BASIC TYPING TUTORIAL

One of the most common works that a Virtual Assistant does is Typing. This is one of the skills that clients look for whenever they plan to hire a Virtual Assistant. They would check for the VAs typing speed. Aside from the typing job itself, there are also other tasks that involve typing so this skill is really essential for a Virtual Assistant. Example of tasks that need typing skills are: typing of written files/documents to Microsoft Word or Excel, Data Entry, Article Writing, and most especially transcription wherein you do a lot of typing. You need to type at least 60 words per minute and type accurately in order do the following tasks faster. In this tutorial, I will teach you some basic typing skills to improve your typing speed. Proper positioning of your fingers is imperative in order to do the trick. Ive noticed that some people type the letters in the keyboard using only two of their fingers the index finger and the middle finger. Once you learn to use all of your ten fingers working together in typing words, youll be able to improve your typing skills and later on, type without looking at the keyboard. This can help you minimize errors and type more accurately.

So lets begin with the tutorial. 1. Proper positioning of the fingers. You should start by positioning your eight fingers the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and the small finger (left and right hands) on the following letters: A S D F (left hand) and J K L - ; (right hand) Your fingers should be positioned this way. This serves as your home row. Your two thumbs will work with the space bar. You can use either of them depending on which one youre comfortable with.

2. You should start by typing this combination of letters from the home row with the corresponding fingers so you can familiarize your fingers with the letters as well as memorize the home keyboard.

3. Once you familiarized yourself with the home row, its time for you to familiarize your fingers with the upper and lower rows. With the help of this picture, you can see which letters should your fingers type.

It is really quite difficult to do it at first but practice makes perfect. Memorizing the letters of the keyboard would really help a lot.

4. Now you know which letters each of your fingers should type. Then its time for you to do some of the different typing exercises. These would help you memorize the letters as well as your fingers to get familiarized with their proper positioning. A five to ten minute practice everyday would help you improve your typing skills.

LEFT HAND HOME KEYS

fdsa asdf fdsa adsf sdaf ssda affs sdda fsda fdsf sfda dsds affa afsd fasd

RIGHT HAND HOME KEYS

jkl; ;lkj jlk; lkjk jjlk kklj lljk jlk; ljk; klj; kjlk jlkj ljkl jjll kkjj llkk lk;;

HOME KEYS WITH BOTH HANDS

asdf jkl; aldk sjaj jskl dslk jfkd lsa; skdl ajlf flsk jdla alsj fkdj ksld ask; dad; fall

HOME ROW - ADD G AND H

fgfg jhjh gghh gfds hjkl sdfg lkjh asgk lhks hlkh gsld algh khdl gas; had; hall;

UPPER ROW ADD E AND I

dede kiki deki kide dead sell silk gisk died slid feds kild adek high sled eagh kjde

UPPER ROW - ADD "R" AND "U"

frfr juju frju jufr rufj rugh jhur gfru read suik luse jifa alsi ruid iegh jhre fsui lufe

UPPER ROW ADD T AND Y

frft ftds gtgt jujy jyjh hyhu frft jujy rest rust tred alas stel list just susy asky rusy

LOWER ROW ADD M AND N

mjnj Mjnj mJnj mjNj mjnJ jkmn jhnj kjmj nest must mist Rest rent mint Last

LOWER ROW ADD B AND V

fvfb bfvf vbgf fgbv fgjh fvjm fbjn fvjm fbjn frfv jujm ftfb jyjn beds vase nest must

LOWER ROW ADD C AND THE COMMA [ , ]

dcdc k,k, asdc ;lk, edcd ik,k dcfv k,jm cat, fish, bird, net, sad, lick, red, cent, get

UPPER ROW ADD W AND O

swsw lolo swlo desw kilo wowo slsl slow asks load walk work grow how; now; cow

UPPER ROW ADD P AND Q

aqaq ;p;p aq;p asaq ;l;p aqua plan play hope quit diet pray clap nope pals Iraq

LOWER ROW ADD X AND Z

azaz sxsx asdf aszx saxz xasz azsx xsaz Ajax Alex Fuzz fizz wax, six, fox buzz

5. Now youre done learning with all the letters. You can now start practicing with a phrase. This sentence is commonly used for practice typing because it contains all of the letters in the alphabet. You can type this simple phrase repeatedly so you can practice your fingers with all the letters in the keyboard.

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"

6. Once youve practice these exercises, you can start typing sentences or paragraph for further practice. There are plenty of sites online that offer practice typing. The following websites are useful tool in practice typing:
a. http://www.typeonline.co.uk/

b. http://www.artypist.com/en/typing-games/dinokids-trash-typer

I know this is for kids but this is very helpful for you to practice typing. You can also enjoy playing this game. There are other categories which you can find on this website. This is just one of my examples.

c. Facebook has also a good application for typing which is the Typing Maniac. This is also helpful for you in practice typing. As the level goes up, the speed goes faster too. You can also challenge your friends. This is application is quite addicting. You will really enjoy your practice typing with this game.

* These are just some of the sites that you can use in practice typing but you can find other good sites online that offer practice typing for free.

7. Once you feel like you are good already, you can check your speed to see if you have improved. Well, you can always check your typing speed test at least once or twice a month or it depends on you. These are some of the good sites that you can use: http://www.typingtest.com/

http://www.goodtyping.com/

http://www.speedtypingonline.com/typing-test

I hope you learned something from my Basic Typing Tutorial. This will be really helpful for your typing jobs especially in Transcription. I know it will be a little bit difficult at first. You have to practice a lot. Practice makes perfect as they say. Patience is also essential. Just try to practice everyday. It will only take a few minutes of your time so no worries if you have a lot of projects from your clients. Thank you very much for reading and good luck. ^_^

Credits: Photos are copied from the following sites. http://yourravi.com/correct-finger-placement-for-faster-typing-on-laptop/ http://www.powertyping.com/qwerty/lessonsq.html http://www.moneyinstructor.com/lesson/keyboardingintro.asp http://www.keybr.com/ http://www.yourpersonaltutor.com/typingtutor.htm http://www.typeonline.co.uk/copypractice.php