The court reporter sits down at the table, places a device over their mouth, and the proceeding begins. To attorneys who haven't seen it before, the first question is often the same: what is that?

The device is a stenomask, a handheld device that fits over the reporter's mouth, built around a padded, soundproof enclosure and an internal microphone. It captures the reporter's voice clearly for speech recognition software and dampens the sound so their dictation is inaudible to everyone else in the room.

The reporter using it is a voice writer, a certified reporter who creates the same legal record as any other court reporter, using dictation instead of keystrokes. Voice writing is legally recognized, professionally certified, and produces the same verbatim transcript that any other court reporter delivers. The missing piece is education.

While dictating the record, the voice writer repeats every word spoken—witness testimony, attorney questions, objections, judicial instructions—in real time. They also narrate context that would otherwise be lost, including speaker identifications, emotional responses, and non-verbal reactions that bear on the record.

That dictation feeds into speech recognition software trained to the reporter's voice and vocabulary, producing a transcript that meets the same legal standard as a stenographic record. A trained voice writer can sustain accuracy above 95% at speeds exceeding 180 words per minute, the same bar held for all certified reporters.

The Legal Landscape

The National Verbatim Reporters Association (NVRA) is voice writing's primary credentialing body, offering certifications including the Certified Verbatim Reporter (CVR) and the Realtime Verbatim Reporter (RVR). In most states with licensing or certification requirements, NVRA credentials are accepted in lieu of state testing, which means voice writers can move and work across state lines under the same reciprocity framework that governs other certified reporters.

At the federal court level, the rules explicitly permit machine writers, voice writers, and digital recorders. Voice writers work across the federal judicial system and the military court system, in addition to freelance deposition work nationwide.

State courts vary by jurisdiction, but voice writers practice in the judicial systems of the majority of U.S. states and the District of Columbia. California added official licensing for voice writers following the passage of AB 156 in 2022, bringing voice writers under the same credentialing framework as stenographic reporters. Under California law, a licensed voice writer holds a CSR designation and is held to the same standards of professionalism, impartiality, confidentiality, and ethics as a stenotype reporter.

Misconceptions Worth Addressing

The questions attorneys ask when they encounter a voice writer for the first time are typically resolved in a single exchange. The mask stays with the reporter. The proceeding runs exactly as it would otherwise. The transcript that comes out the other end meets the same legal standard.

But adjacent misconceptions have a longer shelf life. Attorneys accustomed to stenography may be skeptical of voice writing. That's where the credentials matter. The NVRA has been credentialing verbatim reporters since 1967, its certifications are recognized across the same jurisdictions where stenographers practice, and voice writers work throughout the federal judicial system.

None of these clarifications require advocating for one method over another. They require accurate information, delivered with the same confidence a legal professional brings to any other aspect of the job.

Why This Matters Beyond the Deposition Room

A client who walks away from a deposition with unresolved skepticism about voice writing is a client who may create friction on future coverage, request substitutions, or develop a preference for one reporter type that creates scheduling constraints across the market. Court reporters—steno and voice alike—field these questions. How those conversations go shapes the client's understanding of the profession as a whole.

For law firms, the practical value of understanding voice writing is straightforward. It reduces friction at the booking stage by providing more available reporters. For court reporters, it means being equipped to serve as credible, constructive ambassadors for a field that includes multiple methods.

Have a Question—or an Answer?

Do you have any experience booking with a voice writer? Are you a voice writer yourself? How about a question that came up in the field that you weren't sure how to answer?

For questions or comments, reach out to me at grace.johnston@steno.com.