by Cindi Lynch
How proud are you of your translation accuracy, regardless of the subject matter? How many transcript pages can you produce per hour? How long does it take you to fill in standard pages and build an index? If the answers to those questions aren’t, “Very, Lots, and A couple minutes, tops,” then it’s time for you to do something about it.
Earlier this summer, reporters from all over the U.S. (and beyond) traveled to Stenograph’s home office to attend CATalyst and writer training sessions designed to increase their accuracy and decrease the amount of time and effort spent on producing their work product. As with other conferences, they earned continuing education credit and enjoyed social interaction with some of their favorite colleagues. The difference between this event and other conferences was that all of the time they spent was focused on productivity: learning practical skills that would pay off on every job.
On June 6-7 Stenograph presented a variety of sessions on the most-requested CATalyst features; attendees chose which classes to attend according to their needs and skill levels. Some of the most skilled and respected instructors in the industry (Mike Miller, FAPR, RDR, CRR; myself; and Larry Paiz) led the training sessions. Some attendees opted for an extra session at Stenograph’s home office to see where and exactly how their machines were made and tested.
Obviously, not all conferences can provide an opportunity to learn the specific editing and production skills you need. However, your need for knowledge means you can’t wait for a convenient opportunity! Contact your association and find out if they plan to invite a CAT software expert from your system to attend your next state conference to provide group or individual training opportunities. Also, ask your vendor what remote or online training options they offer. For example, Stenograph offers CATalyst Academy classes to all customers with an Edge support contract, and any CATalyst user can subscribe to the Ascend Training web site to access webinars, tips, and a weekly interactive Zoom meeting with myself to answer CATalyst, CaseViewNet, and writer-related questions.
CAT training is something that you capitalize on immediately; it’s an investment that instantly pays you back by enabling you to work faster and more efficiently. The amount of money you make remains the same, but if you make the same amount in less time because, for example, it only takes you a few minutes to build an index vs. an hour or more, you not only pay for the investment, you also give yourself a raise.
Cindi Lynch is the Training Program Manager at Stenograph. She can be reached at clynch@stenograph.com
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