The Proofreading Business Podcast
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The Proofreading Business Podcast
Do court reporters need proofreaders? A court reporter's perspective on transcript proofreading
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018: Spoiler alert: Court reporters need (and want!) to work with transcript proofreaders.
Seasoned court reporter Val Melkus joins me on this episode for a frank, honest talk about why court reporters rely on transcript proofreaders and why she considers them an indispensable asset to her job.
She also shares what court reporters look for in a transcript proofreader and what's important -- and not important! -- to a successful relationship.
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this is the proofreading business podcast with elizabeth wigner. For more, visit the proofreadingbusinesscoachcom. All right, y'all, I am. I say this every time I have a guest on. I'm so excited and you all are gonna love this. This is, um, I have val on today. She is court reporter and she's not just any court reporter, she is my court reporter. We've been proofing. I was trying to think how long it's been years that we've proofed together. But this is a podcast episode that people have been asking for. They've been asking to have a court reporter on because, I mean, I talk all the time about transcript proofreading and how good it is, but it's like, well, let's hear from the side of somebody like a court reporter who actually wants to work with a proofreader. It's not just me making everything up. So, val, thank you so much for being here. I am so excited you took your time for this.
Speaker 2Oh, I'm so glad to be here. It's always so good to talk to you and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1Thank you for having me Well, kick it off, Just as a court reporter and you've been. I think we were talking. You've been a court reporter for about nine years now. What, and I wasn't your first proofreader that you worked with. What makes from a court reporter's perspective, why do you want to work with a proofreader?
Speaker 2why do you want to work with a proofreader? I, you know I chuckle a little bit because it's like, in my mind it's such an obvious thing, Like, like, for example, somebody wouldn't like a transcript is forever right, it's like a book or a you know any other periodical, like, once the newspaper comes out, like, that's it, it's done, that's, that's today's edition. Um, I mean, it's the same thing with the transcript, and so why would you not make sure that it was correct and good and readable and all of the you know, all of the above? So so, yeah, Um, love my proofreadersers. Well, I love you as my proofreader because you are amazing and we, yeah, we do go back, but you and your students that I've used a few of in proofreading my stuff are just top of the line.
Speaker 1So I love to hear that. So thankful for y'all.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So would you? You know, sometimes when people are asking about transcript proofreading, they're like, well, court reporters are really smart people. I'm like, absolutely, I agree. Like your talent is amazing to be able to take down people going 250, sometimes 300 words per minute and get it all accurate. Sometimes I hear, well, you know, they're really smart. Aren't you kind of insulting the court reporters, saying they need a proofreader? And I'm like, no, not at all. So can you explain from your perspective like y'all aren't seeing Val, but she's like shaking her head really hard Explain why court reporters want to work. I mean, I kind of asked you like why is it important? It's because the transcript is forever, but why can't you proof your own transcripts?
Speaker 2essentially, yeah, so, and this was something that actually, back when I was in court reporting school, one of my instructors told me and well, told the class, and she said you never want to proofread your own work.
Speaker 2And like, clap, clap, you know, let me get that into y'all's heads. And um, and I'm so thankful that she told me that, because I I've heard that there are some reporters maybe that are like oh, it doesn't need to be, you know, a scopist is all I need, or I'll just get this random person or a scopist to do the proofreading and um, I'm digressing, but that's not like, that's not my. I would never do it that way, because proofreading is such a niche, like you have knowledge that we don't have. Like, I rely on you 100%, elizabeth. When I send transcripts to you, like I like for the life of me I don't know when a comma comes before, because, like, and the few times I'm like, oh, definitely, it goes here and I'll put the comma in and I send it to you, and then I get it back and there's a big red circle like no comma here, val, I'm like oh, like I was so close but so far away.
Speaker 1Yeah, and.
Speaker 2And um I actually I forgot what your question was, cause I no, that was perfect.
Speaker 1It was like why can't you just proof it yourself?
Speaker 2Oh right, Okay. So yes, Um, I mean, I think it's proven that, like, once you are invested in this document, whether it's a transcript or a book or you know whatever, like you, the way you see it and read it is the way that your brain is used to seeing it and reading it, and especially if it's your own, you know, and so you your our eyes that have already, you know, know, the know, this transcript front to back. We'll just glaze over things that are glaring to someone else, to a proofreader, to a trained eye, and I mean even just when I do my scoping and I send you a job and I'm like well, Elizabeth, I scoped this one myself, so you're going to find zero errors, Okay, and we both laugh because that happens never.
