Top 12 Court Reporter Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the fast-moving world of depositions and hearings, a court reporter’s resume has to punch through the noise. Show what you do with precision, how quickly you capture the record, and that you can be trusted when the room heats up. Strong skills hint at more than proficiency—they signal adaptability, poise, and the grit to deliver under pressure.
Court Reporter Skills
- Stenography
- CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription)
- Realtime Reporting
- Eclipse
- Case CATalyst
- Proofreading
- RPR Certification
- DigitalCAT
- Speedwriting
- Audio Sync
- Multi-voice Recognition
- Legal Terminology
1. Stenography
Stenography is shorthand writing on a steno machine to capture spoken words verbatim at remarkable speed during legal proceedings.
Why It's Important
It’s the backbone of the record. Accurate, fast capture keeps the transcript clean, appeals possible, and proceedings transparent.
How to Improve Stenography Skills
Sharpen the craft with focused, repeatable work.
Daily speedbuilding: Short, intense sessions. Mix literary, jury charge, and Q&A takes. Track accuracy mercilessly.
Refine your writing theory: Tighten briefs, eliminate conflicts, and standardize phrasing. Small changes, big payoffs.
Software drills: Practice in your CAT environment so your fingers and your dictionary evolve together.
Ergonomics and endurance: Neutral posture, relaxed shoulders, timed breaks. Stamina keeps speed honest.
Peer feedback: Swap takes, compare dictionaries, trade briefs. Fresh eyes catch sticky spots you miss.
Build speed, guard accuracy, and let consistency do the heavy lifting.
How to Display Stenography Skills on Your Resume
2. CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription)
CAT software turns steno notes into readable text, powering editing, realtime, and delivery.
Why It's Important
It speeds translation, trims editing time, and keeps your output clean. Better tools, better transcripts.
How to Improve CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription) Skills
Update relentlessly: Keep current with versions and patches. New engines fix old headaches.
Curate dictionaries: Load legal terminology, local names, common case phrases, and consistent punctuation rules.
Shortcuts and macros: Map frequent edits to keystrokes. Let automation eat repetition.
Profiles and job dictionaries: Separate settings by client, venue, or proceeding to improve translation consistency.
Hardware matters: Fast CPU, ample RAM, solid-state storage, and a reliable steno machine. Stability shows up in your realtime.
Deliberate practice: Edit against your realtime feed; fix mistranslates at the source.
Lean software, smart dictionaries, crisp output.
How to Display CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription) Skills on Your Resume
3. Realtime Reporting
Instant translation from steno to on‑screen text for judges, attorneys, and participants—live, in the room or remotely.
Why It's Important
Immediate access to the record drives sharper questioning, better note-taking, and faster decisions.
How to Improve Realtime Reporting Skills
Certification-level practice: Train at speeds beyond comfort. Hunt down and eliminate recurring misstrokes.
Dictionary discipline: Resolve conflicts, standardize number handling, names, punctuation, and parentheticals.
Signal chain tuning: Stable laptop, clean USB/Bluetooth connections, low-latency audio, reliable viewing tools.
Display polish: Readable fonts, high contrast, smart margins. Your feed should be easy on the eyes.
Dry runs: Simulate the full setup before big matters. No surprises on showtime.
Accuracy first, then speed, then style.
How to Display Realtime Reporting Skills on Your Resume
4. Eclipse
Eclipse (Advantage Software) is a full-featured CAT system for translation, realtime, editing, and production.
Why It's Important
It streamlines your workflow—from realtime output to final transcript—and keeps you fast without sacrificing accuracy.
How to Improve Eclipse Skills
Boost translation quality: Clean up conflicts, refine number conversion, and build job dictionaries before each proceeding.
Leverage automation: Use globals, EZ speakers, indexes, and auto-formatting to crush repetitive edits.
Command mastery: Customize keyboard/macro sets for your edit style. One key, many fixes.
Realtime profiles: Separate output settings by client or venue. Clean feeds win repeat work.
Audio alignment: Calibrate input levels and sync so playback matches the text every time.
Backups and versioning: Automated saves, cloud/offsite copies, and periodic archive of dictionaries.
Know the tools, shape the output, save hours.
How to Display Eclipse Skills on Your Resume
5. Case CATalyst
Case CATalyst is a leading CAT platform for realtime, editing, and production in legal workflows.
Why It's Important
Broad adoption, powerful tools, dependable translation—fewer roadblocks from capture to delivery.
How to Improve Case CATalyst Skills
Shortcuts and macros: Map frequent edits, automate routine formatting, and trim your stroke count in post.
Dictionary strategy: Maintain main, job, and case dictionaries; add briefs proactively for names and terminology.
Realtime polish: Configure displays, conflict resolution, and punctuation rules for clean feeds.
Stay current: Update to the latest build. Performance and translation engines get better.
Practice inside the software: Edit your own realtime output and fix issues where they start.
When your environment is tuned, your transcript almost edits itself.
How to Display Case CATalyst Skills on Your Resume
6. Proofreading
Proofreading is the fine-tooth review of transcripts for accuracy, consistency, and format compliance.
Why It's Important
The official record has no room for loose ends. Precision preserves credibility and avoids costly confusion later.
How to Improve Proofreading Skills
Two-pass method: First for substance and names, second for punctuation, spacing, and formatting.
Read aloud or use text-to-speech: Your ear catches what your eye skims past.
