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Connecting Your Client to Realtime – Overcome the Fear Factor!

by | Oct 2, 2014

By Sandy VanderPol, RMR, CRR

Do not be overcome by the fear factor of troubleshooting your realtime connections. The good news is with the various options now available to output your realtime, the vendors updating their receive software, and the resources now available to each of you to troubleshoot, it’s ALMOST a breeze to have 100% connection success.

For those of you who have decided against providing realtime to your clients because of the added pressure of troubleshooting, fear no more! No sweat!

Over the past few years, and certainly over the last year, realtime vendors have created an environment that provides success in realtime connections. With the various options available to output your realtime, you get to make the choice – cables, Bluetooth, WiFi Remote (WAN), WiFi Local (LAN).

More good news! Realtime receive vendors now make it easy to detect which COM port your realtime is feeding through to your client. The Windows Device Manager, a necessity to know and understand thoroughly, is now replaced with smart software. Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to know how to maneuver your way through Windows and get to the Device Manager – it means less often will you need to troubleshoot the COM port settings. The news of this update should alleviate most everyone’s fear of providing realtime. Right?

There are now resources available to everyone to access the information needed to be confident in connecting a client to realtime 100% of the time. One such resource is the “Realtime Troubleshooting Pocket Guide, Version 2,” which has step-by-step directions to successfully hook up to any receive software, whether you are using the Windows XP, 7 or 8 Operating System.

If you are still sweating it, there’s another VERY valuable resource available to educate yourself on troubleshooting realtime – the Realtime Systems Administrators Workshop and Exam.  The workshop delves into the troubleshooting basics of cable-to-WiFi connections and realtime setups.  The workshop takes place at NCRA’s TechCon and Annual Convention.  Make the personal commitment – sign up now!

Tip:  Be confident in your realtime troubleshooting skills. Take advantage of the many resources and opportunities available to reach your potential, and become the most important person in the courtroom or deposition – a proficient realtime reporter who has the education and resources to connect 100% of the time!

Court Reporting Credentials

by | Sep 30, 2014

As court reporters and “keepers of the record,” we are tasked with maintaining an unbiased, neutral position in every matter we report. Our ethical obligations to our clients are always in the forefront of our minds, which is why it is so important that we proudly (and honestly) display our credentials on our certificate pages and business cards, as well as maintain our Continuing Education Units to keep our credentials current.

The benefits of certification are too numerous to list here, but they begin with the competitive advantage they offer when looking for work as an official or freelance reporter. Often, prospective employers wonder why, in parts of the U.S. where certification is preferred but not required, approximately 25 percent of reporters do not hold certifications, and 14 percent do not even join their national or state associations.

Court reporting is not a job. It’s a profession, one that is monitored in many states by its licensing arm or regulatory board. By sitting for state and/or national licensure and passing exams, reporters send the message that we are the most accurate means of taking and maintaining the record. Reporters who have taken the time to go through the certification process, yet fail to maintain their certifications, may find it very difficult, if not impossible, to regain certification.

NCRA’s Code of Professional Ethics preamble states that “a reporter must be truthful and accurate when making public statements or when advertising the member’s qualifications.” If you at one time held an NCRA certification, but later let your membership lapse, you no longer hold the certification.  Certification through NCRA requires membership and continuing education.

We live in the age of post-nominal letters. When you hand your business card to a court reporting firm or a client, they will look first at your name, and then at your credentials. An RPR, RMR or RDR behind your name does make a difference — you recognize the importance of demonstrating your skills and knowledge within the profession.

Knowing how to list the designations is a crucial part of business etiquette.  According to FormsofAddress.info, Wikipedia, and Workplace.StackExchange.com, in the U.S., individuals should use the highest and most pertinent post-nominal credentials when presenting their name to the general public. In plain English, this means that if you have earned your RPR, RMR and RDR, the only credential you list is RDR. However, if you have earned other certifications offered by NCRA which speak to an entirely different skill set, such as CRR, CBC, CCP, or CLVS, those may each be listed in addition to the RDR credential.

