Speech to Text Reporter Louise Pepper Palantypist

08/07/2023

01/02/2023

Well, today was the last day for me live transcribing on The Infected Blood Inquiry after three years of working on it. It’s been informative and eye-opening, much of it extremely difficult and emotional to listen to.
But it’s been great to have a regular job that you’re so familiar with, and with a great team. I will miss this job!
So thanks, Liz Brotherston, Kirsten Bell and Rachel Lloyd for your excellent editing, and thanks to Georgina Ford and Ian Roberts for being such good bosses.
I will await Sir Brian’s findings with interest, and I really hope that all the people infected and affected get the answers and compensation they deserve.

30/09/2022

So on Tuesday this week I ventured back out into the outdoor world of captioning after working exclusively from home for two and a half years, with a one-day job in Brussels with fellow Palantypist Julia. Here are our machines looking busy with the carpet.
Being back onsite was like riding a bike, but the travelling, packing and transportation of equipment? Yeah. Too much hassle and stress. I’m going back to working from home again, although I do miss the social side. My machine is too precious and I worry about it getting damaged or breaking. There’s currently nowhere in the entire world making or repairing them, so I would really be stuffed. I think it’s safer at home.

12/08/2022

04/08/2022

Feeling proud

We were thrilled to hold our first ever competitions at this year’s BIVR Awareness Weekend. The winners were announced on Sunday and the medals were awarded as follows:

UK REALTIME RUMBLE:
Gold - Wendy Osmond (6 errors)
Silver - Louise Pepper (8 errors)
Bronze - Amanda Bavin (11 errors)

UK SPEECH SPEEDWAY (using INTERSTENO’s model of ascending speed):
Gold - Louise Pepper
Silver - Wendy Osmond
Bronze - n/a

Congratulations, ladies, and thanks for being patient with the teething problems. We are looking forward to next year already!

15/12/2021

04/07/2021

Well as you may know, I moved house since I last posted. Still working exclusively from home, but now I have a second bedroom which I can use as an actual home office. Sooooo much better than working from my bedroom like I was before. I love my new office!

04/07/2021

My little helper

22/10/2020

My “home office” bedroom. This has been my set-up for the last 7 months. Kinda wish I had a desk, but it’s the only room quiet enough without distractions.

15/10/2020

It’s hard to believe that 30 years ago today, as a fresh and inexperienced teenager, I walked into Inner London Crown Court (wearing my secondhand houndstooth suit) for my first day of training as a stenographer with no real idea of what it entailed.
There was a large group of us. Some became lifelong friends. Julia Jacobie, Kate Richardson and Natalie Joy Nagle are still here with me.
Surprisingly, my big mouth has never gotten me fired, although it has gotten me in trouble a few times, although I’m happy to say I’m older and wiser now, even if I do still shoot my big mouth off occasionally.
I remember seeing Karen Faulks crying that day and wondering what on earth I was letting myself in for.
Little did I know, after the first few months of training with Cheryl Slater, I’d be setting myself on a career path for life. My boyfriend at the time reckoned I’d only last 3 months in the job. (Pfffft, he didn’t last much longer than that as my boyfriend)
30 years later, and this job has taken me all over the world and enabled me to meet some amazing people (as well as earn some decent wonga).
I’ve worked on court hearings and tribunals in Bermuda, Singapore and Dubai, as well as all over Europe.
I worked on high-profile criminal cases at the Old Bailey and other crown courts for 8 years.
These days I split my time between live captioning and realtime legal hearings.
The captioning world is varied and interesting. One day I might be captioning a live theatre performance, the next day I might be captioning a technical conference or a private doctor’s appointment. I’ve been privy to many interesting meetings and seen the inside of some amazing buildings that aren’t open to the public.
These days I’m working from my bedroom via Zoom for obvious reasons, but I’m still tippy tapping every day on that funny little keyboard, making the words appear on the screen. I love my job more now than I ever have done, even if sometimes it’s challenging and frustrating, and that little keyboard feels like an extension of my very being.
Happy 30-Year Work Anniversary to me, also to Julia Jacobie, Kate Richardson and Natalie Joy Nagle - the only other survivors of that original group of trainees. We’ve been through more ups and downs than I ever would have imagined, and I’m so glad I still work with you ###

10/10/2020

Got my new certificate today 😁😁

05/08/2020

Found this old video of me working at a conference. Not even sure where this was!

19/03/2020

From AVSTTR:

17/03/2020

So I’ve been a bit slack with updating this page recently - there’s been so much going on. So I’m using this as a platform to let clients and service users know, in light of the current climate with so many people working from home, that remote captioning is an option that’s available. If you need captions for Skype or Zoom meetings, conference calls etc, captions can be streamed live via the internet straight to your device, without yourself or the captioner having to attend anywhere on site. As long as you have a Wi-fi connection, you’re good to go.
These are worrying and unusual times, and we need to be flexible and adaptable regarding alternative methods of working.
If you’re interested or think this could be a useful tool for you, contact me for details.
I hope you’re all keeping safe, and I’ll see you on the other side of the apocalypse when everything gets back to normal.
Louise xx

23/02/2020

🤦‍♀️