In court cases, it's imperative that court reporters correctly identify speakers in their transcripts. the Stenotype Institute offers tips for managing identities of multiple speakers.

Students of court reporting schools in Florida and elsewhere begin practicing their stenography skills by listening to and recording one speaker. As their skills progress, they learn to take dictation from multiple speakers at once. Still, there’s nothing quite like the shock of walking into a court case or conference and learning that you’ll be responsible for the thorough and accurate dictation 20-plus people.

Granted, the norm in most situations likely will be closer to five or ten people max. But the massive number scenarios do happen. And it will be your responsibility to accurately identify each and every speaker of each and every line of dialogue. It’s a tough job for even the most seasoned court reporter. Luckily, the Stenotype Institute, Florida’s top court reporting school, has a few tips to help you keep on track during your mock court sessions and court sessions you may cover in your internships.

The primary tactic is to have a set system for identifying speakers. For instance, one longtime court reporter has three set speaker codes on each side of her stenograph machine: STPHAO, SKWRAO, and 1234AO on the left and EUFPLT, EURBGS, and EU6789 on the right. Additional speakers’ identities are double-stroked using the same or different key combinations on each side of your steno machine. If the speaker’s name is unknown, consider using identifiers like WO*M for a female speaker, MA*N for a male speaker, R*ED for a speaker who has red hair or wore a red outfit.

If possible, approach each speaker before the conference or court session begins and ask the spelling of their names, what role they play in the day’s proceedings (attorney, defendant, plaintiff, etc.) and whether each will be speaking. Ask for their business cards as well, so that you can double check details later if needed. In many courts you may also be able to ask the judge to require each additional or unexpected speaker to speak at a podium and state their name. And as a great old-school backup, pencil-draw a seating chart with each person’s placement noted. Don’t be afraid to ask the attorneys or other officials to keep the same seating arrangement throughout the course of the proceedings.

If you’ve found a great system that works for you, let our students know. And if you’re searching great court reporting schools, Florida’s Stenotype Institute should be at the top of your list. We serve students throughout the Sunshine State and into Southern Georgia via campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, as well as an online program. Our students hail from Naples, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Cocoa Beach, Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, in Florida, plus Albany, Brunswick and Savannah in Georgia. Call 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) and speak with an enrollment specialist today.

It's a common question among female court reporting students - how do I keep my nails looking great while building my career?

Okay, ladies. We hear you. We know that beautiful hands and fingernails are a desire of every fashionable woman. No worries – there are ways to keep your nails (reasonably) long and lovely while also building a successful court reporting career, Florida’s Stenotype Institute says.

While in training, most female students will trim their nails and keep them short until they’ve mastered the stenograph machine. Once they’ve built their skills and confidence, they often start growing their nails back to fashionable, but workable lengths. Inch-long “dragon lady” nails wont’ cut it, of course. But healthy nails of a reasonable length are completely doable.

The key, experienced court reporters say, is to keep the nails strong and healthy. Many recommend regular manicures, massaging your cuticles and wearing protective polishes formulated to help strengthen nails. A proper diet and drinking plenty of water are no-brainers that help keep your whole body healthy and benefit your fingernails, too.

Many court reporters use acrylic or gel to help keep their nails looking beautiful and ultra-strong. Acrylic nails are most popular in part because they’re less expensive and hold polish for longer periods. Gel is a little more pricey but are favored by many because the gel can be applied directly to the fingernail with our without tips, lacks the toxic smell that acrylic nails are known for, and tend to look more natural. Gel nails don’t need to be filled in as often, but they tend to break easier.

Another helpful tip is to use leather key covers. They provide a soft buffer between your fingernails and the keys, preventing chips and breaks. Plus, they make for a quieter, less distracting experience for those around you.

If you’re looking for a great career with high income potential, call the Stenotype Institute at 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) and take the first step toward your court reporting career. Florida students study at campuses in Jacksonville or Orlando and may qualify for the Stenotype Institute’s online program.

Court reporters, like musicians, can improve their skill and speed with practice techniques designed to help build muscle memory.

A primary goal in court reporting training is to build muscle memory. The Stenotype Institute, a top Florida court reporting school, offers tips to help build and continually improve your fingers’ muscle memory.

