Jurors don’t get real breaks. Not mentally, not emotionally, and certainly not socially. In this episode, we explore how cognitive fatigue shows up inside the courtroom and why even small, intentional pauses in your delivery can dramatically improve juror engagement and listening stamina. You’ll learn how micro-pauses, grounded transitions, and light moments of levity create essential “brain rest” for jurors—without derailing your momentum or weakening your command of the room. This episode reframes pauses from something to fear into one of your most strategic storytelling tools.

 LISTEN HERE...

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why jurors hit cognitive overload faster than you think

2. How micro-pauses reduce mental fatigue and increase retention

3. What unpolished moments (tech adjustments, flipcharts, transitions) actually do for juror focus

4. How to avoid turning those moments into emotional labor for the jury

5. A real example from Perkins v. Wabash National Corp. showing how a simple instruction recalibrated the room

6. The difference between light, authentic levity and “trying to be funny”

7. How pauses act as learning tools—not performance weaknesses

Key Takeaway

Jurors need mental breaks far more often than you realize—and your delivery can either drain their energy or strategically replenish it.

Silence, breath, small transitions, and grounded moments give jurors the reset they need to stay with you, understand you, and remember what you said.

Favorite Moment

When the attorney in Perkins v. Wabash National Corp. asked jurors to take out their notepads and write down acronyms, giving them ten seconds of internal focus—and how even watching it later created a noticeable sense of ease and recalibration.

Links to Share in Show Notes:

Kyle Cox on autheticity vs performance — https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPq1ksmjm_1/?igsh=cXhwMGI0YW92bHFn

FYV #25 - What Jurors Really Need from You: Time — https://www.fostervoicestudio.com/blog/25

**FREE CHEAT SHEET**

Top 20 Legal Terms to Avoid (and what to say instead)

https://www.fostervoicestudio.com/top20

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TRANSCRIPT:

Helllooooo!!!! Hello Foster Fam! Welcome back to another episode of the Foster Your Voice Podcast. I'm, of course, your host, Kristi Foster.

I can't believe we're into December now and are zeroing in on year's end. I started this podcast in January of this year because i wanted to have a platform that allowed for a little longer form for teaching and encouraging. I still love social media and am posting daily content there, but there are time limitations and we had longer discussions that needed to happen. So, thank you for coming along on this journey with me. If you've been listening all along or are just jumping in, you're welcome here and I claim you as part of the Foster Fam.

So that we can continue to welcome new folks into the Fam, please leave a 5-star rating on your podcast platform, and, if you're on an Apple device, please write a brief review as well. It only takes a minute, but it goes a LONG way in helping others find me, and encouraging me as I look towards Season 2 in 2026.

Before we dive into the topic of how to give you jurors a fighting chance in the courtroom, I first briefly wanted to touch on something I've heard quite a few clients talking about recently. As I did some zoom calls and conducted some interviews with trial attorneys, I began asking how they wanted to be perceived by jurors. EVERY SINGLE ONE said that they wanted the jury to see them as authentic — sincerely seeking justice and authentically interested in connecting and engaging.

So, this concept of "authenticity" is swirling around a bit. Because of this, i found the words of Neural Reset Specialist, Kyle Cox, rather insightful. He challenges that the reason you feel like you're being fake, or putting on pretense when you actually take strides to be real and authentic, is because you've conditioned yourself to be in performance mode all the time, to the point where THAT has become your new "normal" and anything different from that performance feels false.

I think, unintentionally, there's a layer of performance that is really easy to adopt as a trial attorney—or any kind of front-facing communicator. It's a safety mechanism. You read the room. You make spot adjustments, and say what folks need to hear in order to move your professional persona, or even your case forward.

It makes a lot of sense. I think this happens in lots of professions, actually. But you've gotten so good at it that now you have to actually TRY to be authentic, and that feels fake. It's not that you're an imposter; it's that you're just coming to terms with your true self and are trying to create safety for that truer version of yourself to express and thrive.

I think this is something for all of us to just check in with from time to time. It might not resonate now, but it might down the road, or it might AGAIN down the road. Check out Kyle Cox's profile and give him a follow if neural reset protocols are as interesting to you as they are to me. I've really valued what he's offering. I'll put the link to this particular reel in the show notes.

—BREAK—

Every attorney knows that moment in a CLE when, no matter how good the presenter is, your brain just…hits a limit. No matter how great the presentation is, or how pertinent the information, or even how eager you are to hear from a speaker...at a certain point, you just mentally can't process anymore. You've hit your cognitive load. We've all had the casual conversation around the coffee bar during a planned break in the programming, right? "That was great, wasn't it?" "Yeah, man! I could use a nap. I'm feeling a little brain dead. Hoping this coffee kicks in." "Right? It's like drinking from a fire hose. Great stuff though."

And that's when you're loving the material; when you're fully invested, when you've paid to be there, when you are having a great reunion and bonding with your colleagues, when you're ready to refuel and get right back to your notepad and your comfy chair next to your haven't-seen-since-TLU-bestie for a great afternoon of continued learning — the coffee break is just a little recharge.

