By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Some observers didn’t think it possible, but here we are: Currently sitting pretty at the top of the polls for the GOP Presidential Nomination for 2016 is…Donald Trump. The businessman, real estate magnate, reality show M.C., and general “Tell it like I see it” personality is currently polling at close […]
Don’t Be Seduced by a Cheering Minority Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: “What’s the “credibility fish,” you ask? It is the shape in the image above: The graph that is made when measuring the credibility of each of two parties over the course of a simple mock trial. We ask the mock jurors to rate each party’s credibility on a scale that
Aim for the “Credibility Fish” in Your Mock Trial Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: When I was still a graduate student, I remember the Reverend Jesse Jackson delivering the 1988 Democratic Convention address in Atlanta: his famous “Common Ground” speech. In that wide-ranging address, he tied together diverse issues — expansion of the party, the arms race, voting rights, health care, student loans —
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By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As the Beatles sang, “I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together” (I Am the Walrus). Okay, so it wasn’t their most coherent musical statement. But it does illustrate a critically important strategy in persuasion, particularly the “we are all together” part.
Appeal to the ‘Us’ in Your Audience Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Attorneys know that, in the public’s eye, the profession isn’t winning any popularity contests. In a Gallup poll last year, only 21 percent rated lawyers’ ethics as “high” (16 percent) or “very high” (5 percent). This compares to 80 percent who say nurses’ ethics are high and 65 percent who say the
Account for Anti-Lawyer Bias in Legal Malpractice Trials Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The name “Discovery” doesn’t quite do justice to the litigation phase it describes. When it’s done well and with purpose, the point of discovery isn’t so much to discover evidence as it is to create evidence. In deposition, for example, the deposing attorney’s fondest wish is not to discover the witness’s view of what
Don’t Be Led (in Deposition) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is one of those irritating word pairs in English, like “your” and “you’re” — similar spelling and sound, but different meaning and frequent confusion. “Adopt” means to “take something as your own,” while “adapt” means to “make an alteration in response to a situation.” The meanings are different, but
Witnesses: Don’t Adopt, Do Adapt Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is said that you know someone when you know what they hope for and what they fear. Since we’re just past Halloween, let’s go with the latter. A new survey coming out of Chapman University focuses on the greatest fears held by Americans. Based on a random sample of
Know What Scares (the Top Five Fears) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As of the press time for this post, panic over Ebola is rising in the United States. With the first U.S. diagnosis of a patient last week, and that patient’s passing shortly afterward, it seems that the media — both social and institutional — are dominated by fears of a
Expect Fear to be Driven by Dread, Not Data Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Trial lawyers and consultants know how important it is to boil it down, and tend to agree with the three points famously made by Henry David Thoreau: “Simplify, simplify, simplify!” Our main reason for doing so, however, might be a little bit too simple. It is not just that simpler
Treat This as Simple Truth: What’s Simple Seems Like Truth Read More »