When I first decided to learn court reporting it was from an ad I saw in the paper advertising for a local school. Since I had stenography in high school and I really liked it I thought that maybe this is for me. I went to an open house that was held at a local court reporting school to try and get an idea of what this was all about. When I returned home I looked up everything I could on the internet.
I found out that there was a thing called "theories". Which one was the best? I found the depoman and cheap and sleazy sites that gave me a wealth of information. I highly recommend you go to these sites to find out all that you can about this wonderful job of court reporting.
I also found out that the brick and mortar schools have a high drop out rate of 90%. I don't intend to drop out of anything that I start but this figure of 90% is quite scary! So I decided that I need to find out which theory is the best, which steno machine is the best, how best to study, etc. If you look up anything on the internet about court reporting you cannot miss a fellow by the name of Mark Kislingbury. His name is everywhere because he is the National Speed Champion many times over. As Glen Warner says at Cheap and Sleazy, "If you haven't heard of Mark Kislingbury, you must be living under a rock."
I decided to find out all that I could about Mark and find out what it is that he is doing to be a speed champion over and over.
I found out that he has a theory he developed called the Stenomaster Theory which is now called Magnum Steno. The idea behind his theory is that you learn to write short. The shorter you can stroke a word or phrase the faster you can write it.
Mark's book will show you all of his secrets to writing short. He also has many quotes in his book to inspire you and encourage you to continue with your studies.
The book begins with an introduction to the Stenomaster Theory and getting to know your keyboard and includes all of the lessons needed to learn Mark's theory, 1800+ most common words, reference tables and also includes information you need to know to become a court reporter! It's all here in this fabulous spiral bound edition that has a laminated cover to keep your book in pristine condition.
Please go to Mark's website at Magnum Steno. There you will find a phone number and an email where you can not only order this book, but you can read about "writing short", find out about upcoming events and read the testimonials and decide for yourself.
Here is a great interview with Mark at the Stenolife website. It will answer a lot of your questions:
I'm learning this theory at home on my own. I'm currently on lesson 12. I don't move to the next lesson until I'm completly at ease with the current lesson and I can stroke the words and phrases without hesistation. To learn at home you must commit yourself to this project. I love studying this theory so it is easy for me to make time for it.
There is a book that goes along with this book. If you are a student this would be the next step in your studies. It is called Magnum Steno. I haven't purchased this book yet but I'm getting ready to soon. You can go the NCRA website to read a review and explanation of this book.
Basically it says that "The Stenomaster book was designed for students to learn the theory and this Magnum Steno is for those already writing and would like a faster way to write words and phrases."
But please go to the NCRA link to read the whole review for yourself.
Please be sure to order any of Mark's books through Magnum Steno which is the offical website of Mark Kislingbury.
