The Velvet Hammer™ -

I teach trial advocacy with Judith Shahn who is a voice coach.  Judy has been a senior lecturer at the University of Washington's School of Drama since 1990.

Here are Judy's top suggestions for more effective speaking:

Ten Voice Essentials to Remember:

1.      Keep your weight on both feet

(when you move – move deliberately and land on both feet)

2.      Keep your hands relaxed at your sides

(when you have the impulse to gesture – let your hands help you; when you don’t – let them just relax. Don’t hold your hands behind you or in front of you – what are you hiding?) 

3.      Allow your first breath and others may follow

Relax your outer belly muscles (leave the control top panty hose at home) and allow the breath in. Each new thought begins with a breath – thus the word, “inspiration”.

Practice whispering “huh”

 Now voice it – “huh”

 Now say “hey”, “hi”, “hello”, “how are you?”

(can you feel your middle responding?)

 Now, much stronger, “HOW DARE YOU?” The “h” will connect you with your diaphragm. 

4.      Vocal Energy is what carries your words out to all in the courtroom.

In a jury trial, everything you say is for the benefit of the jury, whether it’s opening, closing or examining a witness. If you had a volume dial from 1-10, you should be between 4 and 6 during the trial. 

5.      Speak at the speed of your thinking

If you speak too fast, you leave the jury behind you – speak too slowly, and they are way ahead. Your speed will shift, depending on your thinking: example – “The prosecution is trying to make you believe that the circumstances are enough to convict my client in this case; but, after examining the evidence, I believe you will do the right thing and find Mr. Smith – innocent!” The first part of the sentence wants to move quicker, whereas you want the jury to stay with you for the important words: evidence, right thing, and innocent. 

6.      Employ vocal highlighting

This is something we do naturally when we are expressing something important, but sometimes we forget when we’re under pressure and everything flattens out to sound the same.

Practice emphasizing different words with the simple sentence:

Billy Button bought a bunch of beautiful bananas.

Notice how each new emphasis changes the meaning. Now try with this one:

Mr. Smith never entered the house on Elm Street at 9:00 pm on December 5^th, because witnesses identified him at the same time at the George St. Tavern across town. So, he never had the opportunity to murder Sarah Jones. 

7.      Pitch is thought

Human beings use pitch as a way to inflect their thinking and make it more expressive. Pitch is also an emotional response.

As lawyers, you can use pitch to be more authorative, understanding, ironic, humorous, friendly or factual, for example.

Your voice getting stuck on one pitch is like serving the jury the same meal every day or telling the same, predictable joke. Women tend to get stuck on the higher end and men, on the lower end, but either way is deadly.

8.  Timing is everything

Never underestimate the power of rhythm in speaking. Good writers are really aware of it, good actors can accomplish it and good lawyers should take advantage of it. Vary your rhythm as much as possible. Slow down to make a point – use mono syllables when something’s really important. Shakespeare did it:

“that but this blow must be the be all and the end all….here.”

9.“Words are the boats that travel on the river of sound”

This saying is from Kristin Linklater, an internationally renowned voice teacher. In essence, your intention must always be going forward towards the people you are speaking to. If your voice is swallowed or nasal, we are not receiving you.

Practice fluttering your lips: bbrrrreee, bbrrrrrrey, bbrrrrah

or trilling your r’s: rrrrrrreeeeeeeee, rrrrrrrrrrey, rrrrrrrrah

Or practice tossing a ball with someone while you are speaking. Let the final word in your sentence land as the other person catches the ball.

10. There is drama in the room

This may be obvious, but knowing when the light is on you and you are the center of attention is a very important tool. Sensing when to move and when to stay still, when to look directly at someone and when to avoid them, when to be expressive or when to be factual are important tools to have. Playing an intention puts you in charge. For example: are you trying to: educate, inform, entertain, shock, warn, mock, protect, reveal, plead,demand, instruct (or any other intention).  This will inform your way of speaking and ultimately how you get through.

Lawyers cannot take communication for granted. The art of persuasiveness can only be finessed with practice. There is always room for improvement.  It is wise to periodically to reexamine your modes of expressing yourself: your body language, vocal quality, pacing, clarity, phrasing and intentionality.

