By the New Professionals Advisory and Veterans Liaison to the New Professionals Advisory Committees
If you are planning on taking an NCRA Online Skills Test, here are 11 tips for passing:
- Practice every day for some amount of time.
- Vary speeds, from current to 20 wpm above and below current, for both speed and accuracy.
- Practice reading your steno note strokes.
- Use timed, dictated recordings whenever possible, but other sources work too for variety. Podcasts make good practice material.
- Join an online social media practice group to keep yourself accountable and have camaraderie.
- Know your software’s translate and edit functions and make them work for you.
- Keep your personal dictionary updated and review it periodically so you know what’s in it.
- Warm up to faster audio right before your test.
- Don’t forget to practice transcribing in addition to machine/writing practice.
- Take notes while you transcribe/edit to note your strong points and areas of improvement (e.g., drops, misstrokes, punctuation).
- Before testing, get a good night’s sleep, be well hydrated, and have a positive attitude.
Learn more about NCRA testing and certification here.
Thanks to the New Professionals Advisory and the Veterans Liaison to the New Professionals Advisory Committees for sharing these tips.
