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.

Character Matters In Court

In the political world, character has been a subject of considerable interest over the past year. In the trial world, this is nothing new. An attorney’s character is always a subject of interest to jurors. The more you exhibit sound moral character, the more favor you are likely to find with the jurors.

Behaviors that are characteristically interpreted as evidence of sound moral character include the following:       

1. Be professional toward opposing counsel. Don't stoop to snide references about the way the opposing side is presenting its case or avoid making other editorial comments. Treat opposing counsel the way you would want to be treated, with good gamesmanship and fairness. You can demolish opposing counsel's points and maintain a moral stance; just don't demolish opposing counsel.

2. Be respectful of the judge at all times, whether you agree or disagree with the judge's rulings and decisions. Keep in mind that jurors consider the judge as the final arbiter of what is moral and just in the courtroom. Don't whine or indulge in petty behavior; arguing for the sake of arguing, for example. Even when you are engaged in a sidebar, the jurors are watching. Keep your tone and body language toward the judge respectful throughout the proceedings.

3. Be courteous to the bailiff, court reporter and other courtroom personnel. No matter how tired, annoyed or frustrated you become during trial, be polite to those around you. Moral and upstanding individuals are expected to behave "better" than the rest of us in trying situations.

Character matters. When you display sound moral character, jurors are more likely to agree with your interpretation of the facts.

Reaching Jurors on Different Levels

A successful lawyer is one who knows how to persuade jurors, that much is obvious. What is less obvious is that jurors are persuaded on several different levels. One level that is often ignored is the difference levels in how we each perceive information, our unique perceptual modes.

An individual’s perceptual mode determines the primary way that individual perceives events and situations: we see it, hear it or feel it. That is not to say that people who favor a visual mode, for example, only experience the world through their eyes. Rather, they first and predominantly experience the world in visual terms. Visually oriented people make use of the auditory and feeling modes, but only secondarily.

How does this apply to the courtroom?

Each of us tend to express and receive information in our preferred perceptual mode, to the relative exclusion of the other modes. Many men, for example, are visually oriented, and thus are focused on the visual. Women are frequently more kinesthetically (feeling) oriented, and relate to kinesthetic expression.

Figure out how you see the world: are you more likely to say “I see what you mean” “I can’t picture it” (visual), or “that sounds good to me” “Doesn’t ring a bell for me” (auditory), or “I understand how you feel” “I want to get a handle on this” (kinesthetic)?

Deliberately express yourself in all three modes during trial; make a conscious effort to communicate in those modes that are not your predominant one. In so doing, you will more effectively reach and therefore persuade all the jurors, not just those who resonate to your native mode.