Cartoon:  By Jay Flynn (c)  2010

Yesterday a law student from Phoenix asked for this article (written about a decade ago). 

Trial Lawyers are often perceived by the public as arrogant and phony.  This is because the art of braggadocio is so prevalent and even sometimes necessary in our profession.   Behind the show lie those memories that need to be periodically replayed so we don’t buy into the myth of our professional persona.

For my first solo Superior Court appearance I was given a file and told it was a simple entry of an order.  I didn’t have to do anything other than show up.  Unfortunately, I had been set up.  The judge was furious about something that previously happened and gave me a tongue lashing that seemed to last forever.  When it was over I walked briskly from the courtroom, the Plaintiff’s lawyer silently beside me.  As we rode down the elevator, tears began to slip out.  I was mortified.  We walked out the revolving door and as we parted, the lawyer spoke kind words of encouragement.   Lessons:  1) An adversary can be compassionate and gracious but still a worthy advocate; 2) Always be prepared and know why you have showed up; 3) Tears of humiliation can be suppressed until one escapes from a courtroom.

 A year later I was assigned to defend product liability litigation involving DES (drugs given to women which gave birth defects to their daughters).   Depositions began and were held in big conference rooms.  All the defense lawyers representing all the manufacturers were seated around the table and again around the perimeter of the room.  We all wore suits.  The Plaintiff’s lawyer wore beads and dangling earrings.  I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.  Questions would be asked and everyone would have a turn.  I always tried to sit at the end of the line.  I quaked in fear that I would miss a question or objection or do something wrong.  I felt like the words “really young dumb attorney” were emblazoned across my forehead.   Lessons:  4) If you don’t know what you’re doing, keep quiet, listen, mimic, and try to implement; 5) It is possible to appear confident, even when you’re not; 6) There’s something different about Plaintiff attorneys.

My mentor in insurance defense, was Richard Foreman.   Dick decided I was ready to try my first case.  It was a premises liability action and I was prepared to the max (and beyond). I was so nervous.  Dick discussed my need to somehow let the jury know this was my first trial so they wouldn’t hold my performance against our client.  Eventually it was time for opening statements.  I was shaky, scared and had notes I couldn’t read.  Lo and behold,  as I talked, I began to feel more secure. I was doing it! Just when I was gathering steam, I heard a hissing sound from the defense table.  I ignored it and continued. The hissing came again and again.  Don’t be sidetracked I told myself.  Finally, I heard Dick yelling (quietly) in frustration  - Karen – you’ve got all the names mixed up!  The 12 jurors, judge, bailiff, court reporter, parties, other attorney and my mentor stared at me.  What a dunce.  I looked at the jury smiled sheepishly and said – you know, this is my very first trial.  I’m not nearly as experienced as the Plaintiff’s lawyer.  If from time to time I make a mistake, I apologize. Please bear with me.  Four days later the jury came in with my defense verdict.  Lessons:  8) Jurors appreciate humility and honesty; 9) You can’t just focus on the presentation, you must see what is happening in the courtroom; 10) It’s not whether you might make a mistake in trial, it’s simply a question of when you make a mistake, are you going to be able to laugh at yourself, deal with it and move forward.

When I was an older lawyer, smug in my ways, I was defending a case where the target defendant was trying to wrongfully implead my client who was a co-worker of the injured Plaintiff.  You can’t sue the co-worker, I explained to the young defense lawyer.  It’s crystal clear.  Duh. The day of the motion hearing I arrived at 1:00 ready to squish her flat.  The courtroom doors were locked.  I waited and waited until a terrible thought crossed my mind. Where was everyone? I called my office.  It was at 11:00 not 1:00. I missed it!  I crumpled down on the bench in the hall and tried to stop hyperventilating.  Through a haze of misery I called my opponent.  There was nothing to do but lay my soul bare.  I could tell she would have liked to lord it over me, but since I had eaten humble pie, she didn’t have the heart. Later, I appealed the court’s decision which Division I overturned on an a buse of discretion standard.  Lessons: 11) If you think you’re invincible, you will be unpleasantly surprised; 12) Don’t get too discouraged when you lose the skirmishes, the thing to do is win the war; 13) Learn how to type.

