Tag: business
Be Smart With Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool. Like any tool, it needs to be handled properly. We have had unions, associations, and individual reporters growing their online presence and using it to get details and ideas out to fellow stenographers. All that said, whether you’re posting a joke or creating a professional networking masterpiece, it’s time for some advice on social media.
First, realize that people will see what you post. You’ve got to be pretty comfortable with anyone and everyone seeing it, from your best friend to your worst enemy. What you do on social media is largely not private, no matter the group, setting, or structure. As a new person, this can be intimidating and dissuade you from participating in discussions. We’ll get into why that’s a bad idea, but first let’s run over some quick tips to make your use of social media enjoyable.
- If you are freelancing, posting directly about your agency can bite. In every group, there is a person, persons, or Parsons that will leak your post to your agency to curry favor or because your post offends their sensibilities. If you have a delicate piece of information that you want published, seek out a confidant or method to anonymously publish the information. If it’s newsworthy or going to help stenographers, then it’s worth protecting yourself first.
- If you are freelancing, posting about setting rates or conspiring to fix rates can get you in legal trouble. It’s called price fixing, and it’s a concern because we are not considered workers or employees, but independent contractors on the same level of business as agencies. We all know that the power and reach we have as individuals is different. That doesn’t change antitrust law.
- If you’re working as an employee or even freelancing, posting about a job can hurt you badly. We are supposed to be neutral, and in some states there are ethical rules we can break if we are not careful. There is a line between talking about a political idea or law and talking about an actual case that you reported on. My advice? Don’t cross the line. Imagine screen shots of what you say being printed in news.
- Be kind. The family members or friends of whoever you talk about may be watching. Easy example, I once posted about a stenographer losing their job. Someone who was close to that person reminded us then and there, we all struggle in life, don’t rush to judgment.
- Test your own beliefs. You will see crazy claims out there on the Internet. Rarely should you dismiss what people say out of hand or make final conclusions. Perfect example, I saw a transcript I thought was page padding. I came to learn that that was that state’s mandated page layout. What you think is not always what is true.
- Controls can help. Social media is a tool. Privacy settings can screen out some people from seeing stuff. You can choose who to follow, who to block, and all sorts of other content preferences. Spend just one afternoon reviewing your settings and make sure you’re getting the most relevant info in your feed.
So now we get to the logical end: This stuff is stressful. Why don’t I just delete my social media? You can. There is no law against that. But social media is this amazing tool for staying current and tuned into what the field is doing. We get the great marketplace of ideas, dispatches from agencies, and food for our own thoughts. Life is stressful, but very few of us run off into the wild to live off the grid. Why? Because the benefits of society are greater than the simplicity we’d otherwise have. Similarly, the benefits of social media are greater than the peace gained by never engaging. That said, engage smartly so that your tool never gets used as a weapon against you.
The Cost of Doing Business
Dragging up part of an old retainer agreement just to prove a point here. As you can see from this example, if the case went to depositions, the law firm intended to charge almost fifteen dollars a page to me, the client. Let’s just say that in New York at that time, 2014, it was pretty easy to find someone to do it for 4. Many of my contemporaries were working for $3.25 a page or less. Being somewhat shy, I never bothered to ask why that was so high or explain the going rate of a stenographer.
But this should raise some questions for us in the field. If this was in a retainer, what kind of rates are really being charged for our services? Is there really a race to the bottom? Certainly, some owners have bid low to get contracts, and that can hurt our fees, but I have felt for a long time that if we started to see invoices from various law firms around the city and state, we’d see a pattern emerge of winners and losers.
The losers are undoubtedly those who do not make it part of their business to learn what they are truly worth. Learn exactly what the market will bear and demand it. The lucky thing about being a loser, I can say from experience, is that it is a mindset more than a personality trait. We all have the capability of changing our minds, pulling ourselves out of a worker mentality of “I will work and get what they pay” to “What is my value really?”
In deciding your rates and what you want in life, you should create a simple spreadsheet or list. You can use Google Sheets today for free. Write down all of your expenses. Your business and personal expenses. How much is your food, shelter, supplies per month? Add to those expenses any business expenses you might have to improve your business. Think classes, certifications, equipment. You take that list of expenses, and you have the absolute bear minimum you must make. Now consider what you would like to make. Go over to my math tables on how many pages you need to make your desired annual salary. Look at the different amount of work you have to do at each rate, and see for yourself the cost of doing business.
Remember that you are the provider. It’s not going to get much cheaper than your expenses unless you live a very lavish lifestyle. Why does everything cost so much? Because at the end of the day, people and their families have to eat. So don’t be shy about applying that to your business, asking questions, pushing up your rates when appropriate, and be confident about the skill you’re selling. Hopefully seeing $14.95 in print raises questions for you like it did for me. You’re a winner, earn like one.
Table of Contents
*This page is no longer updated and has been moved to here.
Articles or posts that I believe have no more value are omitted from this page but may be found via the search box.
Shortage Solutions 13: Unionization 6/21/22
A shortage solution that discusses the potential of unionization for deposition reporters.
June-July 2022 Rates Survey 6/16/22
A survey for court reporter rates in Q3 2022.
What to Say When Offered $0.60 Per Audio Minute 6/15/22
A memorialization of one stenographer’s words after being offered less than a third of the going rate.
MockWoman: Apprentice Required for Mock Depo Experience 6/14/22
An invitation for apprentices to reach out to Ana Fatima Costa for a mock depo experience.
Create Content for Stenonymous! 6/13/22
An invitation for others to write on Stenonymous.
I Asked the Public About Stenography. Here’s What Happened. 6/9/22
In this post I reveal the results of a survey released and marketed to the public.
Depp v Heard Steno Discussion 6/7/22
This post talks about media surrounding Depp v Heard stenographer Judy Bellinger.
New York’s Short(age) Squeeze 6/3/22
A deep dive into New York’s rates adjusted for inflation to 2022.
Releasing Stenonymous June 2022 Ad Report
The release of report of Stenonymous ads between 2020 and May 2022
Join Chris DeGrazio’s Virtual Steno Events!
A promotion of virtual events held by Chris DeGrazio in May 2022.
The Irreversible Institute 5/26/22
An analysis of the bad info put out by the Speech-to-Text Institute.
Steno: It’s Like Believing Your Husband When He Says “She Meant Nothing to Me.” 5/24/22
A repost of a comment by Jeanese Johnson.
Need A Court Reporter? Check This Out. 5/19/22
An advertisement for attorneys seeking stenographers.
Correcting the Record on Dave Wenhold and NCRA 5/18/22
Making it clear that negative things I wrote about Dave Wenhold in December 2021 were a result of my medical situation. Also discusses the NCRA Advocacy Center.
Pro Say Podcast features Steven Lerner, Glitchy Rollout of Digital Court Reporting 5/16/22
Journalist Steven Lerner was among the first to cover the stenographer shortage debate.
PYRP Zoom: StoryCloud Situation 5/4/22
Post announcing Protect Your Record Project’s meeting with Jo Ann Byles Holmgren.
Phishing for Court Reporting Associations 5/3/22
A post describing the wave of phishing that hit court reporting associations in 2022.
Eclipse Users, Dineen Squillante’s AutoBrief/InfoBar Webinar is Available! 4/29/22
A post announcing the availability of a popular Eclipse trainer’s webinar.
NCRA: “We must warn legal professionals…” about digital! 4/28/22
A post highlighting NCRA’s 2022 President Dibble’s announcement to bar association leaders and lawyers.
Bulletin: NCRA Misquote Removed & ILCRA Victory 4/12/22
A bulletin highlighting an Illinois Court Reporter Association victory and the removal of a lie published about NCRA.
Why Stenographic Court Reporting Is Superior to Digital 4/8/22
A post that explores why a live stenographer is better than the record-and-transcribe digital reporting method.
StoryCloud Crushed in Texas 3/29/22
A post describing what happened to StoryCloud in Spring 2022.
Why I Suspect Big Box is Ready for Big Burial 2/16/22
A post speculating that the larger firms may be servicing big debts that make long-term low prices unsustainable for them.
$100 Off Kentley Insights Market Research Report for CRCW 2022! 2/5/22
Post announcing a court reporting & stenotype services market research report discount for Stenonymous readers.
Victoria Hudgins’ Analyses for Legaltech News are Digital Court Reporting Marketing 2/2/22
Hit piece for an “analyst” that routinely analyzes our industry in a way that highlights digital technology and ignores stenographic technology.
NYSCRA’s Upcoming Webinars Can Shape Our Profession 2/1/22
Piece announcing NYSCRA’s early 2022 webinars.
Got Sued? Get Steno Mug Available Now At Steno Swag 1/31/22
A post announcing the availability of the “Got Sued? Get Steno” mug.
Stenonymous Becomes StenoKeyboards Affiliate 1/31/22
Announcement that users could purchase from StenoKeyboards through Stenonymous’s affiliate link.
Shaunise Day Presents the Fearless Stenographers Conference 2022 1/30/22
Post announcing the Fearless Stenographers Conference. At the conference, Mark Kislingbury broke his former world record for stenotype speed and reached 370 words per minute.
U.S. Legal Support Posts for Stenographic Court Reporter 1/28/22
A post highlighting U.S. Legal Support’s creation of the Director of Reporter Engagement role and its first 2022 LinkedIn blast for a stenographic reporter.
Veritext Apparently Charged the Equivalent of $37 Per Page in Texas 1/28/22
A post highlighting what I would consider high charges relative to our industry.
Breaking Barriers? Open Steno Leads the Way 1/23/22
A summary of the January 2022 Open Steno event.
Why Active Readback’s No Steno Man is Wrong 1/22/22
A post that examines the veracity of Nick Mahurin’s claims about steno.
