In this inaugural episode of The Modern Court Reporter, you will hear from Darlene Williams, a court reporter with over 30 years of experience. Darlene discusses mentoring programs, including Planet Institute, that are designed to help court reporters bridge the gap between completion of academics and entering the real world that is court reporting.
We also discuss some common mistakes that new court reporters make in the field, and whether Darlene feels this career path is worthwhile (hint: it is!).
To learn more about Planet Institute, or to apply to the mentorship program, visit our Planet Institute page.
Daniel Malgran: 0:10
Welcome to the inaugural
episode of the Modern Court Reporter. This is a podcast for court reporters
both new and old, but we’ll mostly be focusing on topics for students and new
reporters. You can expect to hear about mentoring, technology, including
hardware and software, as well as guest interviews with real-time reporters,
accountants, scopists, proof readers, and attorneys.Welcome to the inaugural
episode of the Modern Court Reporter. This is a podcast for court reporters
both new and old, but we’ll mostly be focusing on topics for students and new
reporters. You can expect to hear about mentoring, technology, including
hardware and software, as well as guest interviews with real-time reporters,
accountants, scopists, proof readers, and attorneys. I’m Dan Malgran, head of
content here at Planet Depos, and I’m joined by my co-host, Darlene Williams, head
of professional development. Darlene has been a court reporter for over 30
years handling complex litigation matters in real-time. She’s also spent the
last five years leading professional development and quality assurance for the
Planet Depos team.I’m Dan Malgran, head of
content here at Planet Depos, and I’m joined by my co-host, Darlene Williams, head
of professional development. Darlene has been a court reporter for over 30
years handling complex litigation matters in real-time. She’s also spent the
last five years leading professional development and quality assurance for the
Planet Depos team. In today’s episode, we’ll be
discussing court reporter mentorship programs, common errors new reporters
often make, and what you can expect out of a court reporting career. So let’s
get started.In today’s episode, we’ll be
discussing court reporter mentorship programs, common errors new reporters
often make, and what you can expect out of a court reporting career. So let’s
get started. Darlene, what can you tell
us about court reporter mentorship programs?
Darlene Williams: 1:09
So there are several
mentorship programs available. The first one being with NCRA, which is the
National Court Reporters Association, and they do offer a free mentoring
program, when you get to certain speeds in school, high speeds. You can always
reach out to them through ncra.org.So there are several
mentorship programs available. The first one being with NCRA, which is the
National Court Reporters Association, and they do offer a free mentoring
program, when you get to certain speeds in school, high speeds. You can always
reach out to them through ncra.org. Another avenue for
mentorship is to just call your local freelance court reporting agency and ask
them if they have a reporter, a seasoned reporter on staff that would consider
taking you under their wing and kind of guiding you along through several
transcripts and helping you to understand what you may or may not be doing
correctly.Another avenue for
mentorship is to just call your local freelance court reporting agency and ask
them if they have a reporter, a seasoned reporter on staff that would consider
taking you under their wing and kind of guiding you along through several
transcripts and helping you to understand what you may or may not be doing
correctly. And then of course, there’s
Planet Institute, which was designed to be strictly a mentorship program for
students at high-speed. We — you work directly with me. I help find reporters
in your area who you can shadow with and they will take you out on certain jobs
with them that we feel are appropriate. We try not to get you into anything to
technical right off the get-go but we’ll find jobs for you to sit in on. And
then you would prepare transcripts for me as though this was your own job and
then I critique that transcript for you, send it back with comments to help you
understand the really fine details of what a final transcript looks like.And then of course, there’s
Planet Institute, which was designed to be strictly a mentorship program for
students at high-speed. We — you work directly with me. I help find reporters
in your area who you can shadow with and they will take you out on certain jobs
with them that we feel are appropriate. We try not to get you into anything to
technical right off the get-go but we’ll find jobs for you to sit in on. And
then you would prepare transcripts for me as though this was your own job and
then I critique that transcript for you, send it back with comments to help you
understand the really fine details of what a final transcript looks like. We understand that because
of cuts in curriculums, transcript prep may not always get the attention that
it needs, and so our program is designed to help you understand what that final
transcript should look like from the very first word on the title page to the
very last word on certificate page. So I will help you with things like
formatting. I will help you with proofreading some of the little pitfalls that
happen when you are trying to rush through something. I’ll give you tips and
tricks about proofreading, but I will help you understand why punctuating a
transcript that is a conversation is different than punctuating dictation
material that you’re given in school. And there is a fine line there but we try
not to get too wrapped up in the grammar rules.We understand that because
of cuts in curriculums, transcript prep may not always get the attention that
it needs, and so our program is designed to help you understand what that final
transcript should look like from the very first word on the title page to the
very last word on certificate page. So I will help you with things like
formatting. I will help you with proofreading some of the little pitfalls that
happen when you are trying to rush through something. I’ll give you tips and
tricks about proofreading, but I will help you understand why punctuating a
transcript that is a conversation is different than punctuating dictation
material that you’re given in school. And there is a fine line there but we try
