Skip to content
DepoStack
Join the waitlist

The Art of the Transcript training.

Hands-on practice in scoping and proofreading US deposition and court transcripts, for court reporters, scopists, and proofreaders.

6 lessons, 29 drillsFree, no account, no email

One rule, three marks.

Fix the machine, never the witness. Every drill comes back to it, on pages like this one.

Synthetic testimony Page 24
  1. Line 1 Q. Let’s talk about the paperwork. Did you
  2. Line 2 sign for the boxes at the front desk?
  3. Line 3 A. I did.
  4. Line 4 Q. Is that your signature?
  5. Line 5 A. Yes. That’s mine.
  6. Line 6 Q. Did you leave the slip anywhere?
  7. Line 7 A. I left it on table by the door.
  8. Line 8 Q. How many boxes did the van hold?
  9. Line 9 A. About 1,200, give or take.
  10. Line 10 Q. Is that what the invoice shows?
  11. Line 11 A. I’d have to look.
  12. Line 12 Q. When did you deliver the boxes?
  13. Line 13 A. That was March 3rd, 2019.stet
  14. Line 14 Q. Are you sure of the year?
  15. Line 15 A. Yes.
  16. Line 16 Q. Who else was on the dock that day?
  17. Line 17 A. Just the driver and me.
  18. Line 18 Q. Did the driver say anything to you?
  19. Line 19 A. He said the van was running late.
  20. Line 20 Q. Did he say why?
  21. Line 21 A. No, he didn’t.
  22. Line 22 MS. ALPHA:Let’s take a short break.
  23. Line 23 THE VIDEOGRAPHER:We’re off the record at
  24. Line 24 10:52 a.m.
  25. Line 25 (Recess taken.)
Invented for practice: no real people, case, or proceeding.
  • Correct it

    What the machine or the writer got wrong, when the notes or the audio confirm it. Line 2: a dropped “the.”

  • Never correct

    What the witness, the attorneys, or the court said, as spoken. Line 13: a wrong year, said with confidence.

  • Flag it

    What you cannot confirm, for the reporter to decide. Line 9: a number the audio can’t settle.

DepoStack’s synthesis of the rules cited in the guide, not an industry standard.

Six lessons.

Each is a few minutes of reading, then drills that answer back with the rule and its source, then a recap. Take them in order or dip in.

  1. Lesson 1: The one rule: fix the machine, never the witness

    Tap the word, then decide: correct it, never correct it, or flag it for the reporter.

    5 drillsSpot and sort

  2. Lesson 2: The hand-off and the five passes

    Who does what, what travels with the job, and which pass catches which error.

    5 drillsFormat and hard cases, Spot and sort

  3. Lesson 3: Research and flags

    Where to check a word, in order, and why a hidden note beats a guess.

    4 drillsFormat and hard cases

  4. Lesson 4: Reading against the audio

    Play the clip, find where the draft and the audio part ways, and fix only that.

    4 drillsRead against audio

  5. Lesson 5: The hard cases

    Interpreters, crosstalk, objections, off the record, recordings, and fillers: whose rule applies.

    6 drillsFormat and hard cases

  6. Lesson 6: The final check

    Look through a finished sample transcript and find what is missing before it goes out.

    5 drillsFinal check

Your progress stays in this browser only. There is no account, and nothing you tap is sent anywhere.

Practice, not a credential.

Practice only Free practice, not a credential. No certificate or credential: this course awards none, and we found no recognized credential for steno scopists.

Every page and clip is invented for practice and labeled. Computer voices read the audio. None describes a real person, firm, case, or proceeding.

The feedback states only rules from the guide’s checked sources and links each one. Where states differ, as Texas and federal practice do on “uh-huh,” it names whose rule applies. The method itself (the one rule, the five passes, the order of research, and the final check) is DepoStack’s synthesis, and the lessons say so.

The full reference, with every source: The Art of the Transcript: Scoping and Proofreading Best Practices.

Built by the people who produce the record.

This training is free, needs no account, and asks for no email. DepoStack is also building software for court reporters: Exhibits by DepoStack, Transcript by DepoStack and Video by DepoStack. What they mean for a freelance reporter.