Our Shortage is Not the Only One Being Exaggerated 1/20/22
As of 2022, corporate consolidation and shortage concerns were impacting multiple industries. This post touched on that.
Worlds Collide: Open Steno Meets Professional Stenographers 2022 1/19/22
An announcement for the January 2022 Open Steno event that brought professionals and hobbyists together.
Stenograph’s Disrespect of Stenographers Continues with Texas 1/18/22
A post memorializing Stenograph’s cancellation of a meeting with Texas court reporters.
New Mailing Address, Stenograph Update, and Academic Integrity, Oh My! 1/15/22
A general update on the blog and a request for digital transcripts.
Shortage Explained 1/14/22
Some believe I do not believe there is a stenographer shortage. This post attempted to lay out my claims more clearly.
How To Report CR Antitrust Violation to FTC
This post explained how to report antitrust violations to FTC. The concern at the time was student consumers being lied to about digital court reporting.
Illegal Conduct in Court Reporting Explained 1/9/22
This post tried to summarize why I believe the shortage was being
NYSCRA’s Press Release Reprints for CRCW 2022 Hit the Web Today! 1/8/22
Post announcing a New York State Court Reporters Association press release.
URGENT — Kentucky A to Z Needs Machines/Writers!
Used Stenonymous to help call for A to Z writers.
ESYOH Used to Misrepresent NCRA’s Commissioned Forecast 1/5/22
A post showing how ESYOH was used to misrepresent the NCRA’s stance on digital court reporters.
Response to Times Bulletin Bullying Accusations 1/4/22
A dishonest article was made about me. I documented successfully getting it taken down.
Pre-Launch: Project Phoenix 1/1/22
A post about Project Phoenix.
Stenonymous Upgrades Payment System and Announces Matching Pledges! 12/29/21
After my medical ordeal, I utilized Stenonymous for fundraising.
I Am Alive and Well 12/28/21
A post that touched on my December 2021 medical situation and let readers know I was okay.
Court Reporting Antitrust Conspiracy Explained 12/17/21
A post explaining why I believed something shady was going on in court reporting.
Stenonymous Receives Demand for Correction & Apology from Naegeli 12/16/21
Naegeli demanded correction and apology, and I responded.
PSA: Pattern Cancellations May Be Evidence of Deceit 12/14/21
A PSA explaining that court reporting firms that cancel frequently may not be honest.
Video Evidence That Veritext is Defrauding Consumers 12/12/21
Video showing how Veritext downplays stenographers as old or outdated. This education was given to prosecutors. Many prosecutors go into civil litigation. Getting civil litigation lawyers to agree with digital reporting is the only way digital reporting will fly.
Pre-Launch: Stenonymous’s Project Phoenix 12/11/21
A post announcing the Stenonymous Project Phoenix survey.
Selling to Veritext? Read This. 12/8/21
A post talking about the private equity game as it relates to court reporting.
STTI Copies NCRA, Assumes Lawyers Can’t Tell the Difference 12/2/21
A post memorializing STTI’s letter to bar associations.
Veritext and US Legal Launch Pro-Steno Emails November 2021 12/1/21
A post memorializing Veritext and U.S. Legal Support’s pro-steno activity.
Stenonymous to Hire Investigative Team for 2022 11/30/21
A post where I explained I planned to hire an investigation team.
Bloomfield College Seeking Court Reporting Instructors 11/29/21
A post about Bloomfield College’s need for instructors.
Stenograph’s Phoenix Won’t Rise From the Ashes 11/27/21
A post noting propaganda techniques in Stenograph’s/STTI’s materials.
Black Friday Sale — Verbit News for Free 11/26/21
A post following Verbit, a relative newcomer to the court reporting and captioning space.
2021 Holiday Offer for Digital Court Reporters 11/24/21
An appeal for more collaboration and funding, including some pie-in-the-sky ideas.
Open Steno’s Unprecedented Growth Continues 11/23/21
OpenSteno.org continues its push to grow the stenographic legion.
Stenonymous Promotes Naegeli’s Lawsuit Threat on Twitter 11/22/21
After Naegeli’s lawsuit threat I promoted it on Twitter to 8,000 people and Naegeli backed down.
Rumors that LiveLitigation is Linked to vTestify False, says President 11/21/21
Though both companies may have used the branding “LiveDeposition,” the president of LiveLitigation says they are competitors.
Naegeli Threatens Legal Filing Against Stenonymous 11/20/21
Due to my 11/19/21 post, Naegeli threatened to sue me.
Naegeli Charged $11.50 Per Page on a Copy Sale 11/19/21
This post exposed how Naegeli charged $11.50 on a copy sale, even if that’s not what was ultimately received.
Day 1 of Stenograph Boycott, Company Releases Pro-Steno Teaser 11/18/21
After I called for a boycott, Stenograph put out pro-steno images to appease customers.
NCRA Joins Battle, Calls Out Potentially Illegal Conduct 11/17/21
NCRA announced to the country that procedural rules were being violated in many states, so I reported on it.
Is Stenograph Sabotaging Stenographer Software Support? 11/16/21
This post memorialized the deterioration of Stenograph customer service in 2021.
Orange Legal, A Veritext Company, May Share Location with BlueLedge 11/12/21
This post explored the fact that Orange Legal appears to share a location with BlueLedge.
BlueLedge Connected with Veritext and Stenograph 11/11/21
This post showed the friendliness of BlueLedge, a digital court reporting training program, with Stenograph and Veritext.
Identimap Offers Free Trial to Court Reporting Businesses 11/10/21
This post explained Identimap’s offer to court reporting businesses.
US Legal Support Switches to Ultimate Staffing in Its Bid to Betray Industry 11/9/21
After months of daily LinkedIn posts searching for digital court reporters, US Legal switched to using Ultimate Staffing to post the digital court reporter jobs.
Court Reporter EDU is FoS 11/7/21
This post exposes CourtReporterEDU.org, a site that appears to be dedicated to providing resources for people looking to become court reporters / stenographers. The site actually redirects people to Ed 2 Go / BlueLedge.
US Legal Terrified of Stenonymous, Donates $50k to Project Steno 11/6/21
A jab at US Legal Support for donating a comparatively trivial amount of money to Project Steno while doing everything in its power to undermine, underpay, and eradicate stenographers.
Stenograph’s Public Relations Problem 11/5/21
This post explains that Stenograph’s good will towards stenographers is manufactured to appease so that Stenograph can sell to both stenographers and digital court reporters. I explain that it is in stenographers’ best interest to boycott unless and until the company ceases all digital court reporting promotion and why stenographers have that power.
Proof STTI is a Propaganda Machine 11/4/21
In this post I revealed that if STTI’s claims about stenographer shortage were accurate, 16% of jobs would be uncovered.
Is US Legal Giving Digital Reporters Benefits? 11/4/21
A post comparing the temporarily good treatment of digital court reporters to the historically atrocious treatment of stenographic court reporters.
StenoMasters Membership Free to Seven Students — Charter Imminent! 11/3/21
A post revealing StenoMasters would soon be chartered. Several students were given their first year free.
My Transformation 11/1/21
A post revealing more of my thoughts on human psychology, how I used that to help myself and others, and how I hope others will use my discoveries for good.
U.S. Legal Support Charged the Equivalent of $4.90 on a Copy Sale in CA 10/31/21
A post revealing how U.S. Legal charged $4.90 a page on a copy. A court ruled $2.50 was reasonable.
Tipping Points Are Hard! 10/27/21
A post revealing my letter to the FTC and Twitter campaign exposing Peter Giammanco’s behavior.
Support A Steno Streamer Today! 10/26/21
A post announcing my support for VaderBabe87, a steno Twitch streamer.
Veritext and US Legal Lied to the Public About Stenographer Shortage 10/23/21
This post explored how two major court reporting companies inflated the required enrollments to solve the stenographer shortage by a factor of six.
Want a Press Release? Write Me Today! 10/21/21
My post offering press release services.
Becki Joins the Stenographic Legion! 10/20/21
Becki’s TikTok took the steno world by storm months prior to this post. She unboxed her new stenotype on camera, and this post memorializes that.
Verbit Continues Trying to Brainwash an Industry 10/19/21
A post that pits actual numbers against Verbit’s overblown claims of stenographer shortage.
Steno101’s Spotify Ad Has Taken Off 10/18/21
A post memorializing Steno101.com’s Spotify ad launch.
A Little About Copyright and This Blog 10/16/21
A lighthearted post where I explained I would not enforce any copyright that I own related to this blog and encouraged readers to use it in whatever legal way they wanted.
Arizona Asked for Public Comment on Recording and We Responded 10/14/21
A memorialization of Arizona’s attempt to change the court rules and our response as a field.
My Open Email to Readback Active Reporting 10/12/21
A post where I revealed an e-mail I wrote to Readback Active Reporting, a firm attempting to sell digital court reporting under the ruse of being a new classification, “active reporting.”
Upcoming Appearances with Stenographers World and PYRP 10/8/21
A post where I announced a weekend of online appearances and said something controversial.
BLS Statistics on Our Field May Be Unreliable 10/7/21
A post that exposes how the Bureau of Labor Statistics data has changed over time and why it may be accurate as of October 2021.
AI Researchers Have Similar Expectation & Belief Problems to Ours 10/6/21
A post that discusses AI winter and points to the importance of funding and investor perception.
We Defeated The Stenographer Shortage Twice Before I Was Born and Will Again 10/4/21
A look at historic stenographer shortages and what that might mean for our current shortage.
When Autocraptions Fail, Stenographers Step Up 10/2/21
A post memorializing when a stenographer stepped up to help people suffering from bad captions.
Upcoming Online Events Court Reporters Are Invited To! 9/29/21
A post that announces Ana Fatima Costa’s 9/30 workshop and AAUW’s 10/5 workshop.