Your credentials are a phenomenal tool, especially in NCRA’s Membership Directory, on your letterhead, in your email and on your advertisements. According to NCRA’s Constitution and Bylaws, “Only a Registered Member in good standing in the Association may use the appellations ‘Registered Professional Reporter’ or ‘RPR,’” and “an individual will remain listed in the directory as long as such person is a member in good standing in the Association and fulfills such requirements as may be properly adopted by the Board of Directors.”

Certification is important – to the profession, to our clients, to the public, and to you, the reporter.  Gone are the days of “I never needed to be certified.”  Law firms and corporations are beginning to take notice and have begun requiring the use of credentialed court reporters.  Those who have worked hard to attain and maintain certifications, particularly advanced certifications, are well positioned for continued success.

The Shortest Path to Short Writing: Mark Kislingbury’s “Beginning Theory” by Lee Bursten, RMR, CRR

by | Sep 18, 2014

Over the past several years there has been renewed interest among court reporters in shortening their writing.  The idea of increasing one’s usage of word and phrase briefs was controversial for much of the past few decades, in an atmosphere where reporting schools de-emphasized briefs.  Much of the recent shift towards shortening is inspired by Mark Kislingbury, whose short writing was a big factor in his multiple speed and realtime contest victories and his still-undefeated Guinness World Record at 360 words per minute.

The initial goal of shortening one’s writing is to achieve an average of one stroke per word (in other words, the ability to write 100 words in 100 strokes).  With daily practice — even just ten minutes a day — this goal is quite achievable, even if your theory is one of those write-it-out ones that have you writing at 130 or more strokes per hundred words.

If you manage to reach one stroke per word, you can be justifiably proud — but no need to stop there!  Continued practice can easily bring you down to .9 or .8 strokes per word (90 or 80 strokes per 100 words).  If you’re wondering how you can write a word in less than one stroke, the answer is:  phrase briefs!  Writing many common two-, three-, or even four-word phrases in a single stroke will enable you to bring down your average strokes per word to less than one.  If you bring yourself down from 130 strokes per hundred words to 90, that means you’re writing 30% fewer strokes for the same number of words.

Imagine how much less physical stress, how much more speed, and how much more accuracy you can attain if you could write the same words with 30% fewer strokes.

Do you have to be a genius to realize such gains?  I can tell you from personal experience that the answer is NO!  I consider myself reasonably talented, but not one of those one-in-a-thousand reporters of superhuman ability; and after about three years of shortening, I’m now writing consistently at between .8 and .9 strokes per word.  It doesn’t take immense talent or immense effort.  It does take commitment, though. “Practicing briefs every day” means really practicing pretty much every day, and you do have to put some thought into what briefing strokes will work the best for you and fit most efficiently into your current theory.  But after a while, the everyday practice becomes a habit that you find yourself looking forward to, and the theory-tinkering becomes an enjoyable puzzle to keep the brain sharp.

Mark made the shortening process substantially easier when he published his book “Magnum Steno” in 2008, a huge compendium of all his short writing techniques, with long lists of English and steno for each concept.  Many reporters have used that book to help them in their shortening.  The only problem with that book was that the concepts weren’t presented in order of frequency, so that the reader had to try to figure out on their own which concepts to work with and in what order.

Mark’s new book, “Magnum Steno: Beginning Theory,” is the answer many of us have been waiting for.  Many working reporters will reasonably ask, “Why should I be interested in a beginning theory book?”  The answer is simple:  Word and phrase briefs are such an important part of Mark’s theory that he’s included briefing concepts in every single chapter, and he presents them in order of frequency, i.e. how likely they are to come up in everyday testimony (or, for captioners, everyday speech).  So the first several chapters present the most frequently-occuring briefs and phrases (like “is the,” “and a,” “approximately,” “company”), gradually moving to less frequently-occuring ones, until at the final chapters we have the least-likely-to-occur ones.

