Transcripts

April 28, 2004:
Using Lawyers' Tactics To Get What You Want II
Interview with Lis Wiehl, author of Winning Every Time

Lis Wiehl:
That we haven't anticipated what the other side is going to say. We always are focused on what we want to say, and what our points are, and we don't think about what the counter is going to be.

Lis Wiehl, legal analyst for the Fox news channel and author of the book Winning Every Time, says lawyers always anticipate what the other side will say, and we need to do that too. Another lawyer tactic we can all use is the cross-examination.

The best cross-examination is not cross. I make my living on TV being, you know, a TV pundit basically, and I am completely turned off when on these shows people scream and yell at each other. I have completely the other approach. I think the more calm,
the more reasoned, the more detailed your cross examination is the more effective you are, and the more your able to persuade.

And to be an effective persuader we can also do what lawyers do, which is to make your point in story form.

Don't say to your kid, "Drugs are bad, you know, you shouldn't do them!" say, "You know when I was growing up I had this friend Pete, and Pete started doing some drugs, and that was really bad for Pete," and sort of tell Pete's story. Be able to tell a story, obviously an honest one, you know, advocate from your heart is what I say, "Let me tell you a story." And a good trial lawyer knows to spin a good yarn; spin a good yarn is to persuade people.

At somethingyoushouldknow.net, I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.