U.S. Legal Support Continues Its Attack On Minority Speakers 9/28/21
A post that lines up and explains more succinctly my case for why U.S. Legal is exaggerating and exacerbating the shortage.
Zombie Corporations in Court Reporting (2-minute video) 9/27/21
A video post explaining zombie corporations and a brief reasoning for my belief that much of the private equity money in court reporting is devoted to zombie corporations.
Big Companies Are Not Using Digital Reporting Because of Stenographer Shortage 9/24/21
A post showing that despite claims that the use of digital reporting is due to stenographer shortage, few good faith attempts to recruit stenographers or build interest in the field are made.
Find Your Voice With StenoMasters 9/23/21
A blog post promoting StenoMasters, a nonprofit dedicated to helping stenographers and the public with public speaking.
If You Think I’m Your Enemy, Watch This Video 9/20/21
Realizing that some of my message gets lost in writing, I took to video to explain myself to my fellow court reporters.
How 60 Stenographers Changed Reality 9/17/21
This post urged reporters to see their own power as individuals.
Verbit Published Kentuckiana Proceeding Audio Online Without Anyone’s Permission 9/15/21
This post exposed how Verbit posted family court proceeding audio on the internet and paved the way to the audio being taken down.
Investors Misled, Verbit Lies, Media Buys It 9/14/21
This post explored various claims by Verbit and why they were misleading or untrue.
US Legal Rep: Does It Really Matter If Done Legally and Ethically…? 9/13/21
This post exposed that US Legal Support may be lying to court reporting consumers about the stenographer shortage.
How Corporations Gaslight Stenographers Into Fighting Each Other and How To Beat That 9/9/21
This post exposed the gaslighting that causes infighting in our field and distracts us from talking about actual issues.
The Layperson’s Guide To Why Stenographic Reporting Is More Efficient Than Digital Reporting 9/8/21
This post laid out some facts about digital reporting that are rarely talked about and dives deeper than “what if the microphone doesn’t pick it up.”
Allison Hall — $20 to Sponsor a Student in Need 9/7/21
This post celebrates the anniversary of Paying It Forward, a group of stenographers coming together to help students and newbies break down financial barriers to entry in our field.
NYSCRA Offering RPR WKT Test Prep September 2021 9/4/21
This post advertises NYSCRA’s September 2021 test prep.
How Science and Psychology Help This Blog Beat Digital Reporting CEOs 9/3/21
A post that explains the importance of narratives, psychology, recruiting digital reporters, and sharing information.
I Figured Out Why ASR Is So Hard To Perfect 9/2/21
A post I put out with an epiphany as to why automatic speech recognition is not closing the gap to 100%.
Was Ducker Worldwide Wrong About Stenographer Shortage? 9/1/21
A post about Ducker Worldwide’s Court Reporting Industry Outlook 2013-2014.
What Court Reporters Can Learn From Y2K 8/31/21
A glance at the history of Y2K and how we can use that as a model for solving the stenographer shortage.
Stenographer Energy & Social Media Recruitment 8/30/21
A review of a popular TikTok about stenography and a jab at the dishonesty of US Legal Support.
What Is Realtime Voice Writing and Why Is It Better Than Digital Reporting? 8/22/21
An explanation of voice writing and why it blows digital reporting out of the water.
Drillmaker for Students/Educators 8/6/21
A post introducing a simple computer script that anyone can use to help make lists of random words for drills.
Fear Public Speaking? Try StenoMasters! 8/4/21
A post announcing the birth of StenoMasters, an non-for-profit online speaking club for court reporters.
The Magic of Cost Shifting – How Big Companies Beat the Working Reporter 8/4/21
A post that gets into cost shifting and how some court reporting companies can shift costs to make it harder for the working reporter to compete directly with them.
Is VITAC Paying Below Market Rates for Captioners? 7/27/21
A post that explores job postings by VITAC and compares it to providers’ past experiences in captioning.
Will Verbit Go Public in 2022? 7/23/21
This post gently critiques a Forbes article and points out possible futures for the Verbit company.
The Importance of Plover and Open Steno 7/19/21
This post talks about the Open Steno 2021 survey.
PCRA Wouldn’t Say Whether It Sees the Future Generation as Being Digital Reporters
& What You Can Do About It 7/17/21
This post describes a webinar held by PCRA on June 26, 2021 that platformed digital reporting, why digital reporting is not an adequate court reporting technology, and what court reporters can do to safeguard their associations.
NCRA News. Career Launcher and President’s Party 7/14/21
This post describes NCRF’s Career Launcher, a series of modules to help new reporters. It also mentions the NCRA convention president’s party.
Why I Resigned From the NYSCRA Board and NCRA Strong, and the Future of this Blog 7/7/21
This post dives into why I resigned from several volunteer activities and announces my intention to continue providing industry news.
John Belcher on Winning Depositions 7/1/21
This post showcases information from John Belcher with regard to depositions.
Gartner: 85% of AI Implementations Will Fail By 2022 6/30/21
This post talks about Gartner’s prediction that 85% of AI business solutions will fail and explains why that might be the case.
Thinking of Taking Private Clients? New York Reporter: …Trust Yourself and Go Do It. 6/28/21
This post showcases a Q&A with a New York reporter that was able to double their money by taking private clients.
Over-Engineering Will Hurt Your Business 6/24/21
This post explores over-engineering and the dangers of it in a general sense. It also explains how automatic speech recognition and AI relates to over-engineering.
Steno & Me (Under the Sea Parody) 6/24/21
These lyrics are a parody of Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid set to a steno theme. Immediately after this post was launched, it was discovered that more than 10% of stenographers are also mermaids.
Share Something For Me? 6/22/21
This post touches briefly on how social media algorithms can hamper the spread of information and asks court reporters to share my 6/19/21 article in order to counter false perceptions about stenography in the media.
Relationship Conflicts & What You Can Do When It All Goes Wrong 6/21/21
This post talks about the types of personalities you might run into when buying something from someone. It also proposes a process for resolving conflict. It is geared toward business relationships but can be used for personal relationships also.
Journalists May Be Reporting Black People’s Stories Wrong 6/19/21
This post was utilized in an ad campaign to bring more attention to our field with regard to the study Testifying While Black. Many outlets reported false or misleading headlines regarding the study. This article dives into the dishonesty of several media sources when it comes to stenographic court reporting.
Recording Endangered By Stenography’s Retirement Cliff 6/17/21
This post talks about how the stenographer shortage can hurt the record-and-transcribe modality of taking down the record. In brief, it shows how stenographers are used to transcribe work in many places that have “switched to digital.”
Outreach Webinar by Project Steno – June 6, 2021 6/2/21
This post boosted the 6/6/21 Project Steno/NYSCRA webinar pertaining to high school outreach.
1 in 4 Court Reporting Companies May Be Unprofitable 5/28/21
This post describes a 2019 report by Kentley Insights, explains what zombie companies are, and goes on to suggest that the unprofitable companies in the field are the ones using digital reporting.
Does Stenonymous Spend More On Steno Ads Than US Legal? 5/27/21
In this post US Legal’s LinkedIn campaign to recruit digital court reporters is exposed. The post also shows how Stenonymous has been used to expose thousands of people to stenographic court reporting and contrasts that with US Legal’s apparent lack of a stenographic recruitment strategy.
Vote Yes! NCRA 2021 Proposed Bylaw Amendments 5/25/21
This post advertises the 2021 proposed bylaw amendments and gives my opinion of each.
Court Reporters Speak Up For The Record On Future Trials 6/2/21
This post explores the April 2021 report by the Future Trials Working Group to the New York State Unified Court System. It also showcases association and union response to the report and the reply received by the court system.
MGR Interviewed on the Treatment of Reporters 5/18/21
This post shares my interview with Marc Russo, owner of MGR Reporting, on the treatment of reporters.
CART v Autocraption, A Strategic Overview For Captioners 5/13/21
This post gives information to CART providers to help them cope with the hype and lies surrounding automatic speech recognition (ASR) and sentiments by some that they are replaceable. It talks about how captioners can protect consumers and why consumers need that protection.
Literal v Readable, A Primer on Transcribing What We Hear 5/10/21
This post describes several issues stenographers may run into on the job, including whether to edit something that is spoken or leave it completely verbatim. It explains how context matters in our work.
Paying It Forward with Allie Hall 5/4/21
This post mentions Allie Hall’s efforts with regard to Paying It Forward and how reporters can contribute.
A Primer on ASR and Machine Learning For Stenographers 4/22/21
This post explains some of the technology behind automatic speech recognition and machine learning in simple terms so that stenographers can understand it and educate their clients.
How We Discuss Errors and Automatic Speech Recognition 4/12/21
This post explains automatic speech recognition’s word error rate metric and compares it to how court reporters measure errors.
For Digital Court Reporters and Transcribers, Check Out Steno! 3/1/21
This post was used in an ad campaign to expose digital court reporters and transcribers to stenography and express to them in simple terms why it is better to learn the skill of and work in the field of stenographic court reporting.
Facebook Boosting 101 2/26/21
This post explored the power of paid advertising and showed stenographers how they can multiply their reach by 20.
For Students Saddled With Unpayable Student Loan Debt 2/24/21
This post presents links and resources relating to options students in debt have.
Aggressive Marketing — Growth or Flailing? 2/22/21
This article dives into Fyre Festival and describes how sometimes companies talk a good game even when their product or idea is unprofitable or poorly executed. It also takes a look at VIQ Solutions, parent of Net Transcripts, Inc., and how despite making millions in revenue, VIQ reported over $300,000 in losses.
