Courtroom Presentation 101 - Becoming An Effective Messenger
Presenting your message effectively in court is any litigators ultimate goal whether your presentation is in front of a jury or only in the presence of a judge. With the technology today it is easy to become sidetracked by the medium presenting your message.
My advice to our clients is "Less is More"; although we can provide the audio and visual tools to promote your argument it isn't always necessary to overwhelm the court with a production worthy of MTV.
I was recently reminded of this at a seminar presented by Lorman Education Services entitled "Litigation Skills for Legal Staff". One of the attorneys presenting was Michael A. Geibelson, a partner at the Los Angeles offices of Robins,Kaplan,Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.
Attorney Geibelson stated "Even if very complex, high stakes cases, it often makes sense sense to do things in-house as simple graphics often convey a message better than more complex ones. Complex, overly-professional graphics can send the wrong message, i.e. that a particular side is too well funded, or that you're trying to pull one over on the jury. In light of these concerns, the trial lawyer may choose to do nothing more sophisticated for a graphics presentation than stand in front of a large tablet with a wide, black or red or green) marker."
So, even when all the technical "goodies" are available to make your argument I will generally advise you to adhere to the "KISS" approach to your presentation (Keep It Simple Stupid) as opposed to the heavy-metal rock band K.I.S.S. production.
Writing a blog in (The) Trial Lawyer Resource Center from October 2006 entitled "Heighten Juror's Interest with Demonstrative Exhibits", author David Swanner advises that " in most cases, you have at least one demonstrative exhibit that will will shock or wow the jury. A common mistake is to overexpose that picture to the jury, thereby desensitizing them to it.
Another way to do that it to put a black border tape around all of your foam core exhibits. Except for he one exhibit. Put red border tape around that exhibit. When your foam core boards are leaning up against the wall, the jury will see that they all have black border tape except for the one. That will heighten their curiosity in seeing that exhibit.
After they have seen the exhibit and the boards are leaning up against the wall, they will notice the red border standing out among the black borders and it will remind them of the exhibit without even seeing the picture."
Simple, yet effective - you know, "K.I.S.S."
