In this episode, Kristi shares a surprising moment of joy sparked by an ordinary visit to a community pool—and how an unexpected waterslide ride became a reminder of the importance of play, surrender, and fun in adult life. The episode then shifts into a practical communication coaching segment focused on empowering jurors through clear teaching, emotional pacing, and accessible language so they feel confident, capable, and prepared to deliberate.

LISTEN HERE...

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why play and fun matter just as much in adulthood as they do in childhood

2. How moments of surrender can reveal what’s missing in our daily lives

3. Why teaching—not just storytelling—is critical to juror confidence

4. How separating “what should happen” from “what did happen” strengthens juror understanding

5. What “emotional currency” is and how jurors spend it during trial

6. How vocal delivery impacts juror stress, engagement, and retention

7. Why everyday language builds trust and authority in the courtroom

Key Takeaway:

When jurors feel knowledgeable, emotionally supported, and included, they rise to the responsibility of decision-making. Your job isn’t to overwhelm or impress—it’s to empower.

Favorite Moment:

The realization that cultivating fun and play isn’t a reward for productivity—it’s a necessary part of staying fully alive.

Links & Resources:

1. Top 20 Legal Terms to Avoid https://www.fostervoicestudio.com/top20

2. Speak So They Get It https://www.fostervoicestudio.com/speak

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Until then, keep fostering your voice.

TRANSCRIPT:

Helllloooooo!! Hello Foster Fam! It's the middle of January, but it's been unseasonably warm here in the Portland-area, which automatically gives me a little boost. I hope you're travailing the dead of winter in your area and staying safe and warm.

I'm excited to tell you about something I did just recently.

A little backstory...I have a membership to my local community center through the Parks & Rec District and I'm really grateful to have access to the fitness center and also the pool. It's 1 mile from my apartment and I have regularly used the pool for water aerobics, individual exercise and mobility work. It's great and I love it.

On the other side of town is the sister location, also part of Parks & Rec but I've never been. As of January 1st, they made it so that memberships were transferrable between both locations. So, when one of my pool buddies invited me to go try out that other spot, i said yes. At the time, I thought it was just going to be a change of scenery, an chance to see the new-to-me facility—but it ended up stirring something much deeper for me.

Now, the cool thing about this other place is that they have a water slide and a lazy river...which...now that I've experienced it...there's nothing "lazy" about it. I mean, you get into the current and it whooshes you away. I was absolutely powerless as I just followed the flow. Once I got my feet underneath me, I could participate willfully and actually walk against the current for some resistance training, but at the very least, I was able to not just run into people. It was such a clear reminder of what it feels like to surrender instead of control every detail...which i'm so prone to do.

It was really cool and such a great idea. But...the thing that I was eager to share about is the water slide. As a teenager, I would go with my youth group to a local water park and used to love the slides. This, of course, was not as grand of a scale and there was just the one slide, but...I tell you what...I was completely overcome by joy.

My friends warned me to sit up so I wouldn't become a human-missile, but hitting the first corner I couldn't help but lean back and fits of joyful screams filled the pool area while I came careening out of the shoot. Just an absolute torpedo!

I found myself utterly breathless and my heart was racing. What a THRILL! And almost immediately after that rush, my brain did what it always does—it started asking questions, getting curious, WHY was I having such a strong response to this?

Cause amidst my smile and laughter, I was also thinking, "When did I stop playing? When did I get this far away from just silly, unrestrained fun?" Do you remember the moment for you?

Having an existential crisis in the pool on a Saturday morning was not on my BINGO card, but there I was. Now, I've never been a footloose-and-fancy-free type. I've talked about this before on the podcast—I have always had a more serious, organized, controlled way about me. And that's all well and good. I don't begrudge those parts of me, BUT...I ALSO want to cultivate FUN as I age. Not as a reward for productivity—but as a necessary part of being fully alive. Something about that waterslide experience felt like a real moment to remember and for it to serve as a reminder for me to not give up a spirit of PLAY.

How do YOU cultivate just fun and play in your life? Of course we know how important it is for kids, but as adults, I think it's equally important. I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email or a DM and tell me how you create space for play—even in a full, demanding life.

—BREAK—

In my 1:1 work with clients, I LOVE working with them on their teaching sections. You maybe would think with my theater background that the storytelling parts would be my favorite. I mean, I DO love helping attorneys tell engaging, compelling, and inspiring stories, with clarity and generous energy.

BUT...teaching attorneys how to be teachers is a special joy for me. It's my jam! Because teaching is what gives jurors confidence—and confident jurors make good decisions. Stressed out, intimidate, out-of-their-comfort-zone jurors make QUICK decisions, and that's not always great for your client.