Awesome! That's the best case scenario.

But how much more so is that coffee break a life line when you aren't loving the material? Mentally, you are DESPERATE for a break. Some kind of reprieve and distraction to let your brain detach from the teaching and recalibrate.

Now, imagine feeling like you’re drinking from a fire hose — but you can’t look away, can’t move, can’t break eye contact, and can’t check out. That’s the jury’s reality. When they hit fatigue levels, they can't just excuse themselves to hit the restroom quick and quietly get a snack or stand in the back to stretch a bit while the presentation continues. Nope. They just have to deal with it.

Sure, the Court tries to be mindful and there ARE planned breaks in the action. But even their ‘breaks’ aren’t real breaks. They’re social tightropes. Breaks in the jury room just create a different kind of action to mentally and emotionally navigate—being with total strangers, not allowed to talk about the trial, so they're either quiet and socially awkward, or they make idle chitchat with Juror #4 and never get to refuel their mental, emotional, or social tank before it's time to go back in.

It's A LOT for them to be coping with, and then trying to rise above and serve with integrity and care. Phew!

That's why I want to suggest that you help them. You can embed some moments of reprieve. And you should.

You can't offer them a random coffee break or snacks, but you CAN plan for intentional pauses during your presentation to allow them to process and regroup. A moment of silence after a key point gives them time to not only absorb its significance but also check out and recalibrate. Micro-pauses lower cognitive load and help the brain consolidate information — especially complex legal information.

Those moments when you're setting up your flipchart, or getting your tech squared away...? Bliss.

You can ruin it though. You can make it even MORE taxing on them by being awkward about it. By showing your nerves, or apologizing and fumbling around or showing your exasperation. That makes them have to hold space & energy for you. It makes them caretake for you; spending emotional currency to subliminally send you messages of "it's okay buddy, take a beat. you're okay." You can almost feel the room leaning forward with that collective polite-smile energy, hoping you’re okay.

Gah! You want to be perceived as taking care of THEM, not them having to take care of YOU. So...just relax. Take the time you need to get your props & technology sorted. Take comfort knowing that your ease in those unpolished moments are actually providing them with a little brain rest, even if it's just a moment. It can be a gift to them.

I recently watched a trial on the Courtroom View Network (which, if you're not familiar with them, they record gavel-to-gavel trial preceedings and have them on a searchable database so you can go back and watch trials that have happened, or in some instances, you can watch live. It's a subscription service, but even just getting on their mailing list and getting their email/blog is informative and helps keep a pulse on what's happening across the nation), so as i was watching the Perkins v Wabash National Corp trial, I saw the attorney do something in opening that really helped me relax—even as just an observer way after the fact and not even on the jury. haha!

He encouraged them to write. Now, of course the jury has a notepad that's provided for their convenience, but it's totally up to them whether they use it or not. This attorney had them get out their notepads to specifically write down the acronyms he would be using throughout, along with a few federal law references. Now, I maybe would have liked some different instruction, BUT, the moment of everyone getting out their materials and then collectively writing some things down that may or not be helpful to their learning style later on...well...that gave the jurors' brains just a second to turn inward, detach from the situation, do something they had control over, and gave them an emotional reset (not to mention the learning strategy and efficacy of retention when we physically write). I thought that was brilliant. I don't suspect that the attorney had their cognitive load in mind; I think he sincerely just wanted them to remember things and thought writing would be helpful, but I immediately noticed MY cognitive response, and how I took a deep breath, and had a recalibration moment. In that moment, every juror got to retreat inward — even if just for ten seconds — and that internal shift is unbelievably regulating.

Another thing I want to encourage you to do is inject a light, appropriate moment of humor whenever you can. Don't suddenly become a stand-up comedian, or make jokes, but inserting a little levity when something strikes YOU as funny, or sharing a relatable anecdote that prompts a little smile—this shows your humanity and gives them just a minute to refresh their attention. Light humor is a quick smile, not a punchline. Think ‘relatable moment,’ not ‘open-mic night.’

If you want jurors to stay attentive throughout your opening and, really, all throughout the trial process, you have to build in these breaks to reset mental energy. I know any kind of pause, to you, feels like an eternity, but please know that as a juror, we are desperate for them. Research shows that listeners retain more when the speaker allows 2–3 second processing breaks between major ideas. It's YOU that needs to change your mindset around them; to reframe them and lean into them. Think of pauses as strategic tool. They’re not filler. They are essential moments to sustain engagement and give your case the clarity they need.

Now, I've done several episodes about the "power of the pause," so if you want to go deeper or want to refresh & review, go back to Ep. #25 - What Jurors Really Need from You: Time. And, share this episode with your trial team so you can have it top of mind as you're prepping for your upcoming trial. Get strategic and incorporate breaks...for EVERYONE'S sake. Remember: clarity doesn’t just come from what you say — it comes from how well jurors can rest long enough to hear it.

Until next time...keep fostering your voice.