SimplySteno does not take a broad approach to court reporting. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We've narrowed our focus to include only the things we believe you need to improve your speed on the steno machine. Because of this specialized approach, we are able to designate one or two instructors per element. Whatever your question may be, we have someone on board with the answers.
Marc Greenberg, CRI
After teaching in a campus school for 6 years, I felt that students needed a better way to practice at home, so I opened SpeedBuilders.com. As SpeedBuilders.com grew, I moved into a Program Coordinator position at the campus school in California. In 2004 I opened RPRPrep.com, CSRPrep.com and StenoLife.com. SimplySteno seemed like the next logical step - to help students improve their speeds on the steno machine. I believe that students are faced with enough challenges - their court reporting program shouldn't be one of them.
Linda Wilson, CSR
I graduated from Gadsden State court reporting program in Alabama in 1979, when it was under the direction of Robert Miller. I passed the CSR in LA in '79 and have held that designation since then. After a stint working for a New Orleans area firm, I joined with two other reporters and we opened our own firm. I taught speedbuilding, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary and procedures for three years at a Louisiana court reporting school. I ran Daily Dictation online for 3 years. I want students to look upon court reporting as a profession, not just a job, and to train themselves accordingly.
Jodi Graffam, CSR
I graduated from Merit College in CA and worked as a reporter for 5 years before turning to teaching (after a volleyball incident injured my hand). As rewarding as reporting was, I found that teaching gave me a chance to give back to the profession that had helped me so much. I look forward to guiding you along this wild ride and helping in any way I can.
Melissa Lee, CCR
Melissa began her realtime reporting career as a CART provider for a deaf student attending Auburn University at Montgomery. Upon her program completion, she began working as a judicial reporter in both the freelance and official arena. Melissa is proud to boast that she has worked with the same freelance court reporting firm since 1999.
Linda Bahley, Former Grand Jury Reporter
I was born and raised in Queens, New York. I worked for the Queens District Attorney's Office in the Indictment Bureau as a Grand Jury Hearing Reporter for 10 years. I left on maternity leave and moved to Minnesota. I worked five years as a Recording Secretary for the City of Eden Prairie using my machine and transcribing City Council meetings, Planning Commission meetings, Parks and Recreation meetings, and Southwest Metro Transit meetings. I moved to Florida and worked as a Court Reporter Instructor at Stenotype Institute in Orlando for eight years until their closing. I taught medical, Pre-Theory, Theory 3, colloquy and 4-voice class, and all speeds from 80-225 but my primary speed classes were 160-225.
Leslie Ellis, OTR, eRYT500 (Stretching Program)
Leslie founded HeartSong Yoga and Wellness Center in November of 2004 as a place to grow community and to ground her desire to share the joy she had received through yoga. In practicing yoga for 20+ years and teaching since 1998, Leslie has developed an approach to yoga instruction that is heartfelt and fun while also being challenging and technically precise. In Leslie’s classes at HeartSong Yoga she leads you through a discovery process exploring the capacity of the body, the expansiveness of the heart and the celebration of life through yoga. Leslie is deeply passionate about the influence that yoga can have on all aspects of our lives. It teaches us how to honor ourselves, respect others and live from our hearts. She is grateful to all of her yoga teachers which include those she actively studies with and all of the students who share their practice and lives with her.
Eric Singer, CHt - Certified Hypnotherapist (EFT Training for Court Reporting)
As a highly skilled hypnotist with a successful hypnotherapy practice in southeast Portland, Eric helps his clients move from the behavior they have to the behavior they want. Eric has found much success in helping others to be in control of their thoughts and not to be controlled by them. Expanding his practice to include EFT and other forms of therapy, Eric continues to learn and grow in a profession that is truly his passion. Eric shares his experience and knowledge with individual and group setting as well as offering lectures and seminars. Eric's video series on court reporting puts the focus on test anxiety, fear of failure and other issues facing court reporting students.
Recent Updates!
6/1/16 - SimplySteno Flashcards has been launched! And SimplySteno students, of course, have full access. A great new tool to learn those steno outlines!
5/16/16 - 12 new hours of high-speed dictation added to the Audio Library.
4/1/16 - 15 new hours of multi-voice dictation videos added to the Video Library.
2/2/16 - Not enough time for a full lesson today? We've added 33 SimplySteno Quick Classes to the Audio Library. Each class is about 40 minutes.
1/25/16 - 7 hours of dictation has been added to the Audio Library - speeds 120-180.
1/2/16 - 19 hours of sustained dictation is being added to the daily lessons.
10/15/15 - 17 hours of video practice have been added to the Video Library.
7/13/15 - The "Compare" feature is being slowly added to some lessons, allowing students to instantly compare their test transcripts to a correct transcript.
5/23/15 - SimplySteno Plus has a new audio player that allows the user to increase and decrease the audio speed by 20%. It also allows for easy use on a cell phone or tablet device.