I try to always make time for students or prospective students. I hope
this information whets your appetite and gets you started. If you have
more questions, please feel free to contact me.
Explanation of Stenography
This site shows
an excellent example of the steno machine keyboard layout with an explanation
of how shorthand works. The entire section
About Court Reporting
is worth visiting.
Training
The minimum time to graduate from reporting school is about two years, which
includes attending straight through the summer with no break. Some schools
offer four-year degrees. Learning the keyboard and phonetic shorthand language
takes a few months, while the rest of the time is devoted to developing reflexes
quick enough to respond accurately to the average rate of speech.
Unfortunately, the attrition rate is very high. I've heard quotes of as much
as 80-85%. From the group I originally started with, only 3 out of 35 people
completed the training, got certified and actually began working. And one of
them only tried it for 12 months and quit.
Don't be discouraged, but do be enlightened. It takes a high level of commitment
and perseverance to succeed in court reporting school, but it is well worthwhile.
When I first spoke to my instructor, as she described the lessons and the equipment,
she kept saying things like "if you continue" or "if you get through theory" and
sounded very pessimistic. At the time, I thought it was odd. I am an overachiever,
and I assumed she was exaggerating the level of difficulty. Well, the training
proved to be much harder than I expected and very discouraging and demoralizing
at times. I am so glad I persevered, and I absolutely love being a court reporter,
but it was extremely challenging.
Requirements to Work
This will vary depending where you live. Some states have licensure and others
do not. You may be required to pass a mandatory examination before you can work.
You will also probably need to become a notary public in order to swear in witnesses.
For some states, the authority to administer oaths is included with a court reporting
license, but in other places, it is obtained separately.
Whether your state requires certification or not, plan to pass your local exam,
usually called a CSR (Certified Shorthand Reporter), or the entry-level national
test, called the RPR (Registered Professional Reporter).
This will demonstrate to prospective employers that you have achieved a minimum
level of speed and accuracy. Court reporting exams typically consist of about
five minutes of recorded dictation at a particular speed. Candidates take down the
dictation and transcribe it within an allotted time. Some exams include multiple
legs focused on different types of material such as literary, jury charge and
two-voice Q&A or even four-voice Q&A. In addition to the skills portion, tests
may include a written knowledge test of practices and procedures.
Career Paths
Once you have trained as a machine shorthand writer, several different avenues
are open to you. Traditionally, reporters create a verbatim record of legal
proceedings. Official reporters are employed by a specific court and work in
a courtroom with a judge. Freelance reporters occasionally fill in at court,
but mostly cover pretrial depositions conducted in attorneys' offices. Freelance
reporters are sometimes hired to report non-legal proceedings such as meetings
or seminars, but this is in addition to deposition work rather than instead of it.
Another possibility is providing closed captioning for television, mostly for
live programming such as news or sporting events. Captioning demands a high
degree of accuracy and perpetual knowledge of current events.
A third branch to consider is CART reporting (Communication Access Realtime
Translation). CART is provided for the deaf and hard of hearing in classrooms,
meetings and conferences, sometimes one-on-one using a laptop computer and other
times projected on a large screen for multiple users. In addition, some reporters
CART religious services at local churches, though generally on a volunteer basis.
The National Court Reporters Association has sponsored a site
specifically about CART reporting.
CARTWheel is another
good resource.
More Information
The National Court Reporters Association is a
great place to start. They have prepared some information geared towards students
at www.bestfuture.com.
StarTran Realtime Theory's FAQ defines
many useful terms, describes ideal traits for court reporting candidates and details some of the equipment
needed to get started, which applies whether you study their theory or attend another school or program.
I also recommend visiting a few court reporting forums and bulletin boards. Here
are two of my favorites:
Finally, Glen Warner, a court reporting student, has assembled a very
comprehensive website for prospective students.
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