Roy Black has had quite a bit of great stuff on his blog recently about opening statements and telling a story. He explains why lawyers need to start strong and be dramatic. And of course, he is right on.
I was watching the Republican debate last night and it was evident why Herman Cain is gaining steam with his 999 plan -- it's dramatic, it's easy to understand and it resonates with people. Lawyers could learn a lot from watching Cain in these debates.
Check out this video (embedded below) from the debate at the 54 minute mark where Cain takes on Romney and Romney's 59 point plan (in 160 pages) while describing his own plan as simple and efficient. Romney has a good strong beginning with his answer, but you can see why Cain is doing well and is a good cross-examiner. At the end of Romney's answer, Cain says: So the answer to my question is no, it's not simple.
Bachman tries to go after Cain's plan by saying to flip 999 upside down (which makes it the number of the devil!) and Huntsman tries to say it's the price of pizza. Not so effective... Someone needs to come up with some easy to understand talking points about why 999 doesn't work. If not, Cain is going to keep gaining momentum -- not because the plan will necessarily work. But because he is telling a better story than the rest.
The 999 plan works because Americans have been reduced to sound-bite idiots to the point where if we can't understand the idea in our little heads then we think we are being spoken down to by the "professor in the room. "
ReplyDeleteHow does this "fact" affect your presentation to a jury when trying to reduce a complex thought into a number 1 at McDonalds?