Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services.

He gasps, “My friend is dead! What can I do?”

The operator says “Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.”

There is a silence, then two gunshots are heard. Back on the phone, the guy says “OK, now what?”

The first time you hear that joke, it’s hilarious. The second time, it’s still pretty funny. By the third time, however, it starts to lose its luster. That’s the danger of repetition. Yet despite the danger, nearly every trial lawyer I’ve ever met lives by some variation of this theme: “You’ve got to repeat your most important fact three times before the jurors will remember it.”

Indeed, it’s true:

Repetition makes it easier for jurors to remember important details.
Repetition makes it easier for jurors to remember important details.
Repetition makes it easier for jurors to remember important details.

Every trial lawyer knows that repeating information makes it easier for jurors to remember. However, experienced trial lawyers also know that just because something is important once, that doesn’t necessarily mean anybody wants to hear it again.

That’s the paradox of repetition. Repetition helps us remember, but it can also bore us to sleep. As the trial lawyer, your goal is repeat the information often enough that your jury remembers it, but without putting them to sleep. Here’s the good news: You can repeat repeat important information without boring your jurors, just so long as you follow a few simple guidelines.

First, modify each repetition. Unmodified repetition is a surefire cure for insomnia. The repeated information needs to be different than the first version. You can’t simply repeat it, because that’s not only boring, it’s condescending. Basically, unmodified repetition tells your jurors, “You dummies probably didn’t get this the first time, so I’m forced to repeat it for you.”

To avoid that problem, make sure that your second iteration differs from the first. For example, if you made your first point with oral direct examination, consider making your second repetition with a different medium, such as a demonstrative aid, video testimony, or a physical exhibit.

Second, repetitions need to get better. Each version should increase in strength. Start with your weakest iteration. Each successive repetition should be stronger, otherwise we lose our interest. For example, you could start with the verbal testimony, then add the photo, then add the demonstrative exhibit. Or you could start with the tamest description, and progress towards the strongest and most visceral description. You want to increase the intensity. If you start with a 10, your next witness can’t be a 9, because even though normally a 9 might be great, it doesn’t work in this situation.

It’s like watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, and then following it up with a double-feature showing of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and then Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They’re both enjoyable movies, but they’re a bit of a letdown after watching the original. If you’re gonna repeat something, the second version needs to be more memorable. Think Godfather II and The Empire Strikes Back, rather than Jaws II and Rocky II.

Third, keep it interesting. That principle is a little vague, but important nonetheless. You can repeat information all day long, just so long as you keep the jury’s interest. But the moment it stops being interesting, you’ll lose them. Take the Rocky franchise for example. All of the movies are basically the same (Rocky faces unbeatable opponent, Rocky does montage training sequence to the best workout music ever written, Rocky fights the unbeatable opponent, “Yo, Adrian!”), yet despite the repetitive nature of the scripts, millions of people enjoyed all of the films. (Well, except for Rocky V — that one really sucked).

The same thing is true with Toy Story II, Spiderman III, and the James Bond franchise. Not only don’t audiences mind the repetition, they actually enjoy it, because each new version is interesting. Your jurors feel the same way. They don’t mind hearing the same information a second or third time, just so long as you hold their attention.

The importance of repetition during trial can’t be overstated. Jurors may miss an important point the first time it’s presented, so it’s usually essential to repeat the point a second or third time. However, you can’t afford to lose the jury’s attention by mindlessly repeating the same information over and over again. But if you vary how you repeat the information, improve each repetition, and keep things interesting, your jurors will remember all of the important details in your case.

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The lights dim, and the first slide appears. You think to yourself, “Oh no, another boring PowerPoint presentation.” The first line of text soars in from the left, each character twirling and dancing across the screen. You count eleven bullet points on the first screen (the shortest of which is sixteen words long). The second slide is even more confusing. The third is a picture of his kids. Fortunately, the room is dark, so no one notices as you start to fall asleep…

Why are most PowerPoint presentations so dreadful? When was the last time you saw a presentation that was actually enhanced by PowerPoint? The reason PowerPoint decimates the effectiveness of most presentations is because the presenters don’t understand how or why to use it. But, when you need to illustrate a point in the courtroom, PowerPoint can be a tremendous addition to your trial skills toolbox. This article will give you tips for improving your presentations, both inside and outside the courtroom.

The purpose of PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a supplement to, not a substitute for, your courtroom presentation. PowerPoint allows you to add visual imagery to your arguments, but slides aren’t the reason why the jurors came to your presentation. If PowerPoint presentations were that effective, you could stay home and just email the jurors a copy of your slides. The substance of the message comes from the presenter, not the slides. Once you accept this philosophy, your PowerPoint presentations will dramatically improve.

