–– By Dean Hyers, Film Director / Professional Speaker

Pete Machalek and I were coaching a SagePresence client facing a crucial presentation. She was a lawyer preparing for closing arguments in a murder case – the murder of a small child. There was a strong chance the defendant could get off easy if the jury empathized more with a man facing life in prison than with a young boy who was not present to represent himself.

As powerful as a murder case story inherently is, the jury tends to want to shield themselves from the emotional pains that go with truly considering the details of the crime – so, for their own protection, they were a bit detached. This lawyer, by her own definition, was a little flat and not as interesting as the defense lawyer was.

We practiced an array of techniques in the coaching. But one surprisingly simple idea had me running home to get a children’s book from his nearby condo. Reading from a kid’s book broke an expressive barrier from feeling her words and being interesting enough… dynamic enough… to inspire her audience to face and feel the truth.

Lawyers, judges, and juries tend to protect themselves emotionally, just like doctors and nurses often detach from the patient pain they see every day..

Reading from a kid’s book became her answer to how to improve communication skills under pressure. “I can’t take them anywhere I’m not willing to go myself,” she said. If she wanted them to feel it, she would have to open herself up to feeling it too. Reading the kids book as she would to a child tapped her instantly to her storyteller’s dynamism, and she began feeling her words.

Most of us are very interested in, and passionate about, our own subjects. Then why do we so often come across so dry when we present them? SagePresence spotted a significant difference between professionals talking about their subjects in and out of the presenting hot-seat. “Our subjects aren’t dry; We are often the ones drying them out.”

Fortunately, there’s something dynamic that comes alive in us when reading The Cat In The Hat or The Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman. If you’re fortunate enough to be a parent, this principle is already well-practiced and audience-tested – just do it! If not, just alternate between practicing your speech and reading from a kid’s book!

The results of alternating between a kid’s book and our actual speech were phenomenal. The lawyer became a breathtaking speaker in under an hour. And the prosecution won the case!

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