CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter study plan
CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 8 hours per week
Testimony (question-and-answer) dictation and transcription
Establish a baseline words-per-minute and accuracy rate by transcribing three recorded 5-minute question-and-answer passages
Drill speaker-designation and paragraphing conventions for Q&A testimony until applied automatically
Transcribe 10 short colloquy exchanges, marking every speaker change, interruption, and colloquy break
Build a personal error log categorizing misses as spelling, punctuation, homophone, or dropped-word
Your checkpoint
A timed 5-minute Q&A transcript with an error log showing baseline WPM and accuracy percentage
Testimony (question-and-answer) dictation and transcription & Legal terminology, court procedures, and the justice system
Increase Q&A dictation speed by 10 WPM over the Week 1 baseline while holding accuracy at or above 95 percent
Identify and correctly spell 60 high-frequency testimony terms (objection, sustain, overrule, sidebar, proffer, stipulate)
Transcribe testimony containing at least five distinct objections and rulings, formatting each ruling as its own paragraph
Proofread and correct two full transcripts against audio, logging every correction
Your checkpoint
Two proofread Q&A transcripts of at least 10 minutes each with accuracy scores recorded
English usage: grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary
Review and drill subject-verb agreement, pronoun case, and misplaced modifiers using 100 self-written practice sentences
Apply comma, semicolon, colon, dash, and quotation-mark rules to 50 sentences drawn from spoken-style transcripts
Master 75 commonly confused word pairs (affect/effect, principal/principle, waive/waive, elicit/illicit)
Spell-check and correct a 500-word passage by hand, then verify against a dictionary
Your checkpoint
A 100-item self-scored usage and mechanics quiz with a written list of every missed rule
English usage: grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary & Transcript formatting, reporting practices, and transcript production standards
Format a complete transcript with a correct title page, appearances, index, and page numbering per standard reporting practice
Apply verbatim-versus-cleaned-up transcription conventions consistently across a 15-page transcript
Proofread the formatted transcript for punctuation, spelling, and consistent speaker labels
Compare your formatting choices against a style checklist you write yourself and reconcile every deviation
Your checkpoint
A fully formatted 15-page transcript meeting every item on your self-written style checklist
Legal terminology, court procedures, and the justice system
Define and correctly spell 150 legal terms spanning civil, criminal, and appellate practice
Sequence the stages of a jury trial from voir dire through verdict and post-trial motions
Distinguish the roles of judge, clerk, bailiff, court reporter, and counsel in a written outline
Transcribe a 10-minute mock hearing containing procedural terminology and verify every term against your glossary
Your checkpoint
A 150-term legal glossary plus a one-page trial-stage outline, both used to proofread a 10-minute hearing transcript
Literary dictation and transcription & Jury charge dictation and transcription
Transcribe 15 minutes of literary dictation, attending to paragraphing, quotation marks, and capitalization of titles
Transcribe a full mock jury charge, correctly paragraphing each numbered instruction and legal phrase
Punctuate quoted statutes and case citations within dictated material according to standard conventions
Reach 95 percent or better accuracy on a 10-minute jury charge dictation
Your checkpoint
A complete mock jury charge transcript with accuracy score and a corrected error list
Jury charge dictation and transcription & Transcript formatting, reporting practices, and transcript production standards
Assemble a final certified-style transcript package: title page, appearances, index, body, and reporter certificate
Apply redaction and sealed-material handling rules to a sample transcript
Edit the full package for consistency in headings, spacing, and numbering
Meet a self-imposed production deadline by delivering the package within 48 hours of dictation
Your checkpoint
A complete production-ready transcript package delivered within the 48-hour deadline
Professional responsibility, ethics, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance & English usage: grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary
Summarize confidentiality, conflict-of-interest, and record-retention obligations in a one-page reference sheet
Identify the ethical response to five written scenarios involving off-record remarks, sealed testimony, and subpoenas
Complete a timed full-length mock exam spanning all seven domains
Review every missed item from the mock exam and rewrite the underlying rule in your own words
Your checkpoint
A scored full-length mock exam with a written remediation sheet covering every missed item
Milestones
Week 2: Sustain 95 percent or better accuracy on a 10-minute Q&A dictation at or above your Week 1 baseline speed plus 10 WPM
Week 4: Score 90 percent or higher on the 100-item usage quiz and produce a formatted transcript passing every checklist item
Week 6: Transcribe a full mock jury charge at 95 percent accuracy with all numbered instructions correctly paragraphed
Week 8: Complete the full-length mock exam across all seven domains with a remediation sheet for every missed item