"I'm a writer who seems to have plateaued in note taking and want to become quicker without losing accuracy," emails Ben Lando, a freelance writer from Kalamazoo, Mich.
"Is there a shorthand style in general," he asks. "And, maybe, a book particularly you could recommend to learn better and even a new style of note taking?"
"Ben," I wrote back, "I'm not an expert on note-taking. my skills are pretty poor which is why I've relied on a tape recorder. I'd check with your local community college or business school. There are books available on the subject too; just ask at your local bookstore. here are various speed writing books and courses.
"One option and one I used the other day when I didn't want to use a tape recorder was to stop people when I didn't get a complete quote and ask them to repeat it.
"The problem ,of course, is when stats or numbers start flying or the subject matter is befuddling. In that case, you might want to come prepared with specific questions and get them out of the way first, then start the conversation and stop folks when they start talking too fast or are incomprehensible.
"One of the smartest things that Tom French of the St. Pete Times did was take shorthand in high school. He doesn't need a tape recorder.
"Bottom line, I think, is that if you do want to learn some kind of shorthand, there will be a sharp and time-consuming learning curve."
Ben and myself would be glad to hear other opinions.
I remember sitting at one of the school board meetings I used to cover and this lady (I remember her being old enough to be my grandmother) sitting next to me was scribbling nonsensical wobbly lines all over the paper and she just went one page after another without stopping. I asked her what that was and she said it was the old school shorthand. She learned it in school, far too soon before they even knew about cutbacks and NCLB. So I asked if she could rephrase every word said and she did. Anyway, I know there's a method out there. Just gotta either go back in time or take a class.
Posted by: Luis Gomez | March 28, 2006 at 12:42 AM
In personal interviews, I always tell people up front that I don't write/type as fast as people talk (that's almost a lie re my typing, but never mind) and that I may interrupt them from time to time to get caught up (or not fall behind).
Covering a meeting is dicier; in that situation I worry more about getting the substance of and reason for the action than any direct quote. Doesn't mean I won't take down any, but it's not the first priority.
Posted by: Lex | March 28, 2006 at 01:55 PM
I use a digital recorder, which gets rid of some of the problems of tape. I use an Olympus DM-10 (~$120). It provides more recording time (more than four hours at high quality, which I can stretch to almost 12 hours at low quality. Hope I'm never in a 12-hour meeting!). The files also export to Windows Media Player format.
On top of the quality (no hiss like a tape) I can download the recordings to my computer and archive them onto CD. If you haven't made the leap from tape to digital, now is the time to do it.
Posted by: Eric Beavers | March 28, 2006 at 04:56 PM
I, too, use an Olympus digital recorder, but only when I have a sit-down interview or something lengthy. For on-the-fly interviews when people talk fast, I made up my own shorthand, which is a plus because if my notes ever get subpoenaed nobody will be able to decipher them. :)
It basically consists of letters as abbreviations, like "r" for are or our, "D" for defendant (I cover court), "v" for very, which I stole from Bridget Jones's Diary, and various others. As long as you can read the shorthand, even if they are scribbles on a page, it helps.
Posted by: Becky | March 29, 2006 at 03:00 PM
I have a great little note taking gadget called an Alpha Smart. It's a dedicated word processor, can't edit or format, just creates simple text files very easily. Weighs nothing, very sturdy, costs $250, runs on AA batteries for hundreds of hours. No one knows about it but I love mine.
Posted by: Karl Weber | April 01, 2006 at 11:56 AM
I took shorthand classes and tee-line and hated both ... however I love my Sony TCM-359V cassette corder. It takes real-size cassettes which means I can play them back on a louder stereo system if required.
But more than that, I prefer eye contact all the way through an interview and the cassette recorder allows me to get on the the connection thing.
I've got my first 'email interview' in process. I'm curious to see how that turns out.
Posted by: Di | April 22, 2006 at 12:03 PM