Look at me!

[This column appeared in TOP VERDICTS]

A great trial lawyer must harmonize his or her oral and visual presentations, so that they complement each other rather than competing for the jury's attention. This article offers three tips to help you achieve this balance at trial.

1. Avoid the "redundancy effect." The "redundancy effect" is a phenomenon in which the listener is provided with additional, but unnecessary or duplicative, information. This effect ultimately hinders the learning process. See Jin P. (2012) Redundancy Effect. In: Seel N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, Massachusetts. At trial, lawyers create this effect by asking a jury to receive the same message, in different ways, at the same time. For example, a diagram that can be understood without text, but nevertheless includes text to explain it. Or a PowerPoint slide with text that a jury can read for itself, but the lawyer reads anyway.

Research has shown that this approach is counterproductive because it causes an increase in extraneous cognitive load -- i.e., the jury has to integrate all of the information it receives, and redundancy forces it to do more work to determine what matters. J. Sweller et al., "Cognitive Load Theory," Explorations in the Learning Sciences, Instructional Systems and Performance Technologies 1.

The more effective approach is to direct the jury to focus on just one medium of communication at a time, whether oral or visual. That principle is reiterated in my house, on most days: when my wife is talking to one of our kids, she routinely begins by saying, "Look at me." The point there -- as in the courtroom -- is to make sure that they are focused on her words. (How effective this phrase actually is with our kids is beyond the scope of this article.)

In the courtroom, you can avoid the redundancy effect by first ensuring that the demonstrative evidence is self-explanatory, with one point per slide. Your discussion about the demonstrative evidence can then be focused on enhancing the point already made.

In some cases, such as in my representation of the Baltimore Ravens regarding the Ray Rice domestic violence controversy, the visual evidence speaks for itself. In one of my recent trials, however, the video surveillance did not tell a clear story, so both sides worked to shape the jury's interpretation of that evidence. Under such circumstances, you should first contextualize the demonstrative evidence, then allow the evidence to speak for itself, and, finally, discuss the points you want to make about that evidence.

2. Turn off the screen when appropriate. Some folks abide by the principle that when you have nothing meaningful to say, you should stay silent. That is a wise approach and it applies to demonstrative evidence, such as a PowerPoint slide.

The question here is whether you must use so-called "immersive graphics," which incorporate graphics throughout an entire presentation. The answer may depend on whether you are talking to a graphics consultant, but the decision should certainly be based on how you operate best.

Before a two-week trial in Little Rock, I met with our graphics consultant to prepare for my opening statement, and we had a spirited discussion about whether my opening statement should be accompanied by immersive graphics. The consultant thought it should. But I don't always operate best that way. First, there was not always a useful graphic for everything I wanted to say. Second, I wanted to use the rhetoric and rhythm of my presentation to make sure that the jury was focused -- "Look at me!" -- on the journey I was leading them on. Simply put, it was not my style. And for that case, and that opening statement, immersive graphics was not the right approach.

Immersive graphics may work for you. But if and when they do not, just turn off the screen. In a PowerPoint presentation, if you hit the "B" or the period key, it will turn the screen black. Hitting that key again will bring you back to the presentation.

3. For demonstratives, use more pictures than text. Juries tend to expect drama in the courtroom, because that is what they see in the movies. They expect that there will often be forensic evidence, because that is what they see in television shows. And they anticipate that demonstrative evidence will have more pictures than text, because the age of social media has cultivated such expectations. On Facebook and Twitter, for example, folks often just scroll through and find the most compelling picture or video before deciding to read (or like, or retweet) the post.

Fortunately, this last expectation aligns with best practices for demonstratives. Most people learn more effectively through visual presentations. When you have something to say, speak it. And when you have something to illustrate, show it.

Following this principle enhances the first two tips mentioned in this article. If you avoid too many words on a slide, then you are less likely to spend time reading them. This is a particular tendency with bullet points, which you should avoid in your graphics.

But the realities of a trial may lead you to adjust this approach. When you do, be deliberate and strategic. In one trial, I used a rhetorical phrase that encapsulated the theme of our case. After I articulated the phrase, it appeared on the screen several times for the jury. The phrase was short and crisp, and so it had the effect of repeating the point rather than trying to duplicate it simultaneously.

As with many rules, these should be broken whenever it is necessary to meet your goals of persuading a jury. Look closely at yourself, stay true to your style, and make sure that the jury is always "looking" at you, too.