How To Become A Court Reporter

by Genevieve M. Blaber

Have you always wanted to experience first-hand the everyday hustle and bustle of a courtroom? Does record-keeping and transcribing seem like an interesting career? If that's so, then court reporting is the field you should enter. As a trained court reporter, you'll be prepared to record and document whatever the situation calls for -- provided you back up your ambition with an education from an accredited court reporting school.

How do I become a court reporter?
In order to become a court reporter you must first receive the proper training at an accredited court reporting school or program. Depending upon the field you're training for, you may find yourself studying anywhere from two years to 33 months -- the former being for voice writing and the latter being for stenotypists.

After you have finished your training at an accredited court reporting school, you'll have to check to see if your state requires you to have a license to practice court reporting. Some states require that voice writers first attain a license, though a certification from the National Verbatim Reporters Association may sometimes serve as a substitute.

In addition, certain states may require that court reporters receive the Certified Court Reporter designation, or that they be notary publics. Additional certifications may be earned by court reporters, but these merely serve to prove their competency to potential employers and are not required

What will I learn in a court reporter school?
Exactly what you learn at an accredited court reporter school depends upon the area of court reporting in which you want to work. The most traditional type of court reporter is the stenotypist, who meticulously records all of the proceedings during a court case. A stenotypist uses a stenotype, which has a specialized system of keys to stand for sounds, phrases, and words, to accurately and quickly transcribe everything that they hear. If you choose to pursue this field, you'll be trained in the use of the stenotype and may eventually be able to write as many as 225 words per minute.

Of course, stenotypists may also be employed in other areas that require the fast and accurate transcription of verbal proceedings, such as closed captioning for TV programs and recording meetings/events.

However, some court reporting students are more interested in electronic reporting, instead. Electronic reporting involves working with and monitoring audio equipment in order to record either the testimony during a case or what occurs during a debate, but is a career that can be learned on the job for the most part. Voice writing, however, must be learned at an accredited court reporting school and involves the use of a voice silencer. The voice silencer, which is actually a mask that has a microphone, allows the court reporter to repeat testimony and gestures into a recorder as they occur during a case. They then playback the recording later on and prepare a full transcript based upon it.