1
00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,520
On completion of this training sequence,

2
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,020
you will be able to learn
how to breathe with your belly,

3
00:00:45,020 --> 00:00:49,310
how to manage your oxygen intake
to support dictation,

4
00:00:49,310 --> 00:00:52,770
and how to use breathing
to support endurance,

5
00:00:52,770 --> 00:00:56,990
or the capacity to subtitle
for long periods of time.

6
00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,260
This is the agenda of this presentation.

7
00:01:06,330 --> 00:01:11,050
As you have seen, a respeaker has to do
many things at the same time.

8
00:01:11,050 --> 00:01:15,310
In this video lecture,
we are going to deal with dictation skills.

9
00:01:16,430 --> 00:01:21,180
Dictation skills is the first set of skills
a respeaker has to learn,

10
00:01:21,180 --> 00:01:25,510
as dictation is the main tool
the respeaker possesses

11
00:01:25,510 --> 00:01:29,100
to do their job
as professionally as possible.

12
00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:32,570
Like one’s hands for a typist,

13
00:01:32,570 --> 00:01:37,780
a respeaker has to train dictation skills
every day in order to automate them.

14
00:01:38,380 --> 00:01:42,800
In this Element,
we will deal with 3 main dictation skills,

15
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,920
namely
breathing to support dictation and endurance,

16
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:53,230
enunciation to support accuracy,
and the third one is aimed at reaching MARS,

17
00:01:53,230 --> 00:01:59,130
or the capacity of a respeaker to speak
as rapidly and accurately as possible.

18
00:01:59,130 --> 00:02:02,100
Let’s get started with Breathing.

19
00:02:02,100 --> 00:02:05,010
The other two skills will be dealt with

20
00:02:05,010 --> 00:02:08,870
in the remaining two video lectures
of this element.

21
00:02:10,090 --> 00:02:12,170
All living creatures breathe.

22
00:02:12,860 --> 00:02:19,890
As humans, we breathe in two main manners,
depending on habits and position.

23
00:02:19,890 --> 00:02:23,390
These are chest breathing
and belly breathing.

24
00:02:23,390 --> 00:02:26,720
Chest breathing
is the normal way of breathing

25
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,620
when standing
or sitting in an upright position.

26
00:02:30,620 --> 00:02:36,460
It is relatively shallow and as you can learn
from the many sources available on the web,

27
00:02:36,460 --> 00:02:39,720
it does not use
the full capacity of your lungs.

28
00:02:40,610 --> 00:02:45,100
Belly breathing
is also quite natural among humans,

29
00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:48,670
especially when lying
in a horizontal position,

30
00:02:48,670 --> 00:02:51,970
as gravitation
does not force the diaphragm down.

31
00:02:52,730 --> 00:02:56,060
Belly breathing
is characterized by the capacity of the lungs

32
00:02:56,060 --> 00:02:58,140
to make the most of oxygen intake.

33
00:02:58,830 --> 00:03:03,680
Professional singers, runners,
and also respeakers use belly breathing.

34
00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:08,500
In particular, this is needed
to always have enough oxygen in the lungs

35
00:03:08,500 --> 00:03:11,270
to avoid two opposite situations:

36
00:03:11,270 --> 00:03:17,640
holding one's breath for too long
and breathing too repetitively.

37
00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:24,470
In this section 1, I will try to teach you
some tips to learn how to belly breathe

38
00:03:24,470 --> 00:03:27,410
so as to increase
the efficiency of your lungs.

39
00:03:28,890 --> 00:03:31,800
To begin with, it is important you understand

40
00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,200
if you already breathe with your belly
or not.

41
00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,160
To understand this,
sit in an upright position,

42
00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:43,350
similarly to the one you are going to adopt
when respeaking.​

43
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,320
Then, put one hand on your belly
just below your ribs,

44
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,460
and the other hand on your chest.

45
00:03:52,460 --> 00:03:56,580
Now, start breathing and see what happens.

46
00:03:56,580 --> 00:03:59,390
If the hand on your belly moves,

47
00:03:59,390 --> 00:04:04,200
you can jump
to section 2 of this video lecture, Dictation.

48
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:10,180
If it doesn’t move, then you need to learn
how to breathe with your belly only.​

49
00:04:11,430 --> 00:04:18,030
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
and let your belly push your hand out.

50
00:04:18,230 --> 00:04:24,960
Then, breathe out through pursed lips
as if you were whistling, like this.

51
00:04:27,070 --> 00:04:33,250
Feel the hand on your belly go in,
and use it to push all the air out.

52
00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:39,610
While inhaling and exhaling,
your chest should not move.

53
00:04:40,340 --> 00:04:43,210
If it does,
you need to repeat the exercise

54
00:04:43,210 --> 00:04:46,280
by putting some pressure
on the hand on your belly.

55
00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:51,360
It may happen
that the hand on your belly keeps not moving.

56
00:04:52,150 --> 00:04:54,230
Keep trying until it does move.

