How do you practice legal dictation for steno exams?

Practice legal dictation with timed audio at the speed your post sets, then transcribe inside the time the notice allows, and count every mistake against the limit. The Delhi arbitration notice allows 40 minutes to transcribe a passage ¹, and the Supreme Court and Delhi arbitration notices both set a mistake limit. Those are the targets to train to. The practice has to cover both the listening and the typing, because the exam tests them together.

This page sets out a method. For the speeds and rules behind it, see the guide to legal dictation for shorthand and steno exams. For what the term means, see what legal dictation is.

Train with timed dictation, because the exam tests listening and writing together

Shorthand training often uses structured dictation practice to improve writing speed and listening accuracy ². Reading a passage and then copying it does not test the same skill. In the exam, the passage is read at a fixed speed, so your practice should use audio that you cannot slow down, and then you should time the transcription separately.

Pick audio that you can stop, replay and time, since a live reader cannot be paused and a recording can be used to check your work afterward. Keep a log of each session, with the passage, the speed, the time you took to transcribe and the number of mistakes.

Build up in steps, and move up only when you are under the limit

Start at the lowest speed your post sets, and move up as your mistakes fall. The Supreme Court's figures run from 100 to 120 words per minute ^{3 4}, so a sensible order is 100, then 110, then 120.

1. Start at 100 words per minute. That is the English speed for the Personal Assistant post ³, and the same speed as the Delhi arbitration test ⁵.
2. Use a passage of the length your notice gives. Some notices state it, and the Supreme Court's does not, so pick a passage of comparable length to the notice's dictation.
3. Transcribe within the time your notice allows. The Delhi arbitration test allows 40 minutes ¹, and the Supreme Court's Court Master test allows 45 minutes ⁶. Stop the timer at the limit, whether or not you have finished.
4. Count your mistakes. The Delhi arbitration test allows fifteen mistakes on its passage ⁷. Record every error, not only the ones you notice on a second read.
5. Move up only when you stay under the limit. Once your mistakes are consistently under the limit at one speed, move to the next.

Count mistakes against the limit, because the marks fall in steps

The mistake limit matters as much as the speed. The Supreme Court's grading table gives full marks for a transcript with no mistakes, and it reduces the marks in steps as the mistakes rise ⁸. So each mistake you avoid can keep marks you would otherwise lose, and practice should aim to stay under the limit, not to get close to it.

When you check your transcript, use the words-dictated count from the audio, not the number of words you typed. The notices we read do not say that some kinds of error count less than others, so count names, numbers and Latin phrases the same as any other word.

Practice typing as a separate skill

The Supreme Court's Court Master post also requires a computer typing speed of 40 words per minute, with 2 percent mistakes allowed ⁹. A transcript written slowly on a keyboard uses up the transcription time, so train the typing in the same sessions as the shorthand. Use a typing test to measure your speed each week, and compare it with the figure in your notice.

Expect a long course of practice, not a few weeks

Learning to write shorthand fast takes time. For stenographic court reporters, it typically takes two to four years to learn the basic skills ¹⁰. That figure is for stenographic court reporters, so it may not match pen shorthand, and it describes the basic skills, not the speed a notice asks for. Plan for steady practice across months, and expect your speed to rise in steps.

Courses and audio sets vary, so check them against the notice

We did not find independent evidence on which legal dictation courses or audio sets give accurate practice. Before you pay for one, check its speed, its passage length and its transcription time against your notice. A course set at 100 words per minute ³ is no use for a post that sets 120 ⁴, and a passage much shorter than the notice's length does not test the same stamina.

Listen to a passage once at the exam speed before you rely on it. If the reader pauses, speeds up or uses words your notice does not mention, the audio is not a fair test.

What to do this week

• Find the notice for your post and write down the speed, the transcription time and the mistake limit.
• Set up one timed passage at the lowest speed, and log the result.
• Put the outline list you are building into the same log. The question on shorthand outlines for legal dictation explains how to build it.

For the speeds across the notices, see legal dictation speed in high court steno exams. For the shorthand systems, see how fast shorthand writing is and the stenotype entry. Our overview of dictation for work and study lists the other guides in the group.