I can’t even begin to describe how valuable this is to a working reporter who wants to shorten their writing.  All the guesswork has been taken out of the equation.  All you have to do is open the book to Chapter 1, find the “Phrases” and “Briefs” sections of that chapter, and start briefing those words/phrases that you currently write in more than one stroke.  Repeat 95 times, which will bring you to the final chapter (Chapter 96), and you will be a very short writer.

The great thing about this approach is that the benefits are front-loaded, because you’re working on the most common words and phrases first.  That means that even if you only do the first quarter of the book and then stop, you’ll still have made a dramatic improvement in your writing.  If you’re like me, though, you’ll find that once you start to experience the benefits of shortening your writing, you’ll find it’s not so easy to stop!

Even those who have been working for years on shortening their writing will find much of value in this book.  For those folks, I’d still advise starting at Chapter 1 and start ferreting out words and phrases which you may not now be writing in one stroke.  Also, Mark has included many new word-and-phrase-brief concepts beyond what he taught in the original “Magnum Steno” book.

Mark supplies steno outlines for the briefs, but of course everyone will need to adapt the steno to what makes sense for them.  I try to use Mark’s outlines when I can, but sometimes I’ve had to change them to avoid conflicts with my own theory.  I’ve learned, though, that sometimes Mark’s outline makes more sense even if it means I have to change how I write something else, because many of Mark’s outlines follow a consistent logic which makes them much easier to remember.

One word of advice for those who come to this book without having seen any of Mark’s previous teaching materials:  Some of Mark’s briefs, particularly phrase briefs, are very key-intensive; in other words, a single stroke may have a lot of keys in it, which looks very scary on the page.  When I first got the “Magnum Steno” book years ago, this alone kept me from beginning serious work on the book for months.  Eventually I realized that those strokes really aren’t scary at all.  When you write them, you don’t have to think about every separate letter that’s in the stroke; rather, it’s the shapes of the strokes and the groupings of keys that are important, in the same way that we write the final -J sound without thinking about the fact that it’s made up of the P, B, L, and G keys.

You’ll want to keep a list of the briefs you’re working on.  It’s important to spend some time every day going over not just the briefs that you’re learning currently, but also your complete list of briefs you’ve learned thus far.  Of course you don’t have to write every single brief from the complete list at each practice session, but rather a random portion of it.  So, for example, if you use flashcards with all your briefs written on them, you’ll want to shuffle the cards and then write the first fifty or hundred or so, whatever you can fit into your five-, ten-, or 15-minute daily practice.

You could also use online flashcard sites, or a text document or Excel spreadsheet that allows you to randomize the list.  These days I practice from four separate lists:  My list of briefs I’m currently learning; the list of briefs that I was previously learning; the complete list of briefs I’ve learned so far; and a short list of briefs from the complete list which I find myself having difficulty remembering.

I’ve seen some reporters commenting online about how they don’t use many briefs because they find they “don’t stick.”  My belief is that these reporters aren’t any less able to memorize briefs than anyone else – they just haven’t practiced them enough.  You need to practice a brief you’re working on every day, for months if necessary, until it sinks in thoroughly, and even then you need to write the brief every once in awhile – thus the random practice from the complete list – in order to maintain your hold over it.

If you become a member of Mark’s Magnum Steno Club, you can receive from him a pre-made Excel spreadsheet file where you can simply type in the English for all your briefs, then hit a single key to randomize them.

I do still find the original “Magnum Steno” book useful because the older book has long lists of examples using each concept, whereas the new book only has a limited number of examples.  As a realtime writer, I like to input the long lists from the older book, so I can be sure a particular phrase combination will translate the first time I write it.  Or you can accomplish the same thing by merging Mark’s dictionary (available for purchase from his site or for free to Magnum Steno and Beginning Theory book purchasers) with your own, making necessary changes to avoid conflicts with your theory.