not to get too wrapped up in the grammar rules. But it’s just an intro to
help you understand how the technical points of punctuating can be varied
throughout the course of a conversation. People don’t speak grammatically
correct anymore, which is difficult. People speak very quickly right now which
is very difficult, and so there is — there’s a little bit of an art to it. It
shouldn’t be intimidating and I think we just tend to overthink it. I think
that’s one of the huge pitfalls court reporters face in general. We get really
caught up in some very minute details. We tend to be Type A personalities and
we want everything to be perfect. And what we actually end up with may not be
grammatically perfect, but it’s our best shot at producing a readable
transcript.But it’s just an intro to
help you understand how the technical points of punctuating can be varied
throughout the course of a conversation. People don’t speak grammatically
correct anymore, which is difficult. People speak very quickly right now which
is very difficult, and so there is — there’s a little bit of an art to it. It
shouldn’t be intimidating and I think we just tend to overthink it. I think
that’s one of the huge pitfalls court reporters face in general. We get really
caught up in some very minute details. We tend to be Type A personalities and
we want everything to be perfect. And what we actually end up with may not be
grammatically perfect, but it’s our best shot at producing a readable
transcript. So our mentoring program is very
detail-oriented. You stay in the program until we feel that you’ve reached a
point where you’re really ready to go take that first job of your own. You
could be a brand new graduate as well and if you haven’t taken your first job
— even if you have and you still feel like you need a little bit of extra
guidance, you should still apply to — to our Planet Institute mentoring
program. We will give you the confidence that you need to know that when you
sit down to put out that first transcript, you already have those skills in
place. You know exactly how to put your transcript together. The school gets
you ready with all the speed. And so we rely on the school to get to the speed
and then we take over from there, and we put the polish on the very end and —
and give you the confidence to go and take that first job.
Daniel Malgran: 4:51
And why would someone want to join a mentorship program?
Darlene Williams: 4:55
So I think the number one
reason is that, when you’re at those high speeds and the reality hits you that
you’re about ready to become an official reporter — and by official, I don’t
necessarily mean in the courtroom, but I just mean the official reporter taking
the record — it becomes nerve-wracking and suddenly everything that you’ve been
striving for for school is just on the horizon and you’re really anxious. You
want to get out there. You want to start making money, and the terror sets in.So I think the number one
reason is that, when you’re at those high speeds and the reality hits you that
you’re about ready to become an official reporter — and by official, I don’t
necessarily mean in the courtroom, but I just mean the official reporter taking
the record — it becomes nerve-wracking and suddenly everything that you’ve been
striving for for school is just on the horizon and you’re really anxious. You
want to get out there. You want to start making money, and the terror sets in. So some students look at
finishing school and going to take that first job as a test, and — and it is.
It’s absolutely a test but you can’t let the test terror set in. Think about
all the tests that you — you thought you were ready for and you sat down to
take them and as soon as they set begin you went crazy.So some students look at
finishing school and going to take that first job as a test, and — and it is.
It’s absolutely a test but you can’t let the test terror set in. Think about
all the tests that you — you thought you were ready for and you sat down to
take them and as soon as they set begin you went crazy. So our mentorship program is
designed to help you combat those nerves by sending you out with seasoned
reporters who will — should be more than willing to share their stories with
you and help promote the confidence that you need to go out there on that first
assignment, and know that when you walk in the door, you command the room and
you’re ready for whatever might come at you. No matter how terrorized you feel
inside, you know that you have the skills in-place. You know you have the speed
on the writer and you’ve — you’ve been on other jobs with other reporters and
you know that you can control the situation. And so our program should make you
feel that confident by the time you’re done. And you actually get to graduate
from something. It’s not just like going to school, getting your certificate.So our mentorship program is
designed to help you combat those nerves by sending you out with seasoned
reporters who will — should be more than willing to share their stories with
you and help promote the confidence that you need to go out there on that first
assignment, and know that when you walk in the door, you command the room and
you’re ready for whatever might come at you. No matter how terrorized you feel
inside, you know that you have the skills in-place. You know you have the speed
on the writer and you’ve — you’ve been on other jobs with other reporters and
you know that you can control the situation. And so our program should make you
feel that confident by the time you’re done. And you actually get to graduate
from something. It’s not just like going to school, getting your certificate. But this is that added
assurance that someone who’s been in the profession as long as I have, and I —
I must admit I’m quite critical — it’s important to remember that while I can
be critical, it’s to help you combat the nerves of the little details that you
didn’t learn in school.0.But this is that added
assurance that someone who’s been in the profession as long as I have, and I —
I must admit I’m quite critical — it’s important to remember that while I can
be critical, it’s to help you combat the nerves of the little details that you
didn’t learn in school.0. So our program will guide
you through those little technicalities that come across in every job so that
you’re — you’re more prepared. You feel more confident. You’ve overcome one
obstacle. We’ll — we’ll teach you how to read a notice of a deposition so that
you understand when — when an agency sends you this, you know what it means.
