An Art Gallery Premier last fall, I visited and experienced a PowerPoint presentation, which I thought was quite unique and instructive. The presentation consisted of 20 slides, each exactly 20 seconds shown. The presentation from start to finish took exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

I realized that this potential for the legal profession had. Judges are used, 20 second sound bites of things like the television news, and they want that reach lawyers at the point and give you the information that they need in order to decide the case. We are always looking for better communication skills, so why not this give a try?

The 2011 Summer Seminar sponsored by the Wisconsin Association for Justice, I organized a group of four of our younger lawyers to try this. Two of the topics were quite technically, dealing with evidence issues and changes in insurance policies. Two of the topics have been leaving medical General, dealing with discrimination and the Family Act.  Each of the themes was followed by a discussion of three minutes.

All the presentations went well, and I learned something important in the process.  The format works better with the General issues, and not so good with the technical themes, the deal with the language of a statute or an insurance. I also learned that it important that the presentation in the presenter is visible. In the future, I recommend either a screen on the podium, or a microphone that can be separated from the podium, so that the speaker can move.  Also, I recommend that each slide, if they, contains short bullet or a list, have text a statute or case instead of the text.

This format will get a speaker to the point. The speaker forces you to streamline the presentation. And if it is a subject that is not for you of interest, the next topic in a short period of time starts.

This format or change, may be of assistance to lawyers in an opening statement, a jury in a simple case, or the presentation of an argument for a referee. Negotiations or trials can also benefit from the format.  This format the speaker forces fully prepared and organized the presentation, which only helps us to convey our point.

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