Tips to Encourage More Organized Court Reporting
A good sense of organization is valuable in almost every workplace. A heightened sense of
organization and efficiency, though, can give you a reputation around the office as somewhat
obsessive. For court reporters, however, painstaking organization is a skill that is often highly
admired.
On the surface, court reporting may seem like an easy job—after all, it’s only typing what other
people say, right?
Wrong. Court reporting is an essential part of the legal process and, when done correctly, can
make the difference between a good verdict and a bad one. A court reporter is put under a
tremendous amount of pressure to transcribe detailed and accurate reports flawlessly. In order to
accomplish this task, she must go above and beyond the conventional standards of organization,
especially while editing transcripts.
Strengthening Editing Skills and Organization
For a court transcript to be useful, it must not only make sense but it must also be clear and
concise, highly detailed (reflecting everything that was said during the deposition), and well-
written.
Although the pressure and chaos of a trial may cause slight errors during transcribing, this
doesn’t mean those errors should be permanent. In fact, the editing process should resolve any
errors made during the initial transcribing and should incorporate any additional tweaks that may
be needed. Unfortunately, the pressure for precision can easily affect a court reporter’s editing
efficiency.
Below are a few helpful tips our best reporters follow to organize their editing tasks, boost their
efficiency, and also produce high-quality transcripts without wasting time.
Practice. Although editing may seem time-consuming, by taking the time to proofread
your transcripts closely you’re not only ensuring a better record but you’re also allowing
yourself to become a better court reporter by learning from your mistakes. For example,
by editing your pieces, you can learn what words or phrases you find confusing during a
trial, in order to prevent confusion later on. Furthermore, the more time you spend
editing, the easier it will become—and the easier it becomes, the faster you’ll be able to
finish future editing projects.
Proofread. Before presenting a transcript, take the time to read, re-read, and proof the
entire report—paying special attention to proper spellings (locations, names, foreign
words). It may even be beneficial to read the transcript in different mediums (computer
screen, on paper, in a different font, etc.) in order to see potential variations or errors.
Sometimes looking at text from a different angle can give you a different perspective of
what works and what doesn’t.
Focus. Distractions are most common cause of errors. When half of your focus is pulled
away from your transcript, it’s difficult to notice potential errors. When editing, make
sure you’re in a location that has limited distractions (noise, people, visual stimuli, etc.),
so that you can put your full attention on your transcript.
Double-check. In some situations, you may find that instead of proofreading a transcript
completely through in one sitting, you’re forced to edit in sections. When this occurs,
before submitting the finished product, make sure you do one final read-through from
start to finish to ensure it reads smoothly without any errors.
Attorneys depend on their court reporters to have the skills and forethought to properly edit their
transcripts without being told to do so. Make sure you build your skills in order to ensure that
you can give what the court depends on—A professional, efficient, and reliable court reporter
who produces accurate, well-written, and dependable transcripts.
To be a successful court reporter, you need to expand your vocabulary. Read any and all types of
books, and if you come across a word that you do not know, look up the definition. Download a
vocabulary app that teaches you a new word each day. Take the time to learn medical prefixes
and suffixes, as well as basic legal terms. The more words you are familiar with, the better
reporter you will be. You should also keep up with the news at a local and national level. This is
a good habit to begin because once you are a court reporter, you could work on a variety of cases
that pertain to current societal issues.
Research the technology and types of machines to find one that you are most comfortable using.
Check into what is most often used in your geographical area. Once you have learned how to
operate the stenograph machine, you need to practice typing each and every day. In order to
become a certified court reporter, you must be able to type 225 words per minute (wpm)
accurately. That doesn’t just happen over night. It takes hours and hours of practice to reach that
speed and accuracy. Set aside time each day to practice. Many court reporters have claimed that
they had to practice at least three to four hours per day to graduate. When you first begin
practicing, focus on accuracy rather than speed. Being able to type at a fast speed does you no
good if your transcript is full of misspellings and punctuation errors.
When you are practicing, make sure that you are positioned correctly and not looking at the keys
at all times. You should be sitting up straight with both of your feet flat on the floor. Position
your keyboard so that your forearms are parallel to the floor. You should feel comfortable while
typing. If you experience pain in your arms or shoulders, try adjusting your chair or the height of
your machine. Stretching your hands, arms and neck can help prevent tension. The more time
you spend typing on your machine, the more natural it will begin to feel.
When practicing, start a dictionary on your stenography machine and program frequently used
words. When you come across a word you have difficulty typing,5pause and write the word
down. Keep a running list of all the words that you struggle with. Then, practice typing that list
of words repeatedly until you no longer struggle with them, and add them to your dictionary.
While in court reporting school, utilize your resources. Ask professors questions, meet up with
fellow students to practice typing and seek out advice from experienced reporters. School can be
challenging, and you need a support system to encourage you to keep going. The stronger your
network, the better you will be. You can also look for an internship opportunity to be proofreader
or a scopist for an experienced court reporter. Research the different types of court reporting—
official and freelance to determine where your dream job is.
References
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