEF
Jessica JAEFK
Joseph JOEF
Stephanie STA*EFPB
Brittany BRAE*NT
Tiffany TA*EFN
John JO*N
Jon J*UN
Jonathan JAO*N
Victor VEURKT
Victoria V*EURKT
Alexander STKAERND
Alexandria STKA*ERND
Kimberly KBERL
Ashley AERBL
Elizabeth L*EUBZ
Elisabeth L*EUBS
Maria MRA*
Mario MRO*
Carlos KAORLS
Carlo KAORL
Samantha SMANGT
Debbie DAEB
Madison MADZ
Margaret MARGT
Janet JAENT
Preston PR*ETS
Ramos RAO*MS
Stamos STAO*MS
Morales MO*RLS
Jarod JAORD
Jared JAERD
Daniel DANL
Danielle DA*NL
Zachary STKAERK
Zacharia STKA*ERK
Natalie TPHAELT