The “Beginning Theory” book also has plenty of other material of interest to working reporters, such as Mark’s method of writing all 20th and 21st century years in one stroke, times of day, ordinals, specialized terminology, and more. The regular price is $249, plus $14.95 for shipping and handling.  For students and Magnum Steno Club members, there’s a $50 discount code that can be obtained by writing Mark at mark@magnumsteno.com.  For those who own the original “Magnum Steno” book, if you look at the very last page and send Mark your book number that’s handwritten on that page, for the month of September 2014 you can get a $100 discount with a code Mark will give you.

Trust me, as long as you practice diligently, you will find, as I did, that it’s the best money you ever spent.

Finally, I’m not affiliated with Mark — just a very satisfied customer.

Lee Bursten, RMR, CRR, has been reporting for 26 years, working as a freelance deposition reporter for agencies in New York and Washington, DC.  He spent four years at the U.S. Congress as an Official Reporter to House Committees, and spent nine years working as a full-time captioner before returning to freelance reporting in 2009.  He holds the Registered Professional Reporter, the Certified Realtime Reporter, and the Registered Merit Reporter certifications.

Court Reporter Relationships & Recusal

by | Sep 9, 2014

It’s Monday night, and one of the agencies for whom you work has called and asked you to cover a series of depositions for the next day that are anticipated to last all day. They email the witness list and case caption to you, and you enter into your dictionary all of the anticipated outlines. When your job dictionary is built, you pack everything up and set it next to your front door, ready for Tuesday’s assignment.

The next morning you arrive at the deposition site with time to spare, you are ushered into the conference room, where you proceed to set up your equipment, and everyone listed on the notice arrives and seats themselves neatly around the conference table. The first witness is ushered in, you place him under oath, and he’s a dream witness. He waits for counsel to finish asking each question before answering, and he answers clearly and concisely. In no time at all, his deposition concludes, and plaintiff’s counsel ushers in the next witness. You are expecting the gentleman listed on the notice, but instead, in walks your sister. She takes one look at you seated behind your steno machine, and you suddenly pop up like a jumping bean. Almost as if on cue, you ask one another quizzically, “What are you doing here?” At that moment, plaintiff’s counsel asks you both, “How do you know each other?” at which point, again simultaneously, you both respond, “She’s my sister.”

How your sister ended up in the witness chair without your knowing about her involvement in any sort of civil suit, much less the one you’re there to report, isn’t the most important hurdle for you to tackle at that moment. It’s now been established that you are related to the deponent, and counsel has a right to object or waive any objection to your reporting the proceeding. Counsel may also choose to ask you whether you feel capable of remaining impartial.  In order to “guard against not only the fact but the appearance of impropriety,” as set forth in Provision 3 of the Code of Professional Ethics (COPE) of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), you may want to consider withdrawing from reporting not only that witness, but the remaining witnesses noticed, as well as any further depositions in the case.

Advisory Opinions 2 and 3 of NCRA’s Code of Professional Ethics discuss the importance of disclosing any reporter relationship to counsel or the parties, to give counsel the opportunity to object or waive any objection and, should an objection be raised, for the reporter to withdraw and make way for a replacement.  As the “reporter of record” and an integral part of the judicial system, we are obligated to maintain the integrity of our profession.

The Importance of Mentoring

by | Aug 7, 2014

Planet Depos polled its freelance reporters seeking insight into their experiences with either mentoring or being mentored, and the results were phenomenal.

The respondents unanimously agreed that mentoring is the most valuable gift a working reporter can give to a student or new reporter.  Danielle Krautkramer tells Planet Depos that “there are no down-sides, only up-sides to mentoring,” that she always “has fun mentoring others,” and that each of the people she’s mentored have always come away “feeling that they learned so much.”

Marla Sharp explained that her mentor/protégé relationships become long-term friendships/connections in which her protégés know that they can call, text or e-mail questions and bounce ideas off of her whenever and wherever needed. She also shared that because reporters typically work from home, mentoring really “helps each new reporter feel less isolated” and is “a godsend” because it’s like each mentee has their own “help desk,” and that connection really helps diminish the isolation factor.

