The Steno Life
Issue #18

Coming up to 4,500 active members! I can't wait to see that 5,000 mark passed this year : ) Knowing I get hundreds of people using this website every day keeps it going - makes it worth it. So a big thanks to all of you for making this the little website that could! I look at versions of the website as it first appeared and cringe! But I guess it had to start there to get here, right?

As always, please don't email me about spelling or punctuation errors.  I appreciate it, but I'm writing this for content, not an English class.

Past issues of The Steno Life - Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10 Issue 11 Issue 12 Issue 13 Issue 14 Issue 15 Issue 16 Issue 17

Articles in this issue -

1 - Court Reporting - The Rest of the Story!
2 - Making the RPR the National Exam - My Quest!
3 - Writing in the Moment!
4 - Contest Winner - New Contest!

Court Reporting - The Rest of the Story! (back to top)

WARNING! This article may/does contain sarcasm. I hope you can see it when it pops its head up.

When it comes to news reporting, the only thing that may be worse than incorrect facts would be revealing partial facts to skew a story in a particular direction. A few weeks ago CareerBuilder.com came out with a lovely story from a very talented writer, Anthony Balderrama, entitled: Five Low Salaries That May Surprise You. Who wouldn't click on that, right? And the "story" was posted by several other large sites, including CNN, AOL and MSN. The list of careers included fisherman, AC repairman, construction painters, foresters and....drumroll...court reporters! Gasp!

According to the article, reporters make $45,000 a year. The end. Have a good night - turn off the lights when you leave. There were no conditions on that $45,000. That's just the amount, take it or leave it. It reads like an opinion piece, which is what writers do when they want to make bold statements with fuzzy logic. CareerBuilder is not a news outlet. It's an opinion outlet with one leg in reality.

Fortunately, Anthony DOES site a source his $45,000 figure...fully knowing that no one will search for that source and check out his facts. His resource is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the US Department of Labor. So we DO have a good source here. But just like any data, things can be twisted to serve your needs. In this case, Anthony wanted to shock. I just find it hard to believe that there weren't five other occupations that would have worked better and been based more in fact. I'm not here to pump up the other occupations, but.... I DO know people in ALL the other jobs mentioned, and they are ALL making more money than stated in the article. That doesn't prove I'm right, but that does seem like a big coincidence.

So I took a trip to the US Department of Labor and did some digging. As I suspected, that amount of $45,000 only tells a quarter of the story.  To begin with, that dollar amount is based upon salaried reporters - not freelance reporters.  If they would have added those into the mix, the number would have been much higher...but would have ruined the article for the author : ) So I'm sharing the missing info now.  Again, this is an impartial report from the US Department of Labor, based upon statistics gathered through 2006 -

Court reporters held about 19,000 jobs in 2006. More than half worked for State and local governments, a reflection of the large number of court reporters working in courts, legislatures, and various agencies. Most of the remaining wage and salary workers were employed by court reporting agencies. Around 8 percent of court reporters were self-employed. 

Employment is projected to grow much faster than the average
, reflecting the demand for real-time broadcast captioning and translating. Job opportunities should be excellent, especially for those with certification.

Employment of court reporters is projected to grow 25 percent, much faster than the average for all occupations between 2006 and 2016. Demand for court reporter services will be spurred by the continuing need for accurate transcription of proceedings in courts and in pretrial depositions, by the growing need to create captions for live television, and by the need to provide other real-time broadcast captioning and translating services for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Job opportunities for court reporters are expected to be excellent as job openings continue to outnumber job seekers in some areas.

Wage and salary court reporters had median annual earnings of $45,610 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $33,160 and $61,530. The lowest paid 10 percent earned less than $23,430, and the highest paid 10 percent earned more than $77,770. Median annual earnings in May 2006 were $45,080 for court reporters working in local government and $41,720 for those working in business support services.  (again, they are only taking into account salaried workers in this particular number, which account for a little more than half of the reporters working)

Freelance court reporters are paid per job and receive a per-page fee for transcripts. Bottom line - Job prospects are expected to be excellent, especially for those with certification. Demand for real-time broadcast captioning and translating will spur employment growth.

And let me just say that $45,000 ain't half bad, depending on where you live. With a salaried position you also generally get all the job benefits and structured hours. So I'm not knocking that number : ) If you would like to know more about the US Department of Labor, here's where to start - https://www.dol.gov/osbp/pubs/dolbuys/mission.htm

Making the RPR the National Exam - My Quest! (back to top)

www.RPR4ALL50.com

I don't choose my quests as much as they choose me. Early on in my teaching career I realized that many schools were concerned more about getting new students in the door than graduating them. That's not to say they didn't want students to graduate. They did! But the bigger concern was a business one - keeping the new money flowing. And that takes effort - sometimes drawing energy and resources away from other areas...like, oh...teaching : ) So I put it all out there, trying to get schools to answer tough questions and maybe even view things differently. I don't know if I made a difference. But I do know that I tried.