You know how to gain information from it, how to do research before a job, to
build a job dictionary. Just all the little nuances that school can’t help you
with because they just don’t have the time to do that, and so we want to fill
in that gap for them and make you as prepared and as confident as you can be
for that first job.So our program will guide
you through those little technicalities that come across in every job so that
you’re — you’re more prepared. You feel more confident. You’ve overcome one
obstacle. We’ll — we’ll teach you how to read a notice of a deposition so that
you understand when — when an agency sends you this, you know what it means.
You know how to gain information from it, how to do research before a job, to
build a job dictionary. Just all the little nuances that school can’t help you
with because they just don’t have the time to do that, and so we want to fill
in that gap for them and make you as prepared and as confident as you can be
for that first job. And one of the benefits to
our program is that we always encourage you to feel free to join Planet Depos
after you’ve completed your — your mentorship program with us because you get
the added benefit of being able to work one-on-one with an expert to keep you
focused on where you need to be. We have an in-house proofreading program that
I run and I will make sure that those first several jobs that you take are
exactly what they need to be when they go out the door. So you know that
somebody is looking behind you and that’s an added level of confidence so that
those transcripts that go out don’t make or break you. They just build your
future. And our goal is to always be encouraging, to always strive for
excellence, but mostly just to help you see that you — you’ve invested a lot
of time in something that really has wonderful rewards and we want you to be
able to enjoy all of those rewards.
Daniel Malgran: 8:38
That’s very helpful. Thank
you. We actually interviewed a few court reporters who went through the Planet
Institute program. So here’s a snippet from that.
Kathy DiLorenzo: 8:47
How did
your experience with Planet Institute impact the start of your career or better
prepare you for the start of your career? And more importantly, what traits do
you feel are important for a student considering to come into the program?
Reporter 1: 0:00
Planet
Institute has been an amazing experience. It really taught me how to be a
reporter. In school you are taught how to write and how to put our transcript
together. However, you don’t get as much experience out in the field handling
various types of jobs. Through Planet Institute, I was able to sit in in a
video conference job, which I’d never done before. And also just get experience
through — just different situations that — the school does its best to try to
familiarize you with everything, but it still doesn’t cover everything. So it’s
just great to get that firsthand experience and also have people to talk to and
people to ask questions.
Kathy DiLorenzo: 0:00
What
component of the program did you feel was the most beneficial for you? Was it
going out on the job and shadowing your reporters? Was it the feedback that you
got from transcript preparation? What — what part do you feel was the most
beneficial?
Reporter 2: 0:00
I think
setting out and shadowing these seasoned reporters, simply because of my first
couple of weeks of experience. It really helped me learn how to handle every
situation that came up, and I felt confident that I could deal with it instead
of going in blindly, seeing that there’s two attorneys on the phone and going,
oh my God, what do I do? And instead of kind of having that reaction, what I
did was, I just remembered what happened when I shadowed this reporter that had
the attorneys on the phone or the pro per depo and I was able to kind of like,
use that experience, have the confidence to take charge of the room, know what
to do exactly, you know, with the pro per. They didn’t necessarily know how to
handle the deposition but I was able to kind of take charge for them and so it
definitely benefited me with my confidence level. I felt like I was already
experienced even though it was my first month of working and it just like — it
made that transition from being a student to working court reporter so
seamless.
Kathy DiLorenzo: 0:00
Would you recommend Planet
Institute to other students and if so, what type of students do you feel are
best suited for the program that you’ve been through? And what are the traits
that — that you would like to see from students coming in that you know would
work well for them?