Help Chris DeGrazio Celebrate International Women’s Day! 2/19/21
Court reporter Chris DeGrazio sought to celebrate International Women’s Day by creating a collage. This post helped advertise it.
Court Reporter Humor – Stenoholics & Andy Bajaña 2/15/21
Stenoholics and Andy Bajana have some hilarious videos related to court reporting. You can get links to them through this post.
Finding Time 2/12/21
This article talks about time management, the importance of scheduling, and using common tools such as calendars and schedulers. It also cautions against taking too much time trying to find the “perfect” tool.
Scholarships & Contests For Students February 2021 2/11/21
This post provides information with regard to 2021 scholarships and contests for stenography students.
You Need 2FA Now 2/10/21
This post talks about two-factor authentication (2FA) and why court reporters need to use it wherever it is available.
Veritext “Provides More Work To Stenographers Than Any Other Firm In The Country” 2/9/21
After reaching out to Veritext for comment regarding what I perceived as a nonsensical and incongruent recruitment strategy, I reached out to Veritext for comment.
Need Continuing Education? Consider CCR Seminars. 2/8/21
This post breaks down the value of one private court reporting education company, CCR Seminars.
List of New York Agencies 2/5/21
This post provides a list of New York agencies in spreadsheet format.
The Ultimate Guide To Officialship (NY) 2/4/21
An anonymous person had been harassing me for several years. One of their “gibes” or implications was that I was an official reporter that posts a lot about freelance and I should post more about officialship. So I did.
Collective Power of Stenographers 2/3/21
This post is a mathematical demonstration of the power of stenographers. Often, stenographers share posts from companies or electronic recording companies as gospel. This post notes that reporters collectively have more money and power than any organization.
For The Record Documentary Goes Free 2/2/21
This post reported Marc Greenberg’s announcement that the For The Record documentary would become free.
NYSCRA’s CRCW 2021 & My Thoughts On The Future 2/1/21
This post announced several NYSCRA plans for Court Reporting & Captioning Week 2021 and explained why reporters must stand by their associations.
Can Freelancers Apply For Workers Compensation Benefits? (NY) 1/29/21
This post explored under what circumstances an “independent contractor” could attempt to claim workers comp benefits in New York.
GGU Presentation & Why You Matter 1/28/21
This post talked about Ana Fatima Costa’s presentation for Golden Gate University, Court Reporter Tips Every Lawyer Needs To Make the Best Record. It also went on to describe how any reporter can make an impact.
Beware Commercial Leasing Agreements for Equipment 12/27/20
This post explains commercial leasing agreements and how they can be very costly traps for reporters if reporters do not fully understand the agreement.
Can You Hear Me Now? Computer Parts For Steno Made Simple 12/22/20
This post explains to court reporters what they’re looking at when buying computers. It gives simple descriptions of components and how to make good purchasing decisions. It also provides simple troubleshooting tips or ideas.
What Law Offices Need To Know About A Court Reporter Shortage 12/15/20
This post was used in an ad campaign to explain the court reporting shortage to law offices. It focused heavily on combatting misinformation about our shortage and explained where stenographers could be found.
Remote Notarial Acts Executive Orders (NY 2020) 11/5/20
During the pandemic the governor of New York issued an executive order which allowed remote notarial acts. This post tracked the orders and extensions for court reporters.
Trolls and You 10/17/20
This post explored trolls-for-hire and exposed how cheap it could be to organize a misinformation campaign. The post also noted examples of likely trolls. It also counseled against the advice “don’t feed the trolls” and explained the importance of not allowing trolls to dictate the conversation.
The Question To Ask Yourself When Viewing An ASR Demo 10/10/20
This post compared several high-profile technology buys to automatic speech recognition technology and its dearth of such purchases. It also showed that ASR technology by the biggest players in the business was inadequate for court reporting.
Turning Omissions Into Opportunity 9/19/20
This post explored several omissions in the media regarding court reporting and demonstrated how court reporters can use these omissions to inform journalists.
What Verbit Leadership Needs To Know 9/12/20
This post appealed to Verbit leadership and pointed out how exaggerated claims could make the company look bad.
How To Spot More Better Marketing 8/25/20
A short guide on seeing through puffery.
Common Scams 8/18/20
A guide to spotting scams that may be adaptable to our industry.
August Asterisks 2020 (Jobs) 8/13/20
An August 2020 post about jobs that were available.
StenoKey, Stenographic Education Innovation? 7/1/20
A post about StenoKey, an educational program by Katiana Walton.
Stenonymous on VICE News Tonight 6/18/20
A post covering my TV appearance regarding the Testifying While Black Study by Taylor Jones, et al.
June Jettisons 2020 (Jobs Post) 6/16/20
A June 2020 post about jobs that were available.
Expedite Legal, Enhancing Coverage Nationwide? 6/15/20
A post covering Expedite Legal, an app service connecting lawyers to legal service providers like court reporters.
Check Out 225 and Beyond (Beware of Busywork) 6/14/20
A post promoting the work of Euan Williams.
How Organizations & Associations Work 6/13/20
A post that explains how associations work and the volunteer structure of them.
May Machinations 2020 (Jobs Post) 5/12/20
A May 2020 post that described available jobs.
NYSCRA Student Webinar May 2020 5/5/20
A post advertising the May 2020 NYSCRA student webinar.
Stenopalooza was POWerful 5/3/20
A post summarizing Stenopalooza 2020 and NCRA STRONG
Pricing Pages In A Market of Fear 4/6/20
A post that discussed supply and demand and the dearth of work in our field at the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
April Applications 2020 (Jobs Post) 4/1/20
An April 2020 post about jobs that were available.
Steno Shortage Stats March 2020 3/14/2020
This post gave fast facts reporters could keep in mind when discussing the stenographer shortage.
What Verbit Investors Need To Know 3/4/20
This post investigated Verbit’s series A funding claims and compared them with series B funding claims. It also explained how a cost savings estimate by STTI was pathetic.
Trust Issues, Brought To You By Veritext 2/25/20
A post that examines the actions of Veritext versus statements made by the company.
Eastern District NY Hiring! 2/13/20 2/13/20
A post outlining a job opening in February 2020 for the Eastern District of New York federal court.
Stenonymous on Facebook 2/3/20
A post that announces the beginning of the Stenonymous discussion group on Facebook.
Fantastic February 2020 2/1/20
A post that lists jobs that were available in February 2020.
The Savior Chimera 1/29/20
A post that examines NCRA v AAERT and their relative abilities to combat the court reporter shortage.
Copyright and Stenography 1/24/20
A post that dives into the lack of copyright protection for stenographic court reporting.
Shortage Solutions 12: Stenography 1/23/20
A post that gives mathematical reasons on why it is smarter to address the court reporter shortage with stenographers than transcribers.
Shortage Solutions 11: Logistics 1/22/20
This post discusses the possibility of getting clients to space out depositions instead of starting everything at 10:00 a.m. in order to improve the logistical difficulty in getting a stenographic court reporter at every deposition.
A Night In Brooklyn, PYRP 78 1/21/20
A post that details an initiative by Protect Your Record Project and gives examples of how every reporter can advocate.
Why & When Leaders Stay Silent 1/15/20
A post about why leaders do not always address or acknowledge adversarial organizations and/or detractors.
NYSCRA 2020 Survey, Lobbying 1/9/20
A post about NYSCRA’s 2020 survey as well as some ideas I wrote to the association.
January 2020, Just Apply! 1/6/20
A post regarding jobs available in January 2020.
Stenographers, Planet Depos Is Not Your Friend 12/10/19
A post documenting attempts by Planet Depos to attract digital court reporters.
The Economics of Caring 12/6/19
A musing about apathy and how it can cost you your job.
Pricing Yourself Out of the Market 12/4/19
A post that briefly talks about the potential of pricing oneself out of the market and then launches into a defense of why rates in certain markets could be higher.
December Dirigibles 2019 12/2/19
A post describing jobs available in December 2019.
The Impossible Institute 11/23/19
A post examining the Speech-to-Text Institute and why claims that the stenographer shortage is impossible to solve are false.
The Original and What? 11/7/19
A discussion about copies, happiness, and altruism.
Government v Gig Economy 11/6/19
This post explored the possibility of the government reclassifying stenographers and what could be done if that occurred.
November Niches 2019 11/4/19
A November 2019 job post.
Stenonymous Suite: Early Version 10/29/19
My early coding experiments resulted in the Stenonymous Suite, released in the hopes people brighter than me do better.
Historic Rate Data: New York 1990s 10/25/19
A review of court reporter rates that showed we were making less value in 2010 than in 1991.
MAPEC 2019 10/21/19
A review of the reporter Empowerment Conference in 2019.
Raise Your Rates 2019 10/4/19
A call to get reporters to raise their rates in accordance with supply and demand.
Loans, School, & You 10/2/19
An explanation of debt to assist students.
October Occupations 2019 10/1/19
An October 2019 job post.
Outfluence by Al Betz 9/23/19
This program presents a professionalism and communication program called Outfluence.
NCRA Virtual Town Hall, September 21, 2019 9/22/19
This post described a 9/21/19 NCRA Town Hall session.
Historic Rate Data: A First Look 9/21/19
This post took historic rate data from the west coast and adjusted it for inflation to show court reporters were behind inflation.
How To Create Timed Dictation 9/21/19
This post describes how to create timed dictation.
Buying Hype 9/17/19
This post described the dangers of buying hype instead of thinking critically.
Keep Enemies Closer 9/16/19
A caution against oversharing.
Forgiving Your Impostor Syndrome 9/13/19
A post regarding letting go of feelings of inadequacy.
Pattern Writing 9/12/19
This post describes how using patterns or groups of briefs can help you remember and use them.
Shortage Solutions 10: Contract or Employment 9/9/19
This post proposed employment structure changes to help with shortage.