Donna has mentored 10 aspiring court reporters, and Marla has mentored quite a few, and they both indicated that long after their mentees have spread their wings and taken the leap into the profession, they have kept in touch, asking questions about punctuation, odd occurrences in transcripts and situations in the field.

Each one of Donna’s mentees has felt that it made a difference and really encouraged them to keep practicing and not give up.   There are so many aspects to working as a reporter that are not explained to reporting students, like becoming a notary, that Donna indicated having a mentor there to help each student with those processes really “helps them get through.”

Each mentor agreed that the only downside to mentoring is that the mentees don’t ask more questions and utilize them even more. An unanticipated outcome of mentoring from almost every respondent was that “mentoring reminds them to stay on top of their game.”

Seeing how happy the mentees are after they have entered the profession has been the best reward of all for each mentor. Each mentor, without exception, felt that helping an individual make their dreams come true was just an amazing feeling, and that the life-long friendships that resulted have provided them with incalculable happiness and pride.

Stabbed in the Backup

by | Aug 5, 2014

Since software enables court reporters the ability to synch the proceedings’ audio with their writing, NCRA created the “Stabbed in the Backup” chapter of its Courting Disaster game, and it’s a must-do for every reporter, as it teaches the rules and regulations governing audio backup.

Ingeniously, in the game, after reporting a deposition, one of the party’s counsel calls the reporter to complain, saying she believes the reporter made some mistakes in the transcript, and asks her to provide the audio backup for verification. Instead of the reporter asking counsel to provide the exact page and line she’s concerned about, counsel asks the reporter to provide her with the audio so that she can determine for herself whether the reporter erred. Without thinking, she provides counsel the audio.

What happens after that is nothing short of disastrous because she could have invoked her right not to provide counsel with the backup, as ruled in Emmel v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago, Inc., 904 F. Supp. 723,753, but did not.

Secondly, having agreed to provide the backup, she failed to contact opposing counsel and advise him that a request for the audio had been made.

Thirdly, she failed to ask all parties for a written stipulation agreeing to production of that audio.

Fourth, she did not listen to the audio.

Fifth, had she listened to the audio, she would have discovered that a confidential attorney-client discussion had been inadvertently recorded, and that having provided it, she is in violation of  Provision 4 of COPE, which requires reporters to “preserve the confidentiality and ensure the security of information, oral or written, entrusted to the Member by any of the parties in a proceeding.”

Had the reporter been aware of the rules, she would not have been brought before the COPE Committee and found herself suspended from earning a living as a reporter for three months.

Knowing that your audio backup is absolutely and exclusively yours, that you are the keeper of that record, and that you are not expected to share it with anyone unless ordered to do so by the court, offers you the opportunity to preserve your ethical and moral obligations under the law as a reporter.

However, if you, as the reporter, are ordered to provide counsel with a copy of your audio backup, you will want to preserve your ethical standing by listening to the audio yourself, verifying that there are no confidential conversations within it, and only then provide copies to all parties, with the original remaining in your custody.

If, when you listen back to the audio backup, you discover that there are, in fact, confidential conversations therein, you will want to contact your own legal counsel, who will be able to advise you as to the laws in your state governing redaction of confidential conversations, as well as next steps.  Knowing your rights and responsibilities empowers you to remain an ethical, unbiased keeper of the record.

Any Value in Attending Court Reporting Conventions?

by | Jul 24, 2014

Whether you’re an official or freelance reporter, finding the time in your busy schedule to attend court reporting conventions may seem daunting, but here’s why it’s so important to make the time at least every other year:

First, conventions offer opportunities to network that you wouldn’t get anywhere else.  Networking is key to your success. For example, if you’re looking to hire a scopist, doing so is made much easier when you attend conventions and have the opportunity to hear in-person word-of-mouth recommendations.

Only at conventions will you be able to try out for yourself all the new software and hardware available to reporters and captioners.  At NCRA’s upcoming annual convention in San Francisco, you’ll be able to try out the Infinity Ergonomic, the Lightspeed, the Diamante and the Wave.  You’ll be able to ask all the questions you’ve wanted to ask about software platforms, writers, and litigation support. You’ll have other opportunities at the exhibitor expo that include learning about different investment and insurance opportunities, as well as other products and reporting support services that can really simplify your life.