Reporter 3: 12:37
First of all, I would think
every — I know every student really would benefit from partaking in this kind
of program, a program like this. You cannot learn nearly a fraction of what you
really need to know from school. It’ll give you the speed and give you the
theory, but there’s just so much more to the job than that. You have to be out
there presenting yourself, working with clients. And then of course on the back
end, the post production, putting the transcript together, knowing your CAT
software, way beyond what’s taught in school, so everyone would benefit.
Reporter 1: 0:00
Okay.
So besides being really self driven and being humble, I think the last one is
being flexible. You know, like I said before, the one constant of court
reporting is the inconsistency of it. So even with Planet Institute, because
it’s so customized and self driven, it’s going to change depending on what you
need and so you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone. Be — be
flexible. Be flexible in terms of, let’s say your schedule, what you’re willing
to do. What you think you might be willing to do might not be enough, so you
have to be okay with pushing yourself. Get a little uncomfortable, get out
there. Yeah.
Kathy DiLorenzo: 0:00
The
things you think you’re not going to like maybe are going to be the things that
you like the most; right?
Reporter 1: 0:00
That’s
true, and you never know until you try. So I think bottom line, just always say
yes, make a big difference.
Daniel Malgran: 0:00
Let’s
change gears for a moment. What are some common errors that you find in a new
reporter’s transcript?
Darlene Williams: 12:37
So it’s a — it’s an
interesting question, Dan. And I think that students need to understand that I
take a different perspective working with students, getting them ready to go
take those first jobs than I would with a seasoned reporter. And part of the
reason is because the student is looking at their transcripts as passing a test
and we have to look beyond that. We’re looking at a completed package.So it’s a — it’s an
interesting question, Dan. And I think that students need to understand that I
take a different perspective working with students, getting them ready to go
take those first jobs than I would with a seasoned reporter. And part of the
reason is because the student is looking at their transcripts as passing a test
and we have to look beyond that. We’re looking at a completed package. So some of the first errors
I find are simple things like the words like “you’re” and
“your.” You forget that if — if the word should be “you
are,” then it — it can also be a contraction, but you want to make sure
that you’re writing what the — the witness is saying. So if the witness is
saying “you are,” you should be writing “you are,” not
“you’re.” So we kind of rely on you to — to know the difference
between slang. Are they just sliding through something quickly? The words go by
too quickly, and it sounds like they’re making a contraction.So some of the first errors
I find are simple things like the words like “you’re” and
“your.” You forget that if — if the word should be “you
are,” then it — it can also be a contraction, but you want to make sure
that you’re writing what the — the witness is saying. So if the witness is
saying “you are,” you should be writing “you are,” not
“you’re.” So we kind of rely on you to — to know the difference
between slang. Are they just sliding through something quickly? The words go by
too quickly, and it sounds like they’re making a contraction. Or a great one is the word
“gonna.” It’s a terrible word. I try to steer people away from using
that. Remember that the people who read our transcripts — first of all, the
attorneys who take the transcripts, these are highly educated people and when
they get to speaking quickly, they’re — they’re generally working from an
outline in a case and they — they know what their questions are. They are
anticipating an answer but they’re thinking ahead of where they’re at. So when
someone’s slides in a “gonna” or “you betcha” or whatever,
we kind of have to take a step back and say, do they really want to see that in
a transcript? Did they really mean to say, I’m “gonna” get there?
They really meant to say, I’m “going to” get there. And they probably
did in their mind but they spoke so quickly that it got lost. It’s just a
nuance, so I help you learn the difference in those kinds of things.Or a great one is the word
“gonna.” It’s a terrible word. I try to steer people away from using
that. Remember that the people who read our transcripts — first of all, the
attorneys who take the transcripts, these are highly educated people and when
they get to speaking quickly, they’re — they’re generally working from an
outline in a case and they — they know what their questions are. They are
anticipating an answer but they’re thinking ahead of where they’re at. So when
someone’s slides in a “gonna” or “you betcha” or whatever,
we kind of have to take a step back and say, do they really want to see that in
a transcript? Did they really mean to say, I’m “gonna” get there?