Guidelines for creating slides. Too many PowerPoint presentations become garbled and confusing because the presenter tries to cram too many ideas onto a single slide or uses every tool available from the Custom Animations toolbox. Follow these guidelines to minimize confusion and enhance understanding in your next PowerPoint presentation.

• One main point per slide. Slides are cheap (free, actually) so you don’t need to cram multiple points on a single slide. If you’re making an important point, give it a slide of its own.
• Keep it simple. Step 10’ away from your monitor and look at your slide. Does the main point jump out at you? Is it immediately clear to you? If not, you may have too much information on the slide.
• Use spell check. Check your presentation before you get to the room. Spelling errors can ruin an otherwise professional presentation.
• Font selection. Don’t use bizarre fonts – no one can read them. Stick with traditional, sans-serif fonts (ex. Impact, Helvetica, Arial) – they are easier for your audience to read. Also, use a large type size (40 pt or higher) for easier comprehension.
• Make it easy on the eye. Your text should stand out from the background. Can you easily read the slide from the back of the room? Yellow text on a dark blue background works well, and so does black text on white, but experiment to find the color scheme that works best for you, your message, and your audience.
• Use images. Avoid PowerPoint’s standard clip art – everybody’s seen it. (How many times have you seen the picture of the man hitting his desk or the guy with the light bulb over his head?) Instead, use pictures. Search the web for royalty free stock photography, or use a digital camera to create your own. Be conservative in the number and style of images you choose. PowerPoint is a great tool for showing the jurors photos, exhibits, or documents as they are admitted into evidence, but the rules of evidence still apply. Make sure that your exhibits have been admitted before you present them to the jury.
• Keep a design template for each slide. Avoid the standard design templates that come with PowerPoint – everyone recognizes them. Create your own design template. Maybe you want to put your name, logo, or company name on each slide. If your firm does numerous presentations for the community, it may be worth the investment to hire a graphic designer to create a template for your slides.

Guidelines for presenting. Even well designed slides can’t communicate your message if you present them poorly.

• Avoid silly text animations or transitions. Admit it. You hate those stupid wipes, slides, and swirls between slides. You hate it when the text “types” out one word at a time or flies in from random corners of the slide. So does your audience. Minimize the custom animation effects and focus your attention on the substance of your slides.
• Don’t read the slides to your audience. Assume your audience is smart. Let them read the slide to themselves. If they’re too dumb to read the slide, they probably can’t grasp the points you’re trying to communicate anyway. To make sure they have enough time to digest the information, read it to yourself, quietly, at least twice.
• Can everyone see it? Get to the courtroom early so you can look at the screen from various spots in the jury box. If you can’t see the screen, rearrange the room layout so that all of your jurors can see the screen.
• No shadow puppets. Don’t walk between the projector and the screen – it distracts the audience.
• Don’t compete with the slides. If you’ve finished discussing the information on the slide and don’t want the slide to draw away the audience’s attention while you speak, dim the screen. Hit ”B” to turn the screen black, or “W” to turn the screen white.
• Burn a copy “for the record.” Consider how a PowerPoint will look for the appellate court. Many guilty verdicts have been overturned because of prosecutorial mistakes during closing argument, and some substantial verdicts have been overturned on appeal because of improper closing arguments. To ensure a complete record for the appellate courts, consider burning a CD or printing out a hard copy of your (or your opponent’s) presentation and adding it to the court record. Whether it’s in the courtroom or in the appellate courts, the record is important because… “If they can’t see it… they can’t see it!”
• Have a backup plan. Sooner or later, it’s going to happen. The computer will crash, the projector won’t work, a virus will eat your presentation… Whatever happens, have a backup plan and be prepared to present without your slides. When the substance of your message comes from you, not your slides, you’ll deliver a powerful presentation, with, or even without, your PowerPoint slides.

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Jack Bauer may be an expert with firearms, but Kiefer Sutherland, the actor who portrays him on the hit show 24, isn’t. To make sure that the character looks like he knows what he’s doing when he handles a weapon like the Sig Sauer P228 9mm (either with or without the silencer), you can bet that Kiefer spent a significant amount of time familiarizing himself with the prop before they started filming. Before your next trial, it’s essential that you familiarize yourself with your props, too.

�Wait a second,� you say, �What props? My trials aren’t like the ones on Court TV. I’m not bringing any ‘props’ into the courtroom.�

Yes, you will. Whether you know it or not, during your next trial, you will be handling a variety of props. Every exhibit and demonstrative aid that you’ll show the jury is a prop. The computer and the projector that you’ll use to display images are props. Even the lectern where you’ll place your legal pad is a prop.

Your goal is to make sure that your prop handling doesn’t interfere with your case presentation. You don’t want the jurors focusing on your props or how you present the information — you want them focusing on your images and on your client’s story. To avoid looking incompetent or unprofessional during your next trial, you need to spend some time practicing with your props. If you don’t, you run the risk of destroying the flow of your presentation or appearing foolish and clumsy. Here are a few guidelines to ensure that your props enhance the presentation of your case.

