Whether you like it or not, when you're in court you’re in a performance. As a theatre teacher for most of my adult life, I can attest that the lessons we teach actors are directly applicable to the skills a trial attorney needs to be highly successful in the courtroom. The attorney who is comfortable and confident, who uses the voice in expressive ways, making a connection with the jury, client or colleagues, is very likely to have an edge over the less expressive one. Attorney Laura Clark Fey attributes her theatre background with the ease and confidence she has always had in the courtroom. “Even as a fledgling attorney, I knew how to use my voice and body to tell my clients story. All that came from my years as an acting student.”
This article is the first in a series exploring how theatre-based training for the trial attorney can lead to greater ease, confidence, expressivity and connection with the jury. Though a smattering of attorneys have known for years that creative exploration of presentation techniques is a fun and effective way to improve litigation skills, it has recently become even more clear that experiential training offers meaningful and lasting change. In this first article we will address improving the voice through a theatre based curriculum voice. The second article offer insight into how acting techniques can strengthen the effectiveness of storytelling in your openings and closing. Finally, we will share yoga secretes to improve your courtroom performance.
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2013 that “the sound of a speaker’s voice matters twice as much as the content of the message.” In 350 BC, Demosthenes said, when asked the secret to his oratorical greatness, responded, “Delivery, delivery, delivery!” It may seem counterintuitive that how you say it matters more than what you say. Make no mistake, voice matters! People make judgments about us as soon as we open our mouths, as soon as we utter a word. Right or wrong, we are found to be educated or not, professional or not, calm and confident or not, hirable or not, believable or not. These assumptions are often formed solely on the quality of our voice and the clarity of our speech.
Voice quality can draw a jury in or push them away. A compelling, authentic and intelligible voice can get a jury on your side. An attorney can lose power and weaken rapport if vocal quality is strident, harsh or nasally. They can sacrifice authority if words are not clear. They can lose credibility if volume is too low or too high; if the rate is too slow or too fast. A disconnect can occur when body language and gesture obscure the message.
In your role as a trial attorney, you will spend multiple hours and many days researching, writing, constructing and rehearsing your argument in order to insure success. Then you hope your voice will automatically come along for the ride. In most cases that is just not what happens.
Knowing a few basics about voice can dramatically improve your performance.
Ridding the body of habituation tension is the first step. Tension anywhere in the body murders the voice. I suggest yoga, dancing or brisk walking with active arms. I have a morning routine I call vocal yoga which gets all the systems firing.
How you stand matters. Easy natural alignment helps the voice function more efficiently.
Breath is the power source of voice. What you hear and understand as human speech sounds in nothing more than disturbed air. If you want a full, authoritative and powerful voice, you need to breathe deeply and centrally. I recommend breathing at each punctuation or thought shift. It slows you down to a pace that the audience can hear and comprehend fully.
Finally, you must make space in your mouth. Think of your mouth as your megaphone – your natural, built in amplifier. Compelling, authentic, clear speech comes through a relaxed and open mouth.
Attorney Laurie Koller, my co-author on the book Her Voice in Law, say this of theatre-based voice training, “There was a time when we thought you are either born with a gift for story telling or not. That’s just wrong. Sure, some people are gifted in that area. But others can learn to become fantastic story tellers with practice.”
By Rena Cook, Professor Emerita, TEDx speaker, presentation trainer, author of Her Voice In Law published by the ABA. https://www.americanbar.org/products/inv/book/393310705/
Performance Mastery: Command the Courtroom Stage - a Retreat, October 15-17, Rena Cook, Jesse Wilson and Natalie Andrews facilitate this theatre-based training for attorneys. Highly interactive and creative, parciapants will learn ease and confidence in front of the jury, dynamic and authentic presentations, powerful and timeless storytelling techniques from the stage and screen, clarity of body language, ease of vocal clarity and authority and strategies for preparing and presenting winning opening and closing. For details and registration: www.myvocalauthority.com/retreat