57
00:04:54,230 --> 00:04:58,130
Each time put
a little more pressure if necessary.

58
00:04:58,130 --> 00:05:02,220
If it doesn’t move in the next 15 minutes,
stop trying,

59
00:05:02,220 --> 00:05:05,720
as you may start stressing too much
for this exercise.

60
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:07,240
You can try later.

61
00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,040
In a week you should be able to make it.

62
00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,170
Online there are many websites
that can help you with this.

63
00:05:15,950 --> 00:05:19,410
Once you have learnt
how to breathe with your belly,

64
00:05:19,410 --> 00:05:24,330
you need to automate it,
as you should not spend energy on breathing.

65
00:05:24,330 --> 00:05:28,750
To do so,
move to advanced breathing exercises​.

66
00:05:28,750 --> 00:05:35,150
You need to find a part of the day,
preferably at the very beginning of the day,

67
00:05:35,150 --> 00:05:41,520
which you are going to use to daily practice
breathing for at least 5 minutes.

68
00:05:42,610 --> 00:05:45,940
Then, you need to start holding your breath.

69
00:05:45,940 --> 00:05:50,800
Pay attention, you don’t have to wait
until it becomes unbearable.

70
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,900
You need to always feel comfortable with it.

71
00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:58,350
To do this,
take a deep, slow breath from your belly,

72
00:05:58,350 --> 00:06:00,960
and silently count to 4.

73
00:06:01,690 --> 00:06:07,430
Then, hold your breath,
and silently count from 1 to 7.

74
00:06:07,430 --> 00:06:11,720
And finally, you can breathe out completely

75
00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,220
as you silently count from 1 to 8.

76
00:06:15,220 --> 00:06:18,750
It is enough
you repeat this exercise for five minutes.

77
00:06:18,750 --> 00:06:23,430
Every week, try to set the bar
higher than the week before

78
00:06:23,430 --> 00:06:25,870
until you reach your maximum.

79
00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,390
Finally, you can practice
what is called breath walking,

80
00:06:31,390 --> 00:06:36,040
or the capacity to synchronise your steps
with your breathing.

81
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,880
Find a place where you can walk freely,

82
00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:44,020
without having to stop too often
or to change direction too often.

83
00:06:44,020 --> 00:06:50,360
For 10 minutes, try and match each step
with a fraction of your breathing pattern.

84
00:06:50,990 --> 00:06:56,700
Personally, I am very comfortable
with inhaling completely for 4 steps,

85
00:06:56,700 --> 00:06:59,900
holding my breath for the next 4 steps

86
00:06:59,900 --> 00:07:04,120
and use the following 4 steps
to completely exhale.

87
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,290
This is a very a good exercise
to automate your breathing.

88
00:07:13,660 --> 00:07:16,860
To be able and use breathing
to support dictation,

89
00:07:16,860 --> 00:07:19,800
you first need to automate belly breathing.

90
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,540
If you need to think about belly breathing,

91
00:07:22,540 --> 00:07:25,640
you will spend
too much of your processing capacity.

92
00:07:26,790 --> 00:07:32,670
Once belly breathing is automated,
you can start with dictation exercises.

93
00:07:32,670 --> 00:07:39,000
Start by reading a written text,
preferably an essay or an editorial.

94
00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,880
You should notice an improvement

95
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,730
in terms of how easy and accurate
the final result is.

96
00:07:47,190 --> 00:07:52,330
Then, you can move
to verbatim and sensatim shadowing exercises.

97
00:07:52,330 --> 00:07:58,180
Again, you should notice an improvement
in terms of how easy the process is.

98
00:07:58,180 --> 00:07:59,630
If you feel awkward,

99
00:07:59,630 --> 00:08:04,480
it means you have to invest a little more
in automating your belly breathing.

100
00:08:05,770 --> 00:08:11,010
Finally, you can go
with both verbatim and sensatim respeaking.

101
00:08:11,010 --> 00:08:13,950
Here, you should not just notice
an improvement

102
00:08:13,950 --> 00:08:16,950
in terms of how easy the process is,

103
00:08:16,950 --> 00:08:21,670
but also in terms of how good
the final result is.

104
00:08:21,670 --> 00:08:25,370
However,
this should not be your priority now.

105
00:08:25,370 --> 00:08:28,830
What is important here
is that you are feeling better

106
00:08:28,830 --> 00:08:30,680
with the exercise.

107
00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,080
Don’t be worried
if you still feel a little awkward.

108
00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,620
It may mean you are either tired,

109
00:08:36,620 --> 00:08:40,880
or that your breathing skills
have not been fully automated.

110
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:48,470
In this last section,

111
00:08:48,470 --> 00:08:52,360
we will deal with some practical exercises
that you need to do

112
00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,600
to support endurance through breathing.

113
00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,010
As you may know
at this stage of your training,

114
00:08:58,010 --> 00:09:00,910
respeaking is a challenging profession.