Speaker 2But, like I will think, you know, in my scoping and I look at proofreading stuff too, I mean as best I can you know, when I scope my own stuff and I'll send it to you and I'll think it's going to be perfect and you're going to be like hey, val, you score a hundred or whatever, right, plus, I don't have any corrections for you and I will get this transcript back. That is like red, just red. You know, marker all over, it's not that bad, I promise.
Speaker 2Like oh man, I have an extra word here. I got this comma wrong. This follow-up needs a hyphen and da, da, da, you know. But I tried my darndest and I still. You find all kinds of things that my eyes just don't see. So, yeah, for that reason, and I'm not even trying to proofread, like I'm trying in my best way, but but yeah, yeah, definitely that.
Speaker 1Eyes, that's it's. I mean. Typo blindness is an actual I mean it sounds funnyo blindness. And I know proofreading is obviously. You talked about dropped words and hyphens and commas and all that. It's more than just typos. But typo blindness we see what's what we want to see on the page, what we think is on the page, and it's not like, honestly, your transcripts are very clean. It probably feels like a lot when you get it back because you're like I tried my best on it, but that's just the nature of the. I mean, I make typos in my own writing, whereas I'm sure if I send it to you you'd be like oh Elizabeth, yeah, you have a dropped word here, you misspelled episode or something like that.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, yeah and yes, absolutely I agree Um yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1I agree. How does your confidence, how do you feel when you've got a transcript back and you put the annotations in and you send it off, Like, is that a sigh of relief when you're done with all of it? Is it a confidence booster? How would you explain that it feels? Or maybe it's kind of like great, I've got to put all these in. Or what does it feel like when you get a transcript back from a proofreader?
Speaker 1Like as I'm working on the annotations, or like as I'm doing both, Like putting them in and then actually sending it off being done with it.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean it's always interesting to me what the proofreader marks as like, incorrect or like, for example. I mean as a court reporter and then as a scopist, I have access to the audio, right, and so try as I might, if I don't hear, I don't know. You take the way people talk, like they put the emphasis on this word so, and then they pause so you think a comma belongs there, or you know, even if it ends up not being a complete sentence or they are they left words off of their thing, I don't know. I write on the record the way I hear things, and so it's always interesting to me what you mark as incorrect, because I'll go back and you're like, maybe there's a dropped word here or something, and so I'll go through and I'll look and I'll check my notes. I'm like, no, there's no dropped word, but that tells me that something about this sentence is, I guess, styled in a way like it's confusing to the reader, right, and so I need to take another look like do I need to add dashes?
Speaker 2Was it maybe a change of thought that I didn't? You know that I didn't um, dash off Um. So yeah, that's always. It's always a little, um bit of exploring and to see what you marked versus what it should be, and then honestly just turning it in is relief. It's usually just relief, okay.
Speaker 1No, I don't blame you.
Speaker 1I feel that way, when I've done proofing it's like relief I got it done, I've accomplished this and it's off to my court reporter.
Importance of Human Proofreading & AI
Speaker 1That was really interesting that you said you know, sometimes like because we don't listen to audio as proofreaders, that's a scopus job, that's the core reporters job and so yeah, and I don't know, like sometimes I'll put yeah, like dropped word or double check or the three question marks for you to be sure. You know, one thing that my students ask a lot is they're like you know, I don't want to annoy my court reporter by putting a certain annotation there and I said, well, if you can pick up on like kind of the speech patterns which comes with the experience of practice, then yeah, you can usually tell. But sometimes you just there's no way, you don't have to read, you don't have to read, you don't have the steno, you don't have the audio. But I love what you said, that it's if something's wrong. It's not that you have to be a hundred percent know what's impossible to know without being there, but it just helps, you know, to go double check, something like look at your notes, look at audio, I that's. That is really. That's encouraging to know.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, I mean it, I can start. I'll start like saving them and sending them to you, because it happens more often than you would know, like you draw my attention to, you know, such and such lines, such and such word for, for whatever. There are multiple different things and, um, and yeah, I'll look at it and it won't be the correction necessarily that you suggested and had your little question mark by, like yes, is that what it is? It won't necessarily be that. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it's something totally different. Where, yeah, where? But I just know like, okay, I need to change this a little bit because it's just not reading right. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1That will be encouraging for students and grads to hear, and those who are thinking about it are like, okay, this is a lot to think about. It's not that you have to. You're perfectly imperfect, like you're not going to get every suggestion correct, that I send you Now some things like commas and hyphens and periods and question marks, things like that, and sometimes very obvious, like going to the two is really easy to drop. Things like that are more common, but sometimes like that wasn't, like that word was actually said, but I marked it because I wasn't sure. So it's encouraging to know that you don't have to be all knowing, because it sometimes feels like you have to be as a proofreader.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, no, I mean for me. I'm just, I'm thankful that as you're proofreading your, you know your spidey sense or whatever your, your, your expertness you hit this spot and you're like something's weird here and you know you'll make your best suggestion and, um, and sometimes that's it and sometimes it's not, but that draws me to that section which is just super helpful. It's not, but that draws me to that section which is just super helpful. And I'll say I it doesn't happen very often, but sometimes, when I'm doing corrections from you, I will go in and I'll correct the word, or you know the comma, whatever, and I'll happen to notice that there was something else in that vicinity that neither that I didn't catch when I was scoping and that you didn't catch as the proofreader. And then I'm like, oh my gosh, but I never would have seen it if it weren't for your corrections. And, and so that's always like an extra, like yes, I'm so glad I went back to this area, um, but like I want to reiterate, like you are an amazing proofreader and that isn't too, that doesn't speak to your you know expertise.
