C. Mancini

Court reporters are required to type a minimum of 225 WPM on these specialized keyboards and we type in the "steno" or brief language. For example my name in steno is: 

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KA*EUT/HR*EUPB

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We use "K" for the sound even if a name starts with C. You can't use initial C (left side of the keyboard meaning words that start with that letter) because it's a combination of KR. So it wouldn't work with AEU or "long A" sound. In steno everything is spelled phonetically so I struggle with spelling in English now, lol! 

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Since you can only type so many letters in one stroke, my name is a two-stroke word. The second stroke is the second part of my name "lyn". HR is initial "L". The * symbolizes phrases or capitalization like names, streets, etc. EU is "I" and PB is "N". It sounds confusing in a vacuum but you learn the keyboard letter by letter and it's easier after the initial introduction. 

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For example, in order to type so fast if I wanted to type "ladies and gentlemen of the jury" I would stroke out all at one time in one stroke: HRA*EURPBLG [aka LA*IRJ] and it comes out translated into English because of our specialized software that's built from the ground up adding every English word, prefix, suffix into the dictionary. As we add more words throughout our years in different cases and come up with quick briefs of our own, or take suggestions from our AI software technology, you build your dictionary to become more and more accurate. When you graduate you start out with a basic dictionary so you're not spending hours adding "a", "the", everything that's basic English, but you will be needing to add words all the time when you come across various cases with street names, places, acronyms, etc. 

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This world of stenography is an intimate community and very supportive! It is also very flexible. You can make as much money as you want by taking as many jobs as you can or you can take one job per day or take certain days off. You're an independent contractor so you make your own schedule, but you don't have to go out and search for jobs because our firm does that for us and assigns us. You can tell the boss hey, I'd prefer this kind of job, or I want an all day job, or I need PM off on this day. It's SUPER flexible and very lucrative. And the more certifications you get, such as your CRR (certified real time reporter) you can then take more specialized jobs that pay more because it's an added skill. 

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Our association now has free classes to sign up for in Michigan and other states, and you can try these classes on a real steno machine to see how to type, the alphabet, and basics to see if it's a career you would even be interested in. ^-^ It's a great way to show people how amazing this profession is and still in HIGH DEMAND because not a lot of people know about it or realize you can do it without any educational background or training because you get trained in the schooling. The only downside is that since it's not well known some court reporting schools have closed, which I preferred the in-person teaching. There are online schools but be careful to review and research which ones are best. Some of them I feel are way more difficult than it should be and already it's a profession that only 20% of those that go in graduate and pass all exams. It sounds scary but there are so many tools out there to help and if you're serious about a life-changing new successful career, it's exceptionally rewarding! Here is a link to the National Court Reporter's Association to sign up for the free steno class: Here.