Use Body Language to Mask Panic

Photo: Karen Neoh

Trials are often minefields, with bombs (whether large or small) exploding in your case just when you thought all was going smoothly. Your witnesses blunder, get trapped by opposing counsel, judges make decisions unfavorable to your case, etc.

But here’s the thing: no matter what is going on, you can’t let jurors know that things aren’t still going your way. And the most common way you let on, is by reacting with surprise. Not good! Jurors feel that you should know everything about the case if you are truly well-prepared, and they tend to evaluate your reaction of surprise as unprofessional. You need to find a way to mask your “Yikes!” if you are to continue to appear credible in the jurors’ eyes.

A primary way of covering your reaction to the unexpected is to use the following specific body language: simply drop your head down a little, to one side, as if thinking something over or consulting your notes. Once you’ve recovered and know where you’re going, simply raise your head, re-connect your eye focus, and resume from where you left off. Jurors will be left with the very credible impression of a lawyer who takes the time to think, rather than the unfortunate and not-credible impression of a lawyer panicking.

Use the Value Embedded in Words to Persuade

If you are to persuade jurors, you must make the case real for them. It can’t be just about facts and figures, yet if you over-dramatize events, your case loses impact. One of the secrets to bringing events to life without resorting to histrionics or melodrama, is to bring vocal color to your words. Color is literally, painting pictures with your voice.

Within any given situation you are describing there will be a few key words that need color, life. All you have to do is make the word sound like what it means. This is much less esoteric than it seems. Technically, you either stretch the word (lengthening) or shorten it. Words such as “break” or “kick” are shortened to give the vocal rendition of a blow. Words such as “abandoned” or “painful” are stretched, lengthened to give them an aspect of suffering.

The word must not however simply be lengthened or shortened. As best you can, put into the word its value. How boring can you make the word “boring” sound? How “non-compliant” can you make the word “non-compliant” sound? How “hurt” can you make the word “hurt” sound? If you really think about what you are saying, you’ll find you do this quite naturally. It is only when we speak without paying attention to the actual words we are using that we lose the dimension of color. Practice making words sound like what they mean and you’ll open up a whole new dimension of jury persuasiveness.