Style guide discipline: Define capitalization, numbers, ellipses, and parentheticals. Apply it uniformly.
Glossaries: Maintain lists for recurring case terms, exhibits, and proper nouns.
Focused bursts: Short sessions with breaks prevent error creep.
Second set of eyes: Peer review for high-stakes deliveries.
Slow down at the end to deliver fast later.
How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume
7. RPR Certification
RPR (Registered Professional Reporter) is a nationally recognized credential demonstrating skill and professionalism in court reporting.
Why It's Important
It signals verified speed, accuracy, ethics, and knowledge. Clients and agencies notice.
How to Improve RPR Certification Skills
Train to the standards: Skills Test targets are 180 wpm Literary, 200 wpm Jury Charge, and 225 wpm Testimony/Q&A. Practice above test speed to build cushion.
Written knowledge prep: Review reporting practices, technology, and professional responsibility. Short, daily drills retain better than cramming.
Mock exams: Simulate timing, nerves, and error thresholds. Analyze misses and adjust briefs.
Equipment proficiency: Know every quirk of your machine and software. Reliability wins tests.
Track feedback: Keep a miss dictionary; target recurring issues until they vanish.
Consistent reps, measured gains, solid results.
How to Display RPR Certification Skills on Your Resume
8. DigitalCAT
DigitalCAT is a CAT platform used for realtime translation, editing, and efficient transcript production.
Why It's Important
It offers dependable realtime, flexible editing, and stable delivery—key for tight deadlines.
How to Improve DigitalCAT Skills
Keep it updated: Translation engines and stability improve with new releases.
Dictionary tuning: Add briefs for case-specific terms and proper nouns before the job starts.
Shortcut mapping: Customize keys for your most common edits and navigation moves.
Optimize hardware: Solid laptop specs and a reliable writer reduce lag and crashes.
Workflow templates: Build reusable job setups for exhibits, appearances, and headers.
Practice in context: Edit your realtime output to uncover and fix translation gaps.
Smoother software, cleaner copy, faster turnaround.
How to Display DigitalCAT Skills on Your Resume
9. Speedwriting
A shorthand approach to fast note-taking. While steno is the gold standard, strong brief systems and disciplined speed work serve the same goal—capture more, cleaner, faster.
Why It's Important
Fast, accurate capture underpins everything. The quicker the hand, the steadier the record.
How to Improve Speedwriting Skills
Brief strategy: Build logical, memorable shortcuts for high-frequency phrases and legal jargon.
Interval training: Short, high-speed bursts followed by accuracy passes. Rinse and repeat.
Consistency drills: Anchor numbers, dates, and speaker IDs with uniform patterns.
Hand and finger care: Stretching, micro-breaks, and ergonomic positioning keep fatigue at bay.
Post‑take analysis: Identify what fell apart at speed; fix it in the dictionary, not just in editing.
Speed without control is noise. Aim for both.
How to Display Speedwriting Skills on Your Resume
10. Audio Sync
Audio sync matches recorded audio to the transcript so playback aligns with the text line for line.
Why It's Important
Verification becomes simple. Tough passages are easy to confirm. Review time drops.
How to Improve Audio Sync Skills
Clean capture: Good microphones, proper placement, and quiet signal paths beat fancy post-processing.
Level and latency checks: Test for lag before proceedings; set levels to avoid clipping or hiss.
Consistent workflows: Standardize file formats, naming, and save locations. Future you will thank you.
Manual alignment skills: Know how to nudge sync points quickly when drift appears.
Redundancy: Backup audio. Then back up the backup. Storage is cheap; lost audio is not.
Good input makes everything downstream easier.
How to Display Audio Sync Skills on Your Resume
11. Multi-voice Recognition
Technology and workflow choices that distinguish multiple speakers cleanly—labeling, diarization, and disciplined capture in chaotic rooms.
Why It's Important
Courtrooms and depos get messy. Multiple voices, interruptions, cross-talk. Clear speaker attribution protects the integrity of the record.
How to Improve Multi-voice Recognition Skills
Room awareness: Place microphones to cover counsel tables, witness, and the bench without drowning in ambient noise.
Speaker labeling habits: Consistent IDs, clean parentheticals, and fast swaps when the floor shifts.
Software diarization: When available, configure speaker profiles and correct them during edit to train future accuracy.
Vocabulary tuning: Load names, firms, and recurring participants before you begin.
Interruptions protocol: Develop a quick method for marking overlaps so edits aren’t guesswork later.
Control the chaos, and the transcript reads like everyone took turns.
How to Display Multi-voice Recognition Skills on Your Resume
12. Legal Terminology
The vocabulary of the law—terms, phrases, and concepts that turn testimony and argument into a precise record.
Why It's Important
Knowing the language cuts mistranslates, sharpens punctuation choices, and keeps the transcript faithful to intent.
How to Improve Legal Terminology Skills
Daily reading: Opinions, motions, and transcripts. Context cements meaning.
Flashcards and spaced repetition: Short cycles, frequent review. Names and Latin stick this way.
Practice with audio: Transcribe legal recordings to hear terms at speed, accents and all.
Build glossaries: Case-specific lists for exhibits, statutes, agencies, and medical/legal jargon.
Continuing education: Seminars and workshops keep you current with evolving terminology and usage.
Understand the words, and the punctuation falls into place.
How to Display Legal Terminology Skills on Your Resume
