Boosting your memory skills can help you become a better court reporter. The Stenotype Institute recommends three great books to help.

A great memory is a major key to success as a court reporter. Not only must court reporters memorize countless letter combinations used for various words and phrases throughout their careers, but they also must devise ways to quickly memorize the names of attorneys and parties to a complex case. For instance, one veteran court reporter who worked the Exxon Valdez oil spill case recalls that at least 35 attorneys, sometimes more, were involved in the case and attended court sessions daily. That’s a lot of names to learn on the fly and remember.

The Stenotype Institute, a nationally renowned court reporting school with two Florida campuses, recommends three books with amazing memory-boosting techniques and tips:

• Memory Power – You Can Develop a Great Memory, 2005: You can’t go wrong with advice from the American Grand Master of Memory. Author Scott Hagwood developed a slew of memory building techniques after he underwent radiation treatment for cancer at age 36. Doctors had warned him that treatment might cause memory loss, so he set out to beat the odds. He devised a series of simply daily memory skills to help him remember text, numbers and faces. Over time, his techniques proved so effective that he began entering contests and became a multi-time National Memory Champion.
• The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School and at Play, 1996: Co-Authors Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas both are tops in the memory field. Lorayne is a magician, memory-training specialist and writer dubbed “The Yoda of Memory Training” by Time magazine. Lucas is a former NBA player and a memory education expert known as “Doctor Memory.” Both have written books on their own, but the two joined forces on The Memory Book, developing a fail-proof system that will help you file data, figures and contacts in your head, read and comprehend text faster, dominate social situations and shorten your study hours.
• Boost Your Brain Power Week by Week – 52 Techniques to Make You Smarter, 2006: Author Bill Lucas has developed a week-by-week system to help you become a more productive thinker in one year. You’ll learn to improve concentration and focus, enhance memory and adapt quickly to change (like that slew of new attorneys filing into the courtroom on day 10 of a complex case). Exercises and self-evaluation techniques help you to monitor and quicken your progress.

Got more memory tips? Post them on the Stenotype Institute’s Facebook fan page. And if you’re considering a career as a court reporter, request a free informational kit. The Stenotype Institute has trained thousands of successful court reporters via its campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando and online.