Speaker 2By any means, like there's this joke that like, if you know, five or six court reporters were taking down the exact same record at the exact same time, hearing the exact same person speaking, all of them would hear things to a small degree differently. Right, like, that's just the human experience. And it's the exact same thing with proofreaders and scopists. Like, none of us are perfect, like, like you can probably have three proofreaders in a row. Look at this one transcript and each time somebody would still find something to correct. You know, like nothing, it's not going to be perfect, but we're going to get it as close as we can.
Speaker 2And that's where proofreaders come in.
Speaker 1So, so I love that, yeah, because I tell my students that that, yeah, you're going to see me make mistakes because human.
Speaker 2And.
Speaker 1I mean I've been proofing for almost 20 years and I mean I can't even imagine how many hundreds of thousands of pages that adds up to.
Speaker 1But I tell them you know it's and you know my grads my students have to pass an exam to get to start to work with court reporters. And my thing is, it's not a matter of are you perfect? You're not going to catch everything, I don't catch everything, but how, if you turned in this transcript to a court reporter, would it be helpful? And it's so nice to hear and sometimes students will really stress well, I don't think I could ever be a proofreader because I'll never be perfect. And it's so good to hear from you to realize it's not necessarily the expectation, the expectation.
Speaker 2No one is going to be perfect. I got news for y'all. No one, you know, it's just, that's just not how it is. But we can get darn close. But it requires more than one pair of eyes and sometimes you know three plus pairs of eyes.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got the core reporter, the scopus, the proofer, and then, when you go, back in. Yeah, so that kind of segues really into a question that I get asked a lot and I'd love to hear your perspective on it is you know, with you hear a lot about AI and it's kind of like it almost seems like AI could do literally everything for you. And you know that might be nice if they could, but it's not. Would you, as a court reporter, trust an AI program to proofread your transcripts for you?
Speaker 2Um, well, no, Um, you know I was. I was thinking about this and so, whenever you do like, talk to text right Like that, that kind of gives me an inkling of what you know what an AI program would be like for for proofreading or, heck, for court reporting for that matter, like they've been talking for years that you know digital AI is going to take over. You know our profession and the truth is okay, maybe in whatever you 2024, I don't know, maybe in like 2060 or something, I don't you know what I?
Speaker 2mean Like if it? If it is, I think it's so far down the road that you know, then next few generations don't have to worry about it.
Speaker 2But as it is now like no, no way, I mean just just doing talk to text, like like homonyms, like how would you know, how would it know, like if you were saying, like, well, to be Frank, or if they were saying, well, I went to see Frank the dude, you know something, that comes up and I'm going to talk about talk to text again. But that's the only like, I guess, kind of AI, you know, texting thing that I have. But I was. I was doing that the other day when I was in the car and I was like, oh, I'm going to the grocery store which is next to the you know whatever. Oh, I'm going to the grocery store which is next to the you know whatever. And my talk to tech said, which is, which is like a plural of a witch, like with the pointy hat and the shoes, which is which is next to? And I was like, oh, okay.
Speaker 1Witches have entered the chat, not what I was planning on, but okay, they're here now. Yeah, what did you conjure up?
