Do you remember learning how to ride a bicycle, or even learning how to swim? The first time you ever jumped on a two-wheel bike without training wheels your heart was probably racing and you most likely had butterflies in your stomach. As a child we are fearless and learning something new is second nature, but as we grow older we are set in our ways and often times we let fear hold us back from trying new things. This is especially true when it comes to our careers.
Over the last few years the court reporting industry has grown tremendously and recent reports show that trend continuing upwards for many, many years to come. As a large number of court reporters reach retirement age, they are being replaced with a workforce accustomed to innovation – reporters that are not afraid to use realtime or technology to broaden their careers. So what does this mean for all the court reporters out there who have yet to embrace realtime? Well, this means its time to step outside your comfort level and take the realtime plunge or else face the possibility of being phased out by those who will.
When I started to write this article, I reached out to a number of reporters on social media to find out their fears when it comes to writing realtime; I had discussions with both reporters who already write realtime, as well as reporters who have yet to make the jump into realtime. The overwhelming reason why reporters had not yet made the leap to realtime was fear of imperfection, fear of failure and fear of not being good enough. Although many realized realtime is an invaluable tool and necessary to stay relevant in this rapidly growing industry, they are letting their fears hold them back from moving forward.
I want to go over a few ways you as a court reporter can overcome your fear of writing realtime, so just like riding a bike or swimming, it too will become second nature.
- Identify Your Fears – As with solving any problem, the first step in finding a solution is identifying what is holding you back. Are you like the many court reporters I spoke with, scared of imperfection, failure or not being good enough? Or is there something else? Does having to learn a new technology and knowing that you will be responsible for making sure your clients can properly view your realtime intimidate you? Identifying your fears allows you to set goals and create actionable plans.
- Ask Questions – Talk to other reporters who are already writing realtime and ask questions. Ask them what their greatest fear was when they started and what steps they took to overcome them. Learn from their experiences, find out how they have benefitted from writing realtime, and ask for suggestions on how to begin. There are hundreds of court reporting groups on Facebook and Linkedin, where group members are more than happy to share their knowledge – join them, read through the questions posted by others and ask your own.
- Find a Mentor, Watch and Learn – Although the Court Reporting Industry is highly competitive, there is no shortage of reporters willing to mentor you and help you achieve your goal of becoming realtime ready. Once you find a mentor, go on a few jobs with them and watch. Watch them set up their equipment, watch how they interact with their clients, watch as they write. You can pick up a lot by just sitting back and taking in what is going on around you.
- Take Action – One way to fight your fear of writing realtime is to take action and just jump in. Research the different options of realtime technology in terms of CAT Software and Realtime Delivery Software. Decide on a solution that best fits your needs and invest in it. By taking this step and making the investment it will push you to start using it, even if you don’t feel quite ready to use it in a real world environment.
- Practice – If imperfection and fear of not being good enough intimidate you, practice. No one is asking you to jump in with your eyes closed. Practice makes perfect. Practice setting up and taking down your realtime equipment. While you are sitting at home watching television every night, pretend you are at a deposition and transcribe what the actors are saying, have your realtime equipment set up to deliver to an extra laptop or iPad and watch the feed. The more you do it, the better you will get and the sooner you will become comfortable using your new skills in a legal environment.
- Surrender/Release Control – Once you have identified your fears, spoken to other reporters, purchased realtime equipment and have practiced to the point where you feel comfortable, it is time to surrender and release control, in other words…Just Do It!
Being able to write realtime is an invaluable tool and will open the door to many new opportunities. You will be able to charge more, get placed on larger cases and most importantly you will have given yourself a skill that is irreplaceable, creating job security in the future.