Rules To Speak By

by John G. Snow

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice at the same place. In my case, it does. Exactly two years ago I published a review of Ryan’s McCarl’s Elegant Legal Writing. This is what I said about the book:

“Lawyers who want to improve their writing are often advised to read Brian A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text with Exercises (3d ed. 2023). It is a very good book for younger lawyers to learn to write well, but not the best for more experienced lawyers. Ryan McCarl, a practicing litigator and law professor, has published a much better book titled Elegant Legal Writing. Ryan McCarl, Elegant Legal Writing (2024).”

Today I am writing about John G. Snow’s recently published Rules To Speak By. I will say what I said above: there are other books recommended for law students studying rhetoric—a rather new discipline after its study lapsed after nearly 2000 years—but Snow’s book is a revelation for experienced attorneys striving to employ the best practices in their practice of advocacy.

What distinguishes Snow’s book from others is that his recommendations are evidence-based. Much of what we know about communication has come from research by social psychologists in the last 20 years. But unfortunately, that research has not trickled down to lawyers, who have relied on earlier pronouncements that recent studies have debunked.

Consider this. At every CLE you have ever attended where the topic is opening or closing argument, you will see these statistics on some presenters’ PowerPoint slides: 7% of your message is communicated by your words, 38% by your tone of voice, and 55% by your body language. But have you ever heard anyone in the audience ask the basis for this assertion? No, like everyone else, we lawyers are just as susceptible to accepting whatever “they” have declared to be true without question. But in this case it is utter nonsense derived from a misinterpretation of research done on an entirely different issue. How many lawyers have over the last 60! years tailored their delivery to these bogus figures. p. 95

What about PowerPoint presentations? You may have thought that whatever audience you are speaking to will remember more of what you tell them if it is also displayed on a slide. The visual with the oral is supposed to enhance memory and comprehension. Again wrong. Just the opposite, in fact. Snow quotes brain scientist John Medina who says that the more text one has to read, the greater the “cognitive overload.” “Too much of it causes the brain to shut down, especially when it is trying to process competing information like spoken words.” p. 83.

However, a picture alone is worth a thousand words. An image, accompanied by a one- or two-word explanation, is a powerful communicator. Memory degrades in time, but “One study showed that adding pictures to a presentation boosted the audience’s memory of it three days later by 65%.” p. 83.

If you choose to, you can read dozens of books by noted trial lawyers or attend a similar number of CLE programs and not learn all the tactics and techniques Snow describes in a scant 150 pages. Tactics and techniques some of the best trial lawyers in the country use. Tactics and techniques that are justified by successes in the courtroom, now understood and backed by hard science.

So, what will you learn?

You will learn how to present a lengthy argument and keep your audience on the edge of their seats wanting to hear what you are going to tell them next. Chapter 1.

You will learn how to get the jury’s trust by entertaining them, inspiring them, and making them feel important, not because you tell them how important their role is to the criminal justice system and to our democracy, but by making them feel that what they are doing will have a meaningful impact on the lives of others. Chapter 2.

You will learn how to construct your argument in a way that your audience will be able to relate all the facts and themes to the central truth they must decide. Chapter 3.

You will learn ways to simplify your presentation to minimize the effort your audience must make to understand what you are saying. Chapter 4.

You will learn the difference between communicating an argument in writing, such as in a brief, and in oral argument, such as before a jury and a judge. Chapter 5.

You will learn how to overcome the curse of the PowerPoint and make it an effective tool to convince the jury that there is only one conclusion they can reach consistent with the law and the facts. Chapter 6

You will learn how to use your voice, Chapter 7 and your body language, Chapter 8 to convey your message and enhance your credibility.

In Chapter 9, you will learn the importance of being yourself and how ironically practice helps bring out your authentic self. Chapter 10

In what was for me one of the most interesting discussions of the science of advocacy, Snow discusses the use of stories. Chapter 11. How many times have we been told that the most effective means of communication is through storytelling? This is not a myth. We know it to be true from the role story has played in recorded history and the impact we assume it had before recorded history. But why. For the answer to that question, you will need to look at p 144,

For experienced trial lawyers, this is a must-read. The reason is that when we know the why of things, we can do far more than just repeat practices that have worked for us in the past; we have the knowledge we need to improve our practices and innovate. And that is what makes Snow’s Rules To Speak By such an important addition to the canon.

.

.