Speaker 2right, right. So, and you know, and I always talk like slowly and very clearly for talk to text because of that reason and it still it still didn't help it. So, you know, and that's more like audio related, but it's it translates to proofreading too. No, I would not trust them to get the witch versus which. What do you call those homophones? Like, no, I would not trust a program with that, um, and the it's without an apostrophe and the it's with an apostrophe are hard enough for me as a reporter to like know on the spot which is which, or whatever, and how would like, how would a program ever know that? Like, you need eyes on that? And they wouldn't be able to tell me, like, why did you make this change or did you? Did you? Did you Google search these names?
Speaker 2Ai, you know there's so many proper names that, yeah, that, proofreaders, I rely on you. A lot of times, too, I'll put a little mark and be like I couldn't find this. You know this business name. Can you, can you help with this? And more times than not, you're like I found it. We have a little cheers together, you know. So, yeah, I hope that.
Speaker 1No, that that yes, because like when I um, like I was just reading a transcript the other day and the guy's name, um, was spelled Ian on, like at the end at one way and then a in another time in the transcript, and it's like that, that kind of thing. I just knew it was the same doctor they were talking about and suddenly it was spelled differently just one time. But it's like thinking about things like that is just there's just little nuances that really aren't so little when you need to have something. That's to your point when you started. It's permanent, like that's the record that you're looking at and it's there. It's not going away.
Speaker 2Right, right, I mean, and I think in Case Catalyst, there's a new option that you have to pay for. So I haven't tried it because I don't want to pay for that. But what is it called? Check it or something.
Speaker 1I don't know and it's like an AI.
Speaker 2You've heard of this, okay, yeah, so it's like kind of an AI function that is supposed to go through and look at your transcript and like just tell you different errors. Like, just tell you different errors. And I didn't I mean, I haven't used it personally but the overwhelming majority of people I heard from that used it were way less than thrilled with the results and we're like why are they? Why am I paying money to use this? Like it's suggesting things that don't need to be changed, or and it missed this and this and this and this. And you know it's just no, no, would I use a proofreader who, maybe in combination with a program like hand, you know proofread, proofread and put their eyes on the whole transcript? Sure, you know, I think I think a good program maybe not the check it one yet, but a good program could be a good tool you know to use in addition. But I would never want anything but like actual eyes reading all of my pages.
Speaker 1That makes total sense. Yeah, Just like I use Google and I'll use my other resources spell check, to double check, Like I mean, put a sentence or two inside Grammarly just to see, like. But at the end of the day, I'm not relying on spellcheck or Grammarly or Google to tell me something. I'm going to make sure for myself that it's correct for you.
Speaker 2Yeah yeah exactly.
Speaker 1I agree, Totally agree. It is really. You know, when you hear about AI, it does seem like it can do everything and but even like a program developed for court reporter, software is not catching.
Speaker 2Yeah, I have heard some interesting things about that.
Speaker 1Yeah, so just get a proofreader, you'll be happier more confident about it Exactly.
Speaker 2Exactly.
Speaker 1So, since you don't want AI touching your transcripts as far as like the only or fine touch, what are things that you would look for in a proofreader, like what's important for you? Obviously, we've been working together for a while, but make believe I'm not going anywhere, but make believe that you've had to find a new one. What are some like experience points that they would need? Character traits that you're looking for, like what kind of things are important to you in a proofreader?
Ideal Qualities of a Proofreader
Speaker 2I mean, as far as gosh experience, I hadn't really thought about that. I mean it would. It's tricky because I I think there are a lot of newer proofreaders that don't necessarily have the years of experience under their belt, but if they were properly trained, like they went through your program, you know, if they're properly trained and they're eager, I think they're going to try really, really, really hard, you know. So I don't know that, like, having a ton of experiences is necessary. Um, I think probably near the top is going to be um communication, like I know, probably my one of my most appreciated things about you is that every time I send you a transcript to proof, you email me right back that night or within, you know, whenever you're available, and say got it and and hi you know it's always good to hear from you in that way too, but you always let me know you have it, which makes me feel better because I don't know there's I mean email and technology it's like you just never quite know.
Speaker 2And when there's something riding on like okay, this transcript is due on this day, and then that there's always that chance, if I don't hear back from somebody, I fear that, like that day the transcript is due is going to come and I'll reach out to you and be like, oh my gosh, do you have the? You know, have you looked at this? And you're like, I never received it. Like that is like a nightmare, literal nightmare scenario for me, you know, um, so the fact that you always tell me you've got the transcript, it's in safe hands, like, oh, okay, I can breathe, I can, you know. So it's a small thing, maybe, but it's a really big thing, um, yeah, um.
