court reporting and machine shorthand technology in Canada

A Guide to Canadian Verbatim Reporting
Reference Materials for Students and Professionals

CONTINUING EDUCATION

A PHILOSOPHY OF COURT REPORTING

As technically complicated and detailed as machine shorthand/court reporting can be, it helps to have an overriding philosophy to get you through even technical details.

The hardest part surely has to be the on-the-job taking down of testimony. Remember that you are there to tell each participant's story. While you need sufficient speed and accuracy to do the job, you can boost your performance by adopting the approach that you are there to tell each participant's story.

This will allow you to be synchronized and "in the moment" with each speaker, almost intuiting what they are about to say and being able to accurately and fully punctuate their words as you go. This will surely result in better real-time and definitely result in easier and faster editing, which should make for a sublimely accurate, precise transcript. This is also a very good way to create fun for yourself on the job.

FIRST YEAR ON THE JOB
SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW... in case they didn't tell you
Knowledge Strategies
Aim to be "intellectually diverse"	Read, or even browse online or at a newsstand, different publications to get an idea of current issues, technical terms, geographic references.
Familiarize yourself with insurance and accounting documents	Read a typical Audited Financial Statement and its Notes (usually at the end) and understand its structure as these will be referred to many times throughout you career Read your automobile insurance policy and homeowner's insurance policy in detail as it contains language you will encounter
Become a mind reader	By being knowledgeable in a wide number of topics, including legal, accounting/financial, business, and science and technology, AND by carefully scrutinizing any title materials and other documents before commencing to write, you can have some greater ability to foresee what might be said and to determine what needs to be asked about before leaving a job. (For example, the words "one too many" might be confused with the term "one-to-many" as used in webcast terminology, or you might confuse the difference between "RSAP" and "our SAP".)
Read the Classifieds section of your local and national newspapers	Companies that are very active are also probably getting sued. Reading their ads can familiarize you with a broader range of business/industry-specific vocabulary.
Take fewer jobs, but concentrate on finding better outlines and ways to write while editing jobs.	This will more quickly increase your speed and accuracy rather than indiscriminately trying to write as many jobs as possible.
Talk to other reporters	You're never too junior or too senior to ask advice of another reporter about terminology, handling difficult hearing situations, people situations.

Writing Strategies
Stay ahead of the words wherever possible.	Get off the keyboard at the same time the speaker finishes the word. This frees your mind and allows you to foresee what people conceivably might say. After all, communication depends on regularity of language. If you put the wrong thing down accidentally, you can quickly asterisk it out and substitute the correct outline without missing a beat. I've never worked with anyone in 20 years who has successfully used the "stay four strokes" behind method. However, staying right "on top" will allow you to hang back, should you wish.
Make shortcuts on the fly.	Write a long name, acronym, or term out in full the first time or two you hear it. After that, shorten it. Either create a shortform, double-strike the first syllable, or just write the first two syllables for names. Instead of writing acronyms out ("TCPL"), write them phonetically (TAOES/PAOEL).
Know as much about the job ahead of time, right down to the time you start.	If you know the title of proceedings ahead of time, do some research on the internet, especially if there are corporate entities involved. On the job, when you receive the full title of proceedings and any attached pages, scan the material for names and terminology.
When sitting down to write the job, know exactly who the speakers are, where they are sitting, and who any extraneous persons are attending.	You need to know this for your cover pages of transcripts, but for your own sake you will want to be absolutely sure you won't be finger-fumbling over correct speaker identifications.
Have shortforms and auto-includes for standard parentheticals.	Every transcript contains notations as to time started, time ended, when lunch starts and ends, when breaks start and end, for off-the-record discussions, exhibits marked, undertakings given, questions refused. Make sure you know how your court/agency needs these to be marked and create dictionary entries for them to use at the drop of a hat.
Strange words and names	As you write, if you hear a confusing word or name at a point you are unable to interrupt, mark it with a stroke for an asterisk and search to all your asterisks before everyone leaves. Note: This does NOT eliminate the need to verify such names or words from reliable sources when editing the transcript, but it will guide you in researching these items. People (lawyers/witnesses) will spell their hometown incorrectly for you, so it must be checked.)
Know your punctuation and numbers.	Practise your punctuation and numbers until they are extremely automatic. The more you get into the transcript while taking, the less time you'll need during edit.
Have another reporter edit your work	It's helpful if you can have a senior reporter scope your work while you look on. It's well worth paying even the majority of your page rate to have this done. You'll learn how you can handle certain writing situations, how to better build your dictionary, and pointers on editing and production.
If you do the above, all you'll have to concentrate on are the words and phrases spoken. The more accurately and fully punctuated you can take a proceeding, the less opportunity there is for errors to crop up and potentially be missed in proofing and the more quickly you can produce work. The more you have to go over a job, the more words seem to blur and errors get missed. Write it right right off the bat. It's to your own benefit as well as the client's.

