Court Reporting Success – How to Train Like a Division I Athlete and Pass the CSR the First Time

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When aspiring court reporters hear horror stories about the Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) exam—like students who sit for it seven times before passing—it can stir up fear and doubt. One student recently asked a seasoned 20-year veteran of the field if those tales were true: “Seven times???? Would like to pass the first time.”

The court reporter’s reply was candid, grounded, and full of both personal insight and tough love. She admitted to passing the CSR on her second try, but her first attempt was sabotaged not by a lack of skill, but by her insistence on using a typewriter. “Stupid move on my part,” she said bluntly. That alone is a powerful lesson: success often hinges on both preparation and making smart, up-to-date choices with technology and strategy.

But the bigger takeaway from her story is how you approach school, practice, and professional development. According to her, “Plenty of people pass their first time.” The deciding factor? Discipline. Focus. A willingness to work smarter—not just harder—and a refusal to settle for mediocrity.

The Myth of the Endless Journey

The CSR isn’t some impossible mountain that only the lucky few can summit. Yes, test anxiety is real. Yes, nerves can get the best of even the most prepared student. But blaming the test, the school, or fate isn’t the path to success. Preparation is.

The veteran recalls pulling the steno notes of a fellow student who had been in court reporting school for ten years and wasn’t making progress. What she saw shocked her: “Her notes were a mess, didn’t resemble any correct steno outlines, and lots of shadows. She was writing slop.”

That student eventually quit—not because she lacked intelligence, but because she lacked discipline and a willingness to self-correct. And, unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. “There are a lot of students like her,” the reporter explained. “With no work ethic, without the need to perfect their writing, and will show up every day and write pure slop.”

In court reporting, simply showing up isn’t enough. Mastery requires more than time—it demands excellence.

What It Means to Train Like a Division I Athlete

The most striking part of this veteran’s insight wasn’t the warning about bad habits—it was the secret to her own success: “I approached school like a D1 athlete.”

For those unfamiliar, Division I athletes are the elite of college sports. Their days are tightly scheduled around training, practice, competition, and recovery. Every rep, every drill, every meal is intentional. The margin for error is thin, and expectations are high. That’s exactly the mindset the court reporter brought to her training.

Here’s what that looks like when applied to court reporting school:

1. Laser-Focused Training Time

“I gave it 120% every day. My time in class was laser focused.” This is key. It’s not just about how much time you spend practicing—it’s about how well you use that time. Passive listening, sloppy shorthand, distracted practice sessions—those won’t get you anywhere.

In class, treat every speed-building drill like a game-day performance. Minimize distractions. Analyze your weaknesses. Seek feedback. Push yourself to write with accuracy and purpose.

2. High Standards and Self-Imposed Goals

“I kept my standards high and I was very hard on myself in terms of expectations for progress.”

Elite performers don’t wait for external deadlines. They set personal benchmarks and push to exceed them. Make your own timeline for passing each speed test. Track your errors. Record your dictations and play them back critically. Push yourself harder than any instructor ever will.

3. Smart Recovery and Downtime

After school, the veteran would pack up and head to a movie or lunch with friends. “I never took [my bag] out to practice.” To some, this might sound like slacking—but it’s actually strategic.

Just like athletes need recovery days, your brain needs downtime. When you work intensely during class, stepping away afterwards helps consolidate memory, avoid burnout, and keep your passion alive. That only works, of course, if your class time is truly effective.

4. Train with Purpose, Not Panic

There were times when this seasoned reporter did take her bag home and practice—“when I was falling behind my self-imposed schedule.” That’s an important nuance. Practicing outside of class wasn’t a daily grind; it was a tactical move when progress slowed.

Many students panic and start practicing blindly, drilling the same mistakes into muscle memory. Instead, practice with intention. Address specific weaknesses. Use dictations that challenge your accuracy. Practice isn’t about clocking hours—it’s about gaining skill.

The Bottom Line – It’s About You, Not the Test

The CSR is hard—but not impossible. The stories of people failing it seven times are real, but they’re not inevitable. They’re often the result of poor habits, low standards, and an unwillingness to course-correct.

This veteran reporter didn’t sugarcoat the reality: “I can tell you exactly why someone would take that long to get through school and why people fail. That’s easy to answer.”

The answer isn’t some mystery. It’s discipline.

How You Can Build the D1 Mentality

Here are some steps to adopt the elite mindset of a Division I athlete in your court reporting journey:

  • Structure your time: Create a daily and weekly schedule that prioritizes practice, feedback, and skill-building.
  • Measure progress: Keep a journal of your test results, accuracy rates, and steno errors. Reflect weekly.
  • Eliminate distractions: When you’re working on speed or accuracy, turn off notifications, close other tabs, and fully commit to the session.
  • Train your mind: If you struggle with test anxiety, explore mindfulness, therapy, or even hypnosis. Mental resilience is trainable.
  • Find your “team”: Surround yourself with peers and mentors who hold themselves to high standards. Avoid the echo chamber of “good enough.”
  • Recover smart: Rest days and rewards aren’t laziness—they’re part of long-term performance sustainability. Just don’t let them become avoidance.

Aim Higher

Anyone can go through the motions of court reporting school. But if you want to pass the CSR on the first try—or simply graduate faster—you’ll need more than attendance and effort. You’ll need drive. Standards. Precision. Grit.

Think like a D1 athlete. Every class is a competition. Every test is a proving ground. And every minute spent writing should serve a purpose. That’s the difference between someone who passes the CSR once—and someone who never gets there.

Show up. Lock in. And aim higher.

Disclaimer

The content of this post is intended for informational and discussion purposes only. All opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are based on publicly available information, industry standards, and good-faith concerns about nonprofit governance and professional ethics. No part of this article is intended to defame, accuse, or misrepresent any individual or organization. Readers are encouraged to verify facts independently and to engage constructively in dialogue about leadership, transparency, and accountability in the court reporting profession.

  • The content on this blog represents the personal opinions, observations, and commentary of the author. It is intended for editorial and journalistic purposes and is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
  • Nothing here constitutes legal advice. Readers are encouraged to review the facts and form independent conclusions.

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Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

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