Testimony (Question-and-Answer) Dictation and Transcription
The core format
Testimony is transcribed in strict question-and-answer form, one speaker per paragraph, with clear designations ("Q." / "A." or "MR. HALE:"). Your duty is to record the words spoken, not a cleaned-up version of them. Incomplete sentences, false starts, and grammatical errors stay in the record unless the speaker corrects them.
Know how to handle: colloquy between counsel and the court; objections and rulings; motions to strike (leave the testimony in place and mark the ruling with a parenthetical per the judge's instruction - never delete text on your own); sidebars and chambers conferences; "off the record" and "back on the record" markers; interpreters and their oaths; spellings taken on the record; numbers, dates, and times; exhibit marking and "let the record reflect" statements; reading back by the reporter; and nonresponsive or narrative answers.
Traps
Overlapping speech, answers that begin before the question ends, and questions that are rephrased mid-stream. Never guess at an inaudible word - use your jurisdiction's parenthetical for unintelligible or phonetic spellings and resolve it at the next break. Resist the urge to merge a question with its answer, and do not drop legal hedges such as "if anything" or "to your knowledge."
Rule of thumb: if you would not swear to it under oath, do not write it as testimony.
Worked example: "Q. What, if anything, did you do next?" is not the same question as "What did you do next?" The hedge is substantive and must appear.