Back in August 2024, my Northern Wilds article “Shorthand Writing: The Cryptic Code of the Past” talked about the hand-written shorthand systems of the past that recorded, for example, historic speeches, parliamentary debates, dialogues, court dramas, and sermons dating back over 2,000 years. It also noted that these days, it is shorthand machines that are replacing the hand-written shorthand used by reporters.
So, what are these shorthand machines, the new “speedwriters of language?” How do they work with only 22 keys? Who uses them? And why have they been compared to playing a piano?
First, some background: The Stenograph (aka Stenotype) are machines used to record the spoken word in stenographic shorthand. The specialized keyboards have only 22 keys while the standard for a computer keyboard is 104 alphanumeric keys. And get this—spoken word is about 150 words per minute (wpm), whereas a stenographer using a steno machine can exceed 300 wpm. Stenography is a specialized skill, completely different from traditional typing, and takes months, perhaps years, to learn.
The first standardized shorthand machine was the Stenograph, invented in 1877 by an official court reporter, Miles Marshall Bartholomew (1844-1933). Originally from Belleville, Wisconsin, he was considered the “Father of the Stenograph.” His first machine was launched in 1879, by his company United States Stenograph Corporation of East St. Louis, Illinois. It had 10 keys that could be pressed one at a time to make a series of dots and dashes on a paper strip, akin somewhat to Morse code. In 1883, he wrote, “The old prejudices against machine stenography are giving way to confidence in and acknowledgement of its superiority over the pen, and the tide of public favor is rising rapidly in the field.”
Moving forward, shorthand machine technology continued to develop and today, it replaces handwritten shorthand in court rooms, conferences, captioning, and more. Training is quite difficult, as is achieving professional status.
Minnesota’s Victoria Dudeck in Aitkin County, certified as a Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), describes what’s needed to achieve that RPR designation (a basic credential for steno court reporters). “One must pass a strenuous skills exam wherein we listen to, take down, and transcribe three five-minute dictations, a 180 words per minute literary passage, a 200 wpm jury charge passage, and a 225 wpm two-voice testimony passage. We have a finite amount of time to transcribe.” She adds, “The transcripts must be at least 95 percent accurate. We are not allowed an audio recording to assist. Then we must pass a strenuous written exam as well.” After achieving the RPR designation, steno court reporters must maintain membership in the professional organization, the National Court Reporters Association, plus every three years complete 30 hours of continuing education.
Dudeck uses two steno machine writers, both precision instruments made by Stenograph. A new steno machine costs about $5,000 and uses specialized and expensive software. “We are constantly programming and altering our software to match our own personal writing style,” said Dudeck. “Each steno reporter, in essence, throughout their career, creates a personal dictionary embedded within their software that allows for real time translation of what they input using their steno writer.”
So, how does someone record human speech on a shorthand machine with only 22 keys? And how is it like playing a piano?
“We do ‘write’ on our steno writers in the same manner one would play the piano,” said Dudeck. “The 22 keys can be depressed individually or in any number of combinations, and the writing is syllables rather than letters. With our left hand, we write the beginning of a syllable, our right hand writes the ending sound, and our thumbs write the middle portion. By doing this, we are able to write at high speeds, and our hands actually don’t move any faster than a good typist’s hands do. We utilize something that we call briefs, which are basically short forms of long words or phrases. So, for example, with one stroke I can write the phrase ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ by stroking the letter combination of YORD on my writer.”
Interestingly, the steno machine’s keyboard layout is laid out to enable pressing multiple keys at the same time to form “chords” (aka syllables), akin to playing musical chords on a piano. According to the Art of Chording website, chording is the “key to capturing speech at lightning speed.”
Besides being used in courtroom and legal proceedings, steno machines are used by Closed Captioners (e.g. text on TV) and Captioners for Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) delivered either remotely or on location. Other places, for example, are at stadiums providing live captions on a Jumbotron (massive screens), music festivals, concerts, or at events like the Indy 500 or the Oscars during press conferences. Steno reporters also volunteer with the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress Folklife Center to transcribe interviews of veterans about their military experience.
“Our primary role is to capture the record being made. I love being able to use my skills to help others better understand and process what is happening in a proceeding, a deposition, or a conversation,” said Dudeck, adding, “Memorializing important events is so important to the human experience.”