IL Court Reporter study plan

Establish a baseline by taking three 5-minute literary takes at 180, 200, and 220 wpm and recording accuracy percentages and error patterns

Drill the top 25 briefs and phrases you actually use in literary material until each is produced without hesitation

Set up a daily 45-minute timed dictation block and log every session's speed, accuracy, and error type

Identify your three most frequent mistroke categories (e.g., dropped consonants, transposed fingers, brief substitution) and write a correction drill for each

Push sustained literary dictation to 200 wpm at 96% or better accuracy over consecutive 5-minute takes

Complete 30 minutes of punctuation and capitalization dictation drills per day, writing exactly what is dictated including commas, semicolons, and quotation marks

Memorize the rules for punctuating introductory clauses, parentheticals, and series so you can apply them under speed pressure

Review and correct 10 pages of your own prior transcripts for punctuation and capitalization errors, tracking recurring mistakes

Reach 210 wpm sustained on literary dictation with 97% accuracy on 5-minute takes

Transcribe two 10-minute literary recordings from raw steno or voice notes to finished text within 3 hours each

Build a personal literary brief and phrase dictionary of 100 entries drawn from your own error log

Proofread finished literary transcripts against audio for dropped words, wrong homophones, and missing punctuation

Sustain 220 wpm on literary dictation at 97% accuracy across three consecutive takes

Begin jury charge dictation practice at 190 wpm, focusing on accurate capture of statutory language and numbered paragraphs

Transcribe one complete jury charge from audio into properly formatted paragraphs with numbered instructions

Learn the standard jury charge vocabulary (e.g., burden of proof, preponderance, proximate cause, verdict, unanimity) and drill briefs for each

Reach 225 wpm on jury charge dictation at 97% accuracy

Practice question-and-answer testimony dictation at 225 wpm, capturing speaker designations and colloquy markers cleanly

Transcribe two 15-minute Q&A testimony recordings with correct speaker identification and paragraph breaks

Drill the 50 most common legal phrases heard in testimony (e.g., 'at this time', 'if you would', 'let the record reflect') for instant stroking

Format three transcripts to Illinois conventions: caption, appearance, index, body, certificate, and signature blocks

Draft and verify a complete reporter's certificate for each of the three transcripts, checking the oath, certification language, and deponent identification

Outline the Illinois court structure (Supreme Court, Appellate Court districts, Circuit Courts) and the jurisdiction of each

Map the sequence of a civil jury trial from voir dire through verdict, noting where the court reporter's record obligations attach

Summarize the core judicial ethics rules on ex parte communication, conflicts, and courtroom decorum in your own words

Memorize 150 legal terms with definitions and correct usage, covering torts, contracts, criminal procedure, and evidence

Memorize 150 medical terms by body system, including prefixes, suffixes, and common misspellings heard in personal injury and medical malpractice testimony

Practice spelling and defining 40 terms per day from flashcards, tracking retention

Transcribe a 10-minute medical testimony excerpt containing at least 20 technical terms and verify each spelling against a medical dictionary

Complete a full timed mock exam: 5 minutes literary at 220 wpm, 5 minutes jury charge at 200 wpm, and 5 minutes Q&A at 225 wpm, each at 97% accuracy or better

Review notary and deposition rules: oath administration, marking exhibits, stipulations, objections, and handling off-the-record requests

Draft a confidentiality and professional responsibility checklist covering transcript release, client communications, and conflict handling

Proofread and correct the mock exam transcripts to final form, then log every remaining error for a post-exam study list