Real-Time Rules And The Good Old Days, Part IV
Realtime Rules And The Good Old Days, Part IV
By Monette Benoit
Copyright by Monette Benoit, All Rights Reserved.
Part IV in IV
Some of us have felt the realtime technical squeeze, holding our breath, as those of you who graduate realtime-ready – geared to go – may step right into a spot we could not envision.
Yet experienced and beginning realtime court reporting professionals are making their mark, producing verbatim records, recording history.
Court reporters, CART providers, broadcast captioners, and end-users with the savvy to stay on top of technical advances have guided (okay, dragged a few of us) many into a new era.
Deaf were the first to use pagers as hand-held tools. This astounded me in 1993 when I began realtiming to a large screen for St. Francis Di Paola’s Catholic deaf mass in San Antonio, Texas (praying to get better “quicker”).
We – early realtime writers – invented conflict-free strokes, phoned friends long distance (remember ‘long distance’?) to ask, “What about this …?”
I was routinely told consumers who are Deaf (not hard-of-hearing) led the paths for much of our communication equipment.
We, wordsmiths, are goal-focused and busy. We may simply look up and wonder what the fuss is about. Yet Deaf individuals were communicating in realtime much earlier than ‘hearing’.
How does this relate to Realtime Rules?
Techs, consumers, end-users and information managers know technology will continue. They remind me their goals are to push forward.
Individuals in global one-room apartments and garages are working on becoming the next huge company.
Court reporters and captioners remember specific events as memories; others read or listen to history. We now have a seat together – listening and preparing for future moments.
If you’re feeling Realtime Rules pressure, perhaps it’s time to look up and see how far this profession has come in the past few decades. Boy, howdy, have we evolved. I ended my June column, the third article in this “Realtime Rules” series, with “Lemonade, anyone?”
Court reporters continue to master the skill of thriving where excellence is requested and needed. We are powerful.
Realtime Rules means taking advantage of our technology and preserving huge opportunities. The bottom line is that we are essential in today’s economy.
Perhaps it is up to us to calculate the top-of-the-line, realtime-rules readiness, and deliverance in a national shortage.
I want you to remember that you are important. Realtime is now the good old days. Professionals will continue to motor forward. Others will take bite-sized pieces. The choice is yours.
So how will you reach out, then up? Focus your court reporting compass; concentrate and harness your strengths. You are the master of your path and our future.
Part I, II and III in “Realtime Rules And The Good Old Days” may be found on www.Monettebenoit.com
About the Author:
Monette Benoit, B.B.A., CCR, CRI, CPE, is a JCR Contributing Editor for the National Court Reporters Association, NCRA.
She is the author of multiple books and Test Prep for the Court Reporting & Captioning Industry to include the national and state RPR, RMR, RDR, CSR ‘Written Knowledge Exam’ Textbook, Workbook, Companion Study Guide, ‘The CRRT WKT’ CD Software Program, Advanced SAT, LSAT, GRE, Real-Time Vocabulary Workbook and ‘CATapult’ Your Dictionary CD Software Program series.
Books, CDs, private tutoring, mentoring services and articles may be referenced www.crrbooks.com/
Monette is an experienced consultant, instructor, real-time court reporter, tutor, life coach, CART provider, columnist. She teaches, tutors and coaches home-study students, college students, court reporters and professionals. Monette speaks to groups at state, national and international conventions about motivation, technology, expanding skills and Deaf, Oral Deaf, Hard of Hearing.
Monette Benoit, B.B.A., Certified Court Reporter, Certified Reporting Instructor, Certified Program Evaluator, Paralegal, may be reached at: http://www.crrbooks.com/ http://www.catapultdix.com/ and All American RealTime/Captioning Services, Inc.: http://www.artcs.com/