September Submissions 2019 9/1/19
A September 2019 post talking about available jobs in 2019.
The Disappointment Paradigm 8/30/19
This post describes the importance of setting boundaries.
State Associations With Mentoring 8/23/19
This post released a spreadsheet of nearly every stenographic court reporting association in the United States and whether it had mentoring.
Achieve Your Dream Salary Using Retrograde Extrapolation 8/19/19
This post describes how one can meet goals by setting the goal and working backwards to see how that goal might be accomplished.
The Resurgence 8/16/19
This post remarked on the resurgence of American stenography.
Do You Log Your Practice? 8/13/19
This post described how tracking practice could enhance progress.
Shortage Solutions 9: Independent Listings 8/12/19
This post explored how available directories of court reporters could end the shortage.
Recording Grand Jury (NY) 8/11/19
This post documented an instance where grand jury proceedings were audio recorded and related New York laws.
Library of Congress Seeks Volunteer Transcribers 8/10/19
This post urged stenographers to assist in transcription for the Library of Congress.
Guarding the Record Against Misinformation 8/9/19
This post points out misinformation in the court reporting industry and the importance of speaking against it.
Global Alliance Founding 8/8/19
This post documented the founding of Global Alliance.
Combination Banking 8/7/19
This post discusses combination banking, a better way to do Q&A.
How Many Errors Allowed? 8/6/19
This post presents a spreadsheet to calculate how many erors are allowed on a steno test and points out that a student did this better than me.
The vTestify Lie 8/5/19
This post pointed out that vTestify’s claim that it could save $3,000 per deposition was false.
August Applications 2019 8/2/19
An August 2019 jobs post.
Steno Speed and the Youtube Angle 7/27/19
This post documented my effort to preserve the old stenospeed dot com audio files.
Can’t Outspend? Outsell. 7/25/19
This post provided anecdotal evidence on how stenographers were being outmarketed rather than outmatched.
Stenovate, Workspace Consolidation 7/22/19
This post highlighted Stenovate, a transcript management software.
Shortage Solutions 8: Retirement 7/19/19
This post discussed how retirees could stop the stenographer shortage.
Cert Shaming 7/17/19
This post discussed the importance of certified and uncertified reporters not fighting each other.
Review: A Court Reporter’s Guide to Leadership and Team Building, by Colin Yorke 7/15/19
A review of a very short book about leadership by Colin Yorke and a giveaway to get his writing out there.
New Speed Students, Learn To Let Go 7/10/19
This post details the importance of avoiding the asterisk key on test day.
Practice, Finger Drill, WKT, Dictation Marker Update 7/6/19
This post documented by attempts at coding computer scripts that could help create finger drills, NY Civil Service WKT practice, and automatically mark dictation.
Shortage Solutions 7: Recruitment 7/5/19
This post described how important recruitment for stenography was and gave mathematical examples for how court reporters could increase the number of graduates just by talking about the field.
July Jobs Jubilee (2019) 6/28/19
A post for July 2019 jobs available.
RE: Remote Judicial Reporting, WUNCRA 6/26/19
A post that pointed to the danger of remote judicial reporting, as well as offered both praise and criticism for the Wake Up NCRA blog.
Can Verbit Replace Verbatim? 6/21/19
This post described difficulties that I anticipated Verbit was going to have with perfecting automatic speech recognition technology.
Stenonymous Suite and Q&A Generator (Concept) 6/20/19
This post revealed a computer programming script I was working on called the Stenonymous Suite.
Shortage Solutions 6: Pay the Piper 6/17/19
A post where I explained one way to end the shortage would be to pay stenographers better.
Sexual Harassment for Stenos 6/11/19
A post describing sexual harassment in our field, and specifically New York law.
Law For Stenographers (US) (FRCP) 6/10/19
Federal procedural laws I feel stenographers should know of.
June 9 Burngirl CaseCAT Tips (2019) 6/7/19
A post promoting a CaseCAT tip event by Burngirl.
Shortage Solutions 5: Public Perception 6/6/19
A post that described the importance of public perception to stenography’s survival as an industry.
NCRA Bylaw Amendment Proposals 2019 6/5/19
A post memorializing the 2019 NCRA bylaws amendment proposals.
Be Smart With Social Media 6/5/19
A post with various cautions about social media and how to use it in a way that builds your brand instead of destroying it.
The Cost of Doing Business 6/4/19
A post giving general advice about expenses that revealed an old retainer I signed where $14.95 per page was in the contract for depositions.
Table of Contents 6/3/19
This is the table of contents you are currently reading. 6/3/19 is the day it went live.
To Our Litigators 5/31/19
A post to lawyers about our stenographer shortage.
NCRA 2.0 May 2019 Survey 5/28/19
A post memorializing the NCRA 2.0 survey as well as my response.
A Word on AI and Stenography 5/24/19
A post discussing AI in relation to stenography and comparing technological claims to reality from other industries.
Veritext Scholarships 5/22/19
A post memorializing Veritext scholarships.
Easy E-Signature in CaseCAT 5/21/19
A post on drawing an e-signature in CaseCAT, an alternative to creating a blank PDF and signing.
Finger Drill Generator 5/20/19
A post describing a finger drill generator I made.
Written Knowledge Test Randomizer 5/16/19
A post describing a WKT test making program I wrote for the New York courts test.
The Pitchfork Culture 5/7/19
A response to a message I got from a reader.
Us and Them 5/3/19
A post that cautions against infighting.
New York: May Jobs Bring Lifelong Careers (2019) 5/2/19
May 2019 jobs post.
The Audio Sink 5/1/19
A post about how reliance on audio drags us down.
NYSCRA Test Prep Opens To All 4/25/19
A bulletin about NYSCRA test prep.
Value Gradients for the Stenographer in Training (180+ WPM) 4/19/19
A piece describing value for students.
Tips for the Stenographer in Training 4/11/19
General tips for students.
Persuasive Writing Tips For The Stenographic Legion 4/5/19
Writing tips.
Language Study and Service Revisited 4/2/19
A post where I revisit the Testifying While Black 2020 study.
Big Box Reporters: We Are On The Same Side 3/28/19
A note about how reporters that work for big box are not blind to harmful big box practices.
Stenographers, NY Courts Want You! (2019) 3/22/19
An announcement for the New York Unified Court System test.
NCRA: Our Money’s On Stenographers 3/8/19
A post that shared communication from the NCRA board.
The Empty City Strategy 3/7/19
A post explaining that big claims about digital reporting were not necessarily indicative of a “garrisoned fort.”
Shortage Solutions 4: Direct Market Apps 3/6/19
A post describing how Direct Market Apps like Expedite Legal could be a shortage game changer.
Shortage Solutions 3: Private Labeling 3/5/19
A solution explaining that where coverage is in danger due to squabbling over whose job it is, new agreements can be struck.
March Madness 2019 Job Postings 3/4/19
March 2019 job post.
Shortage Solutions 2: Coverage Area & Marketability 3/4/19
A post pointing out things that make stenographers and steno look good.
Veritext Update, March 2019 3/2/19
A post that documented the alleged firing of a Veritext VP.
Shortage Solutions 1: Remote Proceedings 3/1/19
A post that brought up how remote proceedings could help alleviate the shortage.
Interview with Esquire GC 3/1/19
An interview with Esquire’s General Counsel
Legal Terms Refresher For Test Takers 2/28/19
Legal terminology help for test takers.
Court Reporter, Meet Stenographer 2/27/19
A post describing how court reporters started to abandon the title for stenographer.
Medical Terms Refresher For Test Takers 2/23/19
Medical terminology help for test takers.
NYSCRA Bagels and Lox February 2019 2/22/19
A post summarizing the February 2019 New York State Court Reporters Association meeting.
Stenonymous Goes (Mostly) Ad Free! 2/21/19
A post where I announced Stenonymous would no longer have ads.
Getting Involved: As Simple As A Like 2/20/19
A post that explained that support in all its forms is important.
MA Payonk: Steno First. 2/19/19
A post about Mary Ann Payonk.
WUNCRA, Knowledge Is Power, Spitballing Is Weak 2/18/19
A post disagreeing with “Wake Up, NCRA.”
There Is No Rebel Alliance 2/17/19
A post discussing another blog post and how it is important for us to work together.
Associations and Why You Matter 2/16/19
The math on how association participation can change outcomes.
Stenotrain 2/15/19
A post that talks about Stenotrain, a court reporting training program.
Mistaken For The Court Reporter 2/14/19
A post that talks about discrimination in law. Female lawyers typically do not appreciate being mistaken for a court reporter, and Sharon Velazco wrote an awesome piece on why it’s great to be a court reporter.
StenoFest 2019 2/13/19
A post remembering Marc Greenberg’s online StenoFest.
Silence is Deafening 2/12/19
A post that talked about the importance of speaking up/speaking out.
NCRA and NYSCRA: For Stenographers 2/11/19
A promotion of two associations that support our profession.
Steno V Digital (Archive Post) 2/10/19
A post that noted technological growth was no longer exponential.
Holding Companies Explanation 2/8/19
An explanation of the concept of holding companies.
Learn About Stenography at Plaza – February 2019 2/8/19
A notice about the February 11 event at Plaza College.
NYSCRA Social – You’re Invited! 2/7/19
An announcement for the New York State Court Reporters Association February 2019 social.