If you’re a freelancer and would love to travel, but airfare and lodging in the area you want to visit is prohibitively expensive, getting your name out there as someone interested and willing to travel for work may offer you excellent opportunities. For example, there may be an agency owner at the convention with a client anticipating three days of depositions in Italy and who has no reporters that want to travel. There’s an opportunity for you to step right in. The cost of that little get-away will suddenly become much more affordable.

If you’re a firm owner looking for new recruits, what better place to find them than at a reporting convention?  And with NCRF’s “New Tricks, Tips & Techniques” seminar, what better place to learn about the newest innovations in business?

Finally, if you’re a veteran reporter and have been earning your CEUs from home for so long that you can’t even remember the last time you attended a convention, this year may be the “Year of Your Return” with the Vacation Property Auction/Fundraiser and the President’s Red Carpet Party.

The 2014 NCRA Convention may be just what you need to recharge your love of the profession, enjoy networking with colleagues, and explore the latest software and hardware innovations that our profession has to offer.

Wearable Realtime

by | Jul 23, 2014

Wearable realtime is real. For reporters unfamiliar with this emerging technology, it enables a reporter’s realtime feed to appear on either one or both of the smartglass wearer’s lenses. The reporter need not be present with the smartglass wearer, thanks to the built-in microphone of the smartglasses.  Mirabai Knight demonstrated how she utilizes Google Glass with her deaf and hard-of-hearing clients to provide discrete captioning in previously unexplored scenarios, such as medical appointments, artwork critiques, networking mixers, and orientation events.

The reporter can be present remotely, while the realtime feed is being streamed to the smartglass wearer’s cell phone, which has either StreamText, CapApp or Text-on-Top loaded on it. From that device, the realtime feed then appears on the smartglass lenses, enabling the wearer to interact seamlessly with the hearing community.

Skeptics who question the need for a reporter’s involvement because they have Siri or Skyvi haven’t tried to speak naturally into Google Glass, as demonstrated in this video. Although one day it may be possible for a computer to accurately translate everything it “hears,” the issue for the wearable computing reader is that it does not filter out background noise, voices that the wearer does not intend to listen to, or commands proffered by others, as discussed in this Esquire article, which is exactly why we are so badly needed.

Although Google Glass wearers complain about headaches associated with either prolonged use and/or placement of the display, and the fact that some establishments are banning them from their premises due to privacy issues, this hasn’t yet been an issue for wearable realtime users, both because the wearer generally does not wear their smartglasses for extended periods, and only uses them as a captioning aid.

Vuzix M100, ReconJet and Google Glass are already available to the public, while MetaPro AR, Sony SmartGlass, LaForge ICIS, Atheer Sphere SDK, GlassUp and Lumus DK-40 are still in the works and will be on the market either by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Smartglasses are no longer science fiction. They’re here right now and ready for realtime writers to embrace. A whole new realtime world awaits.

Dial D for Depo

by | Jul 23, 2014

The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has put together a video game entitled, “Courting Disaster,” and it has done so because it teaches some very important lessons, beginning with “Dial D for Depo.”

This chapter of the game begins with the witness missing her flight to attend the deposition in an entirely different state, and she finds herself stuck in her originating town. Fortunately, she is able to make herself available remotely via videoconference, and the deposition proceeds after both counsel stipulate to the reporter’s authority to administer the oath. After the witness has completed her testimony, you receive a “WARNING” associated with your having placed that witness under oath, because counsel’s stipulation did not override that state’s laws governing oaths and affirmations. In plain English, what this means is that you may have broken the law, and that your license may be suspended or revoked. In South Dakota, you may be found guilty of having committed a misdemeanor, and fined up to $1,000.

