1 - "The End of Court Reporting?"
2 - "$200 Scholarship Essay Contest!"
3 - "Live Chat 9/26/09 - The Importance of Working on Your Dictionary...NOW!"
4 - "SimplySteno Flash Speedbuilding Tool - Now Available!"

The End of Court Reporting? (back to top)

I still hear the same question - 15 years later.  "Will court reporters still be around in 5 or 10 years?"  And my response is the same...with a condition.  Yes...but it's up to court reporting schools.

Back in 2004 I wrote one of my very first articles for StenoLife.  I was concerned about the decline in the number of court reporting schools and the overall level of education being offered to students.  I was sure that there was a correlation between the two.  5 years later I feel even more strongly about that.  Many more schools have closed since 2004.  Several schools have been sued as well, accused of not living up to the promises they made to the students.  I know of 2 suits in recent years that students have won, with a third currently underway.

So why do I place the major portion of blame on schools?  It starts on day 1.  When a prospective student walks in the door to find out about court reporting, there are 2 ways an admissions rep can approach them. 

1 - They can work with the student on a human level and tell them all the wonderful things about this occupation.  They can tell them they will be part of an elite, professional group of individuals who work hard and earn every dime they make.  They can let students know that this is a very challenging program - not one to be entered into lightly.  They can tell them that this may end up being the biggest challenge in their lives.  They can tell them that they need to be willing to sacrifice some time and be ready to put in the effort needed.  And they MUST tell them that there is NO DUE DATE on this.  This is a skill-based program, and no one can predict how long it will take for a student to complete the program successfully.

Or...

2 - They can treat the prospective students like a $ sign and say whatever it takes to get them to sign on the dotted line.  Sadly, this seems to be the way of most schools and programs.

I did a search last week - took me 10 minutes - to find out how many schools and program are telling students they will be out and working in less than 3 years.  I came up with 6 programs right away - didn't even have to search hard.  So if I'd have spent another 10 minutes looking, I'm sure I could have doubled that.  A couple even said 18 months!!!  I am going to set the next sentence apart and bold it to make sure the point gets across...

Schools/Programs that tell prospective students that court reporting is a 24-36 month course are setting most students up to FAIL.

How so?  First off, no school has an average graduation time of less than 36 months.  And if any school can show me otherwise, I will give them free advertising space on all of my websites for life.  To say you have a graduation time of less than 3 years, that means you have taken a new student through theory and all their speeds past 200 in that amount of time.  Some do, but most don't.  I don't buy it.  Unless you have one students and they zipped through.  But we're talking about an average here - let's say more than 20 students over the course of a few years.  The last study (I believe) by NCRA stated the average time was closer to 4.5 years.  So if you have a program that is graduating all your students in less than 3 years, you need to shout that from the rooftops!  The rest of you are just lying.

And you're setting students up to fail. If I were planning to climb Mount Everest, and I was told it would take me 10 days, I'd have that in my mind as my goal.  If on the 10th day I was told I was only halfway up, I'd feel that either I was a big loser, or I was lied to.  Either way, I'd feel deflated.  I'd paced myself and prepped myself for one thing, only to find out my goals were swapped.

Students are not dumb.  They can do math.  If they are at 110 after 2 years, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that doubling that speed will most likely not happen in 1 year.  And that takes a big mental toll on a student.  It weighs on them both emotionally AND financially.  The last thing a court reporting student needs is more pressure, but that's exactly what they start to experience once they do the math - once they are in the thick of it with no options. 

We had our house remodeled years ago.  The contractor promised us the moon - anything to get us to sign on the dotted line.  Once we signed, they started work.  Things went well at first.  But after about a month, the workers stopped coming on some days - or only a single worker showed up.  I called the contractor to find out what was up, and he basically said, "This is how we do it.  If you don't like it, you can get someone else to finish, but you still owe us the money and we can put a lien on your house if you don't pay it."  Hooked.  They got us hooked and we had no escape.

Yes - that's kind of how I see schools.  Schools are afraid that if they tell prospective students that it will be hard, they may not sign on.  They are afraid that if they tell students it may take more than 4 years, they may not sign.  And they may be right.  They may lose out on some potential students if they tell them these things.  But I fear that we will lose this profession if they don't. 

There are so many good things to share with prospective students.  Do schools really need to sweeten the pot with fuzzy promises in order to get students?  Unfortunately, now some do.  It's a snowball that will be hard to stop at first.  It's the "That school is lying, so I have to lie too in order to keep up!" approach to advertising.  But I have to plead to all schools and programs - please stop now.  Bring in quality students who know what they are getting into.  The success rate will be higher because they won't feel as though they are failing.  And a higher success rate will only have a good effect on the school.  It may mean taking a step back to start running forward, but now's the time for that step to be taken. 

$200 Scholarship Essay Contest! (back to top)

I recently became aware of an essay contest a court reporting school was running.  Great idea!  Who doesn't like free money for your education, right?  And it's a good way to get students involved.  So I've decided to do the same thing, except I'm not going to limit it to my own SimplySteno students.  I'm opening it up to court reporting students everywhere.  The topic is "Court Reporting and Life."  That must be the title of your essay.  What that means - how you interpret that - is up to you.  Here are the details -

1 - To enter you must currently be in a court reporting program of some kind. Payment of the $200 will be made DIRECTLY to the program on your behalf - not to you.

2 - The title must be "Court Reporting and Life"

3 - Essays must be at least 500 words long.

4 - Entries must be submitted in a Word document - NOT PASTED IN AN EMAIL. 

5 - Entries must be emailed to Marc@Stenolife.com by October 16th, 2009. 

6 - The winner will be announced by October 30th, 2009. 

Judging will be done by myself and 2 others (court reporters that do not work with me in my program).  I will pick my top 10, then the other 2 judges will select the final winner.  By entering this contest you agree that I can post your essay online.  And I will be posting many of them :)   Good luck!

Live Chat 9/26 - The Importance of Working on Your Dictionary...NOW! (back to top)

I suggest testing all that out before the day of the chat - just to make sure it's working correctly for you. If you run into issues the day of the chat, it will be too late for me to help you.  So test it out : )

SimplySteno Flash Speedbuilding Tool - Available Now! (back to top)

I teased it before, and now it's here!  The SimplySteno Flash (as seen here) works like flash cards on your computer.  But it has the added bonus of allowing you to create your own word lists!  You can order the program now - it gets emailed you. Order it HERE for $18.

Thanks!
Marc Greenberg

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