{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2Fbefc3bca-8fee-485a-b29d-b1c76c3808ef","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"50 \u2013 Sari de la Motte \u2013 Voir Dire & Opening: Forming The Best Jury Possible","description":"In this Trial Lawyer Nation podcast, Michael Cowen invites Sari de la Motte back to the show. Sari was one of our top episodes in 2019, so to celebrate 50 episodes and over 100,000 downloads we invited her to be our first returning guest. This show will cover voir dire, opening, the concept of group communication, and how all of these concepts help you form the best jury for your case.\nTo start things off, Sari shares that her book \u201chttps://www.trialguides.com/products/from-hostage-to-hero?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWldRelltVXdaV0ZrT1dJMCIsInQiOiJGR3ZOUHg2SXBvdnoyTTZTSDFpa1h5cEU5WHgxWG9VSEFnR0cwcjl2Nml1dnRKWnFma2FrR2RESzNGaU82ZXg2YlwvdVdHaENleTlnb1wvRWxad0JGMG1sNWNnTnN6Um5aM2ZSUzY3U0RkSXlJRktwY0IzMUx6UjdUelwvUVFrY01oYiJ9 (From Hostage to Hero: Captivate the Jury by Setting Them Free)\u201d is now available for purchase. She reveals how her desire to help trial lawyers understand why jurors \u201cdon\u2019t want to be there\u201d (summoned for jury duty), how to deal with this, and then lead them from their \u201chostageness \u2013 their inability to say no to this process\u201d to choosing to be a part of the jury, was how the idea for the book began. Michael adds how initially this reminded him of Carl Bettinger\u2019s book \u201cTwelve Heroes, One Voice\u201d in that both Carl and Sari believe it is important to help your jury become the hero in the case. But after working with Sari, Michael sees how she focuses more on the hostage aspect, shows you how to release the jury panel from this, works to help you understand how important nonverbal communication can be, and gives practical tips to use in the courtroom.\nJumping right in Michael introduces the highly debated topic of \u201cinclusive voir dire\u201d versus \u201cexclusionary voir dire.\u201d He reveals how in the past he has used exclusionary voir dire to find his bad jurors, but understanding Sari\u2019s thoughts on the \u201chostage mentality\u201d has made him rethink his voir dire technique. Putting it bluntly Sari gives the example of \u201cwhen you come in with the mindset of \u2018who here is out to kill me and how do I kill them first\u2019 that is like a poison and a disease\u201d which then spreads and has your potential jurors wanting to find a way to get out of being selected for your jury. A different mindset where you find the people who want to help you can change this and Sari\u2019s analogy involving hiring a new paralegal and sorting through resumes helps put everything into perspective.\nMichael pivots the conversation into how important mindset is for trial lawyers. Sari truly believes \u201chow you\u2019re thinking, affects how you act, which affects your results\u201d and explains how the CTFAR model can help. Michael gives the example of his mindset before his upcoming jury trial and how he is reminding himself \u201cjurors are good people and want to do the right thing and help my client.\u201d This example leads to Sari sharing just how useful the mindset of \u201cthe jurors love me\u201d was for a client of hers and how the success of this led to a $10 million dollar jury verdict. And if you are thinking \u201cthis is bullshit\u201d Sari explains the communication science behind it and why it works.\nMoving from mindset back to voir dire, Sari and Michael discuss how frustrated potential jurors are in the jury selection process. When jurors are not sure why they are there and what is happening it\u2019s critical to get to the point and say what they are in court to do. The next step is to then think about voir dire as a group process and not an individual process, because you are there to create a group and you want a group to reach a verdict in your case not 12 individuals. Michael adds how equally important it is to think about the information you share with the group, the order in which you share it, and how you shape the conversation. The order in which you share your information is crucial and your timing is too,...","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/80de4db6-da18-41b8-9643-156c5d06db25/tln-logo-itunes-1400.jpg"}