The reason you may have broken the law is that in 18 states, there are clear and concise laws governing the need to have either the reporter or the notary administering the oath present with the witness.  In the 32 remaining states where there are no specific laws governing CSRs, the national notary laws are the guidance and dictate that the notary must be present with the witness in order to swear him/her in.

If you’re shocked – “Dial D for Depo” served its purpose. According to this NCRA article, in Texas, Wyoming, and Florida, the person administering the oath must be present with the witness, with one exception, and that relates to Florida police officers. Washington and Illinois require both the person administering the oath and reporting the testimony to be present with the witness. South Carolina and Missouri do offer counsel the opportunity to stipulate to remote oath administration, while Alaska allows for remote oath administration without stipulation.

The moral here is do your homework when it comes to administering oaths. This NCRA game is titled “Courting Disaster” for a reason. Play it. Learn from it, and don’t presume that because counsel stipulated to your authority that you necessarily have it.

10 Tips to Understand Witnesses with Accents

by | Jul 22, 2014

Coping with witnesses who understand and speak English, yet carry heavy accents, can make for a stressful assignment. Here are some stress-reduction tips that are sure to make it easier:

  1. Prior to going on the record, ask all counsel and the witness if you may place your laptop in front of the witness. If counsel agrees, take a minute to explain to everyone that by doing so the witness will be able to read what you heard him or her say, so that if the witness sees something that isn’t what they intended, they can clarify it immediately.
  2. Inform counsel and the witness that you’ll need them to clarify at a break or at the end of the proceeding anything you may have translated incorrectly because it was unfamiliar to you or you didn’t understand the witness.
  3. Turn your computer’s audio backup on. And if your steno machine has audio backup capability, turn that on as well.
  4. Put on headphones that are either connected to the laptop that is sitting in front of the witness, or to a multi-directional mic also placed strategically in front of the witness.
  5. Write exactly what you hear – even if that means you’re writing something that doesn’t sound like a word.
  6. If you write something that doesn’t sound right, mark it and go back to it either at a break or after counsel’s examination.
  7. Try not to interrupt the proceeding. Since you’ve explained that you’ll probably have some questions, with everyone present either on breaks or at the end of the proceeding, you’ll be able to scan from one quick mark to the next and ask your questions.
  8. As you scan from question to question, give everyone present the opportunity to read and listen to the word or words you were unsure of, and replace each phonetically spelled word before you leave that assignment.
  9. Do not insert nominatives the witness does not use or try to “fix” the witness’ syntax. Everyone present can hear that the witness’ English is broken. As a verbatim reporter, you are sworn to write every word spoken, not to interpret what you believe should have been spoken.
  10. Here are some clues that may help you decipher what your witness is saying:
  • “W’s” may be pronounced as “v’s,” and “th’s” may be pronounced as “t’s,” as discussed in the Frankfurt International School’s “Guide to Learning English.”
  • Long “e’s” may be pronounced as short “i’s,”as mentioned in this Yahoo Answers post
  • “S’s” and “z’s” may be confused, as is highlighted in this Google Groups forum.
  • “L’s” may be mispronounced as “r’s,” and vice versa, as mentioned in this English Grammar4U online lesson.
  • “S’s” may be pronounced as “sh’s,” as discussed in this ESL Pedagogy article.
  • “H’s” may be dropped, as focused on in this Dialect Blog post.
  • “T’s” may be pronounced as “d’s,” and vice versa, as differentiated in this English Pronunciation T & D video.
  • “J’s” may be pronounced as “h’s,” as discussed in this Colorin Colorado article.
  • “Ow’s” may be pronounced as “oh’s,” as mentioned in this IBM WebSphere English pronunciation article.
  • Short “e’s” may be confused with short “i’s,” as highlighted in this American English Pronunciation lesson.
  • Long “oh’s” may be pronounced as short “o’s” and “v’s” may be pronounced as “b’s,” as discussed in this ESL Pedagogy lesson.

Reporting witnesses with heavy accents isn’t easy, but using your laptop, audio backup, headphones and quick marks, and listening for the troublesome vowels and sounds listed above will certainly give you a leg up.

 

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