A HUGE aspect of my theater work was theater EDUCATION which meant i had to learn for myself the best ways to keep students engaged, tracking, internalizing, and being able to bring to recall and use the information later.

Sound familiar? Isn't that exactly what you want your jury to do? Stay engaged during presentations and testimonies, track not just your key points but also the flow of trial, be able to relate to your client and anchor their story into their own experiences, and then be able to recall the information and confidently discuss (and maybe even advocate and go to bat for) your winning verdict?

In order for them to do all these things, they need to be empowered and trusted. And it's up to YOU to do this work.

So, what do I mean when I say "empower" them? Let me break this down into three very specific, strategic ways you can do this, help them feel ready to tackle the discussion & decision making in the deliberation room.

First, organize your teaching section so that you tell them what SHOULD happen. What do good companies do? What does a good baby delivery look like? What do good hiring/training/evaluations look like for trucking companies? And keep your teaching separate from your story.

All too often, I see attorneys start in this fashion, but then they start to intertwine. I think it's a mistake to do this. Because when teaching and story blur together too early, jurors lose their footing.

The power of keeping them separate and not getting ahead of yourself is that, if you take your time, stay really patient to make sure everyone understands what SHOULD happen, when you get to the part where you unfold the details of what DID happen...the jury has been set up to feel super smart. THEY will be able to detect the grievance. And when jurors feel smart, they stay engaged. They'll mentally stay connected and thinking "Come on! Even I know they aren't supposed to do that!!"

They will be intellectually AND emotionally invested. Any insecurity they felt when trial started, because they had no prior experience with or knowledge of, trucking, or birth injuries, or construction, or safety policies at a grocery store, or release buttons on a car seat...whatever your case is about...that insecurity is gone. You have made THEM knowledgeable.

And your clarity & patience in teaching has helped them create their mental outline. THEN when you start telling the story, and they start seeing it all play out in their "mind movie", it'll be like they're watching with the textbook right next to it. They'll be able to cross-reference into their OWN mind. They'll feel equipped. This is one way that you empower them.

Another way you empower them is by making sure that when they go into deliberations, they still have emotional currency left to play with and aren't completely spent. So, what do I mean by emotional currency? I’m talking about the limited emotional energy your jurors have available throughout a long trial.

HOW you speak, your pitch, pace, melody, volume and tone (those 5 vocal building blocks I teach), create emotional reactions in your listeners. And your listeners have finite amount of emotional currency they can spend. So, don't make them spend it when they could be saving it for later.

For instance, when you say (dark, serious) "On Friday, June 17th 2022, it was a sunny day and folks were enjoying a little league game"—your listeners are BRACED. They are expecting aliens to invade the ball park, or a biker gang to plow through the infield and murder everyone in sight. Their nervous systems are already preparing for impact. You have made them spend emotional currency unnecessarily and they will not have it to spend when you REALLY need them to at the dramatic climax of your client's story.

Instead, keep light the things that CAN be light. This isn’t about minimizing harm—it’s about pacing emotional impact. (happy and lifted, peaceful) "On Friday, June 17th 2022, it was a sunny day and folks were enjoying a little league game." Of course they know that something is going to go wrong eventually, because...they're sitting in a courtroom after all, but don't make them spend before they need to.

You empower them by not draining them and tapping out their reserves unnecessarily.

The third way you empower your jury is by using everyday language and not making them translate. Remember, your jurors are coming from all walks of life, all different life experiences, and all different levels of education. It's important that you recognize that the language of the Court is kind of elevated. It's sophisticated, and brainy. Legalese is full of SAT-words.

SOME folks in the jury may know all those words. But for the ones that don't, not only will you cognitively lose them—their brains will check them out since they don't understand what you're saying anyway—but you'll emotionally lose them too. You will not garner any trust with them if they feel stupid when listening to you, and then comparing themselves with the other jurors.

Now, important to frame this not as "dumbing" anything down. That mindset can unintentionally create distance instead of authority. Get rid of that mindset.

Instead, keep your thoughts on building community, creating an even playing field where everyone is not just able, but invited and encouraged to participate with EASE. Take out any guesswork, intimidation, or uncertainty. Do all the translation work yourself, BEFORE you say a single word to the jury.

I have a helpful guide for you to use if you're serious about equipping and empowering your jury for success. I have a free cheat sheet of the Top 20 terms you should avoid using, and a mini-training on how to Speak So They Get It for the cost of a double latte. I'll put the links in the show notes for you.

When jurors feel capable, included, and trusted, they rise to the responsibility you’ve asked of them.

In the next episode we're talking about how to reduce stress and improve information processing, so be sure to tune in.

Until next week, keep fostering your voice.