They really meant to say, I’m “going to” get there. And they probably
did in their mind but they spoke so quickly that it got lost. It’s just a
nuance, so I help you learn the difference in those kinds of things. So “you’re” and
“your. ” “Affect,” “effect,” they sound so much
alike, it’s very difficult sometimes to understand. So you have to revert to
the content. What are they talking about? So you kind of need to know articles
of speech. Versus and verses, they’re two different words. You need to know how
to use them. Possessives and plural possessives. This is a big one I see a lot
of times, knowing when something is just possessive and when it’s plural
possessive.So “you’re” and
“your. ” “Affect,” “effect,” they sound so much
alike, it’s very difficult sometimes to understand. So you have to revert to
the content. What are they talking about? So you kind of need to know articles
of speech. Versus and verses, they’re two different words. You need to know how
to use them. Possessives and plural possessives. This is a big one I see a lot
of times, knowing when something is just possessive and when it’s plural
possessive. It’s still traditional
despite the fact that many of us are on keyboards all the time, QWERTY and
otherwise, that there are still two blank spaces after a period and a question
mark and a colon. And it looks like a mistake in a transcript when there’s only
one space. So you might not think it. You might look right past it and not
think about it but the reader of that transcript is someone who’s been in the
industry for a very, very long time. They’re still used to seeing it, and so it
looks like a mistake.It’s still traditional
despite the fact that many of us are on keyboards all the time, QWERTY and
otherwise, that there are still two blank spaces after a period and a question
mark and a colon. And it looks like a mistake in a transcript when there’s only
one space. So you might not think it. You might look right past it and not
think about it but the reader of that transcript is someone who’s been in the
industry for a very, very long time. They’re still used to seeing it, and so it
looks like a mistake. So our goal, part of our
goal in this mentoring program is to take the focus off of who did the
transcript. Instead put the focus on, this is a great transcript. We don’t ever
want them to look and see who did the transcript. We want them to say, that’s
an excellent transcript. Then they can go back and see who it was and say, I
want that reporter back again.So our goal, part of our
goal in this mentoring program is to take the focus off of who did the
transcript. Instead put the focus on, this is a great transcript. We don’t ever
want them to look and see who did the transcript. We want them to say, that’s
an excellent transcript. Then they can go back and see who it was and say, I
want that reporter back again. That’s our goal, we want you
to be that reporter. We want you to always know that you have a foundation to
work from and we want to build that foundation with you and make you have the
confidence that when you put that final transcript together and you’ve signed
your name to it, you know that that’s your best product. Doesn’t mean that
there won’t be a mistake. There’s always going to be a mistake. We’re still
human. We still are going to have mistakes.That’s our goal, we want you
to be that reporter. We want you to always know that you have a foundation to
work from and we want to build that foundation with you and make you have the
confidence that when you put that final transcript together and you’ve signed
your name to it, you know that that’s your best product. Doesn’t mean that
there won’t be a mistake. There’s always going to be a mistake. We’re still
human. We still are going to have mistakes. But the focus at the end of
the day will be that the reader takes that transcript to whoever they take it
to, probably no one that was in the deposition, and say, I don’t know who this
court reporter is, but I want her again. I want him again. That was an
excellent transcript. Who did it? Please request them for the rest of my jobs.
And you’ve — you’ve solidified a great future for yourself. So those are some
of the basics that I see in early transcripts.But the focus at the end of
the day will be that the reader takes that transcript to whoever they take it
to, probably no one that was in the deposition, and say, I don’t know who this
court reporter is, but I want her again. I want him again. That was an
excellent transcript. Who did it? Please request them for the rest of my jobs.
And you’ve — you’ve solidified a great future for yourself. So those are some
of the basics that I see in early transcripts. Another real quick one is
knowing the difference between a recess and a break or an off-the-record
discussion. Just the nuance is that if people stay within the room, it should
be an off-the-record discussion. Could be that they’ve decided they need to
work out a technical issue as far as asking a particular question or documents
or something like that. As long as people stay within the room, it should just
be reflected as an off-the-record discussion.Another real quick one is
knowing the difference between a recess and a break or an off-the-record
discussion. Just the nuance is that if people stay within the room, it should
be an off-the-record discussion. Could be that they’ve decided they need to
work out a technical issue as far as asking a particular question or documents
or something like that. As long as people stay within the room, it should just
be reflected as an off-the-record discussion. If someone decides they need
to leave the room for whatever reason, that should be reflected as a recess,
because you don’t know how long they might be gone. Could be 30 seconds, could
be five hours. You have no way to know but it helps the reader know that at
this point someone left the room for — for whatever reason. Whether it was
just a restroom break or they went to get documents or somebody wanted a cup of
coffee or water or whatever, somebody actually left the room. And that means
something to the reader down the line.If someone decides they need
to leave the room for whatever reason, that should be reflected as a recess,
because you don’t know how long they might be gone. Could be 30 seconds, could
be five hours. You have no way to know but it helps the reader know that at
this point someone left the room for — for whatever reason. Whether it was
just a restroom break or they went to get documents or somebody wanted a cup of
coffee or water or whatever, somebody actually left the room. And that means
something to the reader down the line. So I think my overall focus
here is we need to focus on who is reading this product when I’m done with it.