Workers Rights 2/7/19
Stenographers, Veritext is Not Your Friend 2/6/19
What Rate Should Freelance Reporters Charge? 2/5/19
Language Study and Service 2/5/19
The Magic of Marketing 2/4/19
Creating a Degree-Granting Institution in New York 1/23/19
Direction and Control 1/9/19
Why Can’t We Discuss Rates? 1/4/19
The Power of No 1/2/19
Contracting with Public Entities: Diamond’s 2010 Renewal With City 12/23/18
To Our Agency Owners 12/20/18
New Year New Rates Movement (NY Freelancers) 12/19/18
Knowledge Preserved Is Power 12/18/18
Stenographers, US Legal Is Not Your Friend 12/17/18
NYSCRA Certs Waive Provisional Assessment for NY Courts 12/14/18
Competing For Contracts 12/14/18
Of Strategy and Commitment 12/13/18
Live Steno 4U Review by Joshua Edwards 12/12/18
The Positive Reporting Challenge 12/12/18
To E Court Reporters and Transcribers 12/10/18
Fun History: License Plates 12/4/18
Veritext Buys A Diamond 12/3/18
The Good Reporter Fallacy 11/23/18
Learn To Caption – Real Realtime by Anissa 11/15/18
The Frank N Sense Monster 11/14/18
Law For Stenographers (NY) 11/13/18
The Price of Perfection 11/13/18
The Limitations of Institution 11/8/18
The Truths of Employability 11/7/18
Open Steno by Professional Writer Claire Williams 11/2/18
Typey Type Introduction 10/29/18
Dictation Marking Program 10/24/18
Aloft Steno Streaming – Good News from Open Steno 10/24/18
Good News About NCRA’s Retention Policy 10/22/18
Transcript Marker 10/10/18
A Satirical Response To Getting Paid 9/28/18
A Word On Raises 8/9/18
State Associations write an open letter to NCRA about Corporate Partners 7/27/18
The Unsubtle Policy of Open Gates 7/25/18
NCRA Amendment Proposals 7/18/18
NCRA Test Retention Policy 5/16/18
On Educational Inadequacy 3/28/18
Stips or Stipulations 3/19/18
Interpreted Testimony In The Third Person 3/17/18
For The Entrepreneur 3/16/18
When An Agency Won’t Collect 3/15/18
Fall of Constantinople 3/14/18
An Explanation of Anticontracting 3/13/18
Form SS8 and Independent Contractors 3/12/18
The Case for Higher Rates 3/5/18
Colors and Stripes 3/1/18
What’s In A Rate Sheet? 1/29/18
The Importance of Friends and Allies 1/29/18
The Power of a Contract 1/20/18
Handling Rejection 1/18/18
2018: Start Strong, Stay Strong 1/13/18
Our Greatest Mistake Is Not Making Mistakes 1/13/18
Interpreted Jobs and You 1/12/18
Speech and Years: 2’18 1/12/18
Specifically Pacific 1/12/18
Dave Wenhold and Lobbying 1/8/18
Writing Elected Officials 1/4/18
Computer Lagging? Check This 1/2/18
Rights and Your Wallet 12/19/17
What’s A Taxes? 12/13/17
My Writer Is Not Writing Realtime (Drivers) 12/5/17
F Keys Not Working 12/5/17
Practice Does Not Make Perfect 12/4/17
How Briefed Is Too Briefed? 11/29/17
Unionization of Deposition Reporters 11/26/17
Audio Transcription, Pricing, And You 11/22/17
State or Federal Case? 11/21/17
Remote Swearing of Witnesses (NY) 11/15/17
Supreme Court Test Tip 11/13/17
Reporter Sharing 10/30/17
CaseCAT: Characters per line using characters per inch. 10/26/17
Passing the Supreme Court Test 2017 10/23/17
Value of Associations 10/21/17
Judiciary Foil Requests 10/19/17
NY Constitutional Convention 10/19/17
Keep It Simple, Silly 10/19/17
Elapsed Timestamps (CaseCAT) 10/16/17
Tips on Traps and Dirty Tricks 10/11/17
Passive Learning versus Instant Gratification 10/11/17
A Message From My Sister 10/10/17
NYSCRA Offering Test Prep 9/19/17
E-mails and Communication 9/13/17
Freelance Loyalty 9/11/17
Audio and You 9/10/17
Turnaround Topsy Turvy 9/8/17
Cultural Literacy – 9/7/17
Where / What Parenthetical?! 9/5/17
How Are Reporters Paid? 9/4/17
Why Are We “We?” 9/2/17
Public Records 9/1/17
Take It Out or Verbatim? 8/31/17
Interrupting When/Why/How? 8/30/17
Off The Record 8/30/17
Title or Caption (E-Filing) 8/29/17
Strike That! Withdrawn! 8/28/17
Billing Simplified 8/27/17
The Copy Conundrum 8/19/17
Beginner’s Trap 8/19/17
Art of the Deal 8/15/17
Write Stenonymously 8/12/17
Learn Stenography! 8/12/17
Resource Page 8/12/17
Open Steno Project 8/6/17
Employee v. Independent Contractor 7/24/17
Get A Real Job! 7/3/17
Diplomacy 6/27/17
June Jobs Report (2019)
Have made it a mission to get everybody sharing jobs and finding work if they want to. From New York reporters to all around the country, people are making sure everybody knows where the jobs are.
- Grand Jury Bronx. This posting has been up for a while. I’ll always have a heart for grand jury work. City of New York health benefits are great, and when I was employee, free for individuals.
- The court reporter provisional job remains posted. Good luck to everyone taking the civil service test for permanent employment this month. Court reporters are being hired statewide!
- A Nassau Principal Reporter position is open for all of you who qualify.
- 8 federal jobs open across the country, but none in New York.
- Plaza College continues to have a posting for court reporting faculty.
- New York School of Court Reporting doesn’t have a careers page that I can see, but good businesses are always in the market for talent.
- Esquire continues its online campaign to attract folks.
- Remember that all of these links can be obtained and bookmarked from Get A Real Job!
To Our Litigators
RE: Stenographic Reporters
If you’re reading, I’m going to hope you’re the kind of lawyer that we all look up to. You’re responsive to clients, you’re honest with potential clients about what you can do for them, and you’re ready when it comes to filings, motions, discovery, or trial. Maybe you’re the one at your firm tailoring your service to your client’s budget, or maybe you oversee someone doing that for you. But the end is the same, giving the consumer the best value for the budget.
That’s what urges me to write today. There has been a lot said about “AI” transcription and digital recording versus stenographic reporting. There has been a lot said in my field about the Ducker Report and a forecasted shortage of court reporters. Some brave companies are turning to remote reporting, where legal, to allow a stenographer to appear remotely. Other courageous reporters are doubling their workload to meet your demand.
There is one solution that’s come out known as digital reporting. The main idea is that someone will record the proceedings, run it through a computer program, and then someone will fix up what the computer does. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is what we stenographers actually do. The major difference is we are stenographically recording (typing!) every word, and the computer is accepting that stenographic word and turning it into your English transcript.
The bottom line is: It simply ends up being more efficient to do it our way. One person, perhaps two, can stenographically record and transcribe an entire proceeding and have it to you that night or the next morning. For your dollar, there’s just not better value. Stenographers type four to five times faster than your average typist, so to finish the same proceeding, we are talking about four or five times the usual turnaround time for transcribers, or four or five times the staffing. Take the number of stenographers you have today, and multiply that number by 3, 4, or 5. If you think there’s a shortage and/or workflow issues now, imagine a world where you need five court reporters to put together your one proceeding. Imagine a world where the transcript is questioned and you need to bring those people in to testify instead of one stenographer.
Trust me when I say the firms switching to digital reporting or demanding you change your deposition notices to allow digital reporters are not saving you or your clients any money. Ever notice how there are almost never prices posted online for services? That’s because most of these companies act as middlemen. They make an agreement with you or the insurer, and then they make an agreement with us, the stenographers or transcribers, and they keep what’s in the middle. It’s really that simple. I would not be surprised, as a stenographer, to learn that I only made $3.25 a page on some of my old depositions with 25 cents per copy while the agency I worked with charged whatever they charged. 5? 6? 7? I don’t know. I only know that when I consulted a lawyer, the lawyer wanted almost 15 dollars a page if my case went to depositions.
I’ve been a stenographer for a long time, and I see two roads that you, the litigators, may take. You can let the sellers decide the market, and eventually stenographers won’t be an option, or you can make a sustained demand for a stenographic reporter at every dep. When lawyers start turning to direct market apps like Appear Me, Expedite Legal, and NexDep to get stenographers, those agencies pushing the digital and AI will jump on board and do whatever it takes to increase your supply of stenographers and get your business back.
Stenographers have been serving the legal community for decades. There’s been a push in recent years to do away with us because of a public perception that our methods are antiquated. Ironically, the people leading this charge are the companies we trusted with selling our services. So to our litigators: You now know all I know, and the customer is always right. Which will you choose?
NCRA 2.0 May 2019 Survey
Truly, NCRA has continued its commitment to being inclusionary and making changes to benefit all stenographers and members. Today we got an email that asked us to share our thoughts. That means you, reader, can participate in shaping the discussion for the field. You can be pretty sure that your words are going to reach somebody. Feel free to discuss it here, but before you do, go answer up, because your feelings matter, and the NCRA has taken an important step in letting you know that by asking. I encourage everyone, from the people that I am regularly in correspondence with to my anonymous readers to check in with your ideas for the future and how to make an NCRA that you want to be a part of.
And here are my own answers, to the extent they may be helpful or act as a beginning for bigger, better ideas.
What’s your GREAT idea?
“Most of our fights are won or lost at the state level. NCRA has historically taken on a supportive role and/or a federal, national approach. It is probably time to put at least some focus on states, particularly the big four identified by Ducker, Illinois, California, New York, Texas. Ducker said over 50 percent of court reporting was out of those states. If we lose in any of the four, it’s over. I understand there is a committee for this type of thing now, but it will take some more press to get this knowledge to the members that have left / stopped renewing. As a very sad example, a friend of mine formerly worked with the Workers Comp Board of New York, which was gutted by electronic recording. When that person called NCRA, that person was told something along the lines of it’s a state matter and that NCRA is federal — of course, that was the NCRA then and not today’s NCRA 2.0 — but today that means one fewer member for NCRA. We can’t change the past. We can make the future better.”