Wikipedia describes muscle memory thusly: “… a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition.  When a movement is repeated over time, a long term muscle memory is created for that task; eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort.  This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems.”

Building muscle memory is easy for musicians. Songs are relatively finite things, so musicians work over and over on hitting the right notes. But court reporters don’t have that luxury, as no court case or deposition is ever the same as the last or the next. However, certain terms do come up over and over again in certain types of cases. For instance, many of the same medical terms will be used in car crash cases because injuries sustained are similar in common types of crashes. Soft tissue injuries and whiplash are almost always factors in auto accident cases wherein the victim’s car is rear-ended. Plus, your word and phrase key combinations should be consistent throughout your training and career.

Court reporting school instructors recommend building muscle memory by adding in a little muscle confusion. Used in fitness training, muscle confusion involves changing up workout routines just enough to keep the muscles from becoming immune or unresponsive to certain movements. Once hitting a results plateau, athletes make small changes in their routines to keep their muscles active and interested, so to speak.

Court reporting students can apply this concept to their training by varying the speed and focus of their exercises. First, practice with realtime dictation of a speech, TV show, etc., making sure to record the audio on tape or DVD for playback later. Afterward, review your results and practice just the words and phrases that tripped you up, as well as those immediately before your trouble spots. Practice these over and over until they become automatic for you. Then, slow down your playback and transcribe the audio again, this time focusing not on speed, but on accuracy. Next, speed up the audio and do it again. Repeat your practice with at least three different speed levels until you’ve aced the real-time transcription and developed a more automatic response to those words and phrases that originally proved troublesome.

For more practice tips, visit the Stenotype Institute’s blog often. And if you’ve not yet signed up for classes, call 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) and speak with an enrollment specialist today. Join hundreds of other students from throughout Florida and South Georgia and start toward your court reporting career today.

Closed captioning on sports stadium and arena scoreboards help deaf and hard-of-hearing fans more fully enjoy the game day experience.

If you’re a sports fan we’ve got the career for you. Just as closed captioning is needed for films and television shows, it’s also increasingly sought for on-site monitors at sports events and games. Many professional and collegiate stadiums are beginning to provide captioning on scoreboards to help deaf and hearing-impaired fans better enjoy the in-stadium game-day experience.

Scoreboard captioning involves real-time transcription of the words spoken by game announcers and officials, promotional messages, highlight segments and advertisements during athletic games, matches, tournaments and other events. Captioners can work on-site or at a remote location using an audio feed. For instance, New York Mets games often are captioned by a suburban St. Louis, Missouri mom from her home office who listens in on the P.A. announcer’s box via a modem.

Currently, sports teams are under no legal obligation to provide captioning for hearing-impaired fans. But three fans helped set a legal precedent when they successfully sued the Washington Redskins. In 2008, a federal judge ruled that the team must run captioned play-by-play and the lyrics of songs played during games at FedEx Field in order to provide deaf and hard-of-hearing fans the full game day experience.

Statistics from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association show that the number of Americans with hearing loss has doubled to more than 28 million over the past three decades. Considering those statistics and the economy’s negative impact on game attendance, many pro and collegiate teams see providing captioning as an investment that can pay off by putting more fans in the stands – fans who otherwise would have to watch broadcasts of sports events on TV at home to better follow the action.

If you’re a sports lover in Florida or South Georgia, pick up your phone and call the Stenotype Institute. Our court reporting and closed captioning programs can help train you for a fun, meaningful and profitable career as a closed captioning specialist. We have campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, plus an online program serving students throughout Florida and South Georgia including Naples, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Cocoa Beach, Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, in Florida, plus Albany, Brunswick and Savannah in Georgia. Call 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366).

Court reporting is an interesting, challenging and potentially lucratuive career. But it doesn't come without stress.

Court reporting can be a fun, interesting and lucrative profession. But anyone who tells you it’s easy is talking in circles. The fact is, court reporting can be challenging mentally, physically or even emotionally. The Stenotype Institute offers tips to help you manage the common ills of a growing industry.

