Preparing the Empowered Witness: Moving Beyond the Traditions to Foster Assertive, Effective, and Authentic Testimony
Employing Common Sense, Emotional Intelligence, and Effective Techniques
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will show litigators new strategies and techniques to prepare witnesses to testify with credibility and power, even when the facts aren’t ideal and the cross-examination is fierce.
Outline
- Overview and pitfalls of the traditional approach
- Safely increasing witness assertiveness, confidence, and competence
- Common issues
- Leading questions
- Ambiguous questions
- Assumptions in questions
- Restricted choice questions
- Faulty memory
- Practicing direct and cross-examination
Benefits
The panelist will review these and other crucial issues:
- Why the traditional approach often backfires
- What evidence exists that giving witnesses more leeway produces better results?
- What are the benefits of empowering witnesses?
- What kinds of personalities are best suited to new approaches?
Faculty

Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Ph.D.
Senior Litigation Consultant
Persuasion Strategies
Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm has provided research and strategic advice on several hundred cases across the country for the past... | Read More
Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm has provided research and strategic advice on several hundred cases across the country for the past 21 years, applying a doctorate in communication emphasizing the areas of legal persuasion and rhetoric. As a tenured Associate Professor of Communication Studies, he has taught courses including legal communication, argumentation, persuasion, and research methods. Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm has trained and consulted in 19 countries around the world and is Past President of the American Society of Trial Consultants.
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