where can one go to take a high speed typing course to qualify you to work in a courtroom?

Question

i am interested in taking a course to qualify myself transcribing court testimony. Apparently if you train hard enough and learn to type up to 200 words per minute, you qualify. Does anyone know if there is a course along these lines that may be offered in southern ontario?

Answer 1

There are two different skills you are talking about here. A Court Reporter/Stenographer uses a specialized machine to do simultaneous transcription of in-court testimony. They also have a job skill for immediate in-court dictation where a person listens and speaks into a cone shaped mask that contains a microphone to record verbatim testimony. Then you have the people who can listen to a tape and type what they hear.

Check you local Community Technical Schools for Court Stenographer or Legal/Medical Transcription classes. If you can develop the ability to listen to a tape and type exactly what you hear at the speed of normal speech, including technical jargon, with less than 5% error rate you will be in high demand, and it can be a home-based business. Doctors and other professionals can dictate diagnosis notes or legal briefs into a computer, you can get the .mp3 audio file, type it and email it back as a .doc file.