Mental stress is the biggest factor in a court reporter’s burnout, particularly for those who cover high profile court cases and trials. Accuracy and thoroughness in your report can make a huge difference in the lives of the parties involved. Cases can fall apart over mistakes or gaps in transcripts and that pressure can mount, particularly for newer, lesser experienced court reporters. Plus, court reporters working trials can expect long days in court, followed by long nights preparing transcripts. And this can go on for months, depending up on the complexity of the case.

Manage stress by exercising, getting enough sleep and making sure that your life isn’t all work and no play. Of course, these things might be tough to accomplish when you’re in the middle of a long, complex trial. Focus on your task and take full advantage of any opportunity to take a break. Clear your thoughts, stretch and breathe deep before getting  back to work.

Another factor is the emotional toll that can court reporting can take. Cases involving murder, sexual abuse and child or animal abuse can be tough for anyone to listen to the first time – leave alone going over it all a second time to prepare transcripts. And tagging evidence and exhibits, which can include gruesome crime photos or even blood-stained clothing, can strike a nerve.

To help combat the emotional stress, court reporters must learn to turn off their emotions and focus strictly on the job at hand. Many court reporters practice meditation or pray to help clear their minds of disturbing testimony. Whatever works for you, gird up your emotions and do it if you’re facing a tough trial.

A little easier to address are the physical ailments that can happen to court reporters including carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain. Sitting and writing for hours on end can take a toll on your body. Be sure to sit up straight, lower your shoulders, adjust the height of your chair so that your forearms are level with your stenography machine and avoid flexing your wrists to type. During breaks, shake our and stretch your wrists and if possible, take a brisk walk. Remember that a healthy body can better take physical demands, so adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, good nutrition and plenty of rest.

Start your court reporting career with a call to the Stenotype Institute at 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366). We have campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, plus you may qualify for our online program.

Courtroom procedures as portrayed in popular TV shows like "Law & Order: SVU" don't always reflect reality. The Stentype Institute gives students a real-world view in three courses focused on court procedures.

Many people are convinced that the court scenes played out in popular television shows like Law & Order are by-the-book representations of real-life court procedures. Not so, legal experts say. While producers and scriptwriters often aim to create a program that is realistic, broadcast time restrains and creative license more frequently than not mean that many of the necessary, yet less interesting details get cut out of the picture.

This becomes something of a double-edged sword for the industry, say instructors and students at the Stenotype Institute, which has campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida. Court reporting schools continuously are filled with students lured to the industry via their fascination with the Hollywood versions of legal careers. Sometimes, these students find themselves a little disillusioned when they learn that real world court procedures are substantially less dramatic than their favorite shows confess. But for those who stay the course, a court reporting career that’s admittedly more tedious, but every bit as interesting as those prime-time TV programs can become a prosperous and fulfilling reality.

To help prepare students for the day-to-day life of a court reporter, the Stenotype Institute offers three courses that focus solely on court procedures. Subject matter centers on the role of the court reporter in civil and criminal trials, depositions and administrative hearings. A students learn techniques numerous tasks including interrupting speakers, obtaining the correct spelling of names, identifying speakers in multi-speaker situations, reporting the polling of juries, handling oaths and affirmations, recording voir dire examinations, indexing and storing notes, reporting nonverbal actions, certifying questions, marking and handling exhibits, and noting sidebar and off-the-record discussions. Instructors also discuss tips for preparing transcripts, benefits of professional associations, continuing education opportunities, professional ethics and relevant current events.

If you’re interested in a real world court reporting career, contact the Stenotype Institute, a leader among court reporting schools in Florida and nationwide. Students from locales throughout Florida and South Georgia including Naples, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Cocoa Beach, Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, in Florida, plus Albany, Brunswick and Savannah in Georgia begin a lucrative career path at the Stenotype Institute each semester. Call 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) to speak with an enrollment specialist today.

Late artist Jackson Pollock's famous oil painting, "Stenographic Figure," painted in 1942 and housed at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Stenographers may not seem particularly romanticized figures to most. But to renowned artist Jackson Pollock, they proved a collective muse for one of his most famous paintings – one that has proven something of an inspiration to students of the Stenotype Institute, a top Florida court reporting school.

