Showing posts with label voir dire techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voir dire techniques. Show all posts

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Vocal Tone Matters During Voire Dire



Vocal tone matters, not just when you’re delivering your opening/closing or in questioning witnesses, but also in voir dire. Voir dire is when you create your first impression with what will be your jury panel. How you speak to prospective jurors is every bit as important as what you say.

"Well, the lawyer asked OK questions and all, but boy was he/she cold!" "I'm not a kid, you know, I didn't appreciate getting a morality lesson from the lawyer." These are the type of comments heard in jury debriefings when an attorney negated the good questions asked in voir dire by using an authoritarian or parental vocal tone. Jurors like to be guided, not told what to do.

Ask jurors whether they can be, for example, "fair to both sides," don't demand it of them. Think of jurors as fellow-travelers, about to embark on an expedition with you, not as the enemy. As best you can, use a conversational pace as you go through the intricate dance of question-response with prospective jurors. Keep your voice modulated for warmth and directness. Be sincere. Ask questions as if you really want to know the answer, not as if you're dictating to the prospective juror what he or she must think.