Pitman Shorthand Tuition

Would you like to learn to write shorthand?

Pursuing a career as an Executive/Personal Assistant is both exciting and challenging. We need to remember, however, that being an Executive in today’s world is an extremely demanding role. Executives rely heavily on their PAs, EAs & Office Administrators to assist them in organising their daily schedules, reporting regimes, channeling of communications and a whole range of tasks. It is essential that today’s PA/EA is efficient, organised and equipped with the best tools of the trade to ensure that the time of both Executive and Assistant is utilized efficiently.

Imagine .......

• You have an outstanding reputation as a Personal/Executive Assistant and your efficiency is recognised by your Manager and your peers! You are always “one step ahead” and extremely organised.
• You have the ability to write shorthand and can quickly record the numerous tasks and action lists that are given to you by your Manager without the need to ask him/her to repeat things !
• You save yourself and your Manager precious time by your ability to quickly take dictation on the proposed content of the next monthly report or communications to be relayed to internal/external stakeholders.
• You have an exceptional ability to minute those complex meetings with shorthand because you capture more detail than with the use of a laptop, resulting in the highest standard of minutes due to the ability to refer back to your shorthand notes.
• The details of messages from callers to be referred on are precise and detailed—your Manager knows exactly what is required. More importantly, the caller was impressed because you did not need to ask for the message to be repeated so your reputation for efficiency has already begun!
• You’re keen to progress and be noticed! Your role model is the EA to the CEO .... How are you going to get there?

Whilst traditional Pitman New Era Shorthand has been around for nearly two hundred years, in the last decade the teaching of this unique skill seems to have been forgotten, yet most Generation X Office Personnel continue to use it for a million tasks. Most Senior Executives and their Assistants know what shorthand is – many Executives benefit by its use if they are lucky enough to have an Assistant that uses it. Ultimately, Shorthand is a “time saving” device.

Pitman Shorthand was invented by Sir Isaac Pitman in 1837. In 1840 a second edition of his work appeared under the title “Phonography” or, in other words, Writing by Sound. Over the years many improvements were introduced. These improvements were the subject of valuable criticism and experience by the large number of expert writers of the shorthand system who had applied it to work of every description. No other system of shorthand designed for the English language has been subjected to tests so diverse and severe as those which Pitman Shorthand has undergone since its introduction. The result is that it has been successfully adapted to suit the practical requirements of all classes of shorthand writers.

The advantages of shorthand’s practical ability are so universally acknowledged today it is unnecessary to emphasize its unique skill. The value of shorthand, whether as a means of private communication or for its use in various ways in business or professional life, is acknowledged as a language form of excellence for all who speak the English language. Furthermore is the fact that shorthand has been adapted to no fewer than twenty foreign languages!

After successfully teaching classes in Brisbane for two years, Tanya Battel commenced a Pitman Shorthand via Correspondence Course in March 2009, after receiving continuous enquiries from interested individuals across Australia..  There are now over 70 Students learning Shorthand via Correspondence.