Keep your props close at hand. In every theater performance, the stage manager is responsible for ensuring that all of the show’s props are in place and ready to go. Behind the scenes, they use a different �prop table� to hold the props for each act. The prop table is covered with butcher’s paper, and then they draw an outline of each prop on the table, so they can immediately tell whether or not all of the necessary props are present.

During trial, if you’re unable to locate your exhibits or don’t know whether or not they’ve been admitted into evidence, you can lose your mind. Luckily, you can use something similar to a prop table to guarantee that you have all of your exhibits for trial and that they’re properly admitted into evidence. The best resource to use is an exhibit list where you’ll list every item that you intend to introduce. You can download a sample copy here: http://www.trialtheater.com/documents/Exhibitlogs.pdf

Present your props for maximum impact. How you handle an object affects how the jurors will perceive it. If you treat it with reverence and respect, the jurors will think it’s more important than if you carelessly toss it about. When you treat the firearm as if it’s loaded and eager to kill someone (perhaps even refusing to touch it, asking the bailiff or a law enforcement witness to display it to the jury), jurors will think it’s more dangerous than if you treat it indifferently or wave it about carelessly. If you ask your witness to put on a pair of latex gloves before displaying a baggie of cocaine to the jurors, you can subtly send a message, �This stuff is dangerous - you don’t want to touch it.� What message do you want your exhibit to send to your jurors? Think in advance about how you’ll handle your evidence, so that you send the right message.

Know how the prop is supposed to work. Play with the flipchart holder until you’re confident it won’t collapse in the middle of your closing argument. Fiddle with the scale model until you know that it will work the same way every time you demonstrate it. Mark your photos and charts so you can instantly tell which side is up. A small amount of extra effort ahead of time will prevent you from stumbling or bumbling with your props during trial.

Make sure they can see your props. Can the jurors see your exhibits? Can they see over the rail of the jury box to examine your scale model? Is the print on your poster large enough for that octogenarian juror to read? Are the fluorescent lights creating a glare? Do you need to adjust the blinds so that the sun doesn’t shine in their eyes? Is your prop hidden behind the lectern or behind the witness stand? Are you or your witness standing between the jurors and your prop? Remember, if they can’t see your evidence, it doesn’t exist.

Be comfortable with your props. The courtroom can be a dangerous place, especially in criminal court where it’s a regular occurrence to see kilos of cocaine or semi-automatic firearms introduced into evidence. If you’ve never seen or handled these types of items before, your body language can affect your presentation of the evidence, especially if your hands are shaking when you publish the exhibit to the jury. Take some time before trial to learn how to handle them safely and comfortably.

Practice with the computer projector. By the time you get to court, it’s too late to discover your computer can’t talk to your projector or that you’re missing the connecting cables. Get to the courtroom early to hook up your laptop, set up the screen, focus the image, and make sure everything works. Since you’re early, go sit in the jury box and make sure you can clearly see the screen. If you’re not using the projector until later in the trial, learn how long it takes to power up so you can turn it on before you need it. Make sure you know how to switch the input from your laptop to your DVD player.

Practice with your laptop. There’s a story (probably apocryphal) about an investigator who was delivering a PowerPoint presentation to a group of FBI agents. Unfortunately, after connecting his laptop to the projector, he opened the wrong file, and unintentionally shared his collection of child pornography with more than 150 FBI agents. (Supposedly, he was arrested on the spot and everyone broke early for donuts).

You won’t have anything that extreme on your computer, but you may have exhibits that haven’t been admitted into evidence yet or case notes you don’t want your opponent to see. Invest some time cleaning up your computer desktop and label all of your folders appropriately, so you don’t accidentally open the wrong folder or file. (If you have any doubt about whether you’re opening the correct document, simply place a piece of paper in front of the projector to black out the screen until you’ve found the correct document.)

Make sure your laptop is plugged in. A few years ago, I was watching a community theater show that was using a laptop computer to present photos, audio, and video recordings above the stage. The imagery and sound were integral to the successful presentation of the show. Before the show started, the technician checked to make sure it was plugged it, but sometime during the performance, the power cord came unplugged. At first, no one noticed, because the computer continued playing on battery power. But then, halfway through the final act, the video (which was integral to the act) suddenly winked out and died!

Don’t let the same thing happen during your trial. You don’t want to reboot your laptop during closing argument or scramble for a power solution halfway through your direct examination. Your laptop has an indicator which tells you if the computer is plugged in or running on battery power. Make sure you know where it is so you can occasionally monitor it during trial.

Used effectively, props can dramatically enhance the persuasiveness and memorability of your case. Invest time and effort learning how to properly handle your props, and your case presentation will be smooth and worry-free.

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