Starting Steno
Getting started in stenography can be overwhelming. We've put together a free course to help guide you though early stages of stenography. You'll get a taste of what it means to be a real-time stenographer, how stenography works, setting-up a machine, creating the best practice for you and as well as what to look for in a school.
Starting Steno Curriculum
Starting Steno is intended to give students a taste of court reporting. We recognize that there can be some high entry costs to becoming a court reporter, so we want to give students a “sample” of court reporting school so that they can see if they like it before signing up for a full theory course. We also aim to give you the information that you need in order to find the right court reporting school for you.
Below is a break-down of everything included in the free Starting Steno course as well as a FAQ covering some of the questions we hear most often from prospective students.
FAQ
No.
Starting Steno is a sample course. If you decide you want to become a court reporter, you will sign up for our Theory course, which will teach you how to write on the machine. After that, you will sign up for our speed building course, which will build on what you learned in Theory to help you write faster and cleaner. As you near exit speeds, you will take classes that teach you the other things you need to know, such as legal terms, medical terms, courtroom procedure, and more.
In short, no.
However, this course uses the building blocks of theory to give you an introduction to machine writing and court reporting. If you want to start studying theory then please check out our Magnum Steno Beginning Theory course.
We designed this course to take four weeks, however as with all of our courses the content is self-paced.
Equipment - all you need to start this course is a steno machine and a computer or laptop!
Hobbyist steno keyboards also work and can be a cheaper alternative however, if you choose to continue with our courses we highly recommend our theory and speed students use a steno machine.
Software - there are several free options for you to use with whichever machine or keyboard you wish to use.
There are different companies that sell steno machines (writers). You can purchase or rent from them. It is fine to buy an older refurbished writer, especially as a student. Make sure that your writer is able to connect to a computer so that you can use it in connection with the software that translates your keystrokes into words.
Here are links to stores that offer machines for rent or to buy;
Here are links to stores that sell hobbyist machines;
We do have some loaners. Check with us to confirm availability at the time you are taking the course. You will find an email address in the Getting Started lesson in the Starting Steno Course. Email our team member for a loaner agreement. The loaners are free to use during the six week course and we pay shipping to send it to you. However, you will be responsible for paying to ship it back to us. We are not able to provide an estimate of how much it will cost to ship it back to us. You will need to ship it back via UPS and provide us a tracking number.
The loaner is offered for use during the six week Starting Steno course. If you want to participate in other programs, you will need to either buy or rent your own writer. We do not have writers for rent or for sale.
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Testimonials
I am happy to inform you that thanks to your advice, I have preliminary passes for the RPR Lit (95%) and Jury Charge (97%) ... l am humbled and proud of myself for how I did yesterday. Your
words of wisdom were what I needed to get to this point. I practiced at 10% faster for several weeks and when it was test time, it seemed extremely slow. My writing was so clean. It was truly a
miracle. Thank you for taking the time out of your life to help a struggling soul who needed some guidance. I couldn't have done it without you.
Adrienne
I've been in 160 for, I dunno, 2 years, so it's quite the relief to be gaining progress again. I credit it 100% to a mixture of me really cracking down on your Magnum Steno program and getting
together with my readback buddy.
M.L
I can't think of a better person than you that this quote applies to .... Your time, patience, experience, knowledge, and willingness has helped me as well as so many others big time!
"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."
K.L
I do feel that your program structure as well as the opportunity to shadow you and even do the mock deposition made it a pretty smooth transition for me once I did start working, and the
program certainly facilitated that.
D.G
I loved this course! I did this and the a-z both and I really appreciate being able to practice in the different ways each course is taught. The read back sections were great as well as the dictations. Thanks to all who put their time and resources in to creating this :)
Brittany
You are so amazing to provide these dictations for the steno (and voice, I suppose) community!! Thank you so very much for your generosity and the time you've spent putting these here for us!!!
Kathy
