FAQs

Jen,

I bumped into your ad in the OCRA In Brief newsletter and found myself answering "YES!" to the questions:

Practice not making you perfect?
Practicing but not getting anywhere?
The only numbers increasing are your student loans?

I'm a student, I've passed all my 180 Lits, 200 JCs, and 200 QAs -- although it often seems like that means absolutely nothing. I'm not sure I can really write at those speeds, honestly.
All I need to graduate are my (3) 225 QAs. But, dang, that barely seems possible. I've invested 4 years in this program and a disgraceful amount of debt, so I want a "stinkin' diploma" to show for my efforts.

And then I'm going to need to pass my RPR exam!

My school offers good live dictation, but attending faithfully and practicing has not yielded acceptable results, in my mind. I want out of school ASAP, but I also really want to be a competent, confident court reporter. I'm working with the Phoenix Theory which I understand is fairly stroke-intensive, although I brief many words and phrases.

So I guess I'm wondering what specifically makes your program more effective?

Thanks!

Susan

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Hi, Susan,

Our program has a three-pronged approach to achieving your goals to being a confident writer who enjoys stenoing:

1) Write the most common words and verbs shorter using the Howee Wright Steno (HWS) textbook.
2) Incorporate the HWS words into phrases, including both beginning and ending phrases using the Key Solutions textbook.
3) SpeedBuilding and accuracy practice using our archives for "dictation only" at your current level and practicing for your target level. Use of the archives also for practice drills incorporating HWS and Key Solutions dictation exercises.

Howee Wright Steno (rich in words) shows you a number of ways to shorten your writing.
Key Solutions (rich in phrases) shows you numerous ideas to single-stroke most common phrases. These ideas can be used for phrase groups confidently instead of trying to memorize countless single briefs and phrases. By doing so, you are able to speedbuild and take fast dictation at your optimum speed level.

I really can't adequately explain all of the above in a few short paragraphs. I don't think you would want to read a book :)

So, please call me at your convenience at 303.745.2800 and we can discuss how best we can help you reach your court reporting/captioning goals.

Thanks and looking forward to your call,

Jen

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Q: Is an associate's degree necessary to get a job as a court reporter?

A: We get asked that question all the time by prospective students. The long and short of it is - no, you isn't.

Check with your state's CR association and your state's CR board, if they have one, and see what the requirements are in your state, province, or territory.

There is a common misconception that an associate's degree is needed - and that is simply false in 99.9% of the cases. There is also a very popular misconception that the associate's degree will get you a job more quickly than not having one. Why would that be? If you want to work for a CR firm, they will have you sit down and write accurately at 225. If you can do that, you're hired. Same with a court.

Do you know any students who GRADUATED from a CR school but still are unable to pass the RPR or CSR? The AAS is NOT strictly required in any state that I'm aware of. However, if anyone out there knows differently, I would certainly appreciate the information.

The AAS idea for CRs is something NCRA came up with a long time ago. You don't need an AAS. Here's why - a vast number of states accept NCRA's RPR for baseline certification. Go to www.ncraonline.org and check out their requirements for sitting for the RPR and you'll find that a degree isn't listed as a requirement. What is required is speed and accuracy - period.

Too many schools place a lot of emphasis on a degree, but ask any reporter out there when the last time was that they were asked by anyone for proof of the degree. They're not - and won't be. It's not needed.

Here in Colorado, as in many states, we have no certification requirements other than the CR has to be a notary - that's it! Not a good idea, of course, but I'm simply relaying the requirements.

The danger to no certification standards is obvious - if standards aren't set, then the overall quality of the profession will decline - without a doubt. But you can still meet or even exceed the RPR or CSR standards as so many reporters have done by getting their CRR or RMR. Your skill level is write at your fingertips (yes, I meant to write 'write' :).

Do EVERYTHING you can do to get your speed and accuracy and you will get your RPR or CSR. Without speed and accuracy, all the degrees and awards and diplomas in the world won't buy you a cup of CR coffee :) But writing shorter will.

And I know this will likely raise a few eyebrows, but theory DOES matter. It's like saying if you put good gravy on top of bad meatloaf, you can still have a good meal. Good icing on a bad cake won't make an acceptable dessert. Although it's true that there are great Phoenix writers and great StenEd writers and so on, ask yourself this one simple question: If my fingers will only move so fast and I have to write sooooo fast, how can I best do that? Simple - write shorter. And not all theories teach you how to write short. Build more into each stroke, or into as many strokes as you can. That's fact, not conjecture.

To test that, get a group of Phoenix and StenEd and X theory (fill in the blank :) students and have them write the same paragraph - it HAS to be EXACTLY the same paragraph. Then count the strokes and find out who is writing with fewer strokes. It's not rocket science, it's math. The more you build into a stroke, the fewer strokes you have to write. And you reduce your chance of errors.