Pollock’s Stenographic Figure was painted in 1942 and today is housed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The vividly hued oil abstract painting features two figures, presumed to be one male and one female, at either side of a table. A turquoise background is filled with scribbled shorthand representations, which have been analyzed by multiple art pundits who have come to varying conclusions about their significance.

One theory is that the largely numeric symbols have meaning hidden in the Jungian philosophy espoused by Pollock’s two psychoanalysts. He was just coming out of several years of such analysis when he painted Stenographic Figure and Male and Female, a similarly-themed painting. And though he is described as having been an “extremely inhibited patient” who rarely spoke to or cooperated with the psychoanalysts, it’s believed that his paintings belied much of what he was hearing and internalizing in those sessions.

Another theory is that the figures are nothing more than a well played practical joke designed to keep the critics, pundits and curious art aficionados theorizing about him for years.

“They claim that the true meaning behind the symbols in Pollock’s painting is that you cannot read too deeply into the symbols,” says art blogger Dana Brand, noting the reclusive artist  was as well known for his heavy drinking and volatile personality as for his major influence in the abstract expressionist movement. “Personally, I find this interpretation so witty that it’s easy to be won over by it, simply from the sheer brazenness attributed to Pollock by creating such an ambiguous painting and allowing art critiques to puzzle over it for decades. Sheer genius.”

Perhaps one of Jackson’s own quotes alludes to such a propensity.

“Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you,” said Pollock, who often painted with his canvas laid across the floor. “There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn’t have any beginning or any end. He didn’t mean it as a compliment, but it was.”

Contradictory theories aside, Pollock’s Stenographic Figure is a beautiful and mysterious artistic nod to court reporters everywhere. The artist died in 1956 and is remembered posthumously in the 2000 Academy Award-winning film Pollock directed by and starring Ed Harris.

OscarsAudioGuy's Twitter prank during the 2012 Academy Awards broadcast just might have helped boost interetst in closed captioning careers.

“Thank God we have closed captioning,” began the impromptu Twitter prank that appeared barely an hour into Sunday night’s Academy Awards broadcast and since has become this week’s social media rant du jour. Miffed by the broadcast’s obvious audio glitches, Barrett Tryon, a television news production professional in Colorado Sprigs, Colorado secured the Twitter name OscarsAudioGuy and launched a series of satirical jabs that many deemed at least as funny as Oscars host Bill Crystal’s jokes.

OscarsAudioGuy quickly racked up a base of several hundred followers, many of whom apparently assumed that Tryon was an Academy employee who might actually be working in the broadcast audio booth that night. Some followers apparently were TV audio pros themselves and tweeted back with tech advice. Unfortunately, the squeaks and squeals only got worse as the night wore on. But OscarsAudioGuy’s jokes got better.

“We used tin cans this year to offset Billy Crystal in HD,” he wrote. “Anyone have some more string we can borrow for mic cord?”

And later, “Not sure what all the fuss was about when #TheArtist was the clear winner,” he wrote about the first silent film to win an Academy Award since 1928. “Rumor has it there was an audio issue.”

No one knows whether Oscars officials were amused about the prank. The account got shut down Monday morning, but an email to Tryon from Twitters tech crew said the account had been mistaken for an autobot account and was reinstated.

In any case, OscarsAudioGuy’s prank has put the post-Oscars spotlight on closed captioning careers. After all, it’s a prime chance for TV and film lovers to earn a lucrative living and provide a great help to the hearing-impaired while also doing something they enjoy – seeing great films and TV shows.

Closed captioning is done in one of two ways, online or off-line. Online captioning refers to instant, real-time transcription of spoken words, sounds and effects throughout a live broadcast. Off-line captioning is the transcription of pre-recorded programs and allows for playback and pacing. Both provide opportunities for enviable incomes, though highly skilled online closed captioning specialists can land big gigs like awards shows and earn significantly more money.

Landing the best opportunities for work as a closed captioning specialist typically requires training at a school accredited by the National Court Reporters Association and earning NCRA certification upon graduation. Next, one should apply for the NCRA’s Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC) certification, which sets additional requirement and higher standards to distinguish top contenders in the closed-captioning field.

