By Alan Peacock
I start with just one brief. Anyone can easily add one single brief, and that’s what I want you to do.
Over my 38 years of writing on this funny little machine, I have developed an intimate relationship with my theory, which is always evolving, morphing, changing, so that it’s almost unrecognizable from my original theory I learned all of those years ago. And I just really appreciate where I am now in my skill set. One of the most important changes I have made is by constantly adapting to new ways of thinking. I love learning from other reporters, whether it’s texts, conversations, social media — they all have contributed to my development in becoming a better and stronger writer. I recently gave a presentation at Steno in the City in New Orleans and shared some of my favorite steno adaptations. I thought I would share some of those here with the readers of the JCR so that we can continue to share and learn from each other.
Writing shorter made the biggest impact on my journey. I’m not sure exactly when the movement started, but I think Mark Kislingbury had a lot to do with it, so I credit him for my writing metamorphosis. Most people who want to try to change from their old way of writing can easily be overwhelmed by the volume of changes they would have to make. So, I like to tell people to start slow. Start with just one brief. Anyone can easily add one single brief, and that’s what I want you to do. Let’s do that now.
The phrase “going to” is one of the most common in our language. If you are not briefing it already, choose this one phrase and start there. I started with GAO for “going to” and then switched it to “GOI.” I’m not sure why. It just felt better. And once I incorporated that one brief, I was astonished to see how often it truly comes up.
Then I learned to add initial “S” before the GOI for the word “I’m,” which so often precedes that phrase. So now SGOI is “I’m going to.” Again, I was amazed how often I was writing that. Then I slowly added in the right-hand phrase enders, like “K” for know, “R” for remember, “FL” for feel, “RB” for show, “NK” for think, “Z” for see, “S” for say, etc. I added them one at a time, slowly building over time, and now they are all second nature. My fingers just go there without thinking. It’s amazing how our brains work and simply adapt.
So my challenge to anyone reading this is this: If you aren’t using phrases this way, then I want to challenge you to start. Feel free to email me and I’ll be happy to send you a more complete list of my phrase starts and enders. But just start with one! And start today. You’ll be so glad you did!
Alan Peacock, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, is a freelance CART captioner and court reporter from Mobile, Ala. He can be reached at peacock63@comcast.net.
This article appeared in the July issue of the JCR Magazine. The full issue is available online here.
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