Speaker 2And I guess another thing that I would look for is that I appreciate and would look for in a proofer is just like attention to detail, like I know for me when we have, you know, into detail. Like I know for me when we have, you know, we have the title pages which I have to input a lot of that stuff. But and then the like very last page which was like the reporter certificate, you know, I mean that's all, that's pretty much the same on every single transcript. And but I was super impressed because you sent me one back not too long ago and you were like, hey, the, the date on this notary is different than than the last one you know you sent me and I was like, oh my gosh, I didn't think. I didn't think you actually like read those last pages, because they're always the same.
Speaker 1I always check the date. Two dates on there.
Speaker 2Oh my gosh, so that you know, just yeah, the more stuff you can find like that, just little things like that, just blow me out of the water, like I wasn't expecting you to be even looking at that page. So thank you for bringing that to my attention. Oh my gosh, you know. Um, yeah, yeah, um, I guess, yeah, I guess that's it. Communication thoroughness Um, you know we already talked about how I would rather you put a comment or bring my attention to something that doesn't seem right, rather than be like, oh well, I don't want to bother the, I don't want to bother the reporter or, you know, make them read too many of these or whatever, and just not say anything like yeah, I can't speak for all reporters, but I think most want to turn in the best possible product and so if you see, something that looks a little weird.
Speaker 2You know about the way this sentence is, or? You know? Yeah, tell me, bring it to my attention. I will never, I will never like be upset. It's like oh my gosh, why are there so many corrections here?
Speaker 1You know Would you stop actually proofreading, elizabeth, please. I'm tired of this. Yeah, one thing I really liked that you brought up was that you don't need a like year, a ton of experience like in terms of years, because I feel like, you know, sometimes people asked, well, do you need a college degree? And I'm like, well, I'm a college dropout and there's not actually a transcript proofreading degree to begin with. But and you know, I have years of experience just because I've been doing it for a while. But, like when my grads graduate, they feel like, oh, I'm a newbie, I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm like well, just because you don't have years of experience, you have experience proofing. What thousand? You add there over 3,200 pages in my course, like of pages of transcripts to work on. So it's not like you have to have years of experience. My understanding was like the training and knowing what you're doing is more important to you. Was that? Did I understand that correctly?
Speaker 2Oh my gosh, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I don't, and you know and this isn't I don't know how to say this and not sound like I don't know but if somebody has been, say, proofreading for, like you know, 40 years, like a really, really, really, really long time, I would rather, frankly, have a new, you know out of school proofreader, because I feel like you know it's new and they're going to be like so eager and they want to get everything right and they, you know, like you know that, that feeling you've got this new job and it's like, oh my gosh, I'm going to, I'm going to wow everybody and I'm going to try so hard and you know like, will it take them a little bit longer sometimes maybe, and that's okay. I mean, as long as you know, if it's a rush or something, I would, of course, let you know, can you take it? But, um, but in general, yeah, and that wasn't. I didn't mean that if somebody had been proofreading for 50 years, I would still use them. It's just different. It's just different.
Speaker 1I appreciate both be slower, like you said, just like proofreaders a little bit slower when you get started, but they just want to do so well and it's almost like you can see you can tell a difference as opposed to you've. You've been doing it for a while, but I mean you've been doing it for a while. My other court reporter has been doing it for a while and I mean transcripts are great. I love them. So, yes, I totally get what you're saying. It's not necessarily that you just give up and don't try after. I've been doing it for 10 years and I'm done Right.
Speaker 2That's not what I meant at all.
Speaker 1No, I didn't take it Because that's so encouraging. You know anybody who's thinking about getting started or going through the course or just graduating, wherever y'all are who are listening. That's so encouraging to know that people aren't looking at. Oh, you've not been doing it for you've only had your business for a month, kind of thing. Well, you have training and you're ready to go and you're eager to do a good job.