How can YOU help?
“I can write. I can research. Perhaps one avenue to go down is to build a strong case for federal educational grants, see what Congress has passed in relation to other industries and begin building a strong case for stenographic education funding. NCRA has been efficient at this type of federal lobbying before and that can continue.”
Other IDEAS?
“1. Perhaps a reworking of the bylaws is in order. Leadership in NCRA is limited to Registered members, but this ends up being more exclusionary than other methods. The unfortunate truth is that there may be qualified leaders among your participating members. We had this issue in New York. In our case it was that retired and educator stenographers could not join the board. We voted on it twice, and both times, members stepped up and said if they want to lead, have them lead.
2. Inclusionary leadership. There are infinite ideas in the world. Perhaps it would be beneficial to NCRA’s image to come out with two or three big ideas that are being discussed, and either formally vote or informally poll members to see which is most important to them. I wouldn’t bind the board to the vote, but it’d probably make people, even the people that cannot donate time or effort in other ways, feel they have a voice. And to those that “lose” the vote, you can tell them this issue is still on our radar. You matter. Ultimately, memberships are selling the organization, and with regard to sales, feelings matter.
3. If the time and data is available, make an effort to reach out to those who have not renewed. Perhaps talk to them about their beliefs or why they left. Thank them, encourage them to give NCRA 2.0 a try, and make a note of common themes. For example, if you found that 25 percent of non renewals were for a specific organizational reason, wouldn’t it be worth addressing?”
Value Gradients for the Stenographer in Training (180+ WPM)
In this article we’ll get down to the different kinds of services offered by freelancers and some officials. This’ll be for the benefit of the relatively new and uninitiated. If you’ve already obtained some mastery over the basics of steno industry or if you’re brand new, this really won’t be for you because you already know about it or are just too new to be worrying about it. I say if you’ve completed 80 percent of a 225 words-per-minute program, 180 WPM, this is probably a worthwhile read.
So there are different things in this field that add value to your work as a stenographer. While we can’t necessarily get behind the subjectivity theory, value is, to a great degree, subjective. This means that simple things like writing a professional cover letter, resume, or contract pitch can make you, at 180 WPM, more valuable than a person who can get 225 WPM but can’t really nail the grammar on anything. Consider the first gradient in your whole career to be learning to write professionally, and always look to improve that writing.
Then we get to the simple things offered by stenographers that pull in more money, typically called upcharges. Often markets are different, and “employers” may even tell you that “they don’t pay for that.” This is a tactic to get you more comfortable with doing the work for less. If there are more stenographers willing to do the work for less, the “employer” has leverage over the stenographers that know about these upcharges, and can bypass them and have you do it for less money. Work smarter, not harder, and consider asking several reporters in your market about the types of upcharges they get. Here are some common ones: Medical testimony, expert testimony, video testimony. Some charge up to 5 percent more for late night work. Some even add an interpreted testimony fee to make up for the time lost to interpreted depositions, which are often fewer pages per hour.
Related to what we just went into is confidence. There is a level of unease that comes with being new. You will probably be pressured to take jobs for less than they are worth. Immediately out of training, it’s agreeable to take all you can get. That said, after a couple of months, after you’re used to getting the transcripts out and doing the work, have the confidence to talk to some other reporters in your market and learn more about what’s expected locally. Don’t talk to one or two — talk to as many as you can. One reporter may say don’t get out of bed for less than a thousand. Another reporter may say hey, if you can rack up 6 busts in a day, it’s okay money for zero work. Have the confidence to take all the different types of jobs just mentioned. In my “class” of reporters there was a very strong fear about taking medical testimony. It had been hyped up as this impossible thing. To be clear, medical words can be unique or difficult, but having the confidence to go out there and do it makes you a better writer with the marketable trait of being able to take any kind of job. There is value in a person that can be sent to any type of job.
Let’s touch on some more common upcharges. Expedite. What is an expedite? That depends. When I started, a “regular” was 2 weeks. Anything quicker was some kind of expedite. Of course the rule follows: The faster they want it, the more they should pay. Nowadays, agencies are pushing people to make 7 or 5 days the regular. In my mind, this is much too short, and it devalues the worth of an expedite. It’s what people who play strategy games would call “a stupid move.” That said, if you can get your work out faster than “regular”, that adds value.
Daily. What’s a daily? You take the job, go home, transcribe, and the job is done by the next day. If you can do a daily, again, there’s value there. Not every single stenographer or transcriber can fulfill a daily. Indeed, to fulfill a daily, multiple transcriptionists have to be put on the same job sometimes. If you can do a daily, you can probably make a thousand or more dollars in a day without being realtime because daily jobs can be worth double a regular in freelance.
Immediate. Immediate is basically you finish the deposition and within 30 minutes to an hour it is ready to go out. The bottom line is the client is getting the transcript pretty quick after the deposition ends. Only the best reporters with 99.9 percent accuracy or a phenomenal scopist behind them can achieve these kinds of levels.
Rough. Rough is basically you go through the untranslates and fix up the transcript before sending it out with the understanding the finished transcript comes later. A rough can be a dollar or more per page in upcharges because it’s basically like an easier immediate. Proceed with caution: Many reporters go out there and produce roughs that are basically unusable. Some of my own roughs have been pretty bad. Always seek to improve and get out the best roughs so that lawyers are encouraged to use this service.
Realtime. Maybe you’ve heard of realtime reporting. It’s among the largest upcharges because these reporters have their words coming out on a laptop or tablet screen for the client. I haven’t personally done realtime, but I know that these reporters can command a dollar or more per realtime hookup on top of their daily, medical, or other upcharges. Why are these upcharges important? More money per page equals fewer pages to make the annual income you want to make. We’ve got over 900 mathematical calculations to show this off.
Now that we’ve been through these different levels of skill, let’s look at how it’ll apply in the real world. Certifications exist, and they are important. That said, in many states and municipalities you can offer these services without the certification. What does this mean? It means that the limiting factor is you. It’s your skill and comfort level. It’s your willingness to go out there and say yes, I will take a medical. It’s the desire to get your skill level to a place where you can realistically offer these things. Your value, to a great degree, is dictated by you.
You will go out there and have bad jobs. There will be hard days. There will be times you feel shaky about the service you’re providing. There will be “employers” who make you feel replaceable. Just keep improving. Know where you are at. Be open to feedback, but don’t live by it. Learn from every mistake. If you are in training and know you are able to produce a daily transcript already — great! Don’t let anybody take that away from you. Don’t accept, as fact, that anybody can do it or that nobody charges for that. The freelance world — the business world — is a tough one. There are buyers and sellers, and the buyers will always be looking for a way to knock you down on the price. Remember these gradients in value, and remember that the more of them you achieve, the more you have something to sell.
Tips for the Stenographer in Training
We started as a blog discussing issues for newbie reporters. In more recent times we’ve pushed this thing to encompass all kinds of issues, questions, and even political ideas. Perhaps it’s fitting to return, briefly, to the things that students can do to make their time in school more productive, less stressful, or even shorter. After all, the field needs new people, so logic tells us that efficiency in preparing and producing stenographers for the workforce is paramount.
Right out of the gate, let’s get one thing clear, respect perspectives. You will read things online and see things in the world that directly contradict what your teachers tell you. You will meet people that tell you that your teacher is wrong, or Stenonymous is wrong, or the world is wrong. Your newness to stenography may lead you to the conclusion that the most authoritative voice is correct. That way of thinking is an offshoot of the Might Makes Right logical fallacy, and may lead you down a hard road. Succinctly, take in opinions and asserted facts, but don’t draw too many conclusions. Everyone’s perspective is colored by their experience, and though our experiences may be similar, they are often quite different and can lead to wildly different advice.
With respect for what we just said, don’t be afraid to act. If you are so busy respecting other people’s perspectives that you never make any decisions, your progress will suffer. As an easy example, some reporters believe we must always use the number bar. Some reporters believe we must never use the number bar. You can respect both opinions. But in the end it is better for you to “pick a side” or develop your own method instead of trying to please everyone. Hesitation can make your job much harder than it needs to be.
Now for the good stuff. You want writing tips. That’s why you came. Here’s a look inside some common perspectives. Brief things you hear often. You may very well reach a point in your career where you are making 40,000 strokes a day with briefs. If everything takes two strokes, that’s more like 80,000 strokes. The amount of stress and strain on your hands is not a joke. Shorter writing can make you a faster writer.
Funny briefs work. You’ll remember them. It’s memorable. Just make them funny for you. It doesn’t matter if anyone else gets it. At one point in my own career every proceeding would start with the sections of law 240.30, 250.20. How long before they became TWAOEFT? Just to drive this point home, an old friend made up a brief for casino when we were in school a decade ago, SKWAOEPB. To this day, I remember it, and it doesn’t come up all that often at all in New York.
It’s better to write than lose. We’re expected to get pretty much everything in the working world. So if you have to make a choice between making a silly outline and dropping, write the silly outline. This can come in the form of condensed words (pseudo briefs) or even half words. For example, perhaps someone briefs “persuasive.” Finally, persuasive comes up — and someone doesn’t remember their brief. It’s okay to write “PER SWAEUF.” In some cases, it’s okay to write “PER.” For example, if the sentence is “The salesman was very persuasive when he sold me the car”, the only time you wouldn’t transcribe your PER as persuasive is if you don’t care or you’re not paying attention.