115
00:09:00,910 --> 00:09:04,180
The breathing exercises we have done so far

116
00:09:04,180 --> 00:09:07,970
are meant to facilitate
the process of respeaking.

117
00:09:07,970 --> 00:09:10,940
However, we need to also use breathing

118
00:09:10,940 --> 00:09:15,170
to keep the high quality of your product
in the long run,

119
00:09:15,170 --> 00:09:18,370
as if you are good respeaking 5 minutes,

120
00:09:18,370 --> 00:09:22,720
you may find it harder
to work for 30 minutes or a whole day.

121
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:30,380
To use your breathing to support endurance,
you can start by a very simple exercise.

122
00:09:30,380 --> 00:09:34,570
Remember the breath-walk
I have mentioned in the previous section?

123
00:09:34,570 --> 00:09:39,880
Imagine your lungs
are divided into 4 equal parts of oxygen.

124
00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,330
Now, fill them in.

125
00:09:42,330 --> 00:09:45,300
Your lungs should be full of oxygen.

126
00:09:45,300 --> 00:09:50,710
Start reading the same text
as before while exhaling.

127
00:09:50,710 --> 00:09:55,060
When you have no more oxygen in your lungs,
stop reading

128
00:09:55,060 --> 00:10:00,380
and count how many words and characters
you managed to read.

129
00:10:01,330 --> 00:10:07,080
Now, fill 2 of the 4 parts of oxygen
in your lungs.

130
00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,040
Pay attention not to cheat,
though unintentionally.

131
00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,340
Your lungs should be half full.

132
00:10:14,340 --> 00:10:18,990
Your goal is to read
the same amount of text as before.

133
00:10:18,990 --> 00:10:21,830
Once again, before inhaling again,

134
00:10:21,830 --> 00:10:26,350
put a mark after the last word
you managed to comfortably read

135
00:10:26,350 --> 00:10:30,670
and see how many words and characters
you managed to read.

136
00:10:30,670 --> 00:10:35,420
If you have read more than a half of the text
you read with your lungs full,

137
00:10:35,420 --> 00:10:39,420
this means you have started
managing your breathing properly.

138
00:10:40,830 --> 00:10:45,390
Now, fill only 1 of the 4 parts of oxygen
in your lungs.

139
00:10:45,390 --> 00:10:50,040
Again, pay attention not to cheat,
though unintentionally.

140
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,970
Only one quarter of your lungs
should be full of oxygen.

141
00:10:53,970 --> 00:10:59,840
Your goal is to read the same amount of text
you read the first time,

142
00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,580
when your lungs were full of oxygen.

143
00:11:02,580 --> 00:11:05,450
Once again, before inhaling again,

144
00:11:05,450 --> 00:11:10,170
put a mark after the last word
you managed to comfortably read

145
00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:15,290
and see how many words and characters
you managed to dictate.

146
00:11:15,290 --> 00:11:20,700
If you have read more than a half of the text
you read with your lungs half full,

147
00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:24,390
this means you are keeping improving.

148
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,030
Repeat this exercise

149
00:11:27,030 --> 00:11:30,500
until you manage to comfortably read
20 words,

150
00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:33,540
accounting for around 100 characters,

151
00:11:33,540 --> 00:11:37,530
with one quarter of oxygen intake only.

152
00:11:37,530 --> 00:11:42,380
A sentence in the real world
is normally not longer than that.

153
00:11:42,380 --> 00:11:44,380
Once you have reached this stage,

154
00:11:44,380 --> 00:11:49,570
it means that you can read a sentence
with a minimum oxygen intake.

155
00:11:50,660 --> 00:11:54,030
Repeat this exercise
by first shadowing a speech

156
00:11:54,030 --> 00:11:56,440
and then respeaking a speech.

157
00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,010
The aim is always the same:

158
00:11:59,010 --> 00:12:05,840
to manage to comfortably shadow or respeak
20 words, accounting for 100 characters,

159
00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,180
with one quarter of oxygen intake only.

160
00:12:10,260 --> 00:12:12,440
Once you are comfortable with this,

161
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,410
you will be able to find
your pace in respeaking

162
00:12:15,410 --> 00:12:17,190
by managing your breathing

163
00:12:17,190 --> 00:12:21,290
according to the number of pauses
in the speech to subtitle.

164
00:12:21,290 --> 00:12:26,530
In the next video lecture, we will see
how to improve quality of recognition.

165
00:12:30,330 --> 00:12:31,550
In this video lecture,

166
00:12:31,550 --> 00:12:35,770
we have seen how important it is
to breathe with your belly.

167
00:12:35,770 --> 00:12:41,090
Then, we have seen how to manage
your oxygen intake to support dictation.

168
00:12:41,090 --> 00:12:46,270
Finally, we have seen
how to use breathing to support endurance,

169
00:12:46,270 --> 00:12:50,230
or the capacity to subtitle
for long periods of time

170
00:12:50,230 --> 00:12:53,530
thanks to gradual breathing exercises.