That sounds like what Sheldon Brown recommends. I had a hard time picturing it, in spite of his pictures, but I think I've got it now.
The Jobst Brandt (spoke squeezing) method just seemed uncharacteristcally vague in his book. He tells you that doing this wrong is the cause of most wheel failures, and then he says to squeeze "hard".... I may be overthinking this, but I like things to be measurable when they're important.