Theory

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A steno theory is the set of rules a stenographer learns that allows them to convert words to stenographic outlines. Stenographic outlines are a shorthand form for English words that is quicker to input, using a stenographic keyboard. Most theories include a corresponding dictionary that contains a lot of outlines and their translations that work according to the set of rules, as well as teaching materials such as a textbook.

There are several English steno theories in existence, which have evolved over time as technology evolves. Additionally, while most people start with one theory, each person makes individual customizations to that theory and may eventually incorporate elements of other theories as well. That is to say, there is no singular way to write English using stenography, and most stenographers use similar but mutually unintelligible theories.

Community member Sammi Ta created a visualization of the evolution of English steno theories.

Many of the traditional stenographic theories in existence are proprietary; that is to say, they are protected by some combination of copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property protections, and are not freely available. Some theories and their textboooks and dictionaries are available for purchase online from their owners, and some are available to learn through stenography schools which license the theories from their owners.

There are a few stenographic theories which are available for free; that is, their creators have shared learning resources and dictionaries openly at no cost to the community. The majority of the Plover community chooses to learn one of these free theories. Currently, the main theories available for free are Plover theory, Lapwing theory, and Platinum theory.

For beginners, read the recommendations on how to choose a steno theory.

Overview

See also: Choosing a steno theory

Steno theory is not "standardized" and there are many theories and variants because languages are complicated and all people interpret the language they speak in their own unique way.

English, in particular, has great variance in spelling and pronunciation worldwide. Unlike other languages such as French, the English language has no governing body that defines rules. And for the spelling rules that are somewhat standard, such as for General American English or British English spelling, they still poorly reflect the pronunciation, due to the many phonological changes English has undergone through the centuries.

These features of English (no standard rules, a poor orthography-phonology correspondence, and billions of speakers) have led to multiple interpretations on how to represent it in shorthand.

Homophones

Homophones (words that sound the same and are spelled differently) cause conflicts for phonetic stenographic theories. Different theories take different stances on how to resolve these conflicts.

For example, many theories use the phonetic outline to represent the more common of two homophones, and the phonetic outline with an asterisk * to represent the less common homophone. For example, "team" may be represented by the outline TAOEPL while "teem" is represented by the outline TAO*EPL. With more than two homophones, the disambiguation gets more complicated.

Many theories also use orthographic (spelling-based) outlines to resolve a conflict. For example, "teem" may be represented by the outline TAOEPL while "team" is represented by the outline TAEPL (because team contains A and E).

Some theories handle homophones by adding an extra stroke at the end. For example, "team" may be represented by the outline TAOEPL while "teem" is represented by the outline TAOEPL/R-R.

Shorter versus longer theories

Steno theories tend to be classified on a vague continuum between short and long.

The word "short" is used to describe steno theories that have a low number of strokes per word. That is, use of briefs to reduce the number of strokes needed to write multisyllabic words and multi-word phrases is a central feature. Short steno theories tend to require more cognitive load since there is more mental effort needed to create and memorize abbreviated steno outlines, which pays off in speed compared to longer theories.

The word "long" is used to describe steno theories that have a higher number of strokes per word. The steno outlines closely resemble the output words, and long multisyllable words typically require as many strokes as there are syllables. Long theories tend to require less mental processing going from words to outlines, but to reach high speeds time must be spent shortening the theory, adding briefs, and possibly a faster stroke speed.

Different individuals may be better with one or the other, or somewhere between. Both types of theories are used in practice to reach professional certified speeds, so it is entirely the preference of the user.

Varieties of English accents and dialects

See also: English steno with a non-American accent

English dialects and accents can affect how words are spelled and pronounced. It is difficult to create an effective steno theory that works for all speakers and writers.

However, as of 2026, the complete theories known to the Plover community are all based on a North American English accent.

Free steno theories

As part of Open Steno's initiative to make steno available to learn for all, there are a few steno theories that have been made freely available to use.

Platinum theory has also been made available freely, but is not open source.

Plover theory

See also: Plover theory

Mirabai Knight, a professional captioner, developed her own personal theory over time and shared it for free. Two textbooks explaining the theory have been developed, and the dictionary was openly shared (most professional stenographers do not openly share their dictionary). Most notably, the dictionary is distributed by default with every installation of the Plover app.

The first textbook, Learn Plover!, was developed as an analysis of the dictionary, reverse engineering theory rules from synthesizing dictionary entries.

The second textbook, The Art of Chording, was written in exchange for lessons from Knight.

Compared to the implementation of theory by a court reporter focused on the legal setting, Plover's dictionary is presupposed to be a more broad implementation of theory covering terms for a range of subject matter seen in captioning.

Both textbooks are generally considered incomplete explanations of Plover theory and the lack of resources has led to frustration in the learning process for some. Others enjoy filling in the gaps or designing their own solutions for undocumented rules.

Lapwing theory

See also: Lapwing theory

Lapwing theory was created by a community member who wanted to address what he perceived as the shortcomings of Plover theory. It shares many principles with Plover theory, but incorporates new rules—particularly when it comes to writing complicated words.

Lapwing was created with the idea that the dictionary should be a more consistent implementation of the theory rules and should not contain misstrokes or outlines that did not follow theory. Lapwing also codifies more rules compared to Plover theory and has a complete textbook.

Platinum theory

See also: Platinum theory

A free but proprietary theory for court reporting students available for download on the Platinum steno website taught through YouTube videos.

Commercial steno theories

Below is an overview of a few of the most common commercial steno theories.

Phoenix theory

See also: Phoenix theory

A theory known for patenting the Vowel Omission Principle that reduced conflicts while still allowing the theory to remain highly phonetic.

Magnum theory

See also: Magnum theory

A brief-heavy steno theory used by Mark Kislingbury, the current record holder for stenography transcription at 370 wpm at 95.4% accuracy.

StenEd theory

See also: StenEd theory

Possibly the most popular stenographic theory in the industry.

Realwrite/Realtime theory

See also: Realwrite/Realtime theory

Unique among steno theories for using chords not directly based on the original Ward Stone Ireland. The theory makes use of chords that represent more orthography. The theory was built with realtime writing in mind, unlike other theories which existed before computer transcription and were adapted.