Two-Voice Question-and-Answer Dictation at 180 WPM (Realtime, No Editing)
Two-voice question-and-answer dictation at 180 wpm
This domain tests realtime writing of a two-speaker exchange at 180 wpm with no editing. The examiner expects consistent Q-and-A format, correct speaker changes, and punctuation that preserves the question and answer. The two voices may differ in pitch, pace, and idiom, and the content may include interruptions, read-back, and short answers.
Core rules
- Start each new speaker on a new paragraph with Q. or A. followed by a space. Do not run two speakers into one paragraph.
- Detect the speaker change from voice, syntax, and content. Questions often invert word order or begin with who, what, when, where, why, or how; answers often begin with yes, no, a pronoun, or a direct statement.
- Punctuate the question as a question even when the answer is a fragment. Capitalize the first word after the label.
- Mark interruptions with an em dash or double dash only if your format uses it; otherwise close the interrupted sentence and begin the new speaker’s paragraph.
- Keep quoted read-back material inside quotation marks and preserve the label of the speaker being quoted.
Worked example
Dictated: Q. Where were you standing when you first saw the defendant? A. I was near the corner of Fifth and Main.
Reasoning: The first voice asks a complete question, so Q. is followed by a capital and a question mark. The second voice answers with a complete sentence, so A. begins a new paragraph. Fifth and Main are street names and are capitalized; defendant is a common noun and stays lowercase. I is always capitalized. If the answer had been only “Near Fifth and Main,” it would still take A. and a capital N, but no question mark.
Traps
- Missing a speaker change when the answer begins with a short Yes or No.
- Labeling an answer as Q. because the content sounds like a question.
- Writing a run-on paragraph that hides who said what.
- Dropping quotation marks around read-back or quoted testimony.
- Capitalizing plaintiff, defendant, or witness in running text when the format does not require it.