Computers have continued to dominate our technology and will continue to do so in our future. This makes being able to use a keyboard well a very important skill. The ability to type quickly and accurately can open up more employment opportunities. In addition to employment opportunities, keyboard abilities can make current jobs and communication even easier to complete.
Keyboarding skills need to be honed and perfected in order to provide true improvement. Like many physical tasks, it is repetition that makes the difference. The hands are trained and the muscle memory takes over when someone has mastered the skill. At that point, fast typing with excellent accuracy is the end result.
The 7 Steps to Improving Your Keyboarding Abilities
- Test Yourself Online
- Sit Correctly
- Try Online Lessons
- Take Your Time
- Test Yourself Again
- Do More Lessons
- Repeat Testing and Practice as Necessary
The 7 Steps Explained
There are many different typing tests available online. They are there to assist people in figuring out both their speed as well as their accuracy. These tests are a great step to determining exactly what kind of typing speed you are at, and where you intend to get to. The most important thing about typing is making it error free.
After you’ve tested yourself and set up a baseline, it’s time to work on your form. Proper form will allow a person to feel more comfortable and to type quicker. This form has a straight back and typically forearms at a 90 degree angle from the upper arm.
At this point, it’s time to try some lessons online. The same websites offering speed tests will typically also offer lessons. Depending on the original speed test, some lessons can probably be skipped. If a person is comfortable with home keys and the zones that certain fingers are responsible for, then there’s no need to repeat the absolute beginner lessons.
When doing the lessons, it’s important to be accurate. Being slow to start is fine. People who move slowly but accurately can build up their speed. People who move quickly but without accuracy do not develop the accuracy that they are seeking.
After these first steps it’s good to re examine how the results are shaping up. Retake the same speed test. Don’t press trying to get the best time. Simply type as you have learned to. There should be a noticeable improvement in keyboarding skill at this point
Finally, it’s time for repetition. There are always more advanced lessons when it comes to typing. These more advanced lessons will teach a person to look ahead if they are copying words and typing. This allows them to be typing a word while seeing what the next word to type will be. This speeds up the process as well. A good typing speed to aim for is the speed of thought. If you can type as you think of what you need to type, there’s no chance of losing a train of thought.
After more lessons, test again. Based off the initial test, it’s good to set an end goal. Some people aim for over 40 words per minute. This is a slightly higher than average score. True masters of typing can manage over 100 words per minute when they are going well. These keyboard champions type incredibly quickly and with great accuracy.
