My Baker's Dozen Suggested Testifying Pluses and Minuses for Answers during Expert Witness Testimony

These pluses and minuses have to do with both your content and the delivery of your content during your responses to questioning under oath:

Pluses:

* Bringing your ethics with you to a trial. This includes maintaining objectivity and presenting facts fairly.

* Delivering your answers in simple English, even when the questioning lawyer asks you questions using acronyms or industry terms.

* Answering questions honestly, even if those answers do not help your side of the case.

* Maintaining an air of calmness and composure at all times, when you answer a question, when you listen to a question, and even when a cross examining attorney demonstrates occasional rudeness in a question.

* Recognizing the limits of your own expertise, and only answering questions within that scope of experience. Do not permit an attorney to cajole you into stretching what you know and commenting casually on something beyond your experience.

* Answering politely and briefly, even when the cross examining attorney uses body language or voice control to encourage you to expound further.

Minuses:

* Losing your composure under harsh questioning. You will maintain your professional credibility with the jury if you respond to all questions - simple or complicated, casual or rude - with both calmness and composure.

* Speaking in technical terms to the jury. They will either become bored or not understand your work. You have to speak in plain English, and you have to interpret your work in plain English for them.

* Acting superior or arrogant because of your experience or position in life.

* Arguing or using sarcasm with the cross examining lawyer.

* Exaggerating wonderful points for your side. You can, however, clarify or emphasize the strength or weakness of points of fact. Exaggeration undermines believability.

* Answering questions that force you to reach beyond your professional comfort zone. Guesswork falls into this category. Do not ever guess during testimony. You are there for expert expertise. Nobody expects you to know everything, so if you do not know something, even about your specialty, just accept it.

* Taking a case that is outside your field of expertise.

My Baker's Dozen Suggested Testifying Pluses and Minuses for Answers during Expert Witness Testimony

By: Judd Robbins

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