Believe it or not, your court reporter wants to interrupt a
deposition about as much as you want them to; that is, they’d rather not
interrupt at all. Court reporters are the guardians of the record, however, a
responsibility they take seriously. They are concentrating on every single word
uttered by each participant in your deposition or hearing and will interrupt
immediately if they aren’t able to capture what is being said.

Clearly, when the court reporter speaks up, it disrupts the
flow of your questioning and could cause you to forget where you were headed.
The court reporter doesn’t mean any harm by interrupting; they’re just doing their
job.

The most common reasons a court reporter will interrupt a
deposition are:

• ·        
  Speed – All court reporters can take down fast
  talkers, but there’s a limit.
• ·        
  Mumbling – This usually goes along with speed,
  but not always. Instances of mumbling increase when witnesses or attorneys are
  reading along with a document or going through standard deposition
  instructions. If the witness is naturally mush-mouthed, you’ll need to instruct
  them to enunciate.
• ·        
  Volume – If the court reporter can’t hear it, it
  can’t get into the record. Attorneys usually don’t have a problem making
  themselves heard, but a soft-spoken witness might need to be reminded to speak
  up.
• ·        
  Multiple people talking at the same time – When
  multiple people are talking at the same time, the court reporter can only take
  down what one speaker is saying. You won’t have full control over making sure
  deposition participants don’t talk over each other, but if you do your part by
  letting the other person finish speaking before you speak, that will go a long
  way.

At your next deposition, keep these tips in mind and you’ll
experience few, if any, interruptions.

Schedule your next deposition online with Chapel Hill Court Reporting Services at Schedule Online Now