By Debra A. Levinson
Facing fear is a given as a court reporter. No matter how credentialed you are, no matter how many letters you have attained, there will always be some level of fear prior to any job. Why? We are not taking down a prepared script. We are writing words on the fly and rightly fear the unknown. We fear not hearing clearly or fear speakers testifying at near-lightning speeds. We fear having to process unfamiliar vocabulary or garbled speech or technical matters in nanoseconds.
What we really need to focus on is self-confidence. We have an amazing skill set that impresses the masses, and yet that’s still not good enough. So please allow me to share my favorite adage to accept and adjust. Simply put, accept the fear and imperfections of what we do. Make adjustments and change what is not realtime-friendly. Then proceed forward.
The result of not taking chances or pushing ourselves beyond the comfort zone is tantamount to being stuck in a rut. Remember that nothing ventured is nothing gained.
Writing what I call readable realtime requires practice and commitment that will pay off both literally and figuratively. Here are some basics to add to your practice. You will gain that confidence and begin refining your skills to help accomplish your goals and eliminate that fear factor.
- Begin by identifying your problematic translation areas (such as speed, conflicts, word boundaries, and prefixes and suffixes), and you will become empowered to change.
- Maintain an ongoing commitment to retrain, and you will write faster and cleaner and shorter.
- Stay focused and write realtime on every job, and you will challenge yourself to translate at higher and higher percent rates.
- Input proper case names and designations prior to start time, and you will save time later.
- Purge and modify entries and edit on the job, and you will ensure what’s in your dictionary will translate properly.
- Make weekly revisions, and you will feel accountable having set goals.
- Brief repetitive words and phrases and use Auto-Brief or Brief-It, and you will save valuable energy.
- Monitor your screen throughout the proceeding, and you will identify where to check trouble spots.
- Use the Internet to research proper names on the job, and you will have gained an edge.
- Learn how to finger-spell, and you will eliminate puzzled looks when nonsensical words appear.
- Sign up for the free Word-of-the-Day (my personal favorite is from Merriam-webster.com), and you will become familiar with many esoteric words without having to wait until you’ve heard them for the first time.
Debra A. Levinson, RMR, CRR, CMRS, CRI, is a freelance court reporter and agency owner from White Plains, N.Y. She can be reached at dal@dalcoreporting.com.
