Deposition Reporters– Audio Amplified

Realtime Reporter Jessie Waack

We have all had deposition participants we struggle to hear for various reasons.  You actually have a couple options for monitoring audio during a deposition.

In a video legal deposition, the videographers of Brown & Jones Reporting can run a line from their soundboard which you plug headphones into.  You then have the same audio feed as the videographer does, running through your personal headphones. 

If you tend to be particular about headphones, I would advise carrying your own for comfort.  We have all seen people forget they are wearing microphones.  A sudden sneeze or cough can blow up your eardrums.  A random shuffling of paper can drown out testimony.  By wearing your headphones to the side of your ears, you can diminish the effect the extraneous noises will have.  For this reason, I would recommend avoiding ear buds.  The biggest benefit is that the videographer can turn up a soft spoken person and turn down the loud person so the audio will come out at the same decibel level.

Another option is to monitor your audio through your stenograph machine.  I have an Élan Mira® A3.  On the back of the steno, there is a jack for a microphone and headphones.  I place a glass upside down on the table with Post-Its on top.  I would not recommend putting the microphone directly on the table.  Not only will you hear all the tapping on the table, but you will undoubtedly get paper piled on top of it making this step useless.  The Post-Its are a handy item which prevent the sound from traveling through the glass. 

After the mike is set, I plug my headphones into the back of the steno.  With an audio-capable steno, you can change the steno settings to monitor audio.   I know with the Élan Mira® A3, I can only activate this audio option when I am at the home screen.  For this reason, I always have the steno set with the monitor audio option as “yes.”  You will not use card memory by having this option turned on, although you may use your battery faster.  The downside is I can usually only amplify one person instead of all deposition participants.

After weighing your options, I hope you are able to find one to work for you.  Perhaps this can also inspire you to update an outdated steno to make your depositions a little easier.

Submitted by:

Jessica Waack – Specializing in Realtime Reporting
Registered Diplomate Reporter
Certified Realtime Reporting
Brown & Jones Reporting 

Realtime Reporter – Conquering Your Fears

Rachel Gwidt, RPR

To my pleasant surprise, I didn’t freeze up and write badly.  I wrote exactly the same as I would have written with nobody being able to see it.  Actually, I feel like I focused harder than if no one was watching.  Everyone was able to read it just fine.  Did I have some things in my favor?  Absolutely.  It wasn’t super fast and technical (just a nice, short, easy car accident-type case).  I thought to myself, what a stroke of luck to be able to have my first real time experience be so easy and stress free.  Do I feel this automatically qualifies me to take a real time patent case with 12 attorneys hooked up to me tomorrow?  Absolutely not, but what I got from the experience was huge to me.  It was validation of my writing skills and confirmation that I CAN do it.  Most of all, I came away with a new confidence in myself that I didn’t have yesterday (or all the days before that for that matter).  Those of you that know me fairly well know what I’m talking about! 

Smile

Court Reporters – Professionalism

Why is Email Etiquette Important?

Email Etiquette

Millions of people use email, and much of this correspondence involves business communication.  This blog pertains to business/professional email.  By that, I mean any email sent to your colleagues, clients or prospective employers.  The following are some helpful tips to consider when writing an email:

• Do not use shorthand; i.e., “can u plz send info on careers?”
• Avoid misspellings and poor grammar. 
• When possible, be direct; however, don’t leave out important details.
• Take a look at your email address.  Are you a sexymom@isp.com?  Use a more formal address.
• Use your spell checker.
• Do not use offensive language.
• Avoid using hypertext markup language or HTML.  Not every email program can interpret this, and it will not translate well.
• Avoid writing your message using all upper case letters.  It looks like you’re shouting.  Also, avoid using all lower case letters.  Some people will interpret this as mumbling.
• Use your email program’s “Reply To All” feature only when your reply will be necessary to know for the original sender and all people in the original email’s To: and CC: field.
• Do not use “Reply To All” when only the original sender needs to know your reply.
• Use AntiVirus Software on your emails.  Keep it up to date.  Scan your emails.
• Ask before you send huge attachments.
• Avoid “me too” responses.  Not enough content, but enough to annoy people with a large amount of emails.
• If your email is emotionally charged, walk away from the computer and wait to reply.
• Always acknowledge emails.
• Always end your emails with “thank you, best regards,” something.
• Many people overuse exclamation points in email.  Try to use only one exclamation point in an email message.  Remember, exclamation points can be interpreted as anger or frustration.  The recipient cannot hear the tone of your voice.

Jane M. Jones, RMR, CRR
Brown & Jones / Deposition Reporting
 

Roger Fish Speaks To Wisconsin Court Reporters About Work-Life Balance

WCRA

Roger Fish spoke to the Wisconsin Court Reporters Association about how the demands of life and work are greater than ever today.  This seminar focused on helping professionals achieve better work life balance that leads to greater personal and professional success and satisfaction.  Here are a few of the golden nuggets that he offered.

Does anyone ever ask you how you’re doing on Sunday, and you say, “Okay, but tomorrow is Monday!”  The message was:  Don’t “awfulize Mondays.”  Stay positive and don’t be negative about what is to come.  Enjoy the present.

The average life span of American men and women is 77 years.  The average American works a 55-hour week and takes an average of 11 days of vacation.  On four of these vacation days, there is still contact with the office.  Enjoy your life.  We all have only so many weeks of life left to live.  Make the most of them.  Create a bucket list.  Do the things you want to do before it is too late.  Don’t let money always be the overriding factor of what you can do with your life.  

Who are the warm, fuzzy cocoon people in your life, the ones who make you feel good?  Spend time with those people.

Are you celebrating life?  Is life an adventure?  Visit a kindergarten class or play with a child.  Soak in their awe, their curiosity, their wonderment.  Children are great teachers.  Ask yourself – am I celebrating life?  Is it an adventure?

What if there were no longer “anymores?”  What if you’re not going to be here tomorrow or maybe a loved one is no longer going to be here?  Make sure you always tell your loved ones how much they mean to you, just in case there is no “anymore.”

Exercise – Take care of yourself.  If you exercise and eat right, you are going to feel so much better and have so much more energy.  Be as good as you can be for the age that you are.

Avoid negative, energy draining people.

10 percent of life is what happens to you.  90 percent of life is how you react to it.

Use your vacation time.  Many Americans do not use their vacations.  You need to use them so you can re-energize.

If you’re on a plane, and you have your 2-year old on one side of you and your 10-year old on the other side of you, and the oxygen mask comes down, who is the first person you need to put the mask on?
YOURSELF!  You can’t take care of your loved ones unless you take care of yourself first.

LAUGHTER.  Laugh as often as you can!  Laughter is good for the soul and for your health!

For all the menopausal women out there, the next time you’re having a hot flash, don’t think of it as a hot flash.  Just say, “I’m having a tropical moment!”

IT’S YOUR DAY, IT’S YOUR ATTITUDE.  MAKE IT A GOOD ONE!!

Wisconsin Court Reporters Association –  Spring Convention, Blue Harbor Resort & Spa, April 27-29 2010