Today, I was a witness in a trial. I hate being a witness. There is nothing so nerve-wracking as sitting in that witness box. Do I look at the judge or at the attorney? Am I speaking up? What if I don't knew the answer to a question? What will the other side ask me. Nerve-wracking. I did fine, but it got me thinking on what it takes to be a good witness. Here are 10 Tips.
1. Speak loudly, slowly and clearly. Those microphones do not necessarily amplify; they are there to record. Some of us are a bit on the hard of hearing side, and if you speak quickly, you are probably not speaking clearly, and I will have to ask you to repeat yourself. It's even worse if the Judge has to ask you to repeat yourself....continuously.
2. Look at whomever makes you most comfortable. I was a judge at this year's high school mock trial competition, and all of the coaches must have told their students to direct their testimony to the judge. Having them all stare at me when they answered questions was a lot forced and made me a bit uncomfortable. When I testify, I look at whomever is asking me the question and occasionally, at the judge. It just feels more natural for me. Do what feels natural to you.
3. Control your facial expression. Just because the witness box may be below where the judge is sitting or directly to their side, or just because the judge appears to be focused on the paper in front of them, do not assume they aren't watching you. They can see you, and part of how they view your testimony is how you act.
4. Listen to the question and answer only that question. Take a deep breath. Calm yourself. Really listen to what is being asked of you, and answer it. Don't answer the question you think they should be asking. Don't answer more than the question, even if you think it helps. If they need to, they'll ask a follow-up. Remember, the answer to the question, "Do you know what day it is?" is "yes," not the name of the day.
5. Don't argue with the questioner. Just answer the question. The judge wants the information; and they don't want to have to play referee to get it. Remember, even if it is the opposing party or their attorney asking you the question, they are doing their jobs in the courtroom. It's not personal.
6. Don't play word games with the questioner. That semantics crap just annoys everyone. If a word has a common meaning and it is used in the usual way, don't play games. Just answer the question.
7. Don't be afraid to ask to have the question rephrased or repeated. Sometimes, questioners think they are really clear in their questioning, because after all, they know what they're asking. Problem is, sometimes, that's not so clear to our listener. It's OK, ask us to say it a different way or to repeat it.
8. Don't guess. If you don't know, say you don't know. Don't do it with every question, or you violate rule #6. It's OK not to know or remember everything.
9. If the other side says "objection," STOP TALKING IMMEDIATELY. Let the Judge and the attorneys discuss the issue. If the objection is sustained, don't answer the question. If it is overruled, go ahead and respond, but not until the Judge rules. Maybe I would be rich if I had a dime for every time a witness tried to explain why what they were about to say wasn't really objectionable. I'm an attorney, and I don't even chime in on those discussions; I just check out my cuticles, or the way that bug is crawling across the witness stand, or how great the clerk looks in the blouse she's wearing. I digress, but you get the picture. Be quiet.
10. Don't worry if you said something you think may be harmful, or didn't say something you should have. The side that called you as a witness has two chances to either get out all the information or fix a mistake. They call you for your direct testimony, and then after the other side cross examines you, they get to ask you rebuttal questions. If they don't ask you anything on rebuttal, it means that whatever you are worrying about your testimony wasn't bad enough for your side to need to fix, so you can relax. Let the attorney worry about what is enough and what hurts the case.
11. A bonus for you. Please dress at least in the style known as business casual. The court and the process deserves the respect of pants without holes, shoes with toes if you're a man, blouses and hemline that leave something to the imagination, and pants below the knees. It's not the grocery store on a Saturday.
Here in the Trenches.
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