And nine times out of ten, the attorneys who were in the room with you at the
time that you took it aren’t going to be reading it for a while. It may be
support staff, their paralegal, maybe they’re sending it onto an expert,
whoever. But they may not have been someone that was in the room and so we need
to remember that people reading these transcripts down the road were not there.So I think my overall focus
here is we need to focus on who is reading this product when I’m done with it.
And nine times out of ten, the attorneys who were in the room with you at the
time that you took it aren’t going to be reading it for a while. It may be
support staff, their paralegal, maybe they’re sending it onto an expert,
whoever. But they may not have been someone that was in the room and so we need
to remember that people reading these transcripts down the road were not there. So we need to be doubly sure
that we capture the record accurately and put together a professional
transcript so that the person who has to read that transcript never has to stumble
and never has to — to look at it like, I have no idea what they’re trying to
say here. If that’s the case, and you’ve done your very best, that means the
person asking the question or the person answering the questions didn’t do a
very good job. It’s not our job to interpret that for them. It’s our job to
actually make the record as it happened, so that’s why those fine points of
punctuation and making sure you have the correct words is so important. So it’s
always my goal to give you the confidence to do that and I will do that through
critiquing your transcripts.
Daniel Malgran: 18:52
That’s
really insightful. Thank you, Darlene. In your mind, why is a court reporting
career a worthwhile endeavor?
Darlene Williams: 19:01
So this is a fun question
because the world is at your disposal as a court reporter. You can take this
career anywhere you want to go. You could have grown up in a little town in the
middle of nowhere, somehow heard about court reporting and got into the
program, and then you realize, there’s nowhere for me to work here. I can’t
make a living doing this where I’m at. So you have to think outside the box.
You have to think about, where would I go to make a good living? Well, of
course, the first answer is any major city. That’s gonna be your first bet.So this is a fun question
because the world is at your disposal as a court reporter. You can take this
career anywhere you want to go. You could have grown up in a little town in the
middle of nowhere, somehow heard about court reporting and got into the
program, and then you realize, there’s nowhere for me to work here. I can’t
make a living doing this where I’m at. So you have to think outside the box.
You have to think about, where would I go to make a good living? Well, of
course, the first answer is any major city. That’s gonna be your first bet. But the question is: Are you
up for the challenge? Are you willing to take that step outside your comfort
zone and put yourself out there? You’ve spent so much time in school learning
this profession. You owe it to yourself to give it a shot. Try it and see. We
have reporters at Planet Depos who work around the world and that is no lie.
They work around the world and it’s because they have the skill. And you can
have that if that’s what you want. You could maybe move an hour away from where
you currently live and be in a major metropolitan market, and suddenly be able
to work as much as you want or as little as you want.But the question is: Are you
up for the challenge? Are you willing to take that step outside your comfort
zone and put yourself out there? You’ve spent so much time in school learning
this profession. You owe it to yourself to give it a shot. Try it and see. We
have reporters at Planet Depos who work around the world and that is no lie.
They work around the world and it’s because they have the skill. And you can
have that if that’s what you want. You could maybe move an hour away from where
you currently live and be in a major metropolitan market, and suddenly be able
to work as much as you want or as little as you want. But you have to keep an open
mind. You have to remember that what’s comfortable right now may not be what’s
comfortable in a few months or a year or two years when you finish your
program. It’s important to remember if you are in a state that requires
licensing to be a court reporter and you’re struggling passing the test for
your state license, maybe you need to take a step back and get some experience
under your belt. Go to a market that doesn’t require licensing. Get those jobs
in. Learn what — what it’s like to deal with this job day in day after being
in school and the school days are very different from working as a full-time
reporter.But you have to keep an open
mind. You have to remember that what’s comfortable right now may not be what’s
comfortable in a few months or a year or two years when you finish your
program. It’s important to remember if you are in a state that requires
licensing to be a court reporter and you’re struggling passing the test for
your state license, maybe you need to take a step back and get some experience
under your belt. Go to a market that doesn’t require licensing. Get those jobs
in. Learn what — what it’s like to deal with this job day in day after being
in school and the school days are very different from working as a full-time
reporter. So get those nerves over
with, then go back and try and take your state test and maybe you pass it then
and maybe you don’t. But you’ve opened up a whole world of places where you
could take this profession. You’re — you’re not stuck in any one place.So get those nerves over
with, then go back and try and take your state test and maybe you pass it then
and maybe you don’t. But you’ve opened up a whole world of places where you
could take this profession. You’re — you’re not stuck in any one place. Planet Depos always looks
for the cream of the crop and coming into Planet Institute gives you a foot in
the door because it gives us a chance to help kind of mold you and get you over
those few hurdles that happen in those first couple of months of reporting.
