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Stenography (as I understand it) is a method of recording the spoken word in places such as courtrooms and on television.
I am a court reporting student so I spend a lot of time using a Stenograph, which is basically a fancy computer-typewriter hybrid, and practice to write with a goal of 225 words per minute.
For context, the average person types at 40-60, people often at a computer type at around 80-100, and the fastest typist in the world typed at roughly 230 WPM.
Woah, that's fast! How does the average stenographer write faster than the fastest typist in the world? Magic!
Sort of. It's a mixture of mixing words together and minimizing physical movement. Because of the way the keyboard on the machine is set up, and because all the keys are pressed down at one time instead of one after the other to form a single sound, you move less. For example, the word cat. On a keyboard, you type c-a-t. Three movements. On a stenography, you press KAT. Those are three buttons, all at once. This makes the word "cat." Cool! Now, mix those words into one stroke! Think of a courtroom. The judge says "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," and you have to write that. On a keyboard, that's 32 movements. Sounds slow. Can you guess how many it is on a stenograph? JUST ONE!!!!!!! Isn't that cool?
The court reporter is a well known part of the courtroom, as even just in jury duty or in court dramas, you can see them writing away. Now you know how they do it!