Glenn Kuper Ph.D.'s Posts

One of the most difficult challenges in preparing a witness for trial or deposition testimony is helping them understand the unique setting that is witness testimony. It is unlike almost any other communication event. The question-and-answer format provides a certain …

One of the most interesting components of facilitating a mock trial is seeing how jurors actually reason during deliberations. Most jurors have no training in formal logic or argumentation or in the fields in which the trial evidence is being …

Under the best of conditions, preparing a non-expert witness to testify at trial is a critical component of an attorney’s preparation efforts. It is a challenging situation for someone with little or no experience in the legal system to take …

I remember when I made the transition from student to teacher how excited I was to have the opportunity to instruct students the way I thought they really wanted to be taught – by presenting interesting lectures from which they …

With each passing year, more and more millennials begin to both be eligible for jury service and choose to show up for their day or days in court. As this cohort starts to make their presence felt in jury trials, …

With the recent evolution of social media, it is easier than ever to stay in touch with friends and family with whom we might have stopped interacting in the past. There are, of course, some pluses and minuses to this. …

It’s a fairly well-known statistic that public speaking ranks as the #1 most common fear among Americans, finishing just above heights, bugs, and snakes. Thus, it’s not surprising that many witnesses are fearful of giving testimony in a deposition or …

On the frequent business flights I take around the country, I often strike up a conversation with the person seated next to me on the airplane. I try not to be “that guy” who bugs someone who clearly wants to …

Fans of the National Football League are undoubtedly familiar with “Beast Mode,” the nickname given to Marshawn Lynch to describe his uncompromising running style where he plows through multiple tacklers as if they were small children. The most famous “Beast Mode” run …

I recently came across a couple of quotations that illustrate a problem we often see when watching jurors deliberate in mock trials (and presumably, in real trials): “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” …

A common strategy I always taught my students when teaching public speaking, and that has now carried over into my work preparing attorneys and witnesses for trial, is the importance of maintaining eye contact with your audience. The textbooks I used all emphasized …

I just completed my second shadow jury project of the year, and the opportunity to pick the brains of typical jurors for 10-12 days has reinforced for me some of the basic tenets of persuasion and decision-making that we see …

A recent study in Clinical Psychological Science on handling stressful situations reminded me of one of the most difficult challenges I faced as a communications professor – preparing students with stage fright to give a speech in front of the …

I recently had the opportunity to manage a shadow jury project on a large patent infringement case. My experience in this trial highlighted a few key theories, and reinforced for me the value of using trial monitors. The feedback provided …