How to Persuade People Like a Silver-Tongued Trial Lawyer

When I was in law school, one of my professors — a no-nonsense New Yorker with a Harvard pedigree — liked to say that those of us who became trial attorneys would need to learn how to effectively communicate with a group of “shoe salesmen and janitors.”

That’s how he referred to juries.

Pretty brutal, I know. But his point was that despite all the high-level legal philosophy that was being jammed into our heads, we’d still have to learn to translate complex concepts into language an average person could understand.

As I entered the world of commercial litigation after law school, I saw this firsthand. The actual issues, theories, and applicable law involved were so ridiculously complex that our main objective became simple: make the jury like and trust us more than the other side.

And you don’t get a jury on your side by talking over their heads or about things they don’t care about. You’ve likely seen this in action yourself.

How was it that Johnnie Cochran overcame an avalanche of evidence that suggested O.J. Simpson was guilty of murder? After goading the prosecution into the biggest of mistakes (letting Simpson try on the shrunken bloody glove), Cochran gave the jury an easy-to-understand opportunity to let Simpson off:

If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.

Odds are, the benefits of your product or service are not as difficult to communicate as some nebulous legal theory. But in an attention-starved world where everyone is constantly bombarded with competing information, your message must be designed to slip into the mind of your prospect as effortlessly as possible.

That’s why you might want to think like a trial attorney when “making your case” with your content. Here are five ways that smart creators are like trial lawyers:

1. Spot the Issues

The first year of law school is designed to change the way you think. It’s an exercise in training the mind to spot legal issues in any given fact pattern.

Content marketers must do the same, but it’s called identifying compelling benefits and likely objections. The biggest way to miss with your content is to fail to understand the issues that matter to your prospective buyer. So start by spotting the issues first, just like an attorney approaches a new case.

2. Use Short Words

A smart trial attorney knows that a short word is always better than a longer word with the same meaning, and smart content creators know the same.

Short words are not only easy to understand, but they also effortlessly pack more emotional power without giving the appearance that you’re “trying too hard” to persuade.

3. Use Common Expressions

Both attorneys and content marketers must understand who they are speaking to, and a big part of that understanding involves knowing and using the language the audience uses. Most people won’t be impressed with your sophisticated vocabulary.

They’ll be much more impressed that you’re “one of them.” Use the expressions, colloquialisms, and even slang that the people you’re trying to persuade use, and you’ll communicate more effectively.

4. Use Lyrical Language

You don’t have to resort to ridiculous rhymes like Johnnie Cochran, but language with rhythm and flow is pleasing to the ear and easy for the brain to digest.

When choosing your words, be sensitive to opportunities for alliteration, repetition, and even subtle rhyming.

5. Paint the Right Picture

Great trial attorneys and marketers understand that words are simply symbols that trigger mental imagery. The more you “show, not tell” makes all the difference.

But make sure you’re not inadvertently painting a negative picture in the prospect’s mind with your metaphors and word choice, or you’ll see your argument fall apart fast.

Tapping into Your Inner Attorney

So, there’s a crash course in how thinking like a trial lawyer can help you create better content. And you didn’t even have to suffer through law school or lawyer jokes to do it.

What do you think? Do you see any benefit to dragging out your inner attorney to “win your case” with your content? Let me know in the comments.

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Keep going-

Brian

P.S. Ready to transform your expertise into location-independent income and upgrade your life at midlife? Leading Expert Launchpad and the related content in Further Premium gives you the complete roadmap, with business building instruction, financial planning advice, expat guidance, and more.

further: flashback

🎶 Journey – Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), Frontiers, 1983 🎶

Sure, it would be easy to pull a winning track from Journey’s 1981 album Escape. It takes courage, though, to select the cringe-inducing video for Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) from follow-up Frontiers. It’s a great song, but in 1999 MTV chose it as 13th on its list of the 25 Worst Videos of All Time — enjoy! (YouTube)

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