I saw some videos and still can’t understand, a lady just type like 5 buttons ans a whole phrase comes out on the screen. Also doesnt make sense at all what I see from the stenographer screen, it is like random letters no in the same line.
EDIT: Im impressed by how complex and interesting stenography is! Thank you for the replies and also thank you very much for the Awards! 🙂
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Stenographers use as specially-made machine and keyboard. The left side keys are the beginning consonant sounds of the word or syllable, the bottom four “thumb” keys are for vowel sounds, and the right-hand keys are the end consonant sounds. It looks like [this](http://qwertysteno.com/Images/steno-keyboard1.gif), although the keys are blank.
Unlike a regular keyboard, a steno machine allows the user to stroke multiple keys at one time, like a chord when playing the piano. That’s why we call it “writing” instead of typing. And things are generally stroked phonetically. So KAT for cat, etc. You’ll notice there aren’t enough keys for all the letters, so that means that we stroke multiple keys together to indicate other letters/sounds. For instance the H and R keys on the left hand pressed together equal the “L”. So if I was writing “laugh”, I would stroke HRAF — L A F (phonetically).
We combine that with shorthand … good ole shortening of words and phrases. So if I stroke LAIRJ – my computer with specialized software will translate that as “ladies and gentlemen of the jury”. If I write “P-PD out comes “preponderance of the evidence.” Court reporters learn thousands of these briefs.
Combine the shorthand with being able to stroke entire words or syllables at one time and stenographers become certified at 225 words per minute. Many can write at over 300 words per minute in short bursts. Learning to do this is hella hard — which is why court reporters are paid very well.
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