Make no mistake! Learning shorthand is key to reporting

If you want to be a journalist you are going to have to learn shorthand, especially if you have ambitions to be a court reporter.

Shorthand is a writing system that allows you to write words quickly and Teeline is the preferred choice of shorthand for many journalism schools and journalism training colleges as it is fairly easy to learn.

It uses letters of the alphabet but excludes unnecessary letters such as double letters, silent letters and vowels in the middle of words.

For instance, bubble would become bl. The vowels U and E have been deleted and only one B is included. Similarly, hedge would become heg, thereby eliminating the silent letter D and the vowel E.

However, rather than writing bl or heg, Teeline uses symbols called outlines that make the shorthand even quicker to write.

If this is the first time you have heard of Teeline shorthand or think that you will never be able to do it, then don't panic! It is not as hard as it appears and trust me, if I can do it so can you!

And as most journalists will tell you, it is getting your speed of writing shorthand to the standard 100wpm that takes the time, not learning the shorthand outlines.

But it is vital to the job of being a journalist and a skill that you will be glad you have if you are in a public meeting or doing a spot of court reporting.

At the UK's Society of Editors' Regional Press Awards 2012 the five shortlisted candidates said shorthand was the one skill they couldn't do without.

You can read their comments here