CHECKLISTS
Pre-job	Know the type of job. Know the location and who to ask for. If possible, get the title of proceeding. Ensure all equipment with you: Bible/exhibit stamp Copy of witness/interpreter swearing/affirming declarations for reference Steno machine, tripod, charger/batteries, transfer cable with or without USB adapter as necessary CAT key Laptop and adapter Mic for digital recording Backup tape recorder w sufficient tapes rewound to beginning of Side "A" and batteries for recorder Pen/paper Business cards
On the Job	Ensure you know everyone who is attending and what their roles/titles are, who they represent (to enable full completion of cover information and billing info) If you don't hear something, interject as quickly and unobtrusively as possible to have something repeated. Keep track of exhibit numbers as they are being marked. Use a sheet of paper for quick reference. Write down the numbers as they are marked; do not have a premarked sheet where you tick off the numbers as you can more easily omit a number this way and then exhibits become double-marked or omitted. Be organized about your equipment/wires, ensuring no one can trip over or bump into any of it. Don't trust anyone in this regard.
Post-Job	Complete paperwork for office to initiate correct billing for time Edit job Submit job to office for printing or print and deliver yourself Submit invoice and final paperwork to office Ensure your records are organized and up to date Receive payment

EDITING STRATEGIES

CONCEPT:

Ensure you have control over every space and every piece of black ink to appear on your pages. Reason? Transcripts must look good on paper for ease of reading and must be electronically valid for ease of reading and searching.

METHOD:

Never leave a word until you know it's the right word correctly spelt. Only then go on to the next word to be edited.
Never leave a phrase until you know it's correctly spelt and punctuated.
Never leave a sentence until you know it's absolutely correctly punctuated. Sometimes you need to go back to ensure the correct message leaps off the page; for example, when speakers have a chit-chat before continuing a sentence:
        MR. SMITH: And did you see...
        Where was that document we just looked at a few minutes ago?
        MR. BROWN: In the next tab, I believe. Number 10, wasn't it?
        MR. SMITH: Oh, yes.
        ...the truck before it turned the corner?
Remember that punctuation provides a visual aid for allowing the written word to truly communicate without straining the reader.
Ensure the speaker ID is correct!
Ensure Q's, A's, Speaker ID's, and paragraphs are correctly aligned and that the correct number of spaces follow Q's, A's, ID's, and, for example, exhibit tags, i.e., EXHIBIT NO. 3: followed by the correct number of spaces.
CONTEXT IS KING! You are not just transcribing words; you are transmitting information and knowledge.

Pay extremely close attention to context; for example, in a case where you have the company named Sunrise Software there are times when you need to uncapitalize the word "software".

Example: "Did you purchase software at that time, any of the Sunrise software?"

Sometimes you have to rephrase a sentence to yourself to ensure you understand the gist of it, so I would rephrase the above question to test whether software should be capped or not, e.g.:

Example: "Did you purchase software at that time, any of the Sunrise software, IBM software, or Xerox software?"

If you make this type of detailed approach to the content of your transcripts clients will find your work easy to read and easy to perform electronic searches on.

Good edit habits will inform and improve your writing, which will make editing easier and faster, which will promote accuracy in both the write and edit stages.