We teach the Howee Wright Theory to students and Key Solutions to working reporters. We have one student that went from scratch to 200wpm in one year. Naturally, she put in tons of hours with practice, practice, practice. It seemed like she was accessing our online archives as much if not more than we were. Of course, we also have students that are not advancing as quickly. But just because you're not Michael Phelps doesn't stop you from enjoying the pool, does it? Point is, she is paying forward. She is putting in the time now so she can get out there and start making money instead of paying us money to teach her. Isn't that your goal as well?

It IS about the theory; it's NOT just about speedbuilding once you've learned a theory. We have so many students contacting us and saying, "I already know theory and I only want to build speed." But that's like saying, "I already have a pound of ground round here. Sure, it's spoiled or not as good as it could be, but I don't want to be bothered by going to the store just to get something better. It's only my mother-in-law coming for dinner." But, remember, you're the cook here - you choose the ingredients and you decide on their quality.

Here's why it's about the theory: If it was only about speed, then every student and reporter has access to tons of free material by just tuning in to talk radio or turning on the TV and listening to the local news or CourtTV or anything. Grab a book or a news article and either dictate it yourself into a tape recorder or MP3 recorder or have someone dictate it for you. Then write to it. It's a great way to make sure that current event terms are in your dictionary. Many of the RPR tests are based on current events.

But it's not about speed - it's about what that speed is built upon - and that's your theory. The student I mentioned above had no theory whatsover prior to coming to us. Most of our other students came to us with a previous theory. Guess who's having problems shucking the old baggage? Doesn't mean you can't fine-tune your theory, it just means that you MUST fine-tune your existing theory. Make certain that whatever school or program you select, make absolutely certain they can help you with writing SHORTER - that's the key! Michael Phelps earned his Gold Medal by swimming in the same water and stroking the same pool length as the others - but he put more into one stroke than the others did and got the Gold - a bunch of it :)

It's also about priorities - and, at times, life seemingly doesn't give us a choice. But, believe it or not, we still have a choice. We just have to make the right choice. For instance, go to bed fifteen minutes later and/or get up fifteen minutes earlier. Keep your machine set up at all times so it is convenient to sit down and practice, even for just five, ten, or fifteen minutes. This skill is like losing weight - a little can add up to a lot, but making no attempt leads to achieving no results and you end up where you don't want to be.

(Jen's note: the below was written to a student enquiring to a student forum group about her school "basically forcing me out for not being at 180 yet ... I'm at 120-140.")

Consider this: NCRA's Total Immersion Program (TIP) is taking students ONLY through theory and speedbuilding - NO academics. What does that tell you? I'll leave it at that :)

Your school is REQUIRED by NCRA to teach academics - they have no choice if they want to be NCRA-approved. So why is NCRA seemingly violating their own rules? Who knows. Bottom line is that it's not fair to YOUR school. I'm sure they would do things differently if they had an option.

I see so many comments from folks in this group, criticizing the schools for all the academics. Folks, as I said above, they have NO choice. NONE.

Then I see gripes about how much money the students have spent on their education. Ask yourself this: IF the student put in the hours of practice needed to get the 225s, might their student loans be less? I would submit a resounding YES. And that is ONLY up to the students. The teacher can only offer; it's up to the student to accept.

Finally, everyone is wanting to make money and lots of it. There's nothing wrong with that. But we all have to pay our dues, and that takes time and grade. Yes, you absolutely can make as much money as the highest-paid court reporter out there, BUT ONLY after you have put in the time.

And remember, your school has to make money or else they're out of business, as so many are these days. Students complain if they don't have all the equipment needed at the school or if they don't have a teacher for one day or one night or .... The list goes on. But it takes money for the schools to provide all that - YOUR money. Who else do you suppose is keeping the school doors open if it isn't the students. And that's not directed at you, ---, but simply a rhetorical question.

Do everything you can to be the best you can in the shortest time you can - and vacations and birthday parties and buying a house and getting married and ... (another long list here) and all the other things that life has waiting for us - well, guess what? It's all a matter of priorities - and you are the Master Decider :)

Thanks and wishing you the very, very best.

Jen
www.courtreps.com

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Q:I am in the 140 speed building class at my school and will not be returning after the end of the month. (Unhappy) I learned the Phoenix Theory. I was wondering what you would suggest for me to continue to speed build at home and also have the structure and accountability of school.

I thought about learning another theory to increase my writing speed and accuracy, but I'm not really sure if that would be a good idea.

Any guidance you have would be appreciated.
Thanks - Teresa

A: Hi, Teresa,

You probably don't need to learn another theory -- just tweak your own. We have live sessions for both speedbuilding and theory. What was the last test you passed and when? It's actually a blessing in disguise that you are looking to revamp your theory now rather than trying to speedbuild with the theory you've learned. Your current system of writing is probably what's impeding your path to a quicker achievement of certification speeds.

Re what to speedbuild on... all depends on what your strengths and weaknesses are. Good at QA? Good at Lit? Good at JC? Practice more on your weakness to bring it up to the same level as your strengths. I see too many advanced students and working reporters struggling to get their RPR but get killed by the little words. Practice, practice, practice, and shorten your writing -- that's the only way