Winning Your Case Using Visual Grammar

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We want to convince you that you need to start drawing freehand sketches while you’re making your next oral presentation—whether in the boardroom or in the courtroom. Have you ever felt that jurors seem to pay more attention when you are taking notes during an exam, be it cross or direct? When you page back through them and observe, “Well, sir, Mr. X told us that. . . ,” have you sensed that your notes became “their” notes and that they trust the information more?

People’s brains process visuals more immediately, more viscerally than our long-winded speeches. So using notes and, even more effective, simple pictograms to illustrate what you’re saying makes your message much more convincing to the listener.