Recently in a small trial, I floated through voir dire, was excellent in opening and presented the Plaintiff who was wonderful. The next witness was my client’s treating doctor.  It was his first time in trial.  I figured the jury would like him and be favorably disposed since he was not a professional witness.  Wrong.  First, he forgot to bring his chart.  I gave him my ER 904 copies which he fumbled through, but still couldn’t find anything.  When he did, he would lose his place.  The injuries were left sided, but he couldn’t find any reference to left sided. He was sincere, humble, believable, but not persuasive nor authoritative.  He was the only care provider who treated my client.  The pleasant look on my face grew fixed.  I couldn’t wait to get him off the stand.   I figured out ways to deal with this “slight” set back, mainly having different witnesses (including the defense medical examiner) read the doctor’s notes into the record, but the case had suffered a blow.  Lessons:  14) You can’t control everything; 15) When things do go sideways, try not to panic or give up; 16)  Do your best and forgive yourself for not being perfect.

I love being a Plaintiff’s lawyer and reap great personal satisfaction in helping victims of injustice.  One morning I decided to bring my three girls to court so they could watch me in action.  On the way out the door, my ten year old told me my outfit was ”<critical look and grimace> okay… but <sigh> those shoes mom.”  I trundled them down to King County Superior and as we walked from the parking lot to the second avenue entrance, they whined about the smell and marveled that the courthouse was so “ugly”.  Their favorite part was going through security.  Our case was special set and counsel argued for a good 20 minutes.  When it was over I proudly asked the girls what they thought.  “Well, said the eldest – “it wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t understand a word you said.”  “Boring” piped in my nine year old.  The six year old was the most impressed - “You weren’t scared.”  Lessons:  17) Our sense of self-importance is self imposed; 18) Our job is just that.

 (Photo:  When this article was written this is how old the girls were).

Here are some thoughts on how to immediately and effectively connect with a jury:

• Stand and face the panel
• Own the courtroom floor, don’t stand still, don’t pace frantically either
• Maintain proper interpersonal distance, don’t stand too far away, don’t get too close
• Don’t think of it as rocket science, think of it as chit chat…organized, focused chit chat
• Pay attention to body language – yours and theirs
• Uncross your arms
• Don’t stick your hands in your pocket
• Don’t hold your hands behind your back
• Don’t read questions
• Make sure all the jurors can hear you
• Give to get
• Don’t write down answers (there’s not enough time)
• Speak up
• Lean in slightly towards the juror you’re speaking with
• Invite the jurors to speak as a group if the court allows
• Don’t use a podium unless the court requires it
• Make eye contact with everyone, somehow, and don’t look like an FBI agent while you’re doing so
• Be animated, friendly, engaging, interested, open, genuine
• Use open ended questions
• Don’t advocate
• If you feel phony guess what…
• Encourage the formation of groups
• Listen to the answers and deal with them
• Mirror
• Don’t paraphrase answers
• Stop talking so much – the jurors are the ones we’re interested in hearing from
• Give tidbits of information about the case, but don’t make an opening statement – the jurors will see right through you and the judge won’t be too happy either
• Proactively transition between jurors instead of reactively  jumping around
• Be polite and respectful to everyone always
• Don’t call a juror by their first name, instead use Mr, Ms, or Juror number
• Ask the judge how the jurors should be addressed
• Relax your face muscles and let them speak too
• If the jurors are answering “yes” and “no” then wake up and smell the coffee – you’re doing it wrong
• Don’t point
• Do gesture palm side up
• Keep track of the responses somehow and highlight problem or question mark jurors after each round
• Do not spend more than half your time on liability
• Unless you have a special knack for keeping track, have someone help you
• Make sure you have heard from all the jurors
• Be extremely courteous and deferential to the trial judge
• Be civil and courteous to the other lawyer
• Don’t roll your eyes
• Don’t have your client assist you
• Don’t spend all of your time on the very last row of jurors unless there is a chance they will make the box
• Don’t look scared even if you are, but it’s fine to admit to being nervous
• Embrace the cliché - honey works better than vinegar
• Embrace a touch of levity whenever appropriate and natural
• Don’t allow negativity to permeate and overwhelm the proceeding
• Even when striking jurors, aspire to the positive

 These tips are included in the Voir Dire booklet being published by the SKWC law firm with a release date of December 2010.  If you would like to be on the mailing list, please send me an email.