Just the difference in jobs that you’re going to take, you — we would start
you out on simple cases, an accident case or a workers’ comp case. And then as
you get comfortable with actually physically going to the location and writing
the job and then preparing your transcript through actually turning it in and
getting paid, you start to get that confidence from day to day and it gives you
that courage to like, I think I’m going to try something else, maybe something
a little more challenging.Planet Depos always looks
for the cream of the crop and coming into Planet Institute gives you a foot in
the door because it gives us a chance to help kind of mold you and get you over
those few hurdles that happen in those first couple of months of reporting.
Just the difference in jobs that you’re going to take, you — we would start
you out on simple cases, an accident case or a workers’ comp case. And then as
you get comfortable with actually physically going to the location and writing
the job and then preparing your transcript through actually turning it in and
getting paid, you start to get that confidence from day to day and it gives you
that courage to like, I think I’m going to try something else, maybe something
a little more challenging. So then I — I will
obviously go out of my way to try and find things that help to build that
confidence by expanding your vocabulary on a job that might seem different to
you, maybe — maybe a med-mal case — which let me just point out, those are great
cases. Don’t ever shy away from them. They’re very, very interesting. You’ll
learn a lot.So then I — I will
obviously go out of my way to try and find things that help to build that
confidence by expanding your vocabulary on a job that might seem different to
you, maybe — maybe a med-mal case — which let me just point out, those are great
cases. Don’t ever shy away from them. They’re very, very interesting. You’ll
learn a lot. I would never take you from
being a student and throwing you into an intellectual property case. They can
be extremely technical, very, very difficult. And those are things that you
want to aspire to. You want to work towards those goals. I — I encourage my
students at this point, you need to be thinking about skills that you want to
attain as you begin your career. And by that I mean you need to focus on working
to be a real-time reporter.I would never take you from
being a student and throwing you into an intellectual property case. They can
be extremely technical, very, very difficult. And those are things that you
want to aspire to. You want to work towards those goals. I — I encourage my
students at this point, you need to be thinking about skills that you want to
attain as you begin your career. And by that I mean you need to focus on working
to be a real-time reporter. In our industry, it is
historic background that we have — that page rates don’t happen in this market
much. You don’t get increases very often and by that I mean, they’re, like,
nonexistent anymore. People want to cut costs. They don’t want to — they don’t
want to pay you more. And so you need to look at value-added services. What can
I add to what I do to make me more marketable and to bring me those high
dollars that I hear court reporters make? And there are — there — there’s a
lot of money to be made in court reporting if you strive to be the best at what
you do.In our industry, it is
historic background that we have — that page rates don’t happen in this market
much. You don’t get increases very often and by that I mean, they’re, like,
nonexistent anymore. People want to cut costs. They don’t want to — they don’t
want to pay you more. And so you need to look at value-added services. What can
I add to what I do to make me more marketable and to bring me those high
dollars that I hear court reporters make? And there are — there — there’s a
lot of money to be made in court reporting if you strive to be the best at what
you do. So that’s why I encourage
you to work towards being a real-time reporter, and — and that’s attainable.
It can be done, and you can be a real-time reporter in two years, if you set
your mind to it. I want you to think about working with a scopist and a
proofreader. We have such a shortage of stenographic reporters in our industry
right now that we need you out there working. We — we don’t need you stuck at
your computer trying to get a transcript out, although you’re not ready for
that when you first come out of school, but you need to be thinking about it.
You need to know that this — I should be working towards this so that I can go
out and make more money.So that’s why I encourage
you to work towards being a real-time reporter, and — and that’s attainable.
It can be done, and you can be a real-time reporter in two years, if you set
your mind to it. I want you to think about working with a scopist and a
proofreader. We have such a shortage of stenographic reporters in our industry
right now that we need you out there working. We — we don’t need you stuck at
your computer trying to get a transcript out, although you’re not ready for
that when you first come out of school, but you need to be thinking about it.