And I would have just stayed on that quest if I hadn't come to a second conclusion. Students were letting schools get away with anything they wanted! So it wasn't just the schools that were responsible for any shortcomings - students were just as responsible. I mean, they were letting the schools do it : ) So my first quest merged into my second - trying to get students to stand up for themselves and realize they are paying to be taught - paying for information - paying for a future. Plain and simple, they are customers. And the schools work for YOU.

I stuck with that one for a long time, and I still get emails all the time from students asking questions related to that. But I recently ran into another windmill. On my www.StenoFun.com website (this is a paid membership website), I have a list of all the state requirements with current testing dates, costs and contact info. And I update that list every few months. I remember when I created the list the first time - it took 4 months to complete! Finding the correct associations for each state was tough. Finding the requirements was even tougher! But I finally did it. And though it's become easier since, each time I update the list I come across at least one or two states that are in transition - thinking of adding a state exam...thinking of removing a state exam...thinking of switching a state exam...or they have a state exam - they just don't know when they are going to give it.

When this happened twice last month, I felt something should be done. So I created www.RPR4ALL50.com. This is a petition website that suggests that court reporters should have a nationally recognized exam - a single exam that allows them to work in every state. Since the RPR exam is already in place in many states, and since NCRA is your largest supporter, it only makes sense that the RPR exam would be that exam.

To me, writing in California (which has the CSR exam) is the same as writing in New York (which has no mandatory exam). The only real difference goes beyond the machine - the Professional Practice/Procedures - the things you do on the job - the regulations. But let's be honest here, it's the machine portion of the exam that is most important. That's your skill. So while I do think each state should have it's own academic exam, I think the machine portion should be the same.

I just think it's a shame that such an amazing skill like this is not regulated more - standardized across the county. Of course there's more to it than what I've written above. I know there are pros and cons. But in my eyes the pros win out. I encourage you to check out the website - www.RPR4ALL50.com - and please sign this petition. Many other questions are answered on the site as well.

Writing in the Moment! (back to top)

One of my students recently wrote me the message below -

How it works for normal people - they listen and then they write - and then they listen more and they write more. With me, on the other hand, it's a whole other story. As much as I fight it, here is what I do:

Okay, I will be writing in a second...
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury...
So far so good, but what is coming up...
What is the next word going to be...
What are the next few words going to be...
Stop anticipating...
Stop controlling...
Just write...
What will the next couple words be...


That's a pretty good description of what takes place in the mind of a student much of the time! I wish she was alone in that process, but it's really common. And it tends to be harder for people who are cerebral or perfectionists. How does one turn off the mind from future or past - stay in the moment? Tough one!

The picture below says it all - when writing you have to be in the...NOW.



You currently know now to write EVERYTHING. There's no doubt about that. Granted, you may not be able to write everything at high speeds, but given the time to figure things out, you can write EVERYTHING. That's what your theory was for, right? So all the outlines are bouncing around in your head somewhere, and when you hear something spoken, your fingers have to retrieve the proper outline. It's about how fast that gets processed. The more things you're thinking about, the slower the retrieval process. If you're in the NOW, it's a faster process.

I was reading an article about addiction recovery and staying in the moment - staying in the NOW. When brushing your teeth -

* Think about how the toothpaste looks as it is coming out of the tube and you are putting it on your brush.
* Notice what the toothpaste first feels like as it touches your mouth.
* What does it taste like?
* What does the brush feel like going over your teeth?
* How does the brush feel in your hand?
* What sensation do you get to know that it is time to spit?
* What does the water feel like while you are rinsing your mouth?

Doing this kind of work with all the little things in your life helps you to stay in the NOW. And it actually helps you appreciate the little things as well - a bonus! So how does that apply to steno writing? A bit harder - you have to decide about what you're going to focus on before you start. "As my fingers are moving, the words are being written." "I'm listening to the speaker." As simple as that. So you're writing what you hear - that's one process. And you're breaking down something in detail in the NOW - that's the second process.

And ideally, those should be the only 2 processes going. Not always possible, but it's the goal. Reminds me of the Apollo 13 story - how they only had so much energy on the ship to use or they'd be adrift in space forever. So they had to figure out the perfect combination of energy-using equipment to get back to Earth. That's what you're going to do - try different combinations till one clicks. Stay in the NOW - limit the processes. Less is more in steno : )

Contest Winner - New Contest ! (back to top)

And we have a winner! Theresa Pelton has won the cool Gripmaster. Congrats to Theresa - get those digits in shape! For our next contest we owe a big thanks to Anissa at Dictionary Jumpstart! Just like the company name implies, Dictionary Jumpstart provides awesome starter dictionaries for your CAT software. And in conjunction with StenoLife, they are giving away a FREE dictionary module valued at $279! You are nuts if you don't get into this one.

To enter, just send an email to DJ4me@dictionaryjumpstart.com. For the subject, use "StenoLife Contest Entry." It's that easy - just send an email. What to you have to lose? YOU ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO ENTER!!! So if you send an email on March 12th, you're out of luck. March 11th is the deadline. So what are you reading this for...go send an email to DJ4me@dictionaryjumpstart.com! And make sure to check out the Dictionary Jumpstart website.

Thanks!
Marc Greenberg

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