A Winning Tip
Your ability to persuade jurors relies heavily on your ability to communicate effectively. Communication occurs on many levels–verbal, nonverbal, logical, emotional and perceptual. When you communicate using the full range of perceptual modes you give yourself the advantage of an oft-ignored yet powerful tool of persuasion.
Perceptual modes are how we perceive the world, they represent our internal language. 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?
Since we all have a predominant mode, we tend to communicate in that mode, to the relative exclusion of the other modes. Many men, for example, are visually oriented, and thus express themselves in visual terms. Women are frequently more kinesthetically (feeling) oriented, and communicate using kinesthetic language. 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, making 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.
Noelle C. Nelson, Ph.D. is a nationally respected psychologist, author, seminar leader and legal consultant. A business trial consultant for nearly 20 years, Dr. Nelson works closely with attorneys, management and corporate executives so they present a persuasive and credible case before a judge and jury. Dr. Nelson’s books include The Power of Appreciation in Business (MindLab Publishing) and The Power of Appreciation in Everyday Life (Insomniac Press). http://www.noellenelson.com
Tags: courtroom, juries, trial, trial presentation, persuade jurors
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