If you’ve
ever fast-forwarded through commercials with your DVR or TiVo, recently been in
a household without a landline telephone (unheard of a decade ago), thrown a
brand-new phone book in the recycle bin because you can look up plumbers
online, or sent a Facebook message from your iPhone while watching a movie,
then you’re aware of how technology and social media have forever changed the
way we communicate and receive, analyze and share information.
Such
unprecedented access to information has also resulted in the potential for
overload, causing people to find new ways to simplify, streamline and
compartmentalize information – and even outright reject messages because they
come from a particular source or are perceived to lack relevance.
As
advertisers, marketers, pollsters and news organizations adapt to these changes
and find new ways to connect with their ever-distracted audiences, it is
important for trial teams to remember these changes also affect the way they
communicate and connect with juries.
When making
observations about the need to understand and adapt to the changes caused by
technological innovations, the most common feedback is that this only applies
to “young” and “tech-savvy” jurors, which comprise a small portion of most jury
pools. However, many are surprised to
learn that right now one in four people over 50 years old owns a smartphone,
and that number is growing rapidly.
In addition,
according to Pew Research, between April 2009 and May 2010 social-network use
among those 50 and older nearly doubled – from 22% to 42% (some estimate the
use of Facebook among those 55 and older at 16 million and growing). The fact is your entire audience is becoming
more familiar with technology and social media, and you shouldn’t assume
communicating with jurors in a courtroom is the same as 30, 10, or even five
years ago.
According to
our recent surveys, jurors are more impatient, have shorter attention spans and
are growing more accustomed to using technology to multi-task. If you’ve ever seen a cable-news report
supplemented with multiple news tickers scrolling across the bottom of the
screen at different speeds, then you understand how information overload is
making it more challenging to help jurors focus on a handful of important
pieces of information among an ocean of distractions.
In a world
where Twitter encourages people to communicate their thoughts, feelings and
opinions in just 140 characters, at trial it makes sense to tell your story in
a simple, approachable and bite-sized way.
As more information and testimony are introduced, jurors will have a
basic, go-to thematic umbrella under which all new information can fit.
It’s also
important to understand how your audience uses technology, and design your
presentation around that premise. There
used to be a fear among some trial teams that using the most up-to-date
technology would make them look like they had an unfair financial advantage, so
they stuck to overhead projectors to seem more “down home,” and used old tech
to avoid appearing “extravagant.” However,
our exit interviews have consistently shown that in today’s world, jurors
expect a high level of technology in courtroom presentations and actually
appreciate a multi-media approach because it keeps things interesting and engaging.
We recommend
incorporating elements of social media design into your PowerPoint slides,
which will provide a familiar “look,” consistent with how jurors typically get
their information.
In today’s
world it is also important to utilize language familiar to your unique audience
and present it in a way consistent with how jurors receive and analyze
information in their daily lives. This
is not to say that your story should be punctuated with “OMG” and “LOL,” but it
is vital to first understand how jurors view your case, the language and terms they
use to break it down, what information – out of all that is being thrown at
them – is the most effective and who are the most effective messengers, before stepping
into the courtroom.
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