To begin your closed captioning career, Florida’s Stenotype Institute should be your next call. It’s recognized as one of the nation’s top court reporting schools and provides additional training for future closed captioning specialists. The school has two campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, as well as an online program. Visit the Stenotype Institute’s Admissions page online or call 1-888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) to find out more.

Court reporting - it's a guy's gig, too says the Stentotype Institute, one of the nation's top schools for court reporting careers.

There’s a bit of a misconception out there that court reporting is a chick’s gig. Not so. Lots of men find court reporting a rewarding and lucrative career. In fact, if you take a look back in history, you’ll learn that court reporting began as a male-dominated field.

In her book, Transcribing Class and Gender: Masculinity and Femininity in Nineteenth-Century Courts and Offices, author and Professor of History at California State University, Los Angeles, Carole Srole
examines the historical roots of clerical work and the role that gender and class played over the past century in determining one’s professional status. Included is a look at the way technology and gender roles shaped the development of the court reporting field.

During the late 19th century, shorthand transcription was the primary method of documenting legal proceedings and business communications. And most shorthand professionals were men. But technology soon helped open the industry doors to women, too. Differing accounts place the first steno machines being invented in 1830 and in 1863. Typewriters were invented in 1868. Both of these developments would help women begin to claim their place in the clerical fields.

Author Carole Srole explores the gender and class battles in the development of the court reporting field in her book, "Transcribing Class and Gender."

As more women landed court reporting and business stenography jobs, their male counterparts reacted by emphasizing their professionalism, portraying themselves as language experts far more advanced than the female and working-class stenographers and typists, who seemed to be growing in number by leaps and bounds. Women soon would take a page from that playbook, fashioning new, gendered professional images to combat the “vain typewriter girl” stereotype of a woman who cared much more for her looks than for her job and likely was simply seeking an introduction to a suitable suitor who would marry her and, thus, end her need to hold down a job at all.

My, how times have changed – thank goodness!

“Drawing upon census data, trade periodicals devoted to stenography and court reporting, the writings of educational reformers, and fiction, Srole allows us to better understand the roles that gender and work played in the formation of middle-class identity,” says Thomas Augst of New York University. “Clearly written and thoroughly researched, her book reminds us of the contradictions that both men and women faced as they navigated changes in the labor market and sought to realize a modern professional identity.”

If you’re interested in a court reporting career, Florida’s Stenotype Institute should be your next stop. Via campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, plus and online program, we serve students – both female and male – from cities throughout Florida and South Georgia including Naples, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Cocoa Beach, Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, in Florida, plus Albany, Brunswick and Savannah in Georgia. Call 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) or stop by our Jacksonville or Orlando campus and talk with an enrollment specialist today.

Closed captioning career opportunities are expected to grow as the FCC implements new laws to ensure the captioning of new television programming, older TV programming now appearing on the Internet, and on web-originated video.

New FCC laws governing Internet-delivered, archived television shows means lots of potential opportunity in the field of closed captioning. Florida, as one of the top states for television production, will see much of that action over the next few years.

Closed captioning is the transcription and text display of spoken words and non-speech elements on a television, film or video screen as scenes play out. It’s designed to help deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers easily follow along with the action and script of a television show, film, newscast, political speech or debate, etc. But it wasn’t until 2006 that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required all non-exempt English-language new TV content to be captioned.

Now, the FCC is working to ensure that closed captioning is available for TV programming viewed online and for web-originated video. Specific proposed rules and deadlines are being challenged. The Motion Picture Association of America argues that the FCC’s expectations are next to impossible to fulfill and have countered with their own proposal that extends deadlines and limits the programs required to be closed captioned.

In any case, the end result is the same for students interested in careers as closed captioning specialists. Florida’s Stenotype Institute offers closed captioning career training along with its nationally renowned court reporting training. The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics projects employment of court reporters and closed captioning specialists to grow by 18 percent between 2008 and 2018. With establishment of the new laws, students who specialize in CART, broadcast captioning and webcasting services are expected to land the best job opportunities, experts say.

If you’re interested in a career in closed captioning, Florida’s Stenotype Institute should be your next stop. Students from throughout Florida and South Georgia can choose between campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando or qualify for the online study program (Note that additional training may be required). To get started, call 888-55-STENO (888-557-8366) and talk with an enrollment specialist today.