Study guide
12.1 Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Nonverbal Responses
AAERT Certified Electronic Transcriber CET
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1 Chapter 1: CET Exam Orientation
1.1 The CET Credential, Exam Format & Eligibility 1.2 The Practical Exam Workflow & a Blueprint-Based Study Plan
2 Chapter 2: Ethics, Conflicts of Interest & Confidentiality
2.1 Ethical Obligations & Avoiding the Appearance of Impropriety 2.2 Conflicts of Interest: Recognizing and Handling Them 2.3 Confidentiality, NDAs, File Security & HIPAA
3 Chapter 3: Professional Behavior, Multi-Channel Audio & Equipment
3.1 Professional Behavior: Impartiality, the Accurate Record & Service 3.2 Multi-Channel Recording & How to Play Channels 3.3 Troubleshooting, Technical Escalation & Equipment Maintenance
4 Chapter 4: Proofreading, Spelling, Capitalization & Numbers
4.1 Proofreading vs. Literary Editing & Why Spelling Matters 4.2 Capitalization in a Transcript 4.3 Numbers in a Transcript
5 Chapter 5: [sic], Abbreviations, Clauses & Commas
5.1 [sic] and Abbreviations 5.2 Clauses & the Core Comma Rules 5.3 Commas in Testimony: Address, Introductory Words, Appositives, Series & Tags
6 Chapter 6: End Punctuation, Colons, Semicolons & Quotation Marks
6.1 Periods, Question Marks & Exclamation Points 6.2 Colons & Semicolons 6.3 Quotation Marks in a Transcript
7 Chapter 7: Apostrophes, Dashes, Hyphens, Ellipses, Slashes & Parentheses
7.1 Apostrophes: Possessives, Contractions & Plurals 7.2 Dashes & Hyphens: Interruptions, Breaks and Compounds 7.3 Ellipses, Slashes & Parentheses
8 Chapter 8: Federal Format, Title Page & Index Page
8.1 Federal District Court Format & Page Specifications 8.2 The Title Page 8.3 The Index Page
9 Chapter 9: Proceedings Page, Headers, Certificate & Colloquy
9.1 The Proceedings Page, Calls to Order & Page Headers 9.2 The Transcriber's Certificate 9.3 Colloquy, Question-and-Answer Format & Paragraphing
10 Chapter 10: Oaths, Parentheticals, Exhibits & Special Procedures
10.1 Swearing Witnesses, Parenthetical Notations & Exhibits 10.2 Quoted Material, Words Spelled on the Record & Italics for Non-English Words 10.3 Strikes, Playbacks, Recordings Played, Asides & Sidebars
11 Chapter 11: Special Designations, Interpreters, Remote Jobs & Verbatim Rules
11.1 Certified Questions, Redactions & Confidential Designations 11.2 Interpreters, Videographers & Remote Proceedings 11.3 Verbatim Transcription: Tics, Substantive Words & Chopped-Down Speech
12 Chapter 12: Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Transcriber Judgment Calls
12.1 Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Nonverbal Responses 12.2 Log Notes, Case Information, the Court Reporter & Judgment Calls on Names and Speakers
13 Chapter 13: Page Estimates, Originals & Copies, Drafts & Research
13.1 Page Estimates, Original vs. Copy & Rough and Expedited Transcripts 13.2 References, Internet Research & Understanding the Case
14 Chapter 14: Proceedings, Case Types & the Life Cycle of a Case
14.1 Types of Proceedings & Federal Read and Sign 14.2 Types of Cases & the Order of Court and Non-Court Proceedings 14.3 The Life Cycle of a Case
15 Chapter 15: Parties, Legal Documents, Jurisdiction & Venue
15.1 Parties, Participants & Types of Witnesses 15.2 Reading Legal Documents & Using the Docket 15.3 Jurisdiction, Venue & Civil vs. Criminal Proceedings
16 Chapter 16: Case Law, Citations & Jury Selection
16.1 Case Law & the Elements of a Case Citation 16.2 Jury Selection (Voir Dire) & Bench vs. Jury Trials
17 Chapter 17: Legal & Latin Terminology
17.1 Legal Terminology I: Pleadings, Motions, Orders & Procedure 17.2 Legal Terminology II: Evidence, Objections, Rulings & Trial Terms 17.3 Latin Terminology I: Procedure, Courts & Parties 17.4 Latin Terminology II: Doctrine, Evidence & Criminal Law
18 Chapter 18: Medical Terminology
18.1 Medical Terminology I: Word Parts, Directions & Anatomy 18.2 Medical Terminology II: Conditions, Procedures, Medications & Sound-Alikes
12.1 Interruptions, Indiscernible Speech & Nonverbal Responses
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Interruptions are marked with a double dash where the speaker is cut off and again where the speaker resumes; simultaneous speech may be shown the same way.
