The Perfect Witness Program – Online Witness Training
The Perfect Witness was developed to assist lawyers and law firms preparing their witnesses for the deposition process. The video training program is broken down into eight (8) segments and is intended to introduce your witness to the deposition process while also preparing them for their deposition day. During the training program, your witness will watch various vignettes which will explain what your witness can expect in the deposition room. One of the goals of The Perfect Witness training program is to take the stress out of the deposition process.
The “Rules of the Room ©” forms the basis of the training program. The five rules every witness can learn and use to conquer the deposition process are as follows:
1. Never Lie
Witnesses must know that they can never lie during the deposition. As a fundamental rule for all depositions, witnesses can never lie. In addition to this important rule, witnesses must also understand maintaining one’s credibility is critical to the overall deposition process. In this segment, witnesses view vignettes in which witnesses are caught in a lie and are shown the impact it has on their overall credibility.
2. Always Understand the Question
Witnesses must be trained to be good listeners. Listening to questions takes great focus and when witnesses fail to listen to questions, they often provide inappropriate answers. During this segment, witnesses are exposed to situations in which lawyers ask confusing questions and are taught how to handle such situations. Witnesses are also taught the importance of asking for clarification during the deposition so that the witness ensures clarity in all questions.
3. Use the Purposeful Pause
The purposeful pause is a phrase we use at The Perfect Witness, which reinforces the fact that deposition testimony is not like normal conversation. Witnesses must be trained to understand that pausing before answering helps create a beneficial tempo for the deposition and allows the witness to think through their answer before responding. During this training segment, witnesses see how failing to use the purposeful pause not only frustrates the court reporting process, but hurts the witness’s overall appearance.
4. Only Answer the Question Asked
Witnesses must understand the importance of consistently providing short and accurate answers to the specific question being asked. Witnesses often get into trouble when they volunteer information and fail to answer the specific question being asked. As all litigators have seen, when witnesses begin to volunteer information, it often exposes and reveals facts which the questioning lawyer would have never discovered. The purpose of this training segment is to help witnesses understand the importance of only answering the specific question asked and the importance of providing accurate answers to the specific question directed to them.
5. Never Guess
Witnesses must understand the importance of never guessing during the deposition because when witnesses guess, they are not providing facts. In this segment, we explore what happens in situations in which witnesses guess the answers to questions posed to them by opposing lawyers.
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