The best bet-again, in my entirely unbiased opinion-is to save yourself the time and headache by hiring me an affordable transcript proofreader to give your transcript that last glance. If you stick to this checklist, you will give yourself a fighting chance at successfully proofreading your own work.
#Court report proofreading software download#
Free Transcript Proofreading ChecklistĪnd finally, download my free proofreading checklist for court reporters ( – 172 KB). For example, I know I often type “you” when I mean “your” and miskey “- tion” endings as “- tiin.” Make a special pass over the job looking specifically for those errors you, personally, make often. Third, compile a list of errors you tend to make often. I think this is even more beneficial for proofreading than proofing to the audio because you hear what is actually recorded on the page, not what was said. There are several apps that will read text aloud. So change the font to a sans serif, then print your document. This is great for casual reading, but exactly what we don’t want when proofreading. This makes normal reading easier and quicker by allowing readers to see entire words at a time-as a unit, not as a composition of letters. One “benefit” of serif fonts is that they help give words a learnable overall shape. Interestingly, this ties in with changing the font. įirst, print out the transcript and read it on paper versus on the screen. Tips from Mike, ThatProofreaderGuyĪnd finally, my own few proofreading tips for new court reporters. But one thing that transcript proofreaders are acutely aware of is accurate punctuation often depends on a word’s function and location in the sentence. Yes, grammar takes a back seat to punctuation with verbatim recording, especially when so little of what’s recorded is grammatically correct. Matthew Villegas ( ) suggests brushing up on English grammar. For her, this shifts her brain from reading for comprehension to reading for technical errors. Her suggestion is, if your deadline allows, to set the job aside for a day or two to “get the words out of your head.” When you return, you will be more likely to “read with your eyes, not your memory.”Īfter your initial reading, Kristen James ( ) suggests - again, if your deadline allows it - reading “backward.” Start at the end, move toward the beginning, and read one Q/A pair at a time. Ĭrista Fodor ( ) says to intentionally read every word, but she adds that this is exceedingly difficult to do with a job you’ve just written. They find many more dropped or shuffled words that way versus when reading in PDF. Peggy and Katherine Ferranti ( ) both also suggest proofing to audio. Changing the type style and size forces you to read slightly slower and will often make errors more noticeable. Most transcripts are done in an 11 or 12 point size, so bump it up to 13 or 14. So change to a sans serif such as Helvetica or Calibri.Īlso, enlarge it a couple of points. Common transcript fonts are Courier (New) and Times New Roman which are both serif fonts. I’d expand this to include changing to a markedly different font. Peggy Hefner ( ) advises changing the font.
#Court report proofreading software professional#
I asked some other professional transcript proofreaders what advice they’d give a court reporter friend about proofreading her own work. In my (entirely unbiased, of course) opinion, the former is the way to go, but many reporters choose the latter to minimize expenses. That presents a choice: hire an outside transcript proofreader or proofread your own transcripts. Reporting firms often have their reporters proofread for each other, but you may not have the luxury of having a second reporter available to check your work. The smartest way to get an accurate proofreading is to have another person do it. Tight deadlines don’t allow that for court reporters.īut the finished transcript is still expected to be largely error free. But even the best make mistakes.Īrticle authors and journalists often have several readers and editors review their work in the time between writing and publication.
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