The Guide to Judiciary Policy calls labeling any portion "indiscernible" or "inaudible" highly undesirable and allows it only when transcription is impossible.
"Indiscernible" marks speech that can be heard but not understood; "inaudible" marks speech too faint to hear. The CET blueprint uses (indiscernible).
Nonverbal answers are described neutrally, such as (Nods head up and down), (Shakes head from side to side) or (No audible response), never interpreted as yes or no.
Last updated: September 2026
Blueprint topics 30302, 30304 and 30305 cover interruptions and double dashes, indiscernible speech, and nonverbal responses.
- Interruptions and overlapping speech
- The rule
Guide to Judiciary Policy § 520.36.40: "Interruptions of speech must be denoted by the use of a dash at the point of interruption, and again at the point the speaker resumes speaking." And: "At the discretion of the transcriber, simultaneous discussions may also be noted in this manner." AAERT's samples type the dash as two hyphens (Chapter 7).
- Patterns
- Cut off, and the speaker does not resume: THE COURT: Don't guess, Mr. Lim. If you don't --
THE WITNESS: I don't know.
Cut off, and the speaker resumes the same sentence: Q. And did you ever --
MS. LEE: Objection.
THE COURT: Let him finish the question.
BY MR. RUIZ:
Q. -- see the defendant with a weapon?
Two speakers overlapping. Use multi-channel playback to separate them (Chapter 3), then put each speaker's words in the order they began, with dashes where each was cut off. When both keep talking at once, give each full utterance in turn.
Everyone talking at once, words unrecoverable. Some clients use a parenthetical such as (Simultaneous speaking.) or (Crosstalk.) when overlapping voices cannot be separated even on individual channels. Use it only after single-channel playback fails, and use the client's approved wording.
Self-interruptions
A speaker who breaks off and restarts gets a double dash at the break: She came from -- she moved here from Oklahoma. The words before the break are kept (Chapter 11).
- Indiscernible speech
- The federal standard
Guide § 520.40.20(e):
"Incomplete records of proceedings are unacceptable in a court of law. It is therefore highly undesirable to have any portion of a transcript labeled 'indiscernible' or 'inaudible.'"
"Every effort must be made to produce a complete transcript. The use of 'inaudible' or 'indiscernible' should be used only when it is impossible to transcribe the record ."
Indiscernible vs. inaudible
Indiscernible: the sound is there, but the words cannot be made out (mumbling, overlap, noise).
Inaudible: too faint to be heard at all.
The CET blueprint (30304, 30405) uses (indiscernible) , the common choice for recorded proceedings, since the recording usually captures something .
Before you type "(indiscernible)"
Replay at normal speed, then slower, with pitch correction if the player has it.
Solo each channel; the speaker's own microphone usually carries the clearest version.
Balance channels and adjust volume (not maximum).
Check the log notes for key words or spellings at that time stamp.
Check the case information, the exhibits and the context: the next question often repeats the missing words.
Come back later with fresh ears.
How to mark it
Put the notation where the missing words were, and keep every word you can hear:
A. I went to the (indiscernible) store on Maple Way.
Q. And then what did you (indiscernible)?
Do not guess, and do not "fill in" words from the log notes or from context that you did not actually hear. When you can hear a word clearly but cannot verify its spelling, that is a (phonetic) problem, not (indiscernible) (Section 12.2).
Nonverbal responses
Witnesses nod, shake their heads, shrug and point. Blueprint topic 30305 asks how to handle these.
The rules
The recording captures only sound, so a nod is invisible to the transcriber unless someone says so. The Guide (§ 520.40.20(c)) puts the responsibility "to note for the record any significant nonverbal behavior" on the attorneys, and sometimes the judge.
"If counsel or the court refers to the witness's affirmative or negative gesture, parenthetical phrases may be used," such as (Nods head up and down) , (Shakes head from side to side) , (Indicating) .
Reporters' log notes often record the gesture; AAERT's blog shows log entries like A (Nods affirmatively) and A (No audible response) .
Describe, don't interpret
Right Wrong
(Nods head up and down) (Witness agrees) or Yes.
(Shakes head from side to side) (Witness denies) or No.
- (No audible response) (Witness refuses to answer)
- (Indicating) (Points at the defendant, who is guilty)
A nod is not a "yes." Many witnesses nod to mean "I understand the question." The typical exchange shows why counsel asks for words: Q. Did you see him leave?
- A. (Nods head up and down)
- Q. You have to answer out loud for the record. Is that a
yes?
A. Yes.
AAERT's blog gives another pattern, with the reporter asking: A (No audible response) / THE REPORTER: I'm sorry, I didn't hear your answer. / THE WITNESS: I don't know.
Putting it together
When audio is hard, work in this order: separate (channels), identify (who is speaking), transcribe (every word you can hear), mark (dashes for interruptions, (indiscernible) only as a last resort), and describe (neutral parentheticals for nonverbal events referred to on the record).