You need to know that this — I should be working towards this so that I can go
out and make more money. Kathy DiLorenzo, as many of
our students will recognize that name, she’s huge in our industry, past
president of NCRA. Kathy’s been very instrumental in getting people focused on
value-added services. And one of the things that struck with me many, many
years ago, Kathy mentioned in her presentation, if your fingers aren’t on your
machine writing, you’re not making money. And it’s a simple concept but it’s so
true. If your fingers aren’t writing pages on your writer, you’re not making
money.Kathy DiLorenzo, as many of
our students will recognize that name, she’s huge in our industry, past
president of NCRA. Kathy’s been very instrumental in getting people focused on
value-added services. And one of the things that struck with me many, many
years ago, Kathy mentioned in her presentation, if your fingers aren’t on your
machine writing, you’re not making money. And it’s a simple concept but it’s so
true. If your fingers aren’t writing pages on your writer, you’re not making
money. So that’s why I encourage
you to understand that you need to focus on support staff. You need to know
that you’re — you’re going to need, first — the first thing you’re going to
need is a proofreader, especially if you come through the Planet Institute
program once I graduate you from our program and you come onto Planet Depos as
a reporter. You’ll work with me for a while and then I’ll — I won’t — I
wouldn’t say I will pawn you off on a proofreader. But I have proofreaders at
my disposal who like the challenge of working with students and they will help
guide you, continue that process that you and I have started. And it’s just
encouraging and comforting to know that somebody else has a set of eyes on your
transcript before it goes out the door, especially when you’re young.So that’s why I encourage
you to understand that you need to focus on support staff. You need to know
that you’re — you’re going to need, first — the first thing you’re going to
need is a proofreader, especially if you come through the Planet Institute
program once I graduate you from our program and you come onto Planet Depos as
a reporter. You’ll work with me for a while and then I’ll — I won’t — I
wouldn’t say I will pawn you off on a proofreader. But I have proofreaders at
my disposal who like the challenge of working with students and they will help
guide you, continue that process that you and I have started. And it’s just
encouraging and comforting to know that somebody else has a set of eyes on your
transcript before it goes out the door, especially when you’re young. But I want you to strive
towards knowing that your next step should be working with a scopist so that
you set the groundwork in place now where you — you focus on those — those
entries in your dictionary and you make sure that you’re doing a really good
job at that. Clearly, if you’re — you’re anticipating working with a scopist,
you want to learn to write consistently. Do the same things over and over
again. If it turns out to be that it’s a bad way to do it, doesn’t matter. It’s
your way to do it. So put it in your dictionary, get over that hurdle, go to
the next one. But there’s lots of places you can take this business.But I want you to strive
towards knowing that your next step should be working with a scopist so that
you set the groundwork in place now where you — you focus on those — those
entries in your dictionary and you make sure that you’re doing a really good
job at that. Clearly, if you’re — you’re anticipating working with a scopist,
you want to learn to write consistently. Do the same things over and over
again. If it turns out to be that it’s a bad way to do it, doesn’t matter. It’s
your way to do it. So put it in your dictionary, get over that hurdle, go to
the next one. But there’s lots of places you can take this business. And keep that in mind, this
should be a business. When you first come out of school, you’re focused on just
getting those jobs and getting those paychecks coming in but you don’t want to
start out behind the eight ball. So that’s why our podcast should help you as
we go forward, that you’ll understand why, through guest speakers, you need to
set up a business or you don’t need to set up a business. Why you might want to
incorporate my — or why you may not want to incorporate. What are the tax
ramifications for you now that you’re an independent contractor.And keep that in mind, this
should be a business. When you first come out of school, you’re focused on just
getting those jobs and getting those paychecks coming in but you don’t want to
start out behind the eight ball. So that’s why our podcast should help you as
we go forward, that you’ll understand why, through guest speakers, you need to
set up a business or you don’t need to set up a business. Why you might want to
incorporate my — or why you may not want to incorporate. What are the tax
ramifications for you now that you’re an independent contractor. So just kind of things like that
that the school doesn’t help you with. And we just want to kind of give you
some guidance, just so that you know that there are things out there that you
need to be looking at, so that you’re prepared. Because the federal government
will expect their tax money from you, just like they do if you were an
employee. So you don’t want to fall behind the eight ball from the get-go. We
just want to set that solid foundation all the way around and we hope that
you’ll come to Planet Institute for that foundation.
Daniel Malgran: 27:05
Well, that’s it for today.
Thank you for joining me, Darlene, and thank you for all of your insights for
the students out there. And thank you for joining us on this first episode of
the Modern Court Reporter. We look forward to seeing you in future episodes
each month.Well, that’s it for today.
Thank you for joining me, Darlene, and thank you for all of your insights for
the students out there. And thank you for joining us on this first episode of
the Modern Court Reporter. We look forward to seeing you in future episodes
each month. Are you a court reporting
student looking for mentorship? Why not join Planet Institute, a court reporter
mentorship program sponsored by Planet Depos? To learn more and apply visit
planetdepos.institute. That’s Planet D-E-P-O-S dot Institute. We look forward
to seeing you next time on the Modern Court Reporter.