Testing with tactical drops. Most programs I’ve heard of count a missed word as an error, specifically one error. It doesn’t matter if the word is “Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” or “hi.” So what happens, often, is students lock up or trip up on small words, and then a big word pops up, and all of it gets dropped or jumbled. So let’s analyze the fake test statement, “hi, my name is Joe, and I have had Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia since I was age 24 in 2018.” All things being equal, on test day, drop the big word and get all the little stuff. Those small words before the big one are potentially 9 errors. 9 errors versus 1. No contest. Please note, in the working world, you need the big words, but you also have the power to ask people to repeat themselves. Also, as a rider to the tactical drop, if you have to drop a word or punctuation while writing, drop the punctuation.
Practice fast. The whole point of speed building is being able to hear, process, and take down what you heard. Some practice slow and work on accuracy, and I hope that that works for them, but ultimately we are training our brains to hear the words and write with what educators call an “automatic response.” You want to be practicing at 10 to 20 words above your target speed. On that note, at least some of this has to do with muscle memory. Repetition is the name of the game. Don’t be afraid to take the same fast take over and over until you get it. Do that with enough takes, and your muscle memory becomes varied and fast over a wider variety of words. My take on slow practice? It’s working against you and training you to be slower. The only thing it might be good for is a confidence booster.
Know your numbers. It doesn’t matter if you use the number bar or not, you need to be very ready to hit numbers. Some of the most common numbers are years, and you should have easy ways to get those out. You can do funky things with the asterisk and lower letter keys to create creative number bar outlines, or you can create short forms. Everyone’s brain is different. Many people brief 2019 in one stroke. I do TWOEUPB TPHAOEPB. Yet with the 90s I do TPHAOEPB TPHAOEPB TPHAOEUPB, which translates literally to 19199, but because I defined it, comes up 1999. Three-stroke outlines are generally a no-no, but if you’re hitting it seamlessly, it hardly matters.
Try to practice interrupting. Worry about this one close to graduation. A lot of the tips so far have been about trying to get it or the tactical drop. Let’s touch on a working skill a lot of reporters don’t have practice with. The interrupt. In the working world there are folks out there that say just let the audio catch it. If you didn’t hear it, it may not be as clear as you think on that audio. So being able to interrupt is a valuable skill. If you have a family member or friend, see if they have time once a week or once a month to read to you. Ask them to read way fast every few pages so you can get a little practice with varying speeds and interrupting. Take note that how you ask can change outcomes. “I’m sorry, please repeat what you said” usually gets people to repeat exactly what they said. “What?” usually makes people expound on what they said or define what they said. Also note that interrupting is situational. Sometimes it makes sense to interrupt on the spot, and other times it makes sense to wait for a break to clarify names or spellings. No matter which way you shake it, how you do it matters. Be polite and professional.
Build your dictionary. There are two major schools of thought here. The first school is methodically go through and add outlines for stuff proactively from the dictionary or news. Another school of thought is to build your dictionary to the work that you do. Some people even maintain different dictionaries for different types of work. Succinctly, it doesn’t really matter what school you’re from, but you should always be adding stuff, with the understanding that anybody who’s taking the time to add stuff from Merriam Webster will have a larger and more complete dictionary.
Analyze misstrokes. If you have the same misstroke commonly enough, it’s either you or the machine. If you can’t get splits or stacks out of your writing, but they don’t conflict with anything else, just put it in. That misstroke that you fix manually every time just became a dictionary feature. In this same vein, if you have a close friend at school, maybe once every couple of months try transcribing each other’s notes. For one, it’ll teach you to read through “rough notes.” On the other hand, your friend may give you ideas that you wouldn’t have had by yourself.
Read back. Practice reading back out loud whether or not you have to do it alone. Practice reading back off notes and transcription. Read back is one of our important skills that we don’t get a lot of practice with. Speaking clearly is surprisingly helpful in matters of business, employment, and stenography. Your ability to speak well may not only affect on-the-job performance, but also whether or not you get a job at all.
Practice writing. At the very least, make sure you know how to compose polite, professional emails, a cover letter, a resume, and a rate sheet. We often like to assume we don’t need any help in this area, but as you have probably seen on this blog and from your fellow students, everyone makes mistakes, and practicing these functions before graduation will make you more employable.
Practice accents. A great deal of our training revolves around perfectly clear speakers at very high speeds. In the real world you may meet people that don’t speak particularly fast, but are not very clear speakers. The more time you get in school or training practicing this, the less difficult it will be during your work and the less likely you will make a critical mistake, such as misunderstanding testimony.
Create your own dictation. Are you having problems with a specific type of word? You can actually create a dictation tailored to the fingering problems you’re having. Get your creative writing on and take a few minutes to compose something, anything. Then you can even mark the thing for the speed you want. The manual way to mark for speed is to take your target speed and divide it by 4. That tells you how many words you need every 15 seconds. So 100 wpm goal divided by 4, you need 25 words every 15 seconds. Count 25 words, make a line. Then you time yourself reading with a stopwatch and hit your lines every 15 seconds. The automatic way to mark for speed is to use Todd Olivas’s Slasher. Alternatively, if you know anything about Python code, you can use my computer program. There are low barriers to creating your own dictation. Google has a stopwatch app and digital recorders can be as low as $50. Explained in more detail here.
Three chances to get it right. Our need to get it right is inviolable. A wise teacher said you’ve got three chances to get it correct, the writing, the transcription, and the proofreading. Countless working reporters skip that proofreading phase, and you may one day find yourself doing just that. That acknowledged, in your formative years and as you are learning, it will make you a better reporter to take that time to proofread your tests and early jobs. We make mistakes. It happens. We are new. The best way to identify mistakes is to take advantage of all the chances to get it right.
You are in charge of your destiny. We have been told by the arrogant that certain people are not fit to be a reporter, or that people over 30 cannot achieve high speeds. For some, this became truth. For others, this became a challenge. Determined reporters across the country have trained to do this. Whatever your issue, whether it be something you feel about yourself, or whether it be an inadequacy in your training, you can compensate and beat it. This is not meant to call anyone’s struggle illegitimate, but to point out that in the end the most likely descriptors of any endeavor are success or failure. Be a success. Everyone wants you to be a success and go on to help other people succeed, but it’s your action or inaction that’ll decide the outcome.
July 10, 2019 Update:
I came across this Doris Wong Blog and the Student Corner. Skimming it, it seems to talk about all kinds of things, and I agree with the writer on a lot of what they say.
Persuasive Writing Tips For The Stenographic Legion
I’ve received some phenomenal drafts and works from stenographers around the country. This burst of activity and people creating stuff to get each other talking and educate attorneys is great. Let’s all keep it up — and for those who haven’t yet jumped in, definitely do, there is a spot for you.
Dozens of stenographers are creating blog posts and informational flyers for attorneys, and now is the time to help each other with that.
Some common writing tips that I’ve used in my most popular posts, and what I hope will make everything you all write popular:
- Narrow the scope. Too many topics at once gives the reader mental overload.
- KISS your work. Keep it simple, silly. Big or sophisticated words are great, but if your piece reads like a technical textbook or manual, it will only attract readers who like that.
- Organize. By far my own weakest point. Try to make information easy to access and process. The order you do things can make your piece look professional or chaotic.
- Think of the audience. A lot of us are writing informational pieces for lawyers or law firms. These are highly intelligent people and we can expect them to understand what we have to say. But they’re also very busy people, meaning we can expect them to crumple up and throw away anything that doesn’t get to the point pretty fast.
- The less you write in one piece, the more people remember and/or misremember! We don’t really get to talk much on the job so when we sit down to write we can get verbose. Verbosity isn’t inherently bad but can turn audiences off.
- With the above in mind, writing different pieces targeted at different audiences can increase your impressions and impact the spread of your message.
- Sales and Persuasion. A lot of what we put out is trying to convince people stenography is better. It boils down to a sales pitch with some facts and/or law thrown in. Just bear in mind that anything you state as fact ought to be fact, and anything you state as opinion ought to be opinion, or you may find your enemies discrediting you with your own words.
- What you write can be as important as what you don’t.
- Opinions shape markets. The best thing you can sell is an experience. If you make reviewing your writing a pleasant experience, people will come back. Same for steno. Sell it as a positive experience to use a stenographer — because it is!
- The cheap v. good argument. We are throwing ourselves under the bus if we reinforce the notion that audio recording is cheaper than stenography. Stenographers in certain places around the country have worked for 3.65 a page or less. That boils down to close to 140 an hour. Even the most boastful transcription companies like Rev have said a dollar a minute, sometimes with upcharges for multiple speakers or terminology easily doubling the price. That 120 v 140 doesn’t impress me, and probably doesn’t impress you either. Let’s face facts, we’re better quality, same price, and any alleged savings are not going to the lawyers that purchase our time and talent. Succinctly, take note of people like Milestone, who talk about how inexpensive they are, but as of writing, don’t bother to put their price up. They’re not cheaper. They’re playing the same middleman game of hiding the price to cut the most profit from the middle.
Now we run through a few quick examples. If you are designing a class for lawyers or stenographers to take, then that is a time when you want to expound and get in depth. You’ll have, more or less, a captive audience, and it’s okay to get to the details in. If you are designing a flyer or brochure, you want it to be pretty short and sweet, relevant law and how it impacts a business or individual.
A last and final note: What you write is going to get out there. You will likely have fans and haters. What you have to remember is that if your work is receiving this attention, it is making an impact. Even if it is not yet receiving this attention, content creation takes time and energy. If you feel yourself burning out, it’s good to take a break. Feel free to jot some notes about what you’d like to write on or improve during your break, but don’t feel forced to continue a strenuous campaign of information dispersal while your energy is low.
All that’s left is to say get out there and show the world what you’ve got. Whatever your project, good writing can give it the boost it needs.