NVRA Realtime Verbatim Reporter common mistakes
NVRA Realtime Verbatim Reporter · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In literary dictation, writes only the content words and skips articles, pronouns, and conjunctions when a descriptive sentence accelerates.
At 180 wpm the candidate tries to save strokes by relying on context, but literary prose is less formulaic than jury language, so the omissions remain in the unedited realtime output.
What to do instead
Run 180-wpm literary drills under a write-every-word rule; permit phrase briefs only when they are tested as complete phrases, and proof the realtime display for missing function words after each pass.
Stalls on an unfamiliar character or place name, then loses the next several words while trying to build the outline.
Literary passages include proper nouns and foreign terms that are not in the base dictionary; constructing an outline mid-sentence breaks rhythm.
What to do instead
Use a fixed name strategy-phonetic outline or fingerspelling the first syllable-keep the hand moving, and add the name to the dictionary after the pass; drill passages seeded with names every few words.
Omits quotation marks, paragraph breaks, and speaker dashes in dialogue-heavy literary passages.
Punctuation decisions are postponed while the candidate keeps up with strokes, and with no editing pass the omissions stay in the delivered file.
What to do instead
Predefine steno for quote, paragraph, dash, and ellipsis; drill dialogue dictation with realtime display and require the punctuation to appear at each speaker change.
Writes legal citations, section numbers, and enumerated paragraphs as run-on text or drops digits.
Jury charges are dense with numerals, abbreviations, and hierarchical numbering; at 180 wpm there is little spare time to format live.
What to do instead
Create and test macros for 'Section', 'subsection', 'paragraph', standard citations, and numerals; drill numbered jury-charge excerpts at 180 wpm and verify every digit against the audio.
Misstrokes legal homophones such as statute/statue, liable/libel, plaintiff/defendant, or counsel/council.
These terms are phonetically close and frequent in jury charges; under speed the candidate uses a habitual outline without checking the realtime translation.
What to do instead
Build a legal homophone list with distinct, tested outlines; drill the pairs inside full jury-charge sentences until the correct translation appears automatically.
Recites familiar jury-charge formulas from memory, substituting 'will' for 'shall' or dropping repeated words.
Repeated legal phrasing invites anticipation, and the no-editing condition exposes every substitution.
What to do instead
Practice verbatim shadowing with a metronome; compare practice transcripts word-for-word against the source and add phrase briefs only for exact strings.
Fails to start a new paragraph at each numbered charge or omits headings and parentheticals.
The candidate focuses on strokes and has not automated formatting commands; realtime output then looks structurally wrong even when words are present.
What to do instead
Assign paragraph and heading macros, drill them in timed jury-charge passages, and review the realtime layout after each drill for missing breaks.
Misses a speaker change and attributes an answer to the questioner or runs two turns together.
Two voices alternate rapidly and may sound similar; the candidate waits for word content instead of tracking the voice change.
What to do instead
Pre-map the two voices and use dedicated speaker keys; practice short-turn Q&A at 180 wpm and insert the Q or A label immediately at each voice change.
Ends questions with periods or omits question marks in multi-sentence and tag questions.
Punctuation lags behind lexical writing, and question syntax can be inverted or marked only by intonation.
What to do instead
Drill question forms and tag questions at 180 wpm; assign a steno stroke for question mark and make the punctuation decision at the speaker turn.
Tries to survive rapid Q&A by shortening phrases or omitting short answers, producing an incomplete realtime transcript.
The candidate falls behind on one turn and attempts to catch up by dropping words rather than maintaining a steady lag.
What to do instead
Use 30-second burst drills with immediate accuracy checks; hold a one-to-two-word lag, rebuild briefs that fail under speed, and repeat until the full turn is captured.