The TECHNE of a Trial: Entertain or Fade Away

As a trial lawyer specializing in criminal defense, false accusations, or high-stakes corporate litigation, one of your main goals at trial is to entertain the jury. There are no great hero journey stories that fail to entertain. If a story doesn’t entertain, it’s forgotten. It’s lost to the ages, never to be remembered. 

Whether you’re defending someone wrongly accused of serious crimes or fighting corporate battles in civil court, your trial should be talked about by jurors, cops, your client—and you—for years and years to come. The only way to achieve this lasting impact is through entertainment. 

Never miss the opportunity to make the jury laugh, be clever, or land the perfect comeback. Anyone who is good at clever comebacks is good at cross-examination, good at objections, and good at thinking quickly on their feet. Cleverness and quick wit are critical courtroom tools—that’s your storyteller muscle. 

From day one, especially in complex criminal defense cases involving false accusations or detailed corporate disputes with voluminous discovery, you should draft your cross-examination with entertainment in mind. To entertain, you must deliver content and information in a digestible, engaging way. Cross-examination is rapid-fire delivery of bite-sized fact packets—no overly complex questions unless needed for follow-up or dramatic effect. 

Impeachment typically follows a simple formula: Commit, Credit, Confront, then Stop: 

1. Table of Contents

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   Commit

“You say X. Are you sure about X?” 

2. Credit

“You remember swearing to tell the truth at your deposition or when speaking to investigators when things were fresher in your mind?” 

3. Confront

“Do you remember me asking you such and such question, and your response was ‘not X’?” Then play the deposition or interview audio or show them the report. If they deny something you don’t have audio for, make a note to ask the impeachment witness.  

4. Stop

Stopping is usually the last step of cross-examination—don’t let the witness talk their way out of it. 

Unless…it’s clever and entertaining to point out their ridiculousness. Recognizing when to press further or let humor shine comes with experience. Always remember: If the jurors are entertained, they remember.

Chapters, Scenes, and the Rapid-Fire Flow State 

Cross-examination should be divided into clear chapters, each with distinct topic areas or scenes. You may have multiple impeachments within one chapter, but you never pause mid-scene. Pauses can happen between scenes, giving you time to reset and reload, but never during active cross-examination. 

Never fumble with documents. Jurors aren’t entertained by awkward pauses as you search for impeachment evidence. Everything must be locked and loaded, rapid-fire style—boom boom boom boom boom. After completing a chapter or scene, pause briefly to check your outline and reload. Trust your instincts and flow state if a strong opportunity arises outside your outline, but always circle back afterward to maintain your relentless attack. Avoid uncomfortable pauses at all costs—don’t become the incompetent lawyer, the bumbling, unintentional Columbo. 

The impeachment structure is always clear: commit them to their current claim, credit the prior inconsistent statement by emphasizing its importance—under oath, truthfulness, or freshness of memory—and then confront them. Commit, credit, confront, then stop. No surplus wording or extra details that allow wiggle room or confuse jurors. Keep it digestible and entertaining. 

Jurors are only entitled to get bored during your closing argument when they’ve already made up their minds, thinking you’re beating a dead horse because you’re already winning. Until then, maintain your pace and keep your chapters tight. Commit, credit, confront, stop. Entertain consistently. 

Whether you’re handling criminal defense for someone falsely accused, managing high-stakes corporate litigation involving millions, or navigating complex civil trials, keep your trial locked and loaded. Always give jurors a compelling, memorable story worth repeating for years and years to come.