Speaker 2Exactly Like eagerness goes for me anyway, like goes a long way, like I have used at least one of your students, and they were a very, very, very recent graduate, I believe. When you suggested um, her, and, and I was like, okay, well, I think you were going out of town or I don't know. Anyway, I was like, yes, that sounds great. And um, and you told me that she was so excited to be able to work with me and, um, I guess you, you use my transcripts in in your, in your teaching and you said that she was so excited. She went back to like review some of my old transcripts from class and I was like, oh, my gosh, I mean that. Just, you know, I just hit the floor. That's amazing. That, like that's what I want, yeah, and I still use that person to this day is my backup. You know, backup proofer, if you've been tossing too much stuff your way, or you know.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm about to go on vacation. I emailed her and I was like, hey, I'm going to be out and just make want to make sure you're here for Val. She's like oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So you know I can tell others what I've heard court reporters say and what court reporters are looking for, but to actually hear it from you, a real life court reporter who works and takes your, you take a lot of pride in your work and I know like the discussions like if I send you something and you have a question on something or you want to be like, hey, you know, I actually do it this way. Can you prove it this way? You obviously really care about your transcripts. Do it this way, can you proof it this way? You obviously really care about your transcripts. And so to hear from somebody like what you're looking for and what's important in a proofer is so encouraging and I think it's nice to know. Yes, it takes work to get there, but you have somebody who appreciates you and like excited to work with you and values the skills you bring to the table.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1That's good. Well, val, is there any like? I know I didn't ask you this question beforehand, but like is there any like words of wisdom you would give to somebody who is thinking about becoming a proofreader or who is, you know, in the thick of it right now working on mounds of transcripts, your construction transcripts? Oh, the construction transcripts. I'm like have fun y'all. Is there any words of wisdom that you would like to close off? Like from a court reporter speaking to somebody thinking about proofreading, like learning how to do it or who's in the middle of it.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean, I guess just it is such an important it's just it's so important Like I could not do my job without, I could not turn in my transcripts without a good proofreader looking at them. And and I wanted to add this too, and this isn't the question that you just asked me, but I've been asked on more than one occasion by um other reporters if I could proofread their transcripts before they turn it in, and every single time my eye probably twitched a little bit and I was like, uh, no, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not a proofreader Like I. You know, do I remember, like most of the grammar rules?
Speaker 1or something, I don't know.
Speaker 2Yes, but, but not enough. Like there's no way, like I rely on you so heavily for a lot of those things that I'm like I should look that up. And then I'll be like, but you know, it's also, it's busy, it's stressful, it can be grueling, and so, you know, time is not always on our side when it comes to finishing a transcript and getting it to the proofreader. So sometimes I'll have that thought in the back of my head like I should look this up. What is this rule? I should know it. But then I'm just like you know what, that's what Elizabeth is for? Like I know she's got me, and so I'm just like, nope, I'm just gonna leave it and she'll, she'll figure it out, you know you know she'll tell me whether that comma goes there or not or whatever.
Speaker 2So so I would just say, you know, to students, or to recent graduates or not recent graduates like thank you, just, you know, keep up the thorough good work. And I don't know kindness and easiness as far as like emailing, and you know it goes a long, long, long way. Yeah, I've had some reporters.
Speaker 2I don't know if a proofreader, specifically, but like scopists, will maybe say not some not very nice things about a reporter's skills and it just floors me like why would you? You don't know what their job is like, you don't know this or that, and I haven't had a proofreader. You know, heard of them saying anything not nice, but I would just reiterate that and I know you talk about that on your, you know on your Instagram as well Like just don't, don't say, you know if you see this mistake and you know, just just correct it, like there's no need to be. You know I'm better than you, or or I'm smarter than you, or you know that mindset. Like no, we all have our expertise and we all have our off days and let's just work together and create a beautiful transcript.
Speaker 1I couldn't have ended on a better note. That was so good. Yes, kindness is so. There was a quote, so I can't remember the quote off the top of my head, but something about be rare and being rare was being kind, because it is rare but it's so valued.
Speaker 1Like you said, you have a grueling job. You have witnesses and attorneys that are talking a million miles an hour, sometimes fighting with each other, and you're in their room and the last thing you want is to come home and work on a transcript and then send it to a proofreader who's not kind, and that's not like kindness. Yes, so much. It goes both ways A kind court reporter and a kind proofreader together. It's just. That is such a good relationship, and we create beautiful transcripts in the meantime. Yes, yes, well, val, I'm gonna let you go before before your kitties start scratching at the door, start yowling, but seriously, thank you so much. I mean speaking of busy and you've got a lot to do. Thank you for taking time to come. Encourage my students, my grads, those who are thinking about proofing. Thank you for taking time to do that. That, just that means a ton, so I really appreciate you.
Speaker 2Oh, you're more than welcome. Appreciate you too, Elizabeth.
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