Courtroom Advocacy Course

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Introduction 3 Topics

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Why These Skills Matter in Court 4min

How you communicate face-to-face with your jury, your witnesses, and your judge can be the difference between success and failure when you take a case to trial.

Architecture in the Courtroom 7min

Architecture in the courtroom environment exercises influence on focus relationships and default physical compositions in trial.

Line Focus in the Courtroom 3min

How you manage attention with your physicality provides non verbal cues that inform the experience of jurors and witnesses during trial.

Focus Relationships 4 Topics

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Patterning for the Jury 5min

By consistently linking basic physical tools with broad ideas, you can provide your jury a more comprehensive understanding of testimony.

Focus Between Attorney and Juror 6min

The Focus Relationship between an attorney and the jury is heavily influenced by how a juror experiences their participation in trial.

Focus Between Attorney and Witness 6min

Managing the attention of a witness on the stand benefits from a strategic blend of linear and triangular focus relationships.

Focus Between Judge and Jury 5min

The focus relationship formed between each unique judge and each unique jury can be identified and used to guide communicative decisions in trial.

Witness Management 3 Topics

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Patterning for the Witness 5min

Patterns and cues can direct a witness to address their testimony to an attorney or directly to the jury in order to maximize the impact of testimony.

Line Focus for Direct and Cross 4min

Patterns of Full Front, Quarter Turn, and Profile help to direct witness attention during Direct and Cross.

Plane for Direct and Cross 6min

Using Plane in the well, at the podium, or from your counsel table is a powerful tool for witness management.

The Opening Statement 2 Topics

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Line Focus for the Opening Statement 7min

How you physically orient your torso in support of your opening statement can be used to direct and govern the attention patterns of your jury for an extended duration of time.

Opening Statement Performance Prep 6min

Adding strategic physicality in early rehearsals of your opening will allow you to better determine what movement to pair with content to be effective for courtroom delivery.

Strategic Applications 3 Topics

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Given Circumstances in Trial 6min

The WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW are critical communication points that shape a jury’s perception of both the testimony before them and of you as an advocate.

Understanding the Juror Experience 4min

In order to structure successful advocacy, it's important to recognize and work to support the way that jurors process their experience in the jury box.

Outcomes for Communications in Trial 6min

The verdict may be the legal outcome of record, but many smaller communicative outcomes work together to both support that verdict and shape your reputation as an advocate.

Fundamental Skills Gallery 16 Topics

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One Breath, One Thought 3min

A listener finds meaning in the rhythm and patterning of a speaker’s voice. That nonverbal punctuation is communicated by breathing points in speech.

Think, Breathe, Speak 3min

When we inhale to speak we cue the body to produce sound. If that cue is delivered before we have a thought prepared to articulate, we fill that gap with sounds like “ums” and “uhs.” A simple order of operations can help keep our speech clear and filler-free.

Practicing Directive Thoughts 5min

Some thoughts can be acted upon, and some thoughts are commentaries on actions. In order to take more agency over our own performance, we can pair a Diaphragmatic Breath with an Actionable Intention to create a Directive Thought.

The Emotional Center 4min

There is a visceral reaction felt in the body in response to external stimuli, what is referred to in the western tradition as a “gut feeling.” We can use this concept to physically project our own attention, and to insulate ourselves from external attention that feels overwhelming, invasive, or outside our comfort zone.

Understanding Line Focus 4min

Focus and Attention can be given, requested, drawn, and denied by the way the torso of the body is physically oriented in space. Line Focus is a concept word that allows us to articulate the flow of that attention.

Understanding Physical Orientation 4min

We can organize the use of Line Focus into five basic Physical Orientations. Full Front, Quarter Turn, Profile, Three-Quarter Turn, and Full Back.

Understanding Frame and Stance 5min

Frame is a concept word that refers to the physical structure of the body, and Stance is a concept word that describes the width of the Base used to support the Frame. Narrow, Basic, and Wide Stances can be used as a way to soften or amplify physical presence.

Finding a Ready Position 4min

A simple combination of Counterbalance and availability to gesture create a Ready Position that is easy to depart from and return to.

Understanding Counterbalance 5min

Counterbalance is a concept word that describes the relationship between the Base and the actions of the torso of the body. Narrow Stances restrict counterbalanced movement, while Wider Stances increase it.

Navigating Space 4min

We can use the concepts of Level, Horizontal, and Plane to describe the way the body travels through and occupies space.

Understanding Plane 4min

Plane is a concept word that allows us to describe physical positioning forward or backward on a line. This can be travel-focused, moving from one location in space to another, or more localized, inclining or declining the torso in relation to the object of interest.

Understanding Level 5min

Level is a concept word we can use to describe the elevation of our Line of Sight in space. Level Dynamics can be influenced by both physical choices and by aspects of an architectural environment.

Understanding Horizontal 5min

Horizontal is a concept word that we can use to describe lateral movement and positioning. This idea can be understood from both the personal and the external perspective.

Understanding Linear Gesture 5min

Linear Gesture is a gestural pattern that is supportive of verbal content that is fact-based and direct.

Understanding Rounded Gesture 5min

Rounded Gesture is a flexible gestural pattern that is supportive of narrative based verbal exchange.

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Course